Hey everyone,
This is my first post on the forum so I apologise in advance if I am breaking any rules regarding forum organisation. Please point me in the right direction should that be necessary.
I recently took the GMAT (19 November) and scored a 710 (92%). That was my first attempt.
BACKGROUND
I live in North Africa and had originally scheduled to take the GMAT on 21 January 2014 because that was the first appointment I could find in my country. Mind you, that was in early October. Anyway, due to unexpected travelling, I was able to schedule a much earlier date for my test (November) in France. I kept the original date (as opposed to rescheduling it) because I was afraid I might not perform as well as I'd want. Additionally and as I understand it, cancelling my earlier appointment would only refund me $80 of the original $299. This got me thinking I could try and go the extra mile to further prepare in a view to score higher on my second attempt in January. I am reasonably satisfied with my score; it is higher than average for many of the Masters in Management programs I intend to apply to but barely average in some of my other choices. I completed a 5-year architectural engineering program about six months ago, getting a 3.41 GPA in the end, with around 3 years in multiple extracurricular activities (on-campus newspapers, student union and the student senate, architecture association and MUN). From my research, I had the feeling it was a bit low to constitute a competitive application especially to top schools. This is why I sought to prepare well for the GMAT in order to balance out my application on the academic side.
PREPARATION
This is a list of what I did to prepare for the exam. My entire preparation lasted for about 2 months, with varying levels of intensity.
1) The Economist (7-day trial): What I covered was basic math and some sentence correction. By the time the trial was over, I had answered about 250 questions in the study sessions. I could not afford the course, and it was moving a bit too slowly for my taste.
2) Manhattan Quant books: This was the most crucial part of my preparation as I completed all 5 of them in full detail, recording errors and correcting mistakes as I went.
3) OG 13: I covered every Quant question (PS and DS) with an average accuracy of ~77%. I also finished all the SC questions (~84%) and some RC and CR questions (~83% and ~74% respectively). Evidently, I red the short passages at the start of each part to assimilate exam structure and objectives.
4) GMAT Toolkit App (for iPhone): The night before the exam for some last minute practice, while skimming over the flash cards.
PRACTICE TEST PERFORMANCE
Because the rescheduled date was so sudden, I had only about 3 weeks to take the practice tests I had originally planned to take at the end of November and throughout December. That's why you'll find most of them crammed near my test date (19 November):
The Economist (29/9): 410/Q24/V23 (Diagnostic; the day I decided I go for graduate studies)
The Economist (12/11): 590/Q42/V30
Manhattan (14/11): 640/Q44/V33
GMAT Prep (15/11): 710/Q46/V41
Kaplan (15/11): 640/Q48/V29
Actual thing (19/11): 710/Q49/V38
I skipped IR and AWA on all of those test and actually on prepared for them by reading what the OG and Cracking The GMAT had written about them. On the actual thing I got a very mediocre 2(/8) on IR and 5.5 on AWA.
TARGET
I must admit at this point that I was surprised at how my final score was actually the same as the highest I'd ever gotten on any practice test I'd taken prior to the actual exam. Meanwhile, I realise that I continuously improved in Quantitative - and actually managed higher in Verbal during my practice- which makes me wonder if there is potential for more.
Based on the chart here from Magoosh, I estimate that I need to increase by about 2 points in Quant and 5 in Verbal (Q51/V43) to be in the vicinity of 760. Additionally, my IR score was rubbish to say the least and -understanding that although new it is increasingly looked at during admissions- so I would like to get a 7 or 8. I actually think it is an interesting addition to the exam; much more representative IMO of ability for advanced business studies than quantitative and verbal.
If you've read so far, I thank you very much for your interest. Reading about success stories in this forum is part of what kept me going and I thank everyone who went through the hassle of giving detailed detailed records of their experiences. It was both inspiring and motivating.
So my question now is:
What do you recommend that I do at this stage to reach my target: 760(Q51/V43) and IR 7-8?
Much love and many thanks in advance.
