I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share my story sooner (master of procrastination), but I finally had a good sleep tonight and have nothing to do till lunch, so here we go.

First, I have to say I am not going for the MBA at TOP10, my goal is MSc in Finance/Economics at one of the universities in Netherlands etc. Even though majority here is in the former category, there may be someone like me. I am 21, I finished my bachelors in June 2011 and have been working part time for a year in a telecommunication company (financial department).

I started studying on 1 AUG and subscribed to the 60 Day GMAT study guide - highly recommended. Although I wanted to follow the guide and take the test in exactly 2 months, I had work, my school began and I started a perfect relationship. So it took me a little bit longer and finally registered for 2 NOV.

QUANT:
It's really easy, when you understand it and \probably\ the only topic I had to revise was probability. I learned some new tricks though:) I kinda liked the problems, they were different from those you have in high school or university. I was following the OG 12 and Quantitative review, which was enough for me. For those who aren't confident, Manhattan GMAT guides are the way.

VERBAL:
The part I liked the most was CR, I had never met something like that before. I can imagine it's easier for a native speaker. Same with RC. There were some terms or words I hadn't even heard of before, but I was too lazy to mark them down. I had a vocab list from someone, again, too lazy to go through it.
SC - it was interesting, sometimes you just have to conform to the holy creators of GMAT (or that's how I see it). I learned the English grammar a long time ago, when I was studying for Cambridge FCE, but I got stuck sometimes here.

Again, all I did were the problems in OG12 and Verbal review. I felt confident enough, but now I know, I should have done more. Manhattan SC - great for those who are struggling with that part.

AWA:
I haven't prepared, just read about it in the OG and found some info here, in the forums. It wasn't important for my application. But I was writting the essays in the preparation tests.

Prep tests:
GMAT PrepTest #1 (mid Sept) 620
GMAT PrepTest #1 (mid Oct) 650

MGMAT CAT #1 (22/10) 640 Q43 V34
MGMAT CAT #2 (24/10) 620 Q36 V38
MGMAT CAT #3 (26/10) 620 Q40 V35
MGMAT CAT #4 (27/10) 670 Q40 V41

GMAT PrepTest #2 - I took it 4 days before the actual test. I was relaxed and I didn't get stuck anywhere. After I had finished, I felt I was going to hit the 700 mark. HA! I scored 600 and that's when my confidence went away. I settled with the fact, that I would have to retake the exam after Christmas.

Clearly, I was doing something wrong. Maybe I wasn't concentrated enough, but I realized that pace is my weakness. On MGMAT CATs I didn't have time to finish the quant part (around 5 problems unsolved each test!!!) and the verbal - I always finished 5 minutes earlier. But on the official prep tests, the timing seemed to be OK.

GMAT 2/11/2011 in BUDAPEST
The day before the test, I had a nice skype date, my mom made a good lunch and I went to sleep (around 5 or 6hrs), I was not nervous. I woke up, felt fine on the way to budapest (90min drive). We had around 2 hours till the start so we had a coffee and talked. I started to feel nervous, almost threw up. The actual test was a good experience.
AWA: not hard, I wrote what I could, had a little template remembered in my head.
Q: It was easy, I don't remember anything difficult. I felt pretty confident, finished in time and took a break.
V: It's more than a month since I took the test, so I don't remember it in detail, but I made a mistake, a big one. In the middle, there was a SC or CR question I couldn't answer and I spend maybe 6 or so minutes on that. Then, it started: nervous & stressed out. It was said many times here but again:
DO NOT DO THAT!

I finished in time, didn't even though about canceling the score, clicked review and 640 (50/28) appeared on the screen. It was over:)

I could have done better, but also, I could have prepared better. I blew the verbal and it was my fault. It was a nice challenge and a good experience. I am going to submit my applications in January.

I would like to thank the BTG forum, it's creators and admins and family and friends. And of course, Jane H.

Update 4/2012: I got accepted to UvA and still waiting for the response from RSM (Rotterdam) and the Maastricht University.

Wow, Jane, a 640 and a perfect relationship all at once?!? That's a lot to celebrate!!

It's awesome that you reported your story here - and we agree, that 60 Day Study Guide is a tremendous resource. You are a success story! Anyone getting in the mid-600s is a winner in our book - that test is darn hard!! (We get stuck on the grammar stuff a lot too and writing English is *our job*!!) Anyway, you ROCKED the quant, and it sounds like you're well positioned for the Master's program you're aiming for, so good job!

Hopefully we'll hear more from you when you're ACCEPTED to this wonderful school in The Netherlands!!!

Thanks again for your report, love seeing stories like this!!

EssaySnark

hey curaheee, I'm curious to know to which Uni you have applied.

I'm aiming at RSM.

Cheers,
Diego