So I wanted to post here for all the non-geniuses out there that get really discouraged, but at the same time encouraged, by all the amazing 99 percentile scores. Here's my story:
I had started studying in February using the Kaplan Book as a starting off point. I was not really getting many of the concepts but I kept trucking along. I finally took the one practice test online and received a score of 600. After, I started using the official GMAT books using the big fat one and the one verbal and one quantitative books. I did all of the questions in the two smaller books, which I think added up to about 600 problems. I did all of the most of the math problems in the larger book and worked on a few of the sentence correction problems. My main areas of struggle came in the math and the sentence correction.
I bought the $40 practice test option from MGMAT and started taking those practice tests which I thought were WAY harder than the actual tests. I took 5 and I think my scores were 540, 580, 590, 570, 600. I took two of the practice tests from the GMAT Prep that is given to everyone when you sign up for the GMAT. I think I made a 610 and a 590. I wasn't feeling very confident come test day. I was originally scheduled to take the test last Wednesday but wanted a bit more time, especially with the test changing in June. I put it for 4 PM because I feel more comfortable later in the day as opposed to the morning.
The test started off with the argument which I think I did well at. It was regarding something almost similar with what I had practice with which was huge for me. It involved a company's issues and what they were planning to do to increase profits. I thought I did well and am interested to see what I made on it. For the issue, it was a bit more tough than the argument. I tried to make my points are clear as possible and tried to have a clear organization of the essay to help my cause.
Q - I'm pretty sure that I got the first two questions wrong. I started working through and I honestly couldn't gauge whether or not the questions were hard or easy. I thought I was making really good guesses on some of the problems which probably showed in my final score. I ended up losing time and had to guess on the last seven but I was able to spend about 30-40 seconds on each and so I tried to make really good guesses. After, I was feeling ok, just ready to see what my score was.
V - By this point, I was getting extremely restless and really just wanted to see my scores. I knew that I needed to rock the verbal to make up for what I thought was my shortcomings in the q. Again, I couldn't really gauge whether or not the problems were hard or not. I had always heard that the actual test is not as hard as the practices are but didn't believe it.
After I had finally finished my test, I was really anxious to receive my score. I had no idea what I would get, my emotions were all over the place. When the 660 showed up, I was shocked, elated, speechless and all the other good adjectives you can find. I only needed a 640 to be comfortable getting a 660 just adds to my cushion that I have. I am very excited about the future. I'm not applying to a MBA program but to a Master's of Accounting at a school hopefully in Texas. Typically, these scores do not need to be as high as MBA but the higher, the better. Here's to hoping I can get into a good school here!
My advice:
-Use the flash cards that are provided here as help. Today, that's what I read through to refresh and I really feel like they were a HUGE help. Thanks BTG!
-The Official Guides are really the best help. I did almost 1000 problems and I can say that my success was definitely related to the work I put in with these books. Use them.
-One of the main things that I wanted myself to do was to be mentally tough. After reading here, it seemed like most people do worst on the actual test because of their anxiety or whatever. I didn't feel like I had the option of letting anything else bring me down so I really took some time to get focused and be confident. Growing up playing sports, this was something that I was used to being in a lot of game-like situations. I think it really does help spending some time the day before and the day of getting focused and in the test mode. You don't need to review anything at this time but kinda have a one-on-one with yourself, doing whatever you need to do to hype yourself up.
I want to say a big thank you to everyone on this board. Whether you know it or not, all of you helped me achieve my goal with your questions and comments. I am very thankful to have found an online community like this where one can go to for help and support. Please don't stop getting after it! You can do it! I never thought I could "beat the GMAT" but after today, I'm POSITIVE that anyone can!
I had started studying in February using the Kaplan Book as a starting off point. I was not really getting many of the concepts but I kept trucking along. I finally took the one practice test online and received a score of 600. After, I started using the official GMAT books using the big fat one and the one verbal and one quantitative books. I did all of the questions in the two smaller books, which I think added up to about 600 problems. I did all of the most of the math problems in the larger book and worked on a few of the sentence correction problems. My main areas of struggle came in the math and the sentence correction.
I bought the $40 practice test option from MGMAT and started taking those practice tests which I thought were WAY harder than the actual tests. I took 5 and I think my scores were 540, 580, 590, 570, 600. I took two of the practice tests from the GMAT Prep that is given to everyone when you sign up for the GMAT. I think I made a 610 and a 590. I wasn't feeling very confident come test day. I was originally scheduled to take the test last Wednesday but wanted a bit more time, especially with the test changing in June. I put it for 4 PM because I feel more comfortable later in the day as opposed to the morning.
The test started off with the argument which I think I did well at. It was regarding something almost similar with what I had practice with which was huge for me. It involved a company's issues and what they were planning to do to increase profits. I thought I did well and am interested to see what I made on it. For the issue, it was a bit more tough than the argument. I tried to make my points are clear as possible and tried to have a clear organization of the essay to help my cause.
Q - I'm pretty sure that I got the first two questions wrong. I started working through and I honestly couldn't gauge whether or not the questions were hard or easy. I thought I was making really good guesses on some of the problems which probably showed in my final score. I ended up losing time and had to guess on the last seven but I was able to spend about 30-40 seconds on each and so I tried to make really good guesses. After, I was feeling ok, just ready to see what my score was.
V - By this point, I was getting extremely restless and really just wanted to see my scores. I knew that I needed to rock the verbal to make up for what I thought was my shortcomings in the q. Again, I couldn't really gauge whether or not the problems were hard or not. I had always heard that the actual test is not as hard as the practices are but didn't believe it.
After I had finally finished my test, I was really anxious to receive my score. I had no idea what I would get, my emotions were all over the place. When the 660 showed up, I was shocked, elated, speechless and all the other good adjectives you can find. I only needed a 640 to be comfortable getting a 660 just adds to my cushion that I have. I am very excited about the future. I'm not applying to a MBA program but to a Master's of Accounting at a school hopefully in Texas. Typically, these scores do not need to be as high as MBA but the higher, the better. Here's to hoping I can get into a good school here!
My advice:
-Use the flash cards that are provided here as help. Today, that's what I read through to refresh and I really feel like they were a HUGE help. Thanks BTG!
-The Official Guides are really the best help. I did almost 1000 problems and I can say that my success was definitely related to the work I put in with these books. Use them.
-One of the main things that I wanted myself to do was to be mentally tough. After reading here, it seemed like most people do worst on the actual test because of their anxiety or whatever. I didn't feel like I had the option of letting anything else bring me down so I really took some time to get focused and be confident. Growing up playing sports, this was something that I was used to being in a lot of game-like situations. I think it really does help spending some time the day before and the day of getting focused and in the test mode. You don't need to review anything at this time but kinda have a one-on-one with yourself, doing whatever you need to do to hype yourself up.
I want to say a big thank you to everyone on this board. Whether you know it or not, all of you helped me achieve my goal with your questions and comments. I am very thankful to have found an online community like this where one can go to for help and support. Please don't stop getting after it! You can do it! I never thought I could "beat the GMAT" but after today, I'm POSITIVE that anyone can!
