700 to 750 to 770

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700 to 750 to 770

by dimochka » Sat Jun 02, 2012 7:56 pm
Hi all,

I figured I'd share my experience since there may be people on the forums who are scoring fairly well and yet are looking to increase their score. A little background, though, might help. I'm in my mid 20s and I'm fairly good at standardized exams. Math comes quite easily to me, whereas English not as much (since it's my third language) though well enough. I've also been tutoring for SATs for about 7 years, initially only for math but later progressing into teaching all sections.

The first time I took the GMATs was about a year ago. My studying realistically consisted of reading the instructions, going through the free practice test on ManhattanGMAT.com, and skimming the Kaplan GMAT 800 book. I fully expected to take the test twice, and so I chose to do it with this little practice.

The result: 700 (50M/35V/6AWA)

While this is a score many would be happy with, I was not; I planned to apply to the top MBA programs, and I needed a considerably higher score to have a chance (My GPA is in the low 3s for various good and some not-so-good reasons). I spent the next few months studying further.
I would say that most helpful were manhattangmat's online tests (to which you can get free access if you buy any of their books) - I took all of them. Furthermore, I went through the Powerscore Critical Reasoning Bible, and the Manhattan GMAT Reading Comprehension books. I also practiced with a decent number of questions from the official GMAT Guide book.

The Result: 750 (51M/41V/AWA6) [98th percentile]

The reason I decided to retake the test again is two-fold. First, as I enjoy teaching, I felt that it was logical for me to apply to teach the GMAT. As such, I felt that I needed a score in the 99th percentile for my own sake. Second, I applied to just two schools earlier this year, and did not get in; while I'm sure that an improvement of the GMAT wouldn't make much of a difference, I elected to do it anyways.
To study, I reset all the MGMAT tests. However, I went through them a bit differently this time around (as many questions repeated, though I didn't remember most). Whenever I was a question I was not fully sure how to answer, I'd pick my answer, then go to google and search for that question online (therefore getting a solution either from BTG or MGMAT). Reading the explanations right after doing the problem helped me personally remember/understand it better.
I also went fully through the Official Guide, this time checking my answers after every ten questions.

The Result: 770 [50M/46V/no AWA yet because I took it this morning]

My suggestions to those who are studying:
1. Official Guide - go through everything but specifically focus on sections that are weaker for you.
2. MGMAT Tests - go through all of them (maybe one a week), and make sure to go through all the solutions after each test. Then reset the tests and go through them again. You should be able to get considerably more questions correct if you understand how they work, and it's unlikely you'll remember all the questions two months down the line.
3. Kaplan Books - I would not necessarily recommend the Kaplan GMAT 800, but if you want to start with a basic book to study, pick up a Kaplan book. From my experience, Kaplan books are often better for people who score decently well to begin with, and want to improve (many other books focus more on the average student looking to improve and the questions, in my opinion, reflect that).
4. PowerScore OR MGMAT books (specific sections) - pick the ones that are less clear to you and go through them carefully and in detail. Don't skip sections just because you feel that you know them. Follow every rule and get used to doing what they say. It will make a difference.

That's more or less it. For me, the nice thing about standardized tests is that, with enough practice, questions that are solved similarly will begin repeating. The more you practice, the more they'll repeat and you'll know exactly what to do. Consider questions not only from the perspective of "How do I solve this", but also from "What are they trying to test" and "What specifically is used to trick me here".

This is what worked for me, and hopefully may work for some other people. Feel free to reach out to me further if you have any comments/questions.

Dima
Last edited by dimochka on Sun Jun 03, 2012 5:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

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by Jim@StratusPrep » Sat Jun 02, 2012 10:05 pm
Thanks for the tips!
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by neelgandham » Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:35 pm
Congratulations Dima! You woke me from Hibernation!
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by thulsy » Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:54 pm
Congrats!

Consider questions not only from the perspective of "How do I solve this", but also from "What are they trying to test" and "What specifically is used to trick me here".
That's golden. Thank you for sharing!

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by dimochka » Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:53 am
You're very welcome.

Yes, that really is a very important aspect of answering many of these questions (in my opinion). If you see a right triangle, you should automatically think "pythagorean theorem", whereas if it's equilateral, you will most likely need to use the 30-60-90 rule. Similarly for the verbal section - if you see words that indicate a comparison, automatically look for things like "as ___ as", between vs. among, and comparing the same things to each other. Not every single question will have these, but being able to immediately realize that a specific question is likely testing one of three things will save you time and likely help answer it correctly.

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by sprusty » Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:40 pm
congratulations, you are truly persistent

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by gmat.acer » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:09 am
Hello dimochka congratulations! It was amazing how you improved your score from 700 to 770.
I noticed that you got M51 in your second attempt. How did you prepare for math in general? Any tips especially for M-51? What material did you use for math?
I will appreciate any advice/suggestions.
Thanks and congratulations again.

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by dimochka » Fri Jun 08, 2012 8:25 am
I hate to be that guy, but I can't say I used any specific tool to prepare for math; I was often able to do most of the questions as is, and the main reason I was getting questions wrong is due to carelessness.

Nevertheless, I can tell you I definitely spent some time working on data sufficiency questions, because those are different from what we're used to.

My personal suggestion:
- Go through the official GMAT book, and then go through the solutions after you're done. If the question was solved in a different method from what you used, go through it to understand that method. If there is a shortcut, a different formula, write it down and try to use it if you see a similar question
- Data sufficiency questions do NOT need to be solved for a solution. All they ask is whether you can use the given information to solve. As soon as you can answer yes/no to this question, answer it and go on (and save some time as a result). In addition, be careful - too many times I've a question such as "Does x=1" have an answer of "No", and people interpret that as "Cannot be solved"; you did solve it, the answer is that it does not equal.
- Know your special right triangles and pythagorean triples, formulas for area/circumference/volume, formulas for diagonals in two and three dimensional shapes (set-up right triangles to figure them out if needed), rules for angles (vertical, supplementary, etc), relationships of angles and areas of inscribed shapes, and so on. A lot of these will come up, and if you know them or at least know that you need to start with them, you'll save some extra time.

Practice as much as you can, and always always always go through the actual solutions afterwards to see if you could've done a question in a better/faster/different/more effective way.

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by vikram4689 » Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:47 am
Congrats :) Dima,
I want to ask that when you see a new problem do you relate it,most of the times, to some problem you did in past or you take EACH problem as a new one. I am asking this because many experts have iterated that one thing that differentiate 760+ scorers from other test takers is that almost all of 760+ test takers are able to relate problem faced on test to some problem that they did in the past. So, Does that mean they remember/learn structure of the problems they do and if that is the case i would like to know how to achieve that. At present i can only deduce what type of ques (say assumption on CR) but i am not able to relate to some previous ques.
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by dimochka » Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:12 am
Sorry for replying 1.5 years later, but I figured I'd respond for anyone else looking at this for insight. Yes, I would definitely have to say that over the course of your studying, you should be able to relate a large number of questions to practice problems you've done in the past. As a matter of fact, when I tutor, I'll regularly tell my students to note questions that are likely to repeat in a similar manner on the exam. As I've said in the past - ask yourself "what is being tested here", and then look into "what different methods I can use to solve this question". I suggest taking at least one or two practice tests untimed so you can truly work through a question and understand it throughly, as the types skills tested on the gmat are not infinite and over time they will inevitable repeat.
Please feel free to private message me with any questions; I don't check the forums regularly, whereas PMs go straight to my email.

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by gmat barcelona » Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:12 am
Congrats!

"The more you practice, the more they'll repeat and you'll know exactly what to do" ;)
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