730 (Q48, V42)

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730 (Q48, V42)

by machichi » Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:46 pm
Below is a loooong explanation of my strategy for scoring a 730 on the exam (Q48, V42, AWA 6). It's not quite a nutshell-sized summary, which is why I'm calling it my "coco"-nutshell.

I started studying for the GMAT a little under 3 months before my exam date. I considered taking a class, but decided against it for a couple of reasons, not the least of which was that it was prohibitively expensive for me. A major reason in addition to the cost was knowing myself. I don't procrastinate and so I knew I would be diligent about following my study plan.

Phase I: figuring out my deadline
I studied for about 2 hours every other day for those couple months, but I kicked off my process with an assessment exam from the current version of the GMATprep software that February. Scoring a 650, I was really surprised by how challenging the test was. This exam is artfully made--particularly the quant section. Data sufficiency questions were a completely new beast and I was completely amazed by how many questions each question is really asking (this one by itself, or maybe this one, or maybe both or maybe neither!?). I had no idea how long it would take to improve my score, but I knew that the test was changing on June 5, so I chose to take the exam May 26 before the changes would go into effect.

Phase II: getting materials
I then started looking through Amazon at the different prep books and decided right away on two based on overall feedback. Everyone's favorite bible: the Official Guide (OG), and Kaplan's GMAT 800. I did the practice exam in the OG but didn't really get a sense for what I needed to work on. So I just decided to work on everything. I alternated back and forth between these two books based on my interests for that day. If I felt like studying data sufficiency I did that, if sentence correction rocked my world, I rocked its world. I was not strategic and I was not organized. I just did practice problems. It worked for me for awhile.

(Quick aside regarding the books: The OG is a must-have book, whatever current edition is out. The Kaplan book was ok. It was good for looking at hard questions and building my confidence because I found I could get a lot of them right. For actual learning though, take it or leave it.)

Phase III: getting serious
Around late March I signed up for 800score.com deciding I wanted more practice tests. I've heard mixed reviews of the site, but I liked it and in particular thought their treatment of the writing portion to be really good (which you'll see I didn't bother reading until the week of the test).

After 3 weeks of studying I was surprised by how little I had improved in the 40 some hours I'd spent studying--getting a 670 and a 690 in the two weeks of different tests. Sure these scores were decent, but I was learning that all raw scores were NOT created equal. In fact, my Q42 put me at about the 50th percentile! So although on the surface getting a V42 and a Q42 seemed quite balanced to me early on, I now knew it was totally not going to fly with the admissions committee. That's when I decided to get a tutor and when I discovered beatthegmat.com and gmatclub.com. Thank god for these websites and services! It put in perspective how much more movement I could make in quant than verbal; given the percentiles, tons more people are getting a Q46 than a V46 for example.

Phase III: doubling down
After realizing that my earlier efforts were probably only helpful in learning time management and diminishing test anxiety, I catalyzed my new strategy and focused in on quant. I used craigslist to track down a GMAT tutor. I chose someone who did not charge me for the first meeting unless I hired him for a second session. I really liked his style and workbook, so we agreed to meet. The most important subjects that we covered together were inequalities, number properties, probability, and rates. These types of questions he (correctly) predicted were taking me way too long to complete, causing me to rush at the end. The other immensely useful piece of advice he gave me was to buy a Manhattan GMAT book because you get access to 5 online adaptive tests with the purchase. For some $25 this was a great deal! I chose geometry since he said it was the best and not worth covering in tutoring.

Phase IV: testing, assessing, practicing, repeat!
After tutoring, I spent May taking practice tests on Manhattan GMAT, which has awesome tools for evaluating the kinds of questions you're missing--it breaks them down both in terms of question types (e.g. assumptions or strengthening in CR or geometry and probability in quant--DS or Problem solving) and difficulty level (e.g., 600-700 or 700-800). The best part is it tracks the data across multiple tests. I then reviewed questions I got wrong, practiced those types of questions on beatthegmat.com, and took another practice exam. Then I did it all over again. This strategy really worked for me and has surely helped lots of people.

Phase V: almost there!
I reviewed final materials this week and took the official GMAT software practice tests and got a 720 and a 740 that week. I was very happy with my scores (Q 46 and V44 and 46 respectively) and felt ready for the test. That week I suddenly remembered: there is an essay portion! I totally didn't even think about studying for it and to be honest didn't look at any materials until three days before the test. I memorized the following formula for "analysis of an issue" section: always say argument is flawed and give a summary of assumptions and premises; then point out assumption problems, premise issues, and ways to strengthen; and finally finish with a conclusion that revisits the intro.


Phase VI: done!

SUCCESS! I took the exam after fretting all day about it. I stupidly scheduled the test for 3:30pm. I highly recommend doing it earlier so you don't work yourself up. Indeed, I got into the room and was shaking with anxiety.

