I'd like to thank everyone on this forum. It was a tremendous help to me during my preparation, providing lots of information, and most importantly, lots of motivation.
I took the GMAT on Nov. 20th and made a 720 (Q47, V41). I had taken it once before on Sept. 22nd and made a 690. I took my first diagnostic test on June 3rd through a Kaplan course and made a 480.
Historically, I'm not a good standardized test taker and didn't know how I was going to score above 670. After 4 months of studying (mainly on the weekends cause I was working full time), I took the test for the first time and scored the 690 (Q40, V44). I wasn't totally disappointed, but I knew I could do better. I took a couple weeks off, studied another month-and-a-half and got the 720.
I used a lot of Kaplan materials starting off, and like most people say, that stuff is a good start, but to really prepare for a high score on GMAT you need to be comfortable with difficult level OG questions and MGMAT. What everyone says about GMATPrep is also true. Take it as many times as you can, the problems are the closest to what you'll see on the test.
The first time I took the GMAT I kept studying all the way until the night before the test. The second time, I forced myself to not do anything the day before. As hard as it was (I hadn't finished all the prep work that I wanted to), I really think it helped.
I have heard people say that they felt like they did really bad on a section when they end up doing well on it. If you feel like you did terrible on a section but finished it, you probably did well on it. If you feel like you did well, you probably did ok. This is SO true, or at least was for me. I made a 44 on verbal the first time and I think it was because I felt so positive about my quant, which ended up only being a 40. The second time, I thought I bombed the quant, the thought of canceling my score entered my mind at the break. I think it caused me to underperform on verbal cause I ended up with a 47 on math and a 41 on verbal. If I had maintained my composure and did as well on verbal as I had the first time, I probably could have made a 740. If you remind yourself of this phenomenon, I think it can help you overcome one of the mind games of the GMAT. I wish I had had more faith in the adage before the test cause I think I could have scored higher on verbal if I had been more confident.
Last thing is time. Start focusing on time at least a month before your test, timing yourself on every problem and finding ways to do things faster. Come up with a game plan for guessing and what to do when behind on time, IT WILL HAPPEN.
Thanks again to everyone and I hope this encourages someone out there that even a normal guy can BEAT THE GMAT!
-Will
I took the GMAT on Nov. 20th and made a 720 (Q47, V41). I had taken it once before on Sept. 22nd and made a 690. I took my first diagnostic test on June 3rd through a Kaplan course and made a 480.
Historically, I'm not a good standardized test taker and didn't know how I was going to score above 670. After 4 months of studying (mainly on the weekends cause I was working full time), I took the test for the first time and scored the 690 (Q40, V44). I wasn't totally disappointed, but I knew I could do better. I took a couple weeks off, studied another month-and-a-half and got the 720.
I used a lot of Kaplan materials starting off, and like most people say, that stuff is a good start, but to really prepare for a high score on GMAT you need to be comfortable with difficult level OG questions and MGMAT. What everyone says about GMATPrep is also true. Take it as many times as you can, the problems are the closest to what you'll see on the test.
The first time I took the GMAT I kept studying all the way until the night before the test. The second time, I forced myself to not do anything the day before. As hard as it was (I hadn't finished all the prep work that I wanted to), I really think it helped.
I have heard people say that they felt like they did really bad on a section when they end up doing well on it. If you feel like you did terrible on a section but finished it, you probably did well on it. If you feel like you did well, you probably did ok. This is SO true, or at least was for me. I made a 44 on verbal the first time and I think it was because I felt so positive about my quant, which ended up only being a 40. The second time, I thought I bombed the quant, the thought of canceling my score entered my mind at the break. I think it caused me to underperform on verbal cause I ended up with a 47 on math and a 41 on verbal. If I had maintained my composure and did as well on verbal as I had the first time, I probably could have made a 740. If you remind yourself of this phenomenon, I think it can help you overcome one of the mind games of the GMAT. I wish I had had more faith in the adage before the test cause I think I could have scored higher on verbal if I had been more confident.
Last thing is time. Start focusing on time at least a month before your test, timing yourself on every problem and finding ways to do things faster. Come up with a game plan for guessing and what to do when behind on time, IT WILL HAPPEN.
Thanks again to everyone and I hope this encourages someone out there that even a normal guy can BEAT THE GMAT!
-Will
