-
BeatOrBust
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:01 pm
- Thanked: 5 times
- Followed by:1 members
Like numerous other posters on this forum, I would like to start by thanking the BTG community for providing this incredible platform. Every time I doubted myself, or got tired during GMAT preparation, I used to come to the forum to get juices flowing again 
I took the GMAT on 06/08 and scored a 740 (97th percentile, Q50, V40).
Getting started
My initial target date for the GMAT was sometime in April, 2013. I had gone on a month long vacation starting Thanksgiving last year and was excited to get started on my prep around the end of the year as the workload is a little light and I had a few days off. I had already bought the complete set of MGMAT guides and OG guides. I started self-prep around Dec 20th and was going through the various MGMAT guides. I also got my hands on the Powerscore CR bible from a friend and started reading it. However, by the end of the year (10 days ) I realized that I did not really have a plan and the prep wasn't really going anywhere. I decided to enroll in Manhattan GMAT's classroom course starting second week of Jan. My plan was to follow the coursework thoroughly till the end and then spend about a month self-studying and take the GMAT in April.
Note: It really depends on the individual if taking a course is worthwhile or not. For me, it was totally worth it as I was lacking the discipline which is needed to study for the GMAT. Another bonus was that I got to meet other folks who were also preparing for the GMAT and we had a bunch of very helpful study sessions.
Preparation
From the beginning of the MGMAT course, for the next 10 weeks I followed the course material and did all/most of the homework. The homeworks usually take ~15 hours per week and my goal all along was to put in around 20 hours a week. I took some practice tests along the way and my baseline MGMAT score was 640. So, I had to improve by ~100 points which anyone will tell you is not easy and I realized that. The weekly routine was pretty much - attend the 3 hour class, do the homework (15 hours) and have a study session (2-3 hours) every 2 weeks or so.
As any 'expert' will tell you - when you do any number of questions, it is very very important to understand why you got something wrong. Even if you get a question right, review the solution thoroughly. Make sure you understand why the wrong answers are wrong (in verbal) and if you could have something differently to arrive at the solution quicker (in quant). For me, getting into this mentality was difficult, as a part of my brain always said the more I practiced, the better and obviously the reviews usually take longer than the actual solving.
After the course
One of the biggest questions always is, once you do take a prep course how long should you wait before taking the actual test. Answer is - it really depends. It depends on how focused you are after the course, if you know what your weaknesses are and how to work on them and how many hours you can put in per day. I would say at least 100 hours of solid prep after a course ends should get your score higher by 50 points. Obviously, this is just my opinion and entirely depends on the individual. I am sure there are some who started hitting their target scores early in their prep.
There was a lot going on at work and I just could put in the effort required to be ready in 4 weeks following the course. By the end of March, I had realized that I would not be ready to take the test in mid-April (my initial target date). For about 6 weeks, I could not really study and focus. This is big no-no as I had lost all the built up momentum and although I knew the strategies, it was almost like starting from scratch when I started preparing again.
Prep Phase 2
Around 04/20 I started the second phase of my preparation determined that I am going to put in solid amount of work for the next few weeks. The preparation this time was going well and I was gaining confidence. Around the first week of May, I booked the date for 06/08 (a month from then).
One of the things I would like to share with everyone is something which immensely helped me in verbal preparation (although my final score doesn't really reflect that). For verbal, although the number of questions I was getting right on mock tests had increased, the difficulty level of right answers hadn't. So my verbal score was either not improving or hardly improving. This was frustrating to me and I decided to change the strategy. This time, I picked up a verbal topic, read the MGMAT guide and practiced all OG problems related to that topic. This really helped me understand why some answers were wrong as I was focused on a particular topic (parallelism, for example). I started feeling more confident and during mock tests was also making a conscious effort of understanding what GMAT is testing. This helped me apply all the 'rules' that I had previously learned.
For quant, the biggest challenge was always timing and I was always conscious of the clock during the tests. There were a few topics (Probability, co-ordinate plane) which I was not very good at but I realized that being 'good' at al topics was not necessary. Whenever I saw a question on these topics, it was a freebie for me - spend 30 secs, get it if you can or move on - really helps maintain the pace of the exam. If you can pick out some weaknesses that you no longer worry about, this could in fact help your timing on the test.
Date-Test-Quant-Verbal-Score
6-Jan MGMAT 1 43 34 640
18-Feb MGMAT 2 46 36 680
16-Mar MGMAT 3 40 37 640
12-May MGMAT 4 45 38 690
19-May Veritas Free 49 39 710
26-May MGMAT 5 47 40 710
1-Jun MGMAT 6 48 38 710
4-Jun GMAT Prep 2 49 46 760
6-Jun GMAT Prep 1 49 44 760
Final week of preparation
The final week wasn't so much of learning more content. It was more about setting the pace leading up to the real test. I took 2 tests during the final week around the same time my real test was. During the tests, I always took the 8 minute breaks (ate a bar and a few sips of gatorade). Basically I was trying to avoid any surprises on test day.