This is my first post on the forum so I apologise in advance if I am breaking any rules regarding forum organisation. Please point me in the right direction should that be necessary.
I recently took the GMAT (19 November) and scored a 710 (92%). That was my first attempt.
BACKGROUND
I live in North Africa and had originally scheduled to take the GMAT on 21 January 2014 because that was the first appointment I could find in my country. Mind you, that was in early October. Anyway, due to unexpected travelling, I was able to schedule a much earlier date for my test (November) in France. I kept the original date (as opposed to rescheduling it) because I was afraid I might not perform as well as I'd want. Additionally and as I understand it, cancelling my earlier appointment would only refund me $80 of the original $299. This got me thinking I could try and go the extra mile to further prepare in a view to score higher on my second attempt in January. I am reasonably satisfied with my score; it is higher than average for many of the Masters in Management programs I intend to apply to but barely average in some of my other choices. I completed a 5-year architectural engineering program about six months ago, getting a 3.41 GPA in the end, with around 3 years in multiple extracurricular activities (on-campus newspapers, student union and the student senate, architecture association and MUN). From my research, I had the feeling it was a bit low to constitute a competitive application especially to top schools. This is why I sought to prepare well for the GMAT in order to balance out my application on the academic side.
PREPARATION
This is a list of what I did to prepare for the exam. My entire preparation lasted for about 2 months, with varying levels of intensity.
1) The Economist (7-day trial): What I covered was basic math and some sentence correction. By the time the trial was over, I had answered about 250 questions in the study sessions. I could not afford the course, and it was moving a bit too slowly for my taste.
2) Manhattan Quant books: This was the most crucial part of my preparation as I completed all 5 of them in full detail, recording errors and correcting mistakes as I went.
3) OG 13: I covered every Quant question (PS and DS) with an average accuracy of ~77%. I also finished all the SC questions (~84%) and some RC and CR questions (~83% and ~74% respectively). Evidently, I red the short passages at the start of each part to assimilate exam structure and objectives.
4) GMAT Toolkit App (for iPhone): The night before the exam for some last minute practice, while skimming over the flash cards.
PRACTICE TEST PERFORMANCE
Because the rescheduled date was so sudden, I had only about 3 weeks to take the practice tests I had originally planned to take at the end of November and throughout December. That's why you'll find most of them crammed near my test date (19 November):
The Economist (29/9): 410/Q24/V23 (Diagnostic; the day I decided I go for graduate studies)
The Economist (12/11): 590/Q42/V30
Manhattan (14/11): 640/Q44/V33
GMAT Prep (15/11): 710/Q46/V41
Kaplan (15/11): 640/Q48/V29
Actual thing (19/11): 710/Q49/V38
I skipped IR and AWA on all of those test and actually on prepared for them by reading what the OG and Cracking The GMAT had written about them. On the actual thing I got a very mediocre 2(/8) on IR and 5.5 on AWA.
TARGET
I must admit at this point that I was surprised at how my final score was actually the same as the highest I'd ever gotten on any practice test I'd taken prior to the actual exam. Meanwhile, I realise that I continuously improved in Quantitative - and actually managed higher in Verbal during my practice- which makes me wonder if there is potential for more.
Based on the chart here from Magoosh, I estimate that I need to increase by about 2 points in Quant and 5 in Verbal (Q51/V43) to be in the vicinity of 760. Additionally, my IR score was rubbish to say the least and -understanding that although new it is increasingly looked at during admissions- so I would like to get a 7 or 8. I actually think it is an interesting addition to the exam; much more representative IMO of ability for advanced business studies than quantitative and verbal.
If you've read so far, I thank you very much for your interest. Reading about success stories in this forum is part of what kept me going and I thank everyone who went through the hassle of giving detailed detailed records of their experiences. It was both inspiring and motivating.
So my question now is:
What do you recommend that I do at this stage to reach my target: 760(Q51/V43) and IR 7-8?
Much love and many thanks in advance.