I finished the quant section convinced I had bombed it. The questions were way too easy and I was freaking out that I had missed a bunch and failed to get into the 700+ questions. Then while doing the verbal I was surprised at how many curve balls the test was throwing at me. I rapidly finished the demographic information and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw my score. I got a full two points higher on my verbal than I had ever gotten: Q48! I admit, I was disappointed with my verbal. I had been scoring on average 45, so I thought I could do better, but all my studying in the quant had paid off!

Now that I've had time to get over that, I'm psyched. And hey, two weeks later I found out I'd aced the AWA. So boooya, GMAT.

And there you have it. My coconuts!
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by NextGreatLeader » Wed Aug 01, 2012 5:12 am
Congrats, great score and debrief.

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by shreerajp99 » Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:10 am
Hey congrats,thats a great score!!
Did u refer to earlier OG editions?What kind of questions did u encounter during the exam,especially in quant.Which topics u feel one should stress more on in quant?
Also,did u finish the Manhattan quant books and the advanced guides?

Thanks,
Shreeraj

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by machichi » Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:41 am
I completed the entire OG edition 12, but didn't go back to previous questions. I forgot to mention that I bought the add-on for the GMATprep Software, which I highly recommend.

Honestly, the thing that surprised me and turned out to be the most useful was number properties. Being able to factor numbers quickly, understanding odd/even problems, knowing those special prime situations (2!) really paid off. On the test I was surprised how easy the geometry questions were (perhaps because of the book?). I only saw 1 probability question even though I studied for it a lot. Inequalities were also really tough for me.

I didn't do any other manhattan quant books or get advanced guides. The tutor acted as my "advanced guide" and we spent about 6 hours together over 4 weeks. I think the thing he helped me with the most was data sufficiency though--I was approaching the problems without a system. He helped by listing out the times I should use numbers, for example, and by giving me a way to literally write down on paper my process. So many people on these forums suffer from the same problems as I did--we rush and get tricked by the evil GMAT monsters!
Blogging about the MBA application process. Because I need to do something with all this bschool energy.
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by durevalle » Tue Aug 07, 2012 12:38 pm
Thanks for your post !
I was not really enthusiastic to take a GMAT tutor.
You changed my mind.
How much did you pay for ?
machichi wrote:Below is a loooong explanation of my strategy for scoring a 730 on the exam (Q48, V42, AWA 6). It's not quite a nutshell-sized summary, which is why I'm calling it my "coco"-nutshell.

I started studying for the GMAT a little under 3 months before my exam date. I considered taking a class, but decided against it for a couple of reasons, not the least of which was that it was prohibitively expensive for me. A major reason in addition to the cost was knowing myself. I don't procrastinate and so I knew I would be diligent about following my study plan.

Phase I: figuring out my deadline
I studied for about 2 hours every other day for those couple months, but I kicked off my process with an assessment exam from the current version of the GMATprep software that February. Scoring a 650, I was really surprised by how challenging the test was. This exam is artfully made--particularly the quant section. Data sufficiency questions were a completely new beast and I was completely amazed by how many questions each question is really asking (this one by itself, or maybe this one, or maybe both or maybe neither!?). I had no idea how long it would take to improve my score, but I knew that the test was changing on June 5, so I chose to take the exam May 26 before the changes would go into effect.

Phase II: getting materials
I then started looking through Amazon at the different prep books and decided right away on two based on overall feedback. Everyone's favorite bible: the Official Guide (OG), and Kaplan's GMAT 800. I did the practice exam in the OG but didn't really get a sense for what I needed to work on. So I just decided to work on everything. I alternated back and forth between these two books based on my interests for that day. If I felt like studying data sufficiency I did that, if sentence correction rocked my world, I rocked its world. I was not strategic and I was not organized. I just did practice problems. It worked for me for awhile.

(Quick aside regarding the books: The OG is a must-have book, whatever current edition is out. The Kaplan book was ok. It was good for looking at hard questions and building my confidence because I found I could get a lot of them right. For actual learning though, take it or leave it.)

Phase III: getting serious
Around late March I signed up for 800score.com deciding I wanted more practice tests. I've heard mixed reviews of the site, but I liked it and in particular thought their treatment of the writing portion to be really good (which you'll see I didn't bother reading until the week of the test).

After 3 weeks of studying I was surprised by how little I had improved in the 40 some hours I'd spent studying--getting a 670 and a 690 in the two weeks of different tests. Sure these scores were decent, but I was learning that all raw scores were NOT created equal. In fact, my Q42 put me at about the 50th percentile! So although on the surface getting a V42 and a Q42 seemed quite balanced to me early on, I now knew it was totally not going to fly with the admissions committee. That's when I decided to get a tutor and when I discovered beatthegmat.com and gmatclub.com. Thank god for these websites and services! It put in perspective how much more movement I could make in quant than verbal; given the percentiles, tons more people are getting a Q46 than a V46 for example.

