760 Q49 V45 Finally done!

Posted a bit on here and then went MIA. Always liked reading in this section at the end of a study sesh so though I'd debrief:

I'm a native English speaker, 27, entrepreneur. I'm going to write this on the fly and not worry about grammar/spelling because I need a verbal break!!!

PREP

So I decided to do the GMAT in June. First I signed up for a course at a local university and then started buying extra books (OG supplements and MGMAT books). The class was alright--it at least kicked me into studying mode quick and I got the bug to do well. I would go to this class and then eat up the OG12 at night. The OG is great.

So after about 4 sessions of class I was studying and took a free Knewton CAT and got a 740. I couldn't pass up taking that class because they offer a 50 pt guarantee. So I was either going to get a 790/800 and pay or take the Knewton class for free. Win/win.

I then cancelled the university class and got a partial refund and signed up with Knewton.

Knewton was a HUGE step up. Quality teachers for sure. I really liked the teachers. There are obviously a few drawbacks to taking an online class (harder to ask questions and go back and forth), but I think for the cost you can't go wrong. Knewton took me away from the OG prep I would do because you have a LOT of homework with them, and the guarantee doesn't work unless you finish it all.

I think this was a good and bad thing. Definitely made for a lot of practice, but it meant that I sacrificed OG time for Knewton material time. There's definitely a difference in material, just as there is with ANY company. If anything it probably made the GMAT feel cleaner and more easy to understand on Verbal as I found Knewton verbal to be less straightforward. The math I saw on the GMAT though, felt trickier and more nuanced than the Knewton math by far.

I would say I was really gung-ho in the beginning, died a little as I went to Knewton since it kept me so busy, and once I finished classes at Knewton a week ago, I really didn't do much except finished missing Knewton assignments.

Here's what my CATS looked like (sorry I didn't save the dates)

GMATPrep 47 40 710
Knewton 49 41 740
MGMAT 43 40 690
Knewton 51 34 710
MGMAT 43 36 650
Kaplan 47 40 690
MGMAT 47 41 720
Knewton 50 43 750

I also took my other GMATprep CAT the night before and did well but honestly can't remember what I got and haven't figured out how to see a score.

MGMAT CATS are rough! Especially in math. I think that can be good and bad. They are unreasonably complex in my opinion not because they aren't solveable, but because even if you're a math pro it takes a long time to solve them and can get you behind. Still, any practice I think helps as long as you recognize that no company's material = actual GMAT material.

TEST DAY
Went to bed at 2AM the night before, fell asleep closer to 3:30, so it was good that I did a noon test!

Arrived and did the spiel with the locker and handprint.

First up: essays! I did VERY LITTLE prep on the essays and still don't have my score. For some reason I thought I would get prelim scores there, but I guess not. I did use the forums here and followed the template provided in a "sticky" post under AWA. I thought that was very good and feel like I should get good news on the essays. On a personal note, I tried to be very chill during the essays and use very little brainpower. I worried more about forming good solid sentences that flowed than proving an amazing point. I don't know if that'll work to my favor, but for me, I'm okay with it as long as I have a decent score.

First break: breaks go by FAST! You have to wait for the proctor to take you out, scan you hand. Then to reenter you have to scan your hand and be escorted back in. All I had time to do was pee, drink gatorade, eat trail mix and return. I felt like my breaks lasted 2 minutes, so be aware of that.

Math: math is where I dominated in practice. I hoped to hit 50/51, but obviously didn't. There were a few problems where I had to start making educated guesses and few where I really wanted 1-2 more minutes to check work, but sacrificed because the last thing I wanted to do was run out of time at the end. I probably nailed their experimental questions and flubbed some math on the real ones which would tick me off! I barely finished on time so I think that was a good strategy. Also, I'd say to not be afraid of missing one or two. I bet I missed 3-5 questions just based on my free GMAT CATs and the scores I got there.

Break: still too short.

Verbal: I was a little disinterested in Verbal which has ALWAYS been my weak spot. I am a very lazy reader and if I get bored I glance over answer choices or ignore them. I didn't think I would do that on test day but I freakin' did! I had to whisper to myself "C'mon, keep goin" like I was my own personal trainer. Good for ear plugs right? My pace on verbal stayed steady and finished with a minute or two.

Got my score, the old guy working was impressed and I felt good. Side note: after I was done he said, "are you chewing gum" and I said, "yeah" and he said "I'm gonna have to cancel your score" and I thought he was serious. There was a definitely a sign up and I saw the sign but really wanted to chew gum (feel like it keeps me alert). He was just a jokester so it was all good.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Here's my advice:

Pick a date. If you are reading this you are probably no matter what gonna take the test. Just sign up. I promise that having a date will hold you more accountable than anything else. Don't just dabble in GMAT prep or I think you'll be mediocre. It's like working out without a game plan vs. having a set training schedule. It will force you to start your study and organize it well.

Study what you suck at. I loved doing math problems because I love math. Plus I could solve math problems faster than doing verbal so I felt like I got more done in less time. I did all the OG Math but very little of the verbal. While I got a great verbal score, I attribute a lot of that to luck and Knewton forcing me to do a LOT of verbal questions. If I could go back I would have done all the verbals in the OG before doing all the math.

Don't overstudy. I would say pick a date in 2-3 months MAX and then go full throttle. That might be a style issue, but I think if you do more than that you will burn out because I started to after 1.5 months.

Do the OG and anything that is published by MBA.com. That's probably my only regret: that I didn't take an extra week or two to really dive into the OG verbal. I wish I could have done more OG study and less Knewton quizzes.

Take a class. You can't teach yourself as well as you think you can. Even in math, watching the Knewton teachers teach helped me rethink approaches all the time. I think classes help you with DS a lot as well and condition you to stop trying to solve the problem over proving sufficiency. Don't be cheap a class is better than books.

Don't think about your score while testing. I honestly didn't. I had done so many CATs and Knewton quizzes that it just felt like one more. You're probably doing better/worse than you think so just take the freaking test.

Realize that the GMAT is one component, especially if you're like me and want a high 700 score. Obviously I'm not in an MBA program yet nor am I part of an adcom, but there were times I think while studying I overvalued the importance of a rockstar score. From what I've gathered, the GMAT score is just a hurdle that gets you farther along in the selection process.

Eat thai food after you finish your test. That's what I did and the green curry was awesome.

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