I just Beat The GMAT!

Man... where to begin. I guess when I read these posts I'm always most interested in someone's professional/educational background, so that's how I'll start.

Studied philosophy and graduated from university in 2003. Took my last math class in high school. I'm an advertising creative director, and while I also run a small publishing company, the depth of my financial knowledge goes no further than figuring out how to price my books and keeping my own ledgers.

Last August I took the free Kaplan CAT and scored a 530 blind. I didn't research the format, didn't study any material, didn't do anything. I just wanted to go at it blind and see what happened. I don't remember the split, but in any case, since my aim was to attend a top program, I basically threw in the towel as soon as I saw that score!

A few days later my the mailman came to my office with a box from Amazon, and it turned out my girlfriend ordered me the complete Manhattan GMAT series of books. That swift kick in the ass got me going, and I started studying on my own. But after a few weeks I got mashed with work and had to put the whole project aside.

Finally, on December 2, I felt the next few months would be quiet, so I signed up for the Manhattan GMAT class, took the first MGMAT CAT (580, Q33 V36), and started the once-a-week course on December 7.

Here's the strategy I followed from December 7 through the beginning of March, with almost no fluctuation.

Weekdays: wake up at 6am. Study from 630-8AM. Read flash cards on the train to and from work (about 30 minutes each way). Study from around 7-9PM each night.
Weekends: study about 4-6 hours each day.

And my materials were as follows:

MGMAT BOOKS
The math books were INVALUABLE! They seriously cover every single possible topic. The practice questions are fantastic. And the online homework banks that you can access using a serial number printed in each book are great for additional practice. The verbal books are ok. SC is pretty solid, and covers a lot of the nuances of rules a native speaker would already know, but not know the rationale behind. The CR book was alright, too. At least in terms of getting me familiar with typical question patterns. Really, once you figure out the CR structure, it's hard to get these questions wrong. The RC book wasn't particularly helpful.

FLASHCARDS
I made a flashcard for every single concept I thought I'd need to memorize. In the end, I had about 250. I'd stuff them in my pockets when I'd go to work in the morning, read them on the train. Read them in the bathroom. Read them if I went to lunch by myself. Etc. Etc. Flashcards are definitely essential.

MGMAT CLASS
Not so essential. The most valuable thing I took away form the class was the syllabus, which I followed religiously in terms of what to read which week. But I didn't really know what to expect from class. And, in the end, I didn't learn anything from class. All we did was go over a few practice problems and review one or two concepts that we already read about in the books. It wasn't all that helpful, but since I dished out the money, I went to every single class. My advice is if you know you have the dedication and drive, you don't need the class. If you have the dedication but not the drive, consider the class, because at least you'll have a voice in the back of your head saying, "Make sure you get x, y, and z done before class next week!"

OG and the QUANT and VERBAL SUPPLEMENTS
Throughout my three month bid I did practice problems every week. And during the last 3-4 weeks, this is all I did.

Finally, there were my practice exams:

12/5/2010 MGMAT CAT 1 (580, Q33 V36)
1/2/2011 MGMAT CAT 2 (700, Q43 V41)
2/13/2011 MGMAT CAT 3 (720, Q44 V44)
2/26/2011 GMATPREP 1 (720... I forgot the split)

So I took my official exam last week and, as you can tell from my subject line....

700 (Q44 V42)

The problem, however, is that Q44 in my practice tests meant I was around the 77th percentile. But a 44 on my official exam was 68%!!!

I was completely floored. With neither math as an undergrad nor experience in finance, a Q44 is sure to turn off any top program.

I've been playing back test day in my head to figure out what went wrong, but I really don't know. Two strange things happened, but whether or not they were the cause of my score, I can't say. First, I was stoked to take the test. Really excited to get there and get going. But once I started, I felt lightheaded. And I felt that way all the way through the end of the quant. Also, the spread of questions in my quant section was really weird. Nothing at all on combinatorics. Nothing at all on probability. Nothing at all on inequalities. Everything was number properties (my strength), percents (not so strong), and geometry (seriously about 5 or 6 questions, and once again not my strongest!).

THE PLAN:

I've decided I'm going to sit back, not look at anything all week, and take another practice this weekend. If I do as well or better than I did on my last few practice exams, I'm signing up for another test in exactly one month. Maybe I got dealt a bad hand. Maybe I had an off day. Can't say for sure, but I do know that I probably shouldn't bother with top programs if I'm stuck with such a low quant score.

If I do well on this upcoming practice, then I'm going to take a different study approach for the next four weeks. Study only about 10 quant questions a day. In the evening. Do a practice each Saturday. And focus on a specific weakness each Sunday. Work's getting busy again, so I don't think I can give it 1000% percept anymore, but I know I can do better!

A fellow 700-er (4Q9/V38) here. Don't give up. To start with, A 700 is not a bad score.