Phase III: doubling down
After realizing that my earlier efforts were probably only helpful in learning time management and diminishing test anxiety, I catalyzed my new strategy and focused in on quant. I used craigslist to track down a GMAT tutor. I chose someone who did not charge me for the first meeting unless I hired him for a second session. I really liked his style and workbook, so we agreed to meet. The most important subjects that we covered together were inequalities, number properties, probability, and rates. These types of questions he (correctly) predicted were taking me way too long to complete, causing me to rush at the end. The other immensely useful piece of advice he gave me was to buy a Manhattan GMAT book because you get access to 5 online adaptive tests with the purchase. For some $25 this was a great deal! I chose geometry since he said it was the best and not worth covering in tutoring.

Phase IV: testing, assessing, practicing, repeat!
After tutoring, I spent May taking practice tests on Manhattan GMAT, which has awesome tools for evaluating the kinds of questions you're missing--it breaks them down both in terms of question types (e.g. assumptions or strengthening in CR or geometry and probability in quant--DS or Problem solving) and difficulty level (e.g., 600-700 or 700-800). The best part is it tracks the data across multiple tests. I then reviewed questions I got wrong, practiced those types of questions on beatthegmat.com, and took another practice exam. Then I did it all over again. This strategy really worked for me and has surely helped lots of people.

Phase V: almost there!
I reviewed final materials this week and took the official GMAT software practice tests and got a 720 and a 740 that week. I was very happy with my scores (Q 46 and V44 and 46 respectively) and felt ready for the test. That week I suddenly remembered: there is an essay portion! I totally didn't even think about studying for it and to be honest didn't look at any materials until three days before the test. I memorized the following formula for "analysis of an issue" section: always say argument is flawed and give a summary of assumptions and premises; then point out assumption problems, premise issues, and ways to strengthen; and finally finish with a conclusion that revisits the intro.


Phase VI: done!

SUCCESS! I took the exam after fretting all day about it. I stupidly scheduled the test for 3:30pm. I highly recommend doing it earlier so you don't work yourself up. Indeed, I got into the room and was shaking with anxiety.

I finished the quant section convinced I had bombed it. The questions were way too easy and I was freaking out that I had missed a bunch and failed to get into the 700+ questions. Then while doing the verbal I was surprised at how many curve balls the test was throwing at me. I rapidly finished the demographic information and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw my score. I got a full two points higher on my verbal than I had ever gotten: Q48! I admit, I was disappointed with my verbal. I had been scoring on average 45, so I thought I could do better, but all my studying in the quant had paid off!

Now that I've had time to get over that, I'm psyched. And hey, two weeks later I found out I'd aced the AWA. So boooya, GMAT.

And there you have it. My coconuts!

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by RyanJW » Tue Aug 07, 2012 12:50 pm
Congrats! Thanks for the interesting debrief.

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by machichi » Tue Aug 07, 2012 1:15 pm
durevalle wrote:Thanks for your post !
I was not really enthusiastic to take a GMAT tutor.
You changed my mind.
How much did you pay for ?
He charged me $100 for 90 minutes. I thought it was really reasonable (especially after calling Princeton Review and Kaplan and being quoted thousands of dollars!). I think if you are already in the mid 600 range, your needs are way too specific and nuanced to benefit from a class. At least for me, I needed targetted support to get me in a healthy 700 range. I hope it works out for you!
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https://www.mbabreakaway.com/
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by KapTeacherEli » Tue Aug 07, 2012 7:13 pm
machichi wrote:
durevalle wrote:Thanks for your post !
I was not really enthusiastic to take a GMAT tutor.
You changed my mind.
How much did you pay for ?
He charged me $100 for 90 minutes. I thought it was really reasonable (especially after calling Princeton Review and Kaplan and being quoted thousands of dollars!). I think if you are already in the mid 600 range, your needs are way too specific and nuanced to benefit from a class. At least for me, I needed targetted support to get me in a healthy 700 range. I hope it works out for you!
Hi machichi,

Congratulations on your success! I'm glad you were able to succeed, and I'm glad you got use out of Kaplan books, even if they weren't your main resource!

I'm sorry that the price tag on our tutoring didn't fit with your plans. However, I just wanted to clarify to the folks reading this thread that the price you were quoted was for tutoring and a classroom class, which we sell as a package. We have to sell them together, because our tutors rely on our textbooks, online resources, and CATs that all our students have access to. Of course, if you were already self studying, so the class wasn't a good fit--but for students already in our classes, the cost for a 15 hour tutoring package actually works out to the $100 for 90 minutes you were happy with!

But technicalities of pricing aside, you did great. In particular, you did one of the hardest things for successful test-takers to do: accept that score! Your best test-day performance will often *feel* like your worst, because of the Computer Adaptive nature of the GMAT. You need to take that score, because the odds are (as in this case) that the score is better than you think!
Eli Meyer
Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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