-
wooblewobble
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 2:00 pm
- Thanked: 3 times
As a lurker on this site for 4 or 5 weeks, I wanted to start off with a "thank you" for all of the posts; they helped provide a lot of motivation! I hope that, at the least, this (very long) post will help motivate someone!
Some background on me: I am a native English speaker and spent my entire life in the U.S. I finished my undergrad degree in engineering just under 5 years ago. I work 50+ hours per week, so I put my social life on hold while preparing for the test. Weekends and evenings (with an occasional "free" evening) were completely dedicated to test prep over the course of the month.
Goal: Take the test by the end of the month and get a desirable score (hadn't yet decided what "desirable" was)
Materials:
MGMAT CATs
MGMAT SC guide
GMATPrep CATs - Don't waste these!!
OG 12
Reading a lot: This won't help you if you just start a few weeks before the test. But if you have a habit of reading well-written material from a respected source (i.e., NOT blogs, though BTG is an exception
), I guarantee that it will pay off in at least RC and SC. It will also give you good material for the AWA!
And of course, this forum!
Of all of these materials, I think the OG is the most useful. As countless other people have said, its questions are the most similar to the questions on the real tests. MGMAT CAT questions were just a little different. Their Q questions seemed to be much more computationally heavy and time-consuming, but I used them to help improve my timing. The answers to the V questions didn't seem to be as cut and dry. Also, at least with MGMAT material, I emphasized answering questions correctly and didn't pay attention to the scores. That helped keep me sane.
Practice:
9/1 - all of the GMATPrep practice questions (not the CATs). Seemed easy enough, so I took the diag in OG and got started with my studying in earnest. DS was a completely foreign concept to me, so I knew that I needed to spend a lot of time on it. Verbal was fine, which I attributed to regular leisure reading.
9/7/09 - MGMAT 640 (37Q 39V) with AWA: Didn't finish Q and didn't even guess on the last few questions, so I knew timing was an issue that needed a lot of work. Reviewed incorrect answers after a day or two. Finished V with about 7 minutes to spare. Between this and the next CAT, I continued doing OG questions, focusing on DS.
9/12/09 - MGMAT 670 (40Q 41V): Didn't do the AWA this time or any subsequent times because I knew that I could comfortably get two essays written within the time constraints. Timing still an issue on quant, and once again, finished verbal with about 7 minutes remaining. I didn't make as much progress as I would've liked to, but I didn't let it get me down. Looked to the forums for reassurance that MGMAT scores can be off, which definitely helped keep morale high. Over the next day, I continued doing more OG problems and began reviewing the MGMAT SC guide.
9/13/09 - GMATPrep 730 (48Q 42V), no AWA: Since everyone says these tests are more accurate, I was very relieved to see this score. This was the day I decided to register for the test and decided that 730 is a "desirable" score. Timing was still an issue on quant, but only for the last two questions, as opposed to 5+ on the MGMAT CATs. Continued doing DS problems in the OG over the next few days and continued reviewing the MGMAT SC guide. Reviewed incorrect answers on past MGMAT CATs as well.
9/17/09 - MGMAT 690 (45Q 38V): Timing on quant was better, but I still struggled towards the end. Still finished verbal with time to spare. I didn't pay the lower score any mind and just kept reminding myself of the previous day's GMATPrep score. The drop in verbal reminded me not to neglect it and I continued reviewing all of the previous CAT questions and the OG questions.
9/19/09 - MGMAT 740 (47Q 45V): I think something clicked here with V, as the question types (at least with RC) started becoming very familiar. I also ignored the clock during verbal this time, and slowed myself down a bit. With quant, I made it a point not to spend too much time on a single problem and to cut my losses by guessing after 2-3 minutes in most cases.
9/20/09 - MGMAT 700 (40Q 44V): Don't know what happened here with quant, but didn't let it get me down. I also became confident of my verbal abilities and, over the next week, focused all of my attention on quant. Finished the DS questions in the OG and did about 40-60 PS questions each night, noting and reviewing incorrect answers as I went along. An important thing to note here is that I didn't skip the "easy" questions in the beginning of the OG sections. You have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk, and the gradually increasing difficulty of the questions helped to gradually increase my ability. Churned out OG problems until the night of 9/24.
9/25/09 - GMATPrep 720 (49Q 40V): Took the day off from work to relax and took this test at around the same time that I'd be taking the test the next day, just to keep my mind in test mode. I didn't cram or do any intense review this day, which surely helped a lot on test day. Don't let your nerves get the best of you before test day! I even made sure not to check BTG, fearing that I'd read a post by someone who let their nerves get the best of them.
And finally, today: Test was scheduled for noon. Slept an extra hour, and made sure not to think about the test. Did not review any material whatsoever, and again, did not go on BTG. Got to the test center a little over an hour before my scheduled time. They said that I could start early, so I said "what the hell, why not?" No point in wasting time on counterproductive cramming. Throughout the test, I milked all of the breaks and made sure to stretch and walk around at every opportunity. The AWA seemed to go well and put me in a good mental place for the rest of the test. Quant seemed much easier than anything I'd previously encountered, but I didn't let that worry me. After all, maybe I just got better at answering the questions!
Finished it with plenty of time to spare, though, which surprised me. Took the other break and started verbal. I always "enjoyed" the verbal section more than quant, so it was nice to have this be the end of the test. It didn't seem any easier or more difficult than the practice, so I was indifferent about it. Then, after completing the questionnaire that followed verbal, I held my breath, crossed my fingers, and proceeded to get my score. And the rest is history .
