-
BennyJH
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 12:01 am
- Followed by:1 members
- GMAT Score:760
Today I took the GMAT and scored a 760 (82% Quant/99% Verbal). This was the first time I took the GMAT and was what I was hoping for.
Background:
1)I am a 27 year old U.S. Army Captain and Helicopter Pilot. My current job is as a deputy speechwriter for a 4 star general (that helps to explain the verbal).
2)I graduated with a History degree from the United States Military Academy (West Point) with a 3.15
3)I also have a M.S. in Financial Planning, albeit from an online school (but accredited)
4)I have several years working experience as a manager, operations planner, and a speechwriter
5)I have a wife and 2 daughters, ages 3 and 1
6)I currently am stationed and live in Seoul, Korea
How I prepared:
In December 2010 I finally saw the light at the end of my military commitment and started thinking seriously of an MBA. I looked at the top schools and saw what seemed like daunting GMAT scores and knew that I would have to spend a lot of time preparing.
I did a lot of research on different programs and I decided to go with Knewton due to price and good reviews. Plus, living in Korea meant I would be doing all of my studying online. I took my first diagnostic without any preparation and scored a 540. Looking back, I think that was a very accurate score. I honestly didn't even remember what an integer was at that point.
Knewton's video on demand and practice content were great. They started from the beginning and worked their way up. I felt that their verbal was particularly strong, but I got a lot out of the math as well. I also utilized their AWA feedback service and scoring, and I think the feedback I received was excellent.
I finished up the Knewton content by the end of February, and I could focus on my weak areas. Specifically, I knew I needed to focus on SC to get a 99% in verbal and I needed to focus on almost everything to do with Quant. I ordered the OG 11 and 12 as well as the OG companions 2nd edition. I also ordered MGMATs SC guide. I went through every problem in all of the OG Quant (the ones I got wrong I went through 2-3 times) and almost every verbal problem. I focused on studying from this content from March until I took the test in mid-April. I also took a 2 week vacation in March which was great for revitalizing me in the middle of all the studying.
I don't have the breakdown of my GMAT prep tests, but all of my prep test scores are below in the order that I took them:
Knewton: Q35, V31, 540
Knewton: Q40, V37, 620
Knewton: Q43, V39, 670
Knewton: Q45, V39, 680
Knewton: Q42, V46, 700
Knewton: Q47, V48, 760
GMAT Prep1: 760
GMAT Prep2: 740
GMAT Prep1 retest: 760
Day before the test
I had completed my last GMAT prep test the day before, and my GMAT was scheduled in another 10 days. I was sitting at work and asking myself, "do I really want to stress myself out over the next 10 days." So I got on the mba.com website, and rescheduled the test for the next day. This may sound insane, but I hate stressing over long periods of time. That night, I had already bought tickets to a concert and was planning on going on a date with my wife. So there would be no studying for me. I was just going to go do it.
This ended up being the best decision. The concert calmed me down and I didn't have to waste over a week stressing about the test. I just decided to take it when I was ready.
That night I got back, picked up the kids from the sitter, and got to bed around 10pm. Enough time for my appointment the next morning at 9:30am.
Day of the Test
I had no idea where the testing facility was because of my spontaneous decision in GMAT scheduling. Also, I live in Seoul but don't speak Korean. Therefore, I left the house very early and was at the testing facility by 8:40am.
I didn't bring any notes because I felt that if I didn't know it then, I wasn't going to learn it. I was the second person to be entered into the room and I started writing my exam. The AWA went easily and was a great way for me to relax.
The quant was a different story. I kept on getting absolute value inequality equations - my personal nightmare. There is no quant question worse for me. I don't know how many I received, but it felt like way too many. I also kept on getting easy questions with hard ones, then a ridiculously easy question back to back with something that looked like it was written in Klingon. I ended up having 10 seconds for the last question and I put down "A". I got up to take a break and felt like I bombed it. I swear I had to guess (albeit educated guesses) on several questions. I figured I would go back in and do my best, but I honestly thought I would have to come back in a month to take it again.
I started the verbal and the difficulty started picking up right off the bat. The sentence correction were very difficult and one of the reading passages was mind-numbing. However, I knew that this was a good sign and I pressed on.
When it was all over I did some serious praying before clicking the "next" button. I got the 760 and was smiling ear to ear.
Takeaways
I don't have too many takeaways, but here are a few key ones.
1)If do not like having the test hang over your head, schedule (or reschedule in my case) the test when you feel ready. Just do it and get it over with.
2)Don't try to figure out how well you are doing. As much as I told myself I wasn't going to do this, I did it anyway and I was wrong.
3)If you are religious, pray or talk to God. I am not saying that God will give you the answers, but having a feeling like someone is in your corner rooting for you takes some of the edge off. I know it did for me.
