Background:
I took a complete Manhattan GMAT course from September to November 2013. I did all of the out of course work and more completing around 600 OG problems during the duration of the course.
Additionally, I took the following CATs:
MGMAT 19 May - 630 (41Q, 35V)
MGMAT 12 Oct - 640 (44Q, 34V)
MGMAT 2 Nov - 670 (stupid timing error made me run out of time on QUANT, without the error I think this score would have been 700) (41Q, 40V)
GMAC CAT #1 17 NOV - 730 (49Q, 41V)
Throughout the course my study plan was to read and understand the MGMAT guides and then complete all of the OG assigned work making flashcards of the problems that I missed along the way to keep those principles fresh in my mind.
After taking my final GMAC CAT and scoring my goal score I signed up for the test this past week and took it on the 22nd scoring a 710 (47Q, 41V) and 7 on IR.
First of all, I am absolutely thrilled with the score. My bottom-line has always been 710+ and I am so grateful to have accomplished this goal on my first attempt. Lots of hard work paid off!
Now as for the actual test day experience I found the AWA to be easy (no score back on that yet), and the IR to be the same difficulty as the GMAC. In fact my only IR prep was on my last two CATs I included the sections. That was it and I still scored a 7 so I am happy with that.
During the quant section I felt like it was going quite well. I didn't have to guess on any but maybe one or two questions and I really didn't see any deadly questions. At the time I was thinking, "man, I am smart!" and I finished 5 minutes early (never happened before).
During the break I was feeling like I had just scored a 50 on quant and I was on cloud nine. I had to remind myself that the most important section was still ahead so I buckled down and went after the verbal. About half way in the test got so hard I felt like I was guessing on almost every question. I got 4 RC passages which did not thrill me as I am weakest on those but I powered through thinking the whole time, "this is impossible, I am doing so bad".
I finished with about 2 minutes to spare and I clicked through the demo questions to then come to my 710 (47Q, 41V).
I feel like 41V is an accurate spot of where I am at as I have now scored that three times in a row, but I do think that I can do a 49 or 50 on Q with the right execution.
My profile is strong with a 3.8 UGPA from a top-10 US school with 4 years of professional leadership experience as an officer in the US Army and I know that a 710 definitely checks the box and makes me competitive at HBS, Stanford GSB, Wharton, and Columbia. I am applying for entrance fall of 2015 so time is on my side however thus I want to take one more crack at the GMAT to see if I truly have found my ceiling on it. I think that I have a 730+ in me and with little competing for time time from now until June when applications open up I don't see any good reason to not take another swing at it.
There is no pressure now as I am confident in my score/profile but why not reach higher just to increase that confidence.
My question for you all is, what should I do over the next 5-6 weeks in preparation to retake? I have done every quant question in the OG13, and in the supplement. Additionally, I have done the majority of the MGMAT question banks and drill problems as well. My gut feeling tells me that my quant errors on the GMAT came from silly mistakes because I was rushing due to the adrenaline. I bet if I just took it again but this time with calmer nerves I would bump my score up immediately.
I am considering two things:
1. Continue working and re-working OG problems along with the GMAC GMAT PREP question banks (I have already answered about 1/2 of those questions) and continuing timed sets. For verbal I will just continue to work timed sets of verbal questions; and maybe I will focus in on "find the assumption" CR questions because I seemed to get a lot of those on the GMAT and I know those are my weakness (based off of CATs and now the real thing).
2. Signing up for MAGOOSH's premium package and going for the +50 point guarantee. Any thoughts on that program? How much time are we talking for me to complete this?
I am planning on taking one more GMAC CAT before i actually sign up for the retest just to verity that I am "there" and to calm nerves and give me that confidence boost that I got with my 730 CAT.
The latest that I want to take my retest is mid-January so I am looking at about 6-8 weeks for a retest.
Any thoughts or insights are much appreciated!
I took a complete Manhattan GMAT course from September to November 2013. I did all of the out of course work and more completing around 600 OG problems during the duration of the course.
Additionally, I took the following CATs:
MGMAT 19 May - 630 (41Q, 35V)
MGMAT 12 Oct - 640 (44Q, 34V)
MGMAT 2 Nov - 670 (stupid timing error made me run out of time on QUANT, without the error I think this score would have been 700) (41Q, 40V)
GMAC CAT #1 17 NOV - 730 (49Q, 41V)
Throughout the course my study plan was to read and understand the MGMAT guides and then complete all of the OG assigned work making flashcards of the problems that I missed along the way to keep those principles fresh in my mind.
After taking my final GMAC CAT and scoring my goal score I signed up for the test this past week and took it on the 22nd scoring a 710 (47Q, 41V) and 7 on IR.
First of all, I am absolutely thrilled with the score. My bottom-line has always been 710+ and I am so grateful to have accomplished this goal on my first attempt. Lots of hard work paid off!
Now as for the actual test day experience I found the AWA to be easy (no score back on that yet), and the IR to be the same difficulty as the GMAC. In fact my only IR prep was on my last two CATs I included the sections. That was it and I still scored a 7 so I am happy with that.
During the quant section I felt like it was going quite well. I didn't have to guess on any but maybe one or two questions and I really didn't see any deadly questions. At the time I was thinking, "man, I am smart!" and I finished 5 minutes early (never happened before).
During the break I was feeling like I had just scored a 50 on quant and I was on cloud nine. I had to remind myself that the most important section was still ahead so I buckled down and went after the verbal. About half way in the test got so hard I felt like I was guessing on almost every question. I got 4 RC passages which did not thrill me as I am weakest on those but I powered through thinking the whole time, "this is impossible, I am doing so bad".
I finished with about 2 minutes to spare and I clicked through the demo questions to then come to my 710 (47Q, 41V).
I feel like 41V is an accurate spot of where I am at as I have now scored that three times in a row, but I do think that I can do a 49 or 50 on Q with the right execution.
My profile is strong with a 3.8 UGPA from a top-10 US school with 4 years of professional leadership experience as an officer in the US Army and I know that a 710 definitely checks the box and makes me competitive at HBS, Stanford GSB, Wharton, and Columbia. I am applying for entrance fall of 2015 so time is on my side however thus I want to take one more crack at the GMAT to see if I truly have found my ceiling on it. I think that I have a 730+ in me and with little competing for time time from now until June when applications open up I don't see any good reason to not take another swing at it.
There is no pressure now as I am confident in my score/profile but why not reach higher just to increase that confidence.
My question for you all is, what should I do over the next 5-6 weeks in preparation to retake? I have done every quant question in the OG13, and in the supplement. Additionally, I have done the majority of the MGMAT question banks and drill problems as well. My gut feeling tells me that my quant errors on the GMAT came from silly mistakes because I was rushing due to the adrenaline. I bet if I just took it again but this time with calmer nerves I would bump my score up immediately.
I am considering two things:
1. Continue working and re-working OG problems along with the GMAC GMAT PREP question banks (I have already answered about 1/2 of those questions) and continuing timed sets. For verbal I will just continue to work timed sets of verbal questions; and maybe I will focus in on "find the assumption" CR questions because I seemed to get a lot of those on the GMAT and I know those are my weakness (based off of CATs and now the real thing).
2. Signing up for MAGOOSH's premium package and going for the +50 point guarantee. Any thoughts on that program? How much time are we talking for me to complete this?
I am planning on taking one more GMAC CAT before i actually sign up for the retest just to verity that I am "there" and to calm nerves and give me that confidence boost that I got with my 730 CAT.
The latest that I want to take my retest is mid-January so I am looking at about 6-8 weeks for a retest.
Any thoughts or insights are much appreciated!
