-
bmanu
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2009 8:33 pm
- Location: San Francisco
- GMAT Score:720
Finally! I can move on!
My background:
I'm French, 28 years old, MS in Financial Engineering, graduated in 2004 from a French School near Paris, and got my 1st job in the US shortly thereafter.
I'm good at Math, not so good in English - If you know a few French guys, you probably know what I am talking about!
I first thought about taking the GMAT in Nov 2008, asked a few tips to one of my colleague at work who graduated from Haas in 2006. He told me how to prepare, and what books to order.
I started with those books:
* Cracking the GMAT with DVD, 2009 Edition (Graduate Test Prep)
* How To Get Into the Top MBA Programs, 4th Edition (How to Get Into the Top Mba Programs)
* Barron's GMAT, 2008 with CD-ROM (Barron's How to Prepare for the Gmat Graduate Management Admission Test) 14th Edition
* Kaplan GMAT Premier Program, 2009 (Book & CD-ROM)
First I read pretty much the entire Cracking the GMAT during November, and started to work actively in mid-December.
I don't remember when I took my first CAT test, maybe in the middle of January, I think it was one of Kaplan's, and I scored very low... maybe 560... So low that I forgot about it.
At the time I didn't know what to do; I was pretty much done with all of my books, and obviously needed more preparation.
I then discovered this forum, and that totally changed my approach. I was under the impression that the OG were useless and that they were not worth my time; I got it all wrong and BTG opened my eyes!
So in February I ordered:
* The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition
* The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review
* The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review
* Kaplan GMAT 800, 2008-2009 Edition
I answered absolutely every questions.
I was also gauging my results using the Kaplan CAT tests, and I was scoring in the 600s, still not even close from my target 700+. Back to the forum to get a few tips, and then I learned about MGMAT. They had absolutely the best method to fix up my English, books are very detailed, and present the more concrete approach by offering to dig into the OG.
The SC was definitely my weak spot. I tried to answer every question using my ear, even though I'm French! This was the wrong method. However MGMAT SC book is so detailed that it taught me what to look for using a systematical approach, and that worked very well! SC became my favorite part!
March 09: GMAT Prep 710 (Q 49, V 38) <-- I was very surprised. Only getting bad results with Kaplan
March 30: MGMAT1 610 (Q 45, V 30)
April 06: MGMAT2 560 (Q 34, V 33) <-- I couldn't finish Quant. the more right answer I got, the harder they became
April 06: MGMAT3 650 (Q 43, V 36) <-- I took another test right away, speeding up in Quant
April 13: MGMAT4 650 (Q 44, V 35) <-- At that time I didn't feel I was fully ready, but decided to book the appointment in order to set a deadline.
April 20: MGMAT5 670 (Q 46, V 35)
April 27: MGMAT6 700 (Q 50, V 35) <-- I felt like the computer was trying to encourage me, because the quant questions were much easier than before
I then started to work on AWA. I think the cracking the GMAT method is the best. I wish MGMAT had a book for AWA because I could have used more information, examples... To make sure I was on the right page, I bought the GMAT Write 1 and 2 and this gave me an idea of what to expect. However there is absolutely no feedback, so you have to try to improve your score by resubmitting your essay one more time (you can only submit the essays twice)
GMAT Write 1 AWA issue 3.75
GMAT Write 1 AWA argument 5.25
GMAT Write 2 AWA issue 4
GMAT Write 2 AWA argument 5
GMAT Write 2 AWA issue 5 (retake)
and then I saved the last GMAT Prep for the very last moment hoping I would score at least as well as GMAT Prep 1
May 09: GMAT Prep 680 (Q 49, V 33) <-- I freaked out, this confirmed that I was strong in Q with little preparation, but the V got me very worried...