That's it. I am open to questions if anyone has one.
Background:
1)I am a 27 year old U.S. Army Captain and Helicopter Pilot. My current job is as a deputy speechwriter for a 4 star general (that helps to explain the verbal).
2)I graduated with a History degree from the United States Military Academy (West Point) with a 3.15
3)I also have a M.S. in Financial Planning, albeit from an online school (but accredited)
4)I have several years working experience as a manager, operations planner, and a speechwriter
5)I have a wife and 2 daughters, ages 3 and 1
6)I currently am stationed and live in Seoul, Korea
How I prepared:
In December 2010 I finally saw the light at the end of my military commitment and started thinking seriously of an MBA. I looked at the top schools and saw what seemed like daunting GMAT scores and knew that I would have to spend a lot of time preparing.
I did a lot of research on different programs and I decided to go with Knewton due to price and good reviews. Plus, living in Korea meant I would be doing all of my studying online. I took my first diagnostic without any preparation and scored a 540. Looking back, I think that was a very accurate score. I honestly didn't even remember what an integer was at that point.
Knewton's video on demand and practice content were great. They started from the beginning and worked their way up. I felt that their verbal was particularly strong, but I got a lot out of the math as well. I also utilized their AWA feedback service and scoring, and I think the feedback I received was excellent.
I finished up the Knewton content by the end of February, and I could focus on my weak areas. Specifically, I knew I needed to focus on SC to get a 99% in verbal and I needed to focus on almost everything to do with Quant. I ordered the OG 11 and 12 as well as the OG companions 2nd edition. I also ordered MGMATs SC guide. I went through every problem in all of the OG Quant (the ones I got wrong I went through 2-3 times) and almost every verbal problem. I focused on studying from this content from March until I took the test in mid-April. I also took a 2 week vacation in March which was great for revitalizing me in the middle of all the studying.
I don't have the breakdown of my GMAT prep tests, but all of my prep test scores are below in the order that I took them:
Knewton: Q35, V31, 540
Knewton: Q40, V37, 620
Knewton: Q43, V39, 670
Knewton: Q45, V39, 680
Knewton: Q42, V46, 700
Knewton: Q47, V48, 760
GMAT Prep1: 760
GMAT Prep2: 740
GMAT Prep1 retest: 760
Day before the test
I had completed my last GMAT prep test the day before, and my GMAT was scheduled in another 10 days. I was sitting at work and asking myself, "do I really want to stress myself out over the next 10 days." So I got on the mba.com website, and rescheduled the test for the next day. This may sound insane, but I hate stressing over long periods of time. That night, I had already bought tickets to a concert and was planning on going on a date with my wife. So there would be no studying for me. I was just going to go do it.
This ended up being the best decision. The concert calmed me down and I didn't have to waste over a week stressing about the test. I just decided to take it when I was ready.
That night I got back, picked up the kids from the sitter, and got to bed around 10pm. Enough time for my appointment the next morning at 9:30am.
Day of the Test
I had no idea where the testing facility was because of my spontaneous decision in GMAT scheduling. Also, I live in Seoul but don't speak Korean. Therefore, I left the house very early and was at the testing facility by 8:40am.
I didn't bring any notes because I felt that if I didn't know it then, I wasn't going to learn it. I was the second person to be entered into the room and I started writing my exam. The AWA went easily and was a great way for me to relax.
The quant was a different story. I kept on getting absolute value inequality equations - my personal nightmare. There is no quant question worse for me. I don't know how many I received, but it felt like way too many. I also kept on getting easy questions with hard ones, then a ridiculously easy question back to back with something that looked like it was written in Klingon. I ended up having 10 seconds for the last question and I put down "A". I got up to take a break and felt like I bombed it. I swear I had to guess (albeit educated guesses) on several questions. I figured I would go back in and do my best, but I honestly thought I would have to come back in a month to take it again.
I started the verbal and the difficulty started picking up right off the bat. The sentence correction were very difficult and one of the reading passages was mind-numbing. However, I knew that this was a good sign and I pressed on.
When it was all over I did some serious praying before clicking the "next" button. I got the 760 and was smiling ear to ear.
Takeaways
I don't have too many takeaways, but here are a few key ones.
1)If do not like having the test hang over your head, schedule (or reschedule in my case) the test when you feel ready. Just do it and get it over with.
2)Don't try to figure out how well you are doing. As much as I told myself I wasn't going to do this, I did it anyway and I was wrong.
3)If you are religious, pray or talk to God. I am not saying that God will give you the answers, but having a feeling like someone is in your corner rooting for you takes some of the edge off. I know it did for me.
That's it. I am open to questions if anyone has one.