You have a very good verbal score. That should be your foundation. I think quant can be worked on and improved man.
With practice I think you can make it.

For now, your strategy is perfect. You need a break. Freshen up. Relax your mind.

Come back. You can pick a lot of strategy off here.

All the best!

Thanks, Vin!

I think you're right about taking a breather and jumping back in with a clear head.

Good luck to you, too!

I think you're talking sh*t. Just my opinion.

talking shit in what sense?

In the sense that you degrade a perfectly good score as being 'such a low score' that top schools wont think about considering your application.
If you don't know that 700 is a high score (regardless whether or not you wanted higher), then I don't know how you even got it in the first place. It's a score that I would very much be happy to achieve, along with 90% of the other students in this community. Those who would want a higher score, could at least recognize that 700 is still high, but still need to improve.
The fact that you belittle this relatively high score, which most students struggle to achieve, shows you have no regards for the feelings other other students, regardless of their ambitions.
I have the feeling you know this already, and, in fact, are trying to show off how smart you are by claiming a 700 is too low for you. Although this very well may be the case, and need a higher score, it still means you're talking shit.

Interesting analysis. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I haven't taken a math class since I was 16. I work in a creative field and rarely deal with numbers. On top of this I'm applying to top programs for which most advisors recommend an 80/80 split. The standard caveat, of course, is that if you did well in math as an undergrad and/or you have professional experience in finance, then it's ok if your quant score is beneath the 80th percentile. And given the fact that I had been scoring close to the 80th and saw such a massive drop on test day, I was pretty unhappy. You'll notice to the left that my target score was a 700. But I'm sure you're also aware that you can pull a 700 through countless combinations of quant and verbal scores; it just so happens that, given my background and the schools to which I'm applying, I got the variation that could cast the greatest doubt.

700 is obviously a good score, and my girlfriend's cousin got interviews at both harvard and booth last year with a 650. But, then again, he not only performed well in math as an undergrad, but also spent the past 6 years leading projects at two prestigious investment firms.

My background is untraditional to say the least, which led to my decision to take the test again.

Thanks for the support, and good luck in your studies, as well.

I have the feeling you know this already, and, in fact, are trying to show off how smart you are by claiming a 700 is too low for you. Although this very well may be the case, and need a higher score, it still means you're talking shit.

A little too much to say

Totally agree with what your argument, which I believe is absolutely valid.

Applying for a top program.

Do not have a significant math background; So, have to score well on the Quant to make up for it.

Did not get to do that.

Hence, disappointed.

I just hope people read the posts carefully, and respect others' opinions rather than make blanket arguments like:

I like to score a 700.

You did, yet you complain. So, you're talking crap.

I think that it makes sense for you to take a step back, refresh, and focus on improving your quant. Looks like you still have 3 MGMATs left, and you should put that to good use. Also, check out the other affordable programs listed on this forum (Grockit, Knewton, etc) and see whether they can help you improve your quant score. Remember, there are only a limited number of, albeit many, concepts that the GMAT tests. Just identify your weak areas, understand the concepts and practice a lot. Come up with a good strategy, and am sure you will hit the 80th percentile.

Wishing you the best,

Congratulations! You got the exact same breakdown as me. I admit it annoys me when people with good scores complain about how bad they are. It is dismissive of the 9 out of 10 people that you beat out. Beating 9 out of 10 companies in the business world certainly isn't a bad track record, so it's pretty silly to be upset with a 700. In my case, I was satisfied with my score but disappointed because I don't think I lived up to my potential. On my final two GMAT Prep tests (tests 2 attempt 1 & 2) I scored 750 and 760. So on the real thing, I scored a full 2 standard deviations below the average of my last two practice scores. That translates to a bottom 2% of my expected performance. So I felt that I underperformed from that aspect, but I think my score was perfectly decent. In your case, a 700 is within the expected range based on your practice tests, so I don't think you should take it as a huge surprise or disappointment.

I only planned on applying to local evening programs, and a 700 beats the top-rated part-time programs, so I wasn't overly-worried. I got into both of the schools I was targeting. I was offered a full tuition + stipend research assistantship to one and I'm still waiting on the other for scholarship information. So a 700 served me well.

I think I disagree with your assessment on the quant section. A 68th percentile in quant, in my opinion, reflects poorly on someone with a quantitative background more so than someone without one. I have taken plenty of math in undergrad, I have a pretty quantitative career path, and I plan a finance concentration. I feared that a 68th percentile would sully my resume and make me appear as though my work experience and educational background didn't really translate into genuine quantitative competency. I think a school would expect you to do better in verbal than quant. You're living up to their expectations.

I also really don't think the GMAT matters much past the 700 mark unless you're talking about schools desperate to raise their rank. Google "calling all harvard 2011" and go to the gmatclub link. It's a very long list of people rejected from Harvard and there isn't a shortage of scores above 750.