I just Beat The GMAT!

I took the GMAT this afternoon at the London test centre. It was my first time sitting for an official test. Here's how the score breaks down:

QUANT - 48 - 80th percentile
VERBAL - 45 - 99th percentile
OVERALL - 750 - 98th percentile

Quick synopsis: I took my first diagnostic test in April (Kaplan free online test) and scored a 590. I set a target of 720, hoping to improve 130 points. Today I took the actual GMAT at the London test centre and scored a 750, improving 160 points. In the intervening three months I developed a study plan, relying heavily on the official guides (second-hand 2007 editions), Manhattan prep books (2007 editions), and this website. Because I work long hours in banking, I forced myself to prioritize the GMAT over nearly everything but work. I studied at night, in the morning and on the weekends: whenever time permitted. In the end, I improved my score by 160 points and am now ready to put the GMAT behind me.

Detailed synopsis: After deciding to apply to business school earlier this year, I knew I had to confront the GMAT. I took the free online Kaplan diagnostic one Saturday morning in April and scored a 590. I considered abandoning the GMAT and business school applications, believing that I would never reach my target score of 720. However, I decided to study hard for 30 days and take another practice test then.

I bought the following materials: (1) second-hand copies of the 2007 official guides from a friend, as well as the corresponding Manhattan strategy books; (2) The BeatTheGMAT flashcard iphone app; (3) the six Manhattan practice tests; (4) the GMAT Focus software; (5) the two (free) official practice tests from MBA.com.

Due to bank holidays in the UK (thanks, Royal Wedding!), I had an eleven day vacation at the beginning of my initial 30-day study period. During this time, I systematically read the first three Manhattan quant strategy guides and completed the corresponding OG questions, logging 3-4 hours per day. I also kept an excel spreadsheet noting each type of question and how difficult I found it. I continued on this track for the next 30 days (trying to study for 14 - 20 hours per week). At the end of this period, I took a Manhattan practice test and scored a 740. I believe this quick improvement is attributable to three factors: (1) I simply failed to complete the initial Kaplan exam, which hurt my percentile ranking dramatically; on this second test, I answered all questions. (2) The basic material covered in the first four Manhattan quant books lays the groundwork for nearly all GMAT math. (3) The free Kaplan test may not be the best indicator of score potential (at least in my case).

After scoring the 740, I scheduled the GMAT for two months in the future (26 July - today). During those two months, I continued to study the remaining Manhattan quant books and OG questions, as well as the Critical Reasoning and Sentence Correction Verbal books (I did not identify any reading comprehension deficiencies in my scoring history, so de-prioritized this element of the study plan). I returned to my excel log and began re-reviewing challenging problems. In the end, I completed all of the Manhattan and OG problems in the books, and continuously revisited approximately 200 problems I found challenging on multiple occasions.

I interspersed all of this with practice tests. As noted, my first score was a 590 (Kaplan), then a 740 one month later (Manhattan), another 740 a week later (MBA.com), a 720 (Manhattan), and a 760 last weekend (MBA.com). I also took the three GMAT Focus diagnostics from MBA.com. The upper end of their projected range was indicative of my final quant score. Rather than relaxing on the days leading up to the exam, I continued to drill challenge topics. I also did two half tests to practice quant timing.

In the end, I showed up on test day hoping for the best. I was nervous, but believed I had maximized my three months of study. To be sure, I'm happy with the result.

Things that worked well: The Manhattan guides, the OGs, and this website (special thanks to GMATGuruNY, whose forum posts were always clear and concise). I also found that my excel question log helped me to identify areas of weakness and drill down on trouble spots. This websites offers its own logs, which are a great resource. However, I custom built my log for my own purposes (re-reviewing certain questions, flexible sorting, etc.), which worked for me.

The Manhattan practice test diagnostic reports also allowed me to identify trouble spots, especially in higher-stress practice test environments. Lastly, I initially thought that I could beat the GMAT without studying verbal. However, I ultimately boosted my verbal score by a few points - enough to push me over the 720 mark.

Finally, I gave myself adequate time to beat the GMAT. Rather than trying to cram everything into a short study time, I gave myself a two month study period even after besting my target score in practice. This gave me time to build confidence and study verbal topics that I otherwise would have omitted.

Things that didn't work well: I often spent too much time drilling questions, and not enough time reviewing their outcomes. Near the end, as I focused more and more on questions that I identified as challenging, I felt my comfort level with quant topics improving more than I did when simply drilling questions.

I also may have overcompensated for not taking a GMAT prep class. For example, I had studied for 82.5 hours by the time I made my first 150 point jump. This implies a return on investment of 1.8 points per hour. By the end of the three months, I had studied for roughly 210 hours, implying a return of 0.8 points per hour. This is to say that I did not necessarily become more efficient in my study habits after the initial jump. Perhaps a course or expert guidance would have been helpful after the first thirty days.

Thanks to all the people who post regularly on this site; your questions and answers helped answer my questions.