This may well be my first and last post on the forums, I have browsed these forums fairly regularly since I started my GMAT journey. I have spent most of my time on these forums being intimidated by some staggeringly high scores and confusing myself with quant problems and the elegant solutions offered up. I always found these posts motivational and I promised myself that if I ever beat the GMAT I would write one so here goes.
Background:
UK based consultant with 3 years of experience post-graduation. Targeting top US and European schools. Always found the verbal section, AWA and IR came easily to me, struggled with quant.
First attempt 680 (AWA5.5, IR8, Q38, V45):
I prepped fairly consistently for 3 months, I spent two months going back to basics and a month of practicing. I had to fit this around a job in consulting so there was only so much prep I could do. As I stated above I always found the verbal to be very straightforward, but the quant was a real challenge. I got to my test date feeling pretty comfortable, my scores in full length mocks had been good. I knew quant was my weakness but I felt I could get a satisfactory score.
My first test started well, I cruised through the AWA and IR and then the wheels came off when I started the quant, I suffered a total mind blank and complete collapse in confidence. I was devastated by my quant performance; despite a strong verbal score and a 680 overall I knew that this score was not representative of me as an MBA candidate. The first thing I did when I got home was register to take the test again in a month.
Second attempt 770 (AWA6, IR8, Q48, V48):
Having scored a solid verbal score I spent an entire month only focusing on quant, I signed up for Magoosh (great resource and much better value than classroom courses in my opinion) and worked my way through all the videos and practice questions. I felt like I was understanding the maths instead of just learning how to do the questions. I also realised that I had fallen into the formula trap on my first attempt and was desperate to know the formulae I needed instead of understanding how the test and the specific question types work. The only thing I did differently on test day was make sure I had my usual coffee in the morning (on my first attempt I avoided this). To be honest the test still felt stressful, AWA and IR were fine, the quant section felt like it was going the same way of my first test, but I pulled myself together. Not knowing how I was doing I went into the verbal determined to finish strong and max out my score using my real strength.
When my score was revealed I knew my GMAT journey was over, I was a bit disappointed not to hit 49 in Quant but my Verbal score went up without any study for a month and I would be crazy to retake!
Next steps:
Looking into target school and trying to pull together an application.
Materials:
OG (shame not updated more frequently, but an excellent resource)
Kaplan (used but found verbal too straightforward)
MGMAT (barely used)
Magoosh Premium (Quant only)- the key to my GMAT quant improvement
Scores:
GMAT Prep 1: 710
GMAT Prep 2: 700
GMAT Prep 3: 760
GMAT Prep 4: 750
GMAT 1: 680 �
GMAT 2: 770 �
Good luck everyone, if I can do it you can. If you are struggling with quant I would really recommend Magoosh, I can't comment on their verbal resources but in quant they are very strong.
Background:
UK based consultant with 3 years of experience post-graduation. Targeting top US and European schools. Always found the verbal section, AWA and IR came easily to me, struggled with quant.
First attempt 680 (AWA5.5, IR8, Q38, V45):
I prepped fairly consistently for 3 months, I spent two months going back to basics and a month of practicing. I had to fit this around a job in consulting so there was only so much prep I could do. As I stated above I always found the verbal to be very straightforward, but the quant was a real challenge. I got to my test date feeling pretty comfortable, my scores in full length mocks had been good. I knew quant was my weakness but I felt I could get a satisfactory score.
My first test started well, I cruised through the AWA and IR and then the wheels came off when I started the quant, I suffered a total mind blank and complete collapse in confidence. I was devastated by my quant performance; despite a strong verbal score and a 680 overall I knew that this score was not representative of me as an MBA candidate. The first thing I did when I got home was register to take the test again in a month.
Second attempt 770 (AWA6, IR8, Q48, V48):
Having scored a solid verbal score I spent an entire month only focusing on quant, I signed up for Magoosh (great resource and much better value than classroom courses in my opinion) and worked my way through all the videos and practice questions. I felt like I was understanding the maths instead of just learning how to do the questions. I also realised that I had fallen into the formula trap on my first attempt and was desperate to know the formulae I needed instead of understanding how the test and the specific question types work. The only thing I did differently on test day was make sure I had my usual coffee in the morning (on my first attempt I avoided this). To be honest the test still felt stressful, AWA and IR were fine, the quant section felt like it was going the same way of my first test, but I pulled myself together. Not knowing how I was doing I went into the verbal determined to finish strong and max out my score using my real strength.
When my score was revealed I knew my GMAT journey was over, I was a bit disappointed not to hit 49 in Quant but my Verbal score went up without any study for a month and I would be crazy to retake!
Next steps:
Looking into target school and trying to pull together an application.
Materials:
OG (shame not updated more frequently, but an excellent resource)
Kaplan (used but found verbal too straightforward)
MGMAT (barely used)
Magoosh Premium (Quant only)- the key to my GMAT quant improvement
Scores:
GMAT Prep 1: 710
GMAT Prep 2: 700
GMAT Prep 3: 760
GMAT Prep 4: 750
GMAT 1: 680 �
GMAT 2: 770 �
Good luck everyone, if I can do it you can. If you are struggling with quant I would really recommend Magoosh, I can't comment on their verbal resources but in quant they are very strong.