I checked out last night the Pearson center, made sure I knew where to park, and came back at 8am this morning to take the test. I was a bit stressed out, but the AWA helped to reduce the pressure. I think I did very good in AWA argument, and pretty good in AWA issue. Since English is not my mother tongue, I felt like I had to get a 5... will see in a few weeks!
So the AWA got me warmed up, took the break, then I did alright in Quant, but knew I was not scoring 49-51 as I was hoping to because the last questions were not hard enough. I had to guess the answer of the 2 last questions even though I was pacing myself pretty well for the entire section. So this was it, during the last break, I told myself, now is the time to wake up and to make sure I don't have to come back here in a few weeks! Verbal went very well, I understood the 4 texts without any difficulties, which is the key in RC I would say, and this made me extra confident, I knew I did well – even though I had to guess the last 2 questions again!
What a relief when I saw the final score 720 (Q 47, V 41). I'm pleased with the result, especially knowing that this is my best performance! I apparently need some pressure to achieve good results! I'm a bit disappointed with my Quant score though... but oh well, if I retake it, I probably won't score as much in Verbal! So I can sell my books on eBay, and start practicing for the TOEFL now! BTW we don't have a TOEFL section on the forum, and I think it would be nice!
The GMAT is such a frustrating test!! All the questions taken individually are so easy, but the quantity and the time limit require one to work so hard to achieve a top score! It is quite challenging to go to work and then study at night or during the weekends to get back in shape! I felt like I should have taken the GMAT right when I graduated from College. When you end up getting a top job that pays a lot, it is hard to convince yourself to start from scratch and study again! I probably ended up answering something like 3,000 questions!! But that was worth it.
So I wanted to thank everyone on the forum, many contributions were extremely helpful, especially the ones with scores achieved during the tests preps, all the ones recommending books, and giving a few tips about strategies to follow, as well as the AWA sections where essays are graded and commented!!! I didn’t post very much, but I read a lot of topics, and they were incredibly helpful, so I wanted to contribute a little bit to the forum by posting my experiences.
My Goal is to get into the Full Time MBA at Haas!
Thanks again everyone!!
My background:
I'm French, 28 years old, MS in Financial Engineering, graduated in 2004 from a French School near Paris, and got my 1st job in the US shortly thereafter.
I'm good at Math, not so good in English - If you know a few French guys, you probably know what I am talking about!
I first thought about taking the GMAT in Nov 2008, asked a few tips to one of my colleague at work who graduated from Haas in 2006. He told me how to prepare, and what books to order.
I started with those books:
* Cracking the GMAT with DVD, 2009 Edition (Graduate Test Prep)
* How To Get Into the Top MBA Programs, 4th Edition (How to Get Into the Top Mba Programs)
* Barron's GMAT, 2008 with CD-ROM (Barron's How to Prepare for the Gmat Graduate Management Admission Test) 14th Edition
* Kaplan GMAT Premier Program, 2009 (Book & CD-ROM)
First I read pretty much the entire Cracking the GMAT during November, and started to work actively in mid-December.
I don't remember when I took my first CAT test, maybe in the middle of January, I think it was one of Kaplan's, and I scored very low... maybe 560... So low that I forgot about it.
At the time I didn't know what to do; I was pretty much done with all of my books, and obviously needed more preparation.
I then discovered this forum, and that totally changed my approach. I was under the impression that the OG were useless and that they were not worth my time; I got it all wrong and BTG opened my eyes!
So in February I ordered:
* The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition
* The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review
* The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review
* Kaplan GMAT 800, 2008-2009 Edition
I answered absolutely every questions.
I was also gauging my results using the Kaplan CAT tests, and I was scoring in the 600s, still not even close from my target 700+. Back to the forum to get a few tips, and then I learned about MGMAT. They had absolutely the best method to fix up my English, books are very detailed, and present the more concrete approach by offering to dig into the OG.
The SC was definitely my weak spot. I tried to answer every question using my ear, even though I'm French! This was the wrong method. However MGMAT SC book is so detailed that it taught me what to look for using a systematical approach, and that worked very well! SC became my favorite part!