My test was on Saturday. I took the GMAT Prep test 2 on Tuesday and scored 760 (Q49, V46). This was the confidence I needed. As with any mock test, I thoroughly reviewed each and every solution. I was very confident on RC, I was getting almost all correct with good timing. CR was strong too but I always had the 'how does it sound' issue with SC. I was never able to get rid of that but was using that only on difficult SC questions whenever I was stuck.
Day before test
I did not want this to be a stressful day. The first thing I did Friday morning was make a list of few things I would like to review during the day (previously marked 'redo' questions, some SC rules, etc.etc.). I tried to stay relaxed all day and paced myself to ensure I reviewed everything I wanted to, checking topics off. With the test at noon the following day, went to bed early-ish (around 11).
Test day
NO SURPRISES was the mantra for the day. Went to Starbucks - standard grande latte and ham breakfast sandwich - got back and was ready for the test. Test center was at a 10 minute walk and as much I tried not to think about the test too much, I still was thinking about it Took the nice walk (it was sunny day!) and was at the test center by 11:20. They wouldn't start taking anyone in before 11:30 so just waited around for a bit, and was ready for the test. Again, was trying to stay as calm as possible.
Oh, I should mention I walked to test center on Wednesday just to check it out. This was also part of 'No surprises'.
During the test
I highly recommend everyone to go through some videos on mba.com which show you what you can expect on test day. the video was pretty accurate and everything went smoothly. Test the marker etc., just follow general guidelines.
I do not know what the general perception of the IR section, but I love it! It always felt like a warmup to the the quant section and helped me calm down and focus. TAKE THE 8 MINUTE BREAKS!
Quant was easier than I expected, and I finished with 5 minutes to spare.
Verbal - RC was much more difficult (or may be it was just my nerves) , CR was also a little more difficult I felt, SC was similar. Timing was not a problem and I think I finished with 3 minutes to spare.
Some Final tips
- Know your target score
- Know that GMAT prep is not a sprint. It is ,at least, a 10k (marathon in my case)
- Know your strengths and weaknesses
- For perfectionists out there, the sooner you understand that you don't NEED to get every single problem right, the better
- Try to follow a plan and be disciplined but always know 'Life happens' and its OK
- Review all problems - remember quality not quantity
- Reviewing SC by topics and focussing on problems on a particular topic worked for me and may work for you too
- For CR, identifying what type of question is important so you know what CAN be true versus what MUST be true
- And lastly, RELAX - stay positive!
I took the GMAT on 06/08 and scored a 740 (97th percentile, Q50, V40).
Getting started
My initial target date for the GMAT was sometime in April, 2013. I had gone on a month long vacation starting Thanksgiving last year and was excited to get started on my prep around the end of the year as the workload is a little light and I had a few days off. I had already bought the complete set of MGMAT guides and OG guides. I started self-prep around Dec 20th and was going through the various MGMAT guides. I also got my hands on the Powerscore CR bible from a friend and started reading it. However, by the end of the year (10 days
) I realized that I did not really have a plan and the prep wasn't really going anywhere. I decided to enroll in Manhattan GMAT's classroom course starting second week of Jan. My plan was to follow the coursework thoroughly till the end and then spend about a month self-studying and take the GMAT in April.Note: It really depends on the individual if taking a course is worthwhile or not. For me, it was totally worth it as I was lacking the discipline which is needed to study for the GMAT. Another bonus was that I got to meet other folks who were also preparing for the GMAT and we had a bunch of very helpful study sessions.
Preparation
From the beginning of the MGMAT course, for the next 10 weeks I followed the course material and did all/most of the homework. The homeworks usually take ~15 hours per week and my goal all along was to put in around 20 hours a week. I took some practice tests along the way and my baseline MGMAT score was 640. So, I had to improve by ~100 points which anyone will tell you is not easy and I realized that. The weekly routine was pretty much - attend the 3 hour class, do the homework (15 hours) and have a study session (2-3 hours) every 2 weeks or so.
As any 'expert' will tell you - when you do any number of questions, it is very very important to understand why you got something wrong. Even if you get a question right, review the solution thoroughly. Make sure you understand why the wrong answers are wrong (in verbal) and if you could have something differently to arrive at the solution quicker (in quant). For me, getting into this mentality was difficult, as a part of my brain always said the more I practiced, the better and obviously the reviews usually take longer than the actual solving.
After the course
One of the biggest questions always is, once you do take a prep course how long should you wait before taking the actual test. Answer is - it really depends. It depends on how focused you are after the course, if you know what your weaknesses are and how to work on them and how many hours you can put in per day. I would say at least 100 hours of solid prep after a course ends should get your score higher by 50 points. Obviously, this is just my opinion and entirely depends on the individual. I am sure there are some who started hitting their target scores early in their prep.
