-
shadowsjc
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:52 am
- Location: Jersey City, NJ
- Thanked: 14 times
- GMAT Score:770
Just got back from a long but happy day... and I'm glad to report that I beat the GMAT! 
. I'll try to keep this short so that anyone reading this can (hopefully) get something positive for his or her own personal GMAT study course.
My GMAT journey began a little over a month ago. I was just starting to seriously contemplate taking the GMAT, when I found someone online giving away 2 free books (the OG and a Princeton review book). I read through these on and off in the evenings after work.
As fate would have it, I found myself a victim of the economy, and was laid off early August. Rather than be deterred or disappointed, I saw this as an opportunity to spend more time studying for the GMAT.
I spent a few hours a day just studying these books. I did practice problems, and I also purchased a Manhattan GMAT book from Amazon so that I would have access to their CAT's.
In all, I took 5 CAT tests:
Chronologically:
1. GMAT Preptest #1: 730
2. MGMAT Free test #1: 690
3. MGMAT test #2: 660
4. GMAT Preptest #2: 730 (2 days before test)
5. MGMAT test #3: 720 (day before test)
My target score was originally 750 (better to shoot high than low). As I was taking the practice tests, I began considering anywhere from 700-730 acceptable. However, I didn't lose hope that the practice tests were wrong and I'd do better.
D-day arrives, and I'm a ball of mess all day (including the night before). Pretty nervous all day, but luckily I pulled it together in the end.
General tips:
1. Get there early. It will take time to sign you in.
2. Test your marker and dry erase board as soon as you get it. If you find the ink is low, ask for a new marker. I didn't do this, and luckily the pen wrote fine during the quant. However, I tried using it again during the verbal, and the damn pen wouldn't write at all.
3. Quant: TIME MANAGEMENT is the key. I froze on the first question and wasted 3-4 mins on it.. don't let this happen to you. Ideally you'll want to hit all of them, but it's just as good to skip a question that you know you have no shot on. I did this twice later in the exam and it allowed me to finish (I had to guess on the last one because I ran low on time, but it could have been much worse).
4. Verbal: DON'T RUSH: If you're anything like me, you usually finish your practice verbal sections with 7-8 mins to spare. On my last practice test, I made a conscious effort to slow down. This really helped me out on the actual test, as I finished the section with about 1.5 mins left. I think the extra time I took to look at problems really helped.
Anyway, don't be disappointed if your last few test scores are lower than what you expected. I just scored 40 points higher when it counted, even though I was a nervous wreck all day. Just have confidence, pray (if you're a praying person), and give it all you've got. Good luck to everyone else and thanks to everyone who's posted replies to my questions on the forums!
(Edited quant score in title)
. I'll try to keep this short so that anyone reading this can (hopefully) get something positive for his or her own personal GMAT study course.My GMAT journey began a little over a month ago. I was just starting to seriously contemplate taking the GMAT, when I found someone online giving away 2 free books (the OG and a Princeton review book). I read through these on and off in the evenings after work.
As fate would have it, I found myself a victim of the economy, and was laid off early August. Rather than be deterred or disappointed, I saw this as an opportunity to spend more time studying for the GMAT.
I spent a few hours a day just studying these books. I did practice problems, and I also purchased a Manhattan GMAT book from Amazon so that I would have access to their CAT's.
In all, I took 5 CAT tests:
Chronologically:
1. GMAT Preptest #1: 730
2. MGMAT Free test #1: 690
3. MGMAT test #2: 660
4. GMAT Preptest #2: 730 (2 days before test)
5. MGMAT test #3: 720 (day before test)
My target score was originally 750 (better to shoot high than low). As I was taking the practice tests, I began considering anywhere from 700-730 acceptable. However, I didn't lose hope that the practice tests were wrong and I'd do better.
D-day arrives, and I'm a ball of mess all day (including the night before). Pretty nervous all day, but luckily I pulled it together in the end.
General tips:
1. Get there early. It will take time to sign you in.
2. Test your marker and dry erase board as soon as you get it. If you find the ink is low, ask for a new marker. I didn't do this, and luckily the pen wrote fine during the quant. However, I tried using it again during the verbal, and the damn pen wouldn't write at all.
3. Quant: TIME MANAGEMENT is the key. I froze on the first question and wasted 3-4 mins on it.. don't let this happen to you. Ideally you'll want to hit all of them, but it's just as good to skip a question that you know you have no shot on. I did this twice later in the exam and it allowed me to finish (I had to guess on the last one because I ran low on time, but it could have been much worse).
4. Verbal: DON'T RUSH: If you're anything like me, you usually finish your practice verbal sections with 7-8 mins to spare. On my last practice test, I made a conscious effort to slow down. This really helped me out on the actual test, as I finished the section with about 1.5 mins left. I think the extra time I took to look at problems really helped.
Anyway, don't be disappointed if your last few test scores are lower than what you expected. I just scored 40 points higher when it counted, even though I was a nervous wreck all day. Just have confidence, pray (if you're a praying person), and give it all you've got. Good luck to everyone else and thanks to everyone who's posted replies to my questions on the forums!
(Edited quant score in title)
Last edited by shadowsjc on Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.