March 09: GMAT Prep 710 (Q 49, V 38) <-- I was very surprised. Only getting bad results with Kaplan
March 30: MGMAT1 610 (Q 45, V 30)
April 06: MGMAT2 560 (Q 34, V 33) <-- I couldn't finish Quant. the more right answer I got, the harder they became
April 06: MGMAT3 650 (Q 43, V 36) <-- I took another test right away, speeding up in Quant
April 13: MGMAT4 650 (Q 44, V 35) <-- At that time I didn't feel I was fully ready, but decided to book the appointment in order to set a deadline.
April 20: MGMAT5 670 (Q 46, V 35)
April 27: MGMAT6 700 (Q 50, V 35) <-- I felt like the computer was trying to encourage me, because the quant questions were much easier than before
I then started to work on AWA. I think the cracking the GMAT method is the best. I wish MGMAT had a book for AWA because I could have used more information, examples... To make sure I was on the right page, I bought the GMAT Write 1 and 2 and this gave me an idea of what to expect. However there is absolutely no feedback, so you have to try to improve your score by resubmitting your essay one more time (you can only submit the essays twice)
GMAT Write 1 AWA issue 3.75
GMAT Write 1 AWA argument 5.25
GMAT Write 2 AWA issue 4
GMAT Write 2 AWA argument 5
GMAT Write 2 AWA issue 5 (retake)
and then I saved the last GMAT Prep for the very last moment hoping I would score at least as well as GMAT Prep 1
May 09: GMAT Prep 680 (Q 49, V 33) <-- I freaked out, this confirmed that I was strong in Q with little preparation, but the V got me very worried...
I checked out last night the Pearson center, made sure I knew where to park, and came back at 8am this morning to take the test. I was a bit stressed out, but the AWA helped to reduce the pressure. I think I did very good in AWA argument, and pretty good in AWA issue. Since English is not my mother tongue, I felt like I had to get a 5... will see in a few weeks!
So the AWA got me warmed up, took the break, then I did alright in Quant, but knew I was not scoring 49-51 as I was hoping to because the last questions were not hard enough. I had to guess the answer of the 2 last questions even though I was pacing myself pretty well for the entire section. So this was it, during the last break, I told myself, now is the time to wake up and to make sure I don't have to come back here in a few weeks! Verbal went very well, I understood the 4 texts without any difficulties, which is the key in RC I would say, and this made me extra confident, I knew I did well – even though I had to guess the last 2 questions again!
What a relief when I saw the final score 720 (Q 47, V 41). I'm pleased with the result, especially knowing that this is my best performance! I apparently need some pressure to achieve good results! I'm a bit disappointed with my Quant score though... but oh well, if I retake it, I probably won't score as much in Verbal! So I can sell my books on eBay, and start practicing for the TOEFL now! BTW we don't have a TOEFL section on the forum, and I think it would be nice!
The GMAT is such a frustrating test!! All the questions taken individually are so easy, but the quantity and the time limit require one to work so hard to achieve a top score! It is quite challenging to go to work and then study at night or during the weekends to get back in shape! I felt like I should have taken the GMAT right when I graduated from College. When you end up getting a top job that pays a lot, it is hard to convince yourself to start from scratch and study again! I probably ended up answering something like 3,000 questions!! But that was worth it.
So I wanted to thank everyone on the forum, many contributions were extremely helpful, especially the ones with scores achieved during the tests preps, all the ones recommending books, and giving a few tips about strategies to follow, as well as the AWA sections where essays are graded and commented!!! I didn’t post very much, but I read a lot of topics, and they were incredibly helpful, so I wanted to contribute a little bit to the forum by posting my experiences.
My Goal is to get into the Full Time MBA at Haas!
Thanks again everyone!!
Last edited by bmanu on Sat May 23, 2009 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
