I had no clue the GMAT would be such a challenge.
I started off a couple weeks ago with the GMAT powerprep software and did the 2 practice tests in there, reviewing the answers after I was done and restudying. First test was 530, second test was 590.
Then I was told that I should expect my test score to be lower on test day than on the practice exams, so I went out and bought a program by 800score. It was pretty good; it has 5 practice exams and costs $40.
I then got scores of 560, 570, 590, 600, 650 with the practice tests on 800score. After every test I would re-do the questions I got wrong until I got them right, and I would make sure I could do every question in under 2 minutes, so I re-did even the ones I got right, but took me too long. The 800score program comes with an explanation of how to do the questions you did not answer correctly, and sometimes a trick is used which results in a faster way of doing things than your solution. Almost all their answers were correct, I only submitted two corrections to them. (No response from them) Their support is not very good, but at $40 it's hard to complain. (I had asked for a good technique to keep myself on pace for the actual GMAT and they responded to use their built in pacing system. That's nice, but it isn't built into the actual GMAT) They do have a pretty good tutorial and preparation section that comes with their package, which I found genuinely helpful, and read the sections which applied most to the errors I was making.
The main challenge I had with the GMAT might seem a little odd to some. I have used a calculator my entire life and have until now sucked at mental or paper based arithmetic, so my main challenge involved doing lots and lots of simple math over and over until I could do it reasonably quickly. I think this sucked up the bulk of my study time. The second biggest challenge I had was pacing myself and realizing when it's advantageous to guess and move on to the next question. Usually I like to work on a question until I get it, no matter if it takes hours, and then move on. I'm built that way. But if you do this with the GMAT you fail. So I learned some time management skills and I think these will be handy to me in real life. In management you need to learn to identify and delegate out the more time consuming tasks, or put them aside for another time period. The third biggest challenge I had was in the verbal section, and trying to guess what the main point of the passage was, or what some isolated statement was supposed to mean given the entire context. I could still see a lot of improvement for myself in these areas.
The surprising thing is that I got a 68% in quant and an 83% in verbal, since I am a mathematics major, and have won math awards before. I had expected the opposite. The GMAT is really focused on speed of execution and memorization of problem solving algorithms and fitting them to the type of problem rather than figuring out the issue from scratch. It tests execution ability and I do think it is a good indicator for management potential.
Although I wished I had prepared better and had started much earlier, and wanted to defer the test -- both due to insufficient preparation and due to food poisoning on the day of the exam -- I couldn't as I would miss my scholarship deadline. Fortunately I managed to get a high enough score to meet the scholarship requirements for my chosen program though.
However, I would like to take the GMAT over again at some point and embark upon a more involved study program. I guess I would like to do this to basically have bragging rights to a higher score, and also to open some doors for me at some point in time should anyone look at GMAT score as a prime indicator of performance. I'd like to list a very high GMAT score on my resume within a year or so of now, and most of all, I'd like to... well... beat the GMAT!
I joined beatthegmat after many other sites where I just got spammed by ads and had no meaningful interaction, so I like this site the best. On other sites I had advertised for a GMAT study partner, but never found one. However, if someone is interested in studying with me and can attain some pretty good scores already, I'd definitely be interested in a study partner going forward, although the stress is currently off for me as I have met my scholarship requirements.
Any future advice on improving my score would be appreciated. Where do I go from here?
Thanks!
Mark
I started off a couple weeks ago with the GMAT powerprep software and did the 2 practice tests in there, reviewing the answers after I was done and restudying. First test was 530, second test was 590.
Then I was told that I should expect my test score to be lower on test day than on the practice exams, so I went out and bought a program by 800score. It was pretty good; it has 5 practice exams and costs $40.
I then got scores of 560, 570, 590, 600, 650 with the practice tests on 800score. After every test I would re-do the questions I got wrong until I got them right, and I would make sure I could do every question in under 2 minutes, so I re-did even the ones I got right, but took me too long. The 800score program comes with an explanation of how to do the questions you did not answer correctly, and sometimes a trick is used which results in a faster way of doing things than your solution. Almost all their answers were correct, I only submitted two corrections to them. (No response from them) Their support is not very good, but at $40 it's hard to complain. (I had asked for a good technique to keep myself on pace for the actual GMAT and they responded to use their built in pacing system. That's nice, but it isn't built into the actual GMAT) They do have a pretty good tutorial and preparation section that comes with their package, which I found genuinely helpful, and read the sections which applied most to the errors I was making.
The main challenge I had with the GMAT might seem a little odd to some. I have used a calculator my entire life and have until now sucked at mental or paper based arithmetic, so my main challenge involved doing lots and lots of simple math over and over until I could do it reasonably quickly. I think this sucked up the bulk of my study time. The second biggest challenge I had was pacing myself and realizing when it's advantageous to guess and move on to the next question. Usually I like to work on a question until I get it, no matter if it takes hours, and then move on. I'm built that way. But if you do this with the GMAT you fail. So I learned some time management skills and I think these will be handy to me in real life. In management you need to learn to identify and delegate out the more time consuming tasks, or put them aside for another time period. The third biggest challenge I had was in the verbal section, and trying to guess what the main point of the passage was, or what some isolated statement was supposed to mean given the entire context. I could still see a lot of improvement for myself in these areas.
The surprising thing is that I got a 68% in quant and an 83% in verbal, since I am a mathematics major, and have won math awards before. I had expected the opposite. The GMAT is really focused on speed of execution and memorization of problem solving algorithms and fitting them to the type of problem rather than figuring out the issue from scratch. It tests execution ability and I do think it is a good indicator for management potential.
Although I wished I had prepared better and had started much earlier, and wanted to defer the test -- both due to insufficient preparation and due to food poisoning on the day of the exam -- I couldn't as I would miss my scholarship deadline. Fortunately I managed to get a high enough score to meet the scholarship requirements for my chosen program though.
However, I would like to take the GMAT over again at some point and embark upon a more involved study program. I guess I would like to do this to basically have bragging rights to a higher score, and also to open some doors for me at some point in time should anyone look at GMAT score as a prime indicator of performance. I'd like to list a very high GMAT score on my resume within a year or so of now, and most of all, I'd like to... well... beat the GMAT!I joined beatthegmat after many other sites where I just got spammed by ads and had no meaningful interaction, so I like this site the best. On other sites I had advertised for a GMAT study partner, but never found one. However, if someone is interested in studying with me and can attain some pretty good scores already, I'd definitely be interested in a study partner going forward, although the stress is currently off for me as I have met my scholarship requirements.
Any future advice on improving my score would be appreciated. Where do I go from here?
Thanks!
Mark
