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sudhirbhaskar
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:15 pm
Just got back from the testing facility. I was pleased with my score, but here's the important part - preparation:
Got two Kaplan books from a friend back in May and started studying over the summer. These were a good starting point. Didn't read through them thoroughly, but I went through them and did some problems. Questions are pretty representative and they have some decent strategies.
DON'T DO THIS - If you come across a Kaplan CD from a Kaplan book, do not use it. I wasted 4 Saturdays taking practice tests of which I never topped 630. Sure, it was helpful in challenging me to do better, but these scores were way deflated. I wasted a hell of a lot of time thinking I was way too far below where I needed to be to sign up for the GMAT.
The best prep tests were, of course, the GMATPrep tests from GMAC. On these two tests, both of which I took in the last 8 days because I did not want to "waste" my best resource, I scored a 700 and 740 with Quant and Verbal scores very, very similar to my official scores. It was a very accurate predictor, obviously.
The second best tool was the Manhattan GMAT practice tests. It was only taking the freebie a month ago where I got a 700 that I realized how freaking terrible the Kaplan scores were. Manhattan scores were pretty darn accurate as well. I think I took four and scored a 700 or 710 each time, which, considering I stopped taking them with about 10 days left, is right where I was at. I will say some of the math questions are more intensive than you will see on the real thing, but it makes for good practice.
There is a set of flash cards posted on here that was really handy. I have always done well in math, but GMAT math tested a lot of concepts that I had not used in 10 years. Having a resource to flip through was very handy.
There are a couple of questions on the GMAT Math that I probably I could not have answered if I had spent 30 minutes each on them. I got perfect scores on the math SAT and ACT, but some of these questions are very, very hard. For most people, you'll just need to be identify the ones you have no chance on and move on. Save your time for questions you can actually answer. 99.999% of us aren't going to ace the test, so after 45 seconds of looking at a problem you can't get anywhere, give up.
I got pretty average scores on the ACT and SAT on verbal sections, so to get a very respectable 41 felt good. I don't know about other people, but in my first several practice tests I would finish with 10+ minutes left. I was not rushing, but I was just over and done with it. I realized that there is no sense in rushing through the thing. I learned to take my time, especially in tricky CR questions. I think I took probably 4 minutes on a couple of CR questions, which I think was totally worth it.
Anyway, thanks to all the great people on this forum. I learned quite a bit on how to approach certain questions not from a book or from practice tests but from the people here. Kudos and good luck to all you test takers.
Got two Kaplan books from a friend back in May and started studying over the summer. These were a good starting point. Didn't read through them thoroughly, but I went through them and did some problems. Questions are pretty representative and they have some decent strategies.
DON'T DO THIS - If you come across a Kaplan CD from a Kaplan book, do not use it. I wasted 4 Saturdays taking practice tests of which I never topped 630. Sure, it was helpful in challenging me to do better, but these scores were way deflated. I wasted a hell of a lot of time thinking I was way too far below where I needed to be to sign up for the GMAT.
The best prep tests were, of course, the GMATPrep tests from GMAC. On these two tests, both of which I took in the last 8 days because I did not want to "waste" my best resource, I scored a 700 and 740 with Quant and Verbal scores very, very similar to my official scores. It was a very accurate predictor, obviously.
The second best tool was the Manhattan GMAT practice tests. It was only taking the freebie a month ago where I got a 700 that I realized how freaking terrible the Kaplan scores were. Manhattan scores were pretty darn accurate as well. I think I took four and scored a 700 or 710 each time, which, considering I stopped taking them with about 10 days left, is right where I was at. I will say some of the math questions are more intensive than you will see on the real thing, but it makes for good practice.
There is a set of flash cards posted on here that was really handy. I have always done well in math, but GMAT math tested a lot of concepts that I had not used in 10 years. Having a resource to flip through was very handy.
There are a couple of questions on the GMAT Math that I probably I could not have answered if I had spent 30 minutes each on them. I got perfect scores on the math SAT and ACT, but some of these questions are very, very hard. For most people, you'll just need to be identify the ones you have no chance on and move on. Save your time for questions you can actually answer. 99.999% of us aren't going to ace the test, so after 45 seconds of looking at a problem you can't get anywhere, give up.
I got pretty average scores on the ACT and SAT on verbal sections, so to get a very respectable 41 felt good. I don't know about other people, but in my first several practice tests I would finish with 10+ minutes left. I was not rushing, but I was just over and done with it. I realized that there is no sense in rushing through the thing. I learned to take my time, especially in tricky CR questions. I think I took probably 4 minutes on a couple of CR questions, which I think was totally worth it.
Anyway, thanks to all the great people on this forum. I learned quite a bit on how to approach certain questions not from a book or from practice tests but from the people here. Kudos and good luck to all you test takers.
