hey all, a few thoughts on my gmat. probably the worst thing i've ever studied for. just really painful. I was really worried that only "smart" people could do well on the gmat. Well, I think anyone can do well on the gmat but it may take some people longer than others. Some people say the gmat has a lot to do with inherent ability. To some extent this is true but I think it's all about how hard you work. i think i could have improved to 750+ with a few more months of study but i also would have been on suicide watch. i don't consider myself to be smart (but i can work hard).
Study materials I used:
manhattan books - loved all the books except I didn't use reading comprehension or critical reasoning. I don't think you need to use these to do well on verbal but the sentence correction book is a must.
OG 11, OG verbal, OG quant - pretty decent to start learning but the questions are way too easy
800 - great instruction for tough questions but not enough questions
4gmat math workbook - way too hard, a waste of time
best study materials by far - the gmatclub.com tests. $79 for unlimited access is well worth it and they have a TON of questions that are tough and very representative of the actual gmat - very similar to gmatprep questions.
things I would do differently if I were to take again:
-take gmat prep exams more than just once each
-take all the gmatclub.com tests
-time myself on each problem - I didn't do enough practice under timed conditions
-don't be such a crackhead on exam day worrying about whether the next question i got was harder or easier than the last
-give up my ego and guess and move on (i spent too much time trying to figure out questions i would never solve)
gmat prep practice test scores are very representative of how you will perform on exam day (as you can see by my scores below). The manhattan tests are way too lengthy/wordy/difficult. Not a true representation of the exam.
best of luck.
Friday 8/8 - Princeton Review Free Test - 570: 31 Verbal 37 Math
Sunday 9/28 - Manhattan Free Test - 640: 34 Verbal 44 Quant
Saturday 10/18 - Manhattan Test 1 - 700: 39 Verbal 46 Quant
Sunday 10/26 - Manhattan Test 2 - 650: 36 Verbal 43 Quant
Saturday 11/1 - Veritas Free Test - 650: 33 Verbal 48 Quant
Sunday 11/2 - Kaplan Free Test - 630: 39 Verbal 41 Quant
Sunday 11/9 - GMAT Prep 1 - 720: 44/45 (not sure which was which)
Saturday 11/15 - Manhattan Test 3 - 700: 38 Verbal 47 Quant
Sunday 11/16 - GMAT Prep 2 - 710: 41 Verbal 47 Quant
Study materials I used:
manhattan books - loved all the books except I didn't use reading comprehension or critical reasoning. I don't think you need to use these to do well on verbal but the sentence correction book is a must.
OG 11, OG verbal, OG quant - pretty decent to start learning but the questions are way too easy
800 - great instruction for tough questions but not enough questions
4gmat math workbook - way too hard, a waste of time
best study materials by far - the gmatclub.com tests. $79 for unlimited access is well worth it and they have a TON of questions that are tough and very representative of the actual gmat - very similar to gmatprep questions.
things I would do differently if I were to take again:
-take gmat prep exams more than just once each
-take all the gmatclub.com tests
-time myself on each problem - I didn't do enough practice under timed conditions
-don't be such a crackhead on exam day worrying about whether the next question i got was harder or easier than the last
-give up my ego and guess and move on (i spent too much time trying to figure out questions i would never solve)
gmat prep practice test scores are very representative of how you will perform on exam day (as you can see by my scores below). The manhattan tests are way too lengthy/wordy/difficult. Not a true representation of the exam.
best of luck.
Friday 8/8 - Princeton Review Free Test - 570: 31 Verbal 37 Math
Sunday 9/28 - Manhattan Free Test - 640: 34 Verbal 44 Quant
Saturday 10/18 - Manhattan Test 1 - 700: 39 Verbal 46 Quant
Sunday 10/26 - Manhattan Test 2 - 650: 36 Verbal 43 Quant
Saturday 11/1 - Veritas Free Test - 650: 33 Verbal 48 Quant
Sunday 11/2 - Kaplan Free Test - 630: 39 Verbal 41 Quant
Sunday 11/9 - GMAT Prep 1 - 720: 44/45 (not sure which was which)
Saturday 11/15 - Manhattan Test 3 - 700: 38 Verbal 47 Quant
Sunday 11/16 - GMAT Prep 2 - 710: 41 Verbal 47 Quant
