I just Beat The GMAT!

I am certainly not the smartest, nor am I the most stupid, but I really was up against it to achieve my score of 640, that i got 1.5 hours ago.

Brief background on me - I had not solved any meaningful maths problems for about 7 years - due to the nature of my education system, nor did I remember what a verb was, let alone comprehend sentence correction. Couple this with the fact my consulting job can dictate long hours, meaning I was really was up against it to achieve my push target score of 600.

I started my GMAT prep about 9 months ago. I bought a beginner maths book (and I mean beginner) and spent a month covering the basics - I took my time, and slowly started to build some confidence. Then on the recommendation of this board, I went out and bought the MGMAT books. They proved invaluable, and while in some cases there is too much content (specifically designed for 700-800 level problems) they proved so useful in starting to re-enforce the GMAT principles, that i honed over time.

Bear in mind I did not have the confidence to face a practice test, and based on my standard I would certainly have been around 450-500 level. I was not able to take a big knock by realizing I was that far off the pace.

At this stage I hit a rut, and coincidently was sent to Singapore on business for 2 months, little work was done and I was questioning if I was ever going to get there.

On return, I enrolled in a Kaplan course, and although it felt rushed (in Ireland they try and cover over a much shorter space of time) it more than anything gave me focus, and forced me to step up to the challenges that lay ahead. At this stage I realised CR and RC came naturally to me, and that I was in OK shape. I hated SC and avoided for a while longer....

It took 6 weeks from completing the course before I did a practice test, a 610 (note: this was ONLY 3 weeks before my test date!!). At this stage I had covered a lot of content and was relatively on my way. Although, I did not trust the full validity of my score, as I had made a lot of lucky guesses. After that I completed an GMAT prep test - actually felt this had went better, but scored a 580. Confidence a little dented but I kept going.

At that stage I identified I was scoring terrible in SC, and really channeled my efforts to improving that area. I did see improvements and on my last test I got a 610 - a level I would have taken before the test. For the last few days I reviewed flash cards from Eric (thankyou!) and MGMAT flash cards, just to keep my mind active on sections and also identify weak points..

Test went well, I had good starts to both sections and stayed positive throughout. I ate 2 bananas and packet of nuts beforehand, and during breaks red bull and sweets to keep my concentration up (may not work for all!!).

The resources I used:

All MGMAT books
OG 12
Kaplan book
Flash cards.

Couple of tips, I build a model that tracked all my incorrect answers from OG12 and other sources for review later on - that helped a lot of seeing the standard I was at.

All I can say is thanks to all, I was more a lurker than a contributer, but I appreciated all the posts that go up here. For people who are stressed out, you can achieve levels far above your 'natural' level, and while I know 700 is too much for me, I was probably a 500 student, so big jumps are possible, if you bust your ass and go for it - you can reach your goal.

As my signature says: "I came, I saw, I conquered!", and while I may not have studied smart, nor got a 780, that 640 is the reflection of a journey that started 9 months ago were I busted my ass to achieve my dream. Hopefully it allows me to touch-down in Geneva this September.

Roll on the application!!