Hello all!
First of all, I would like to thank all of you in the forums. I never posted any message before today but I enjoyed a lot all the answered questions I could find and I think it helped me a lot.
I took the GMAT a couple of weeks ago. I scored 750 (Q49, V42), still expecting my AWA score...
The feeling was really weird. I'm a French engineer so I expected to perform better in the quant section than in the verbal one. But the percentiles are 85th for the quant and 95th for the verbal. So strange...
I studied the GMAT during 2 months approx. My bible has been the GMAT Center study book. It helped me a lot on the verbal section. I did a lot of paper tests. My pace was one section every night (One paper test every two days). I don't really recommend the paper tests because they are from unofficial sources and sometimes I really could not understand why I was wrong. (And beatthegmat.com's forums confirmed me that the paper tests seemed to be wrong)
I focused my revision on the verbal part.
The mistakes I was making on the quant part were bad calculations or Data Sufficiency errors that I was easily able to understand why I was failing.
For the verbal part, my worst points were SCs and RCs questions. So I practiced it with the material I found on the internet and the MBA Center book.
I also enjoyed all the pieces of advice I found on this web site. Especially for the RCs questions.
I did not work so much the AWA part, until a week before the test. For the AWA prep, I read some AWA scored 6 on the internet and prepared a template for the introduction, conclusion and main parts.
I took the 2 GMAT Prep test and scored 720 and 760. I think they are quite accurate after all.
My GMAT Day
I had my appointment at 14h30, so I had to be at the test center at 14h. I woke up as usual at 8, prepared myself until 10-11 and walk in the street (in Madrid Center) during an hour or so. At 12, I had a lunch (Burger King... no other restaurant is open at 12 in Spain...) then another 30 minute walk.
At 13h45, I was there. I did the paper stuff.
The analysis on an argument went quite well, and kept me confident.
The analysis of an issue was harder, it was like I could not have any idea in English, but I managed to write something after all.
Then I took the quant part. So weird... all the questions seemed so easy. I tried to double-check my answers but I guess there were several hidden traps in which I fell. Finished the quant part with 15 minutes left (bad time management I guess)
I enjoyed the break to go to the bathroom then started the verbal part. I found all the questions difficult and I was running after the clock.
Then, I confirmed the test and got my score.
My first reaction was a disappointment because I focused on the quant score. I expected a 50+ score on it. Then I saw the 750, and could barely understand it. Then I saw my score on my verbal section.
It was a very strange feeling because I think I would be happier if I scored 50 on the quant and had a lower global score (like 730). I would have understood it better. I think I'm good at math and not so good at English so it would have been more representative of what I am (or what I think I am)
Anyway, I'm happy to score 750, I hope it will help me to be admitted to the B-School I want.
Thanks again for all the help I received from your forums, and I hope I'm not the only one to have experienced the same feeling as I did (good score but I think I could do better in quant, but I will do worse at verbal)
Cheers,
Mickaël.
First of all, I would like to thank all of you in the forums. I never posted any message before today but I enjoyed a lot all the answered questions I could find and I think it helped me a lot.
I took the GMAT a couple of weeks ago. I scored 750 (Q49, V42), still expecting my AWA score...
The feeling was really weird. I'm a French engineer so I expected to perform better in the quant section than in the verbal one. But the percentiles are 85th for the quant and 95th for the verbal. So strange...
I studied the GMAT during 2 months approx. My bible has been the GMAT Center study book. It helped me a lot on the verbal section. I did a lot of paper tests. My pace was one section every night (One paper test every two days). I don't really recommend the paper tests because they are from unofficial sources and sometimes I really could not understand why I was wrong. (And beatthegmat.com's forums confirmed me that the paper tests seemed to be wrong)
I focused my revision on the verbal part.
The mistakes I was making on the quant part were bad calculations or Data Sufficiency errors that I was easily able to understand why I was failing.
For the verbal part, my worst points were SCs and RCs questions. So I practiced it with the material I found on the internet and the MBA Center book.
I also enjoyed all the pieces of advice I found on this web site. Especially for the RCs questions.
I did not work so much the AWA part, until a week before the test. For the AWA prep, I read some AWA scored 6 on the internet and prepared a template for the introduction, conclusion and main parts.
I took the 2 GMAT Prep test and scored 720 and 760. I think they are quite accurate after all.
My GMAT Day
I had my appointment at 14h30, so I had to be at the test center at 14h. I woke up as usual at 8, prepared myself until 10-11 and walk in the street (in Madrid Center) during an hour or so. At 12, I had a lunch (Burger King... no other restaurant is open at 12 in Spain...) then another 30 minute walk.
At 13h45, I was there. I did the paper stuff.
The analysis on an argument went quite well, and kept me confident.
The analysis of an issue was harder, it was like I could not have any idea in English, but I managed to write something after all.
Then I took the quant part. So weird... all the questions seemed so easy. I tried to double-check my answers but I guess there were several hidden traps in which I fell. Finished the quant part with 15 minutes left (bad time management I guess)
I enjoyed the break to go to the bathroom then started the verbal part. I found all the questions difficult and I was running after the clock.
Then, I confirmed the test and got my score.
My first reaction was a disappointment because I focused on the quant score. I expected a 50+ score on it. Then I saw the 750, and could barely understand it. Then I saw my score on my verbal section.
It was a very strange feeling because I think I would be happier if I scored 50 on the quant and had a lower global score (like 730). I would have understood it better. I think I'm good at math and not so good at English so it would have been more representative of what I am (or what I think I am)
Anyway, I'm happy to score 750, I hope it will help me to be admitted to the B-School I want.
Thanks again for all the help I received from your forums, and I hope I'm not the only one to have experienced the same feeling as I did (good score but I think I could do better in quant, but I will do worse at verbal)
Cheers,
Mickaël.