There was a lot going on at work and I just could put in the effort required to be ready in 4 weeks following the course. By the end of March, I had realized that I would not be ready to take the test in mid-April (my initial target date). For about 6 weeks, I could not really study and focus. This is big no-no as I had lost all the built up momentum and although I knew the strategies, it was almost like starting from scratch when I started preparing again.
Prep Phase 2
Around 04/20 I started the second phase of my preparation determined that I am going to put in solid amount of work for the next few weeks. The preparation this time was going well and I was gaining confidence. Around the first week of May, I booked the date for 06/08 (a month from then).
One of the things I would like to share with everyone is something which immensely helped me in verbal preparation (although my final score doesn't really reflect that). For verbal, although the number of questions I was getting right on mock tests had increased, the difficulty level of right answers hadn't. So my verbal score was either not improving or hardly improving. This was frustrating to me and I decided to change the strategy. This time, I picked up a verbal topic, read the MGMAT guide and practiced all OG problems related to that topic. This really helped me understand why some answers were wrong as I was focused on a particular topic (parallelism, for example). I started feeling more confident and during mock tests was also making a conscious effort of understanding what GMAT is testing. This helped me apply all the 'rules' that I had previously learned.
For quant, the biggest challenge was always timing and I was always conscious of the clock during the tests. There were a few topics (Probability, co-ordinate plane) which I was not very good at but I realized that being 'good' at al topics was not necessary. Whenever I saw a question on these topics, it was a freebie for me - spend 30 secs, get it if you can or move on - really helps maintain the pace of the exam. If you can pick out some weaknesses that you no longer worry about, this could in fact help your timing on the test.
Date-Test-Quant-Verbal-Score
6-Jan MGMAT 1 43 34 640
18-Feb MGMAT 2 46 36 680
16-Mar MGMAT 3 40 37 640
12-May MGMAT 4 45 38 690
19-May Veritas Free 49 39 710
26-May MGMAT 5 47 40 710
1-Jun MGMAT 6 48 38 710
4-Jun GMAT Prep 2 49 46 760
6-Jun GMAT Prep 1 49 44 760
Final week of preparation
The final week wasn't so much of learning more content. It was more about setting the pace leading up to the real test. I took 2 tests during the final week around the same time my real test was. During the tests, I always took the 8 minute breaks (ate a bar and a few sips of gatorade). Basically I was trying to avoid any surprises on test day.
My test was on Saturday. I took the GMAT Prep test 2 on Tuesday and scored 760 (Q49, V46). This was the confidence I needed. As with any mock test, I thoroughly reviewed each and every solution. I was very confident on RC, I was getting almost all correct with good timing. CR was strong too but I always had the 'how does it sound' issue with SC. I was never able to get rid of that but was using that only on difficult SC questions whenever I was stuck.
Day before test
I did not want this to be a stressful day. The first thing I did Friday morning was make a list of few things I would like to review during the day (previously marked 'redo' questions, some SC rules, etc.etc.). I tried to stay relaxed all day and paced myself to ensure I reviewed everything I wanted to, checking topics off. With the test at noon the following day, went to bed early-ish (around 11).
Test day
NO SURPRISES was the mantra for the day. Went to Starbucks - standard grande latte and ham breakfast sandwich - got back and was ready for the test. Test center was at a 10 minute walk and as much I tried not to think about the test too much, I still was thinking about it
Took the nice walk (it was sunny day!) and was at the test center by 11:20. They wouldn't start taking anyone in before 11:30 so just waited around for a bit, and was ready for the test. Again, was trying to stay as calm as possible.Oh, I should mention I walked to test center on Wednesday just to check it out. This was also part of 'No surprises'.
During the test
I highly recommend everyone to go through some videos on mba.com which show you what you can expect on test day. the video was pretty accurate and everything went smoothly. Test the marker etc., just follow general guidelines.
I do not know what the general perception of the IR section, but I love it! It always felt like a warmup to the the quant section and helped me calm down and focus. TAKE THE 8 MINUTE BREAKS!
Quant was easier than I expected, and I finished with 5 minutes to spare.
Verbal - RC was much more difficult (or may be it was just my nerves) , CR was also a little more difficult I felt, SC was similar. Timing was not a problem and I think I finished with 3 minutes to spare.
Some Final tips
- Know your target score
- Know that GMAT prep is not a sprint. It is ,at least, a 10k (marathon in my case)
- Know your strengths and weaknesses
- For perfectionists out there, the sooner you understand that you don't NEED to get every single problem right, the better
- Try to follow a plan and be disciplined but always know 'Life happens' and its OK
- Review all problems - remember quality not quantity
- Reviewing SC by topics and focussing on problems on a particular topic worked for me and may work for you too
- For CR, identifying what type of question is important so you know what CAN be true versus what MUST be true
- And lastly, RELAX - stay positive!