Some background on me: I am a native English speaker and spent my entire life in the U.S. I finished my undergrad degree in engineering just under 5 years ago. I work 50+ hours per week, so I put my social life on hold while preparing for the test. Weekends and evenings (with an occasional "free" evening) were completely dedicated to test prep over the course of the month.
Goal: Take the test by the end of the month and get a desirable score (hadn't yet decided what "desirable" was)
Materials:
MGMAT CATs
MGMAT SC guide
GMATPrep CATs - Don't waste these!!
OG 12
Reading a lot: This won't help you if you just start a few weeks before the test. But if you have a habit of reading well-written material from a respected source (i.e., NOT blogs, though BTG is an exception
), I guarantee that it will pay off in at least RC and SC. It will also give you good material for the AWA!And of course, this forum!
Of all of these materials, I think the OG is the most useful. As countless other people have said, its questions are the most similar to the questions on the real tests. MGMAT CAT questions were just a little different. Their Q questions seemed to be much more computationally heavy and time-consuming, but I used them to help improve my timing. The answers to the V questions didn't seem to be as cut and dry. Also, at least with MGMAT material, I emphasized answering questions correctly and didn't pay attention to the scores. That helped keep me sane.
Practice:
9/1 - all of the GMATPrep practice questions (not the CATs). Seemed easy enough, so I took the diag in OG and got started with my studying in earnest. DS was a completely foreign concept to me, so I knew that I needed to spend a lot of time on it. Verbal was fine, which I attributed to regular leisure reading.
9/7/09 - MGMAT 640 (37Q 39V) with AWA: Didn't finish Q and didn't even guess on the last few questions, so I knew timing was an issue that needed a lot of work. Reviewed incorrect answers after a day or two. Finished V with about 7 minutes to spare. Between this and the next CAT, I continued doing OG questions, focusing on DS.
9/12/09 - MGMAT 670 (40Q 41V): Didn't do the AWA this time or any subsequent times because I knew that I could comfortably get two essays written within the time constraints. Timing still an issue on quant, and once again, finished verbal with about 7 minutes remaining. I didn't make as much progress as I would've liked to, but I didn't let it get me down. Looked to the forums for reassurance that MGMAT scores can be off, which definitely helped keep morale high. Over the next day, I continued doing more OG problems and began reviewing the MGMAT SC guide.
9/13/09 - GMATPrep 730 (48Q 42V), no AWA: Since everyone says these tests are more accurate, I was very relieved to see this score. This was the day I decided to register for the test and decided that 730 is a "desirable" score. Timing was still an issue on quant, but only for the last two questions, as opposed to 5+ on the MGMAT CATs. Continued doing DS problems in the OG over the next few days and continued reviewing the MGMAT SC guide. Reviewed incorrect answers on past MGMAT CATs as well.
9/17/09 - MGMAT 690 (45Q 38V): Timing on quant was better, but I still struggled towards the end. Still finished verbal with time to spare. I didn't pay the lower score any mind and just kept reminding myself of the previous day's GMATPrep score. The drop in verbal reminded me not to neglect it and I continued reviewing all of the previous CAT questions and the OG questions.
9/19/09 - MGMAT 740 (47Q 45V): I think something clicked here with V, as the question types (at least with RC) started becoming very familiar. I also ignored the clock during verbal this time, and slowed myself down a bit. With quant, I made it a point not to spend too much time on a single problem and to cut my losses by guessing after 2-3 minutes in most cases.
9/20/09 - MGMAT 700 (40Q 44V): Don't know what happened here with quant, but didn't let it get me down. I also became confident of my verbal abilities and, over the next week, focused all of my attention on quant. Finished the DS questions in the OG and did about 40-60 PS questions each night, noting and reviewing incorrect answers as I went along. An important thing to note here is that I didn't skip the "easy" questions in the beginning of the OG sections. You have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk, and the gradually increasing difficulty of the questions helped to gradually increase my ability. Churned out OG problems until the night of 9/24.
9/25/09 - GMATPrep 720 (49Q 40V): Took the day off from work to relax and took this test at around the same time that I'd be taking the test the next day, just to keep my mind in test mode. I didn't cram or do any intense review this day, which surely helped a lot on test day. Don't let your nerves get the best of you before test day! I even made sure not to check BTG, fearing that I'd read a post by someone who let their nerves get the best of them.
And finally, today: Test was scheduled for noon. Slept an extra hour, and made sure not to think about the test. Did not review any material whatsoever, and again, did not go on BTG. Got to the test center a little over an hour before my scheduled time. They said that I could start early, so I said "what the hell, why not?" No point in wasting time on counterproductive cramming. Throughout the test, I milked all of the breaks and made sure to stretch and walk around at every opportunity. The AWA seemed to go well and put me in a good mental place for the rest of the test. Quant seemed much easier than anything I'd previously encountered, but I didn't let that worry me. After all, maybe I just got better at answering the questions!
Finished it with plenty of time to spare, though, which surprised me. Took the other break and started verbal. I always "enjoyed" the verbal section more than quant, so it was nice to have this be the end of the test. It didn't seem any easier or more difficult than the practice, so I was indifferent about it. Then, after completing the questionnaire that followed verbal, I held my breath, crossed my fingers, and proceeded to get my score. And the rest is history .
Last edited by wooblewobble on Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
