What a Bliss!
I am an undergraduate student, GMAT was one of the test required in the admission conditions of the graduate program I would like to take a part in.
I started to study for the GMAT test with absolutely no knowledge of what this test was about: I booked the test and bought some books quite randomly, actually. I was in Paris for an exchange program: you may imagine the reduced amount of effort I've put in the preparation of this test. Silly as I am, I thought I could perform 650 quite easily. In February I had the test: I took 620/800, and 6.0 in the AWA part - I am not an English mothertongue, so I was satisfied. But about the test.. I felt in despair. it was the first time I failed something: I've always considered myself more of a "brainy" person rather than a manual one, and seeing that I couldn't perform as I wanted was quite a shocker.
So, after the test, I went to sleep.
the next morning, my mother woke me up at 6 AM - she obviously didn't close an eye all night. she forced me to take the test again (you may imagine my happiness!). she told me not to care about money, and to buy all the books I thought were necessary.
I think that after a few days of anger (mostly toward myself) I acquired the right state of mind. GMAT isn't about being a genious, but it is about being motivated and strong. I set the apointment exactly one month later, and I stareted studying again, focusing on the part I was weak at -> the Quantitative part.
I didn't go to any class (didn't have money/time, I have college and a part-time job), but I've bought a LOT of books, some of them useful, some other not.
AWA: didn't study for that one. a few day before the first test, I typed "Awa" on google and I've printed some keywords and examples. I've read a few other AWAs and I was crushed by the clear distance in the writing quality (I think I have a serious lack in "high" language), so I focused more on the structure and the mental preparation. one of the books I've bought was quite actually useful for the AWA as well. at the first test, I just wrote everything being very careful, and that actually paid -> without being a mothertongue, I was able to get a 6.0. unlucky me, I don't think I've done it so well the second round (oh, well).
INTEGRATED REASONING: I HATED that one. I think I took a 53 percentile the first time, and a 67 percentile the second time around (really don't know how). I am looking for an internship during the summer, and lots of banks require to perform a sort of integrated reasoning test online, so I think this was quite useful, especially for time management. I didn't find very useful the integrated reasoning preparation integrated in the GMAT REVIEW.
QUANTITATIVE: I took a 54-55 percentile the first time and a 70 percentile the second time. oh man, I've studied super hard for that one (the month in between the two tests I just focused on that one). the first time I've spent a lot of time of the preparation with a book that was totally unuseful (at least, for me). I think the trick to really understand whether you are ready or not is when you are capable of solving the exercices proposed on the daily GMAT question (of the beatthegmat blog). the first time I was able to solve the first 130 ca.exercices on the GMAT review without apparent mistakes, and for the questions I was not able to solve I was able to understand my mistake. that is NOT enough! to prepare well, it is not sufficient to understand your mistake, because there are so many little shadows of everything that a correct answer for a question will surely be wrong for the next one.
VERBAL: studied for the first time with two excellent books, didn't study for the second time: the morning of the test I read my old notes, and that is it. I took a 64 percentile the first time, and a 96 percentile (absurd!!!) the second time. couldn't believe my eyes.
BOOKS:
- Gmat review, 13th edition. fundamental, I used it for the preparation of the first time, and the second time I reviewed the wrong answers. I was happy when I was able to solve my previous mistakes. piece of advice: this book is not for preparation, is for a review of your knowledge. I wouldn't use it to acquire knowledge, but to test it. especially useful for sentence correction, problem solving and data sufficiency (I've never seen that kind of question before, and that could be unsettling).
- Manhattan GMAT, Number Properties: super useful. It was easy to follow and it helped me a lot (I bought it for the second time). I think it was fundamental to understand the little tricks that are beneath the logic of the whole GMAT test.
- Manhattan GMAT, Advanced Quant: also a good book. I bought it for the second time, and it also helped me to "click". I think that the big problem behind the test isn't just the real math, but the click necessary to understand it. and the time, of course. This book was quite tough, but not impossible - and I am not a genious.
- Manhattan GMAT, Math Foundations: UNUSEFUL (for me) book. really unneccessary, I focused a lot of my efforts on it and it was a total waste of time. everything that is included in this book is explained better in the above-mentioned ones, it is a really easy book. the only thing I could save in this one, is that it helped me to remember to revise the multiplication table.
-Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning bible: what a book! I've bought it the first time and the notes I've took from it helped me also the second time. there is a whole strategy explained in it (quite complicated, actually, it is all about recognizing the kind of question and acting accordingly). I didn't follow the procedure but this helped me for the mind click. helped me also for the AWA.
- Manhattan GMAT sentence correction. also an excellent book, it explaines everything that needs an explanation in the sentence correction part.
this is my preparation. it took me a month to really focus on the math part. I printed a lot of stuff that I found on this forum (excellent flashards!) and I also wrote my own flashcards. this helped me a lot -> every mistake I made and every thing I learned is in those flashcards. They will be my future childrens' most valuable inheritance.
I think the bigger effort required by this test is the mental preparation. don't underestimate it, but everyone can do it.
good luck!
I am an undergraduate student, GMAT was one of the test required in the admission conditions of the graduate program I would like to take a part in.
I started to study for the GMAT test with absolutely no knowledge of what this test was about: I booked the test and bought some books quite randomly, actually. I was in Paris for an exchange program: you may imagine the reduced amount of effort I've put in the preparation of this test. Silly as I am, I thought I could perform 650 quite easily. In February I had the test: I took 620/800, and 6.0 in the AWA part - I am not an English mothertongue, so I was satisfied. But about the test.. I felt in despair. it was the first time I failed something: I've always considered myself more of a "brainy" person rather than a manual one, and seeing that I couldn't perform as I wanted was quite a shocker.
So, after the test, I went to sleep.
the next morning, my mother woke me up at 6 AM - she obviously didn't close an eye all night. she forced me to take the test again (you may imagine my happiness!). she told me not to care about money, and to buy all the books I thought were necessary.
I think that after a few days of anger (mostly toward myself) I acquired the right state of mind. GMAT isn't about being a genious, but it is about being motivated and strong. I set the apointment exactly one month later, and I stareted studying again, focusing on the part I was weak at -> the Quantitative part.
I didn't go to any class (didn't have money/time, I have college and a part-time job), but I've bought a LOT of books, some of them useful, some other not.
AWA: didn't study for that one. a few day before the first test, I typed "Awa" on google and I've printed some keywords and examples. I've read a few other AWAs and I was crushed by the clear distance in the writing quality (I think I have a serious lack in "high" language), so I focused more on the structure and the mental preparation. one of the books I've bought was quite actually useful for the AWA as well. at the first test, I just wrote everything being very careful, and that actually paid -> without being a mothertongue, I was able to get a 6.0. unlucky me, I don't think I've done it so well the second round (oh, well).
INTEGRATED REASONING: I HATED that one. I think I took a 53 percentile the first time, and a 67 percentile the second time around (really don't know how). I am looking for an internship during the summer, and lots of banks require to perform a sort of integrated reasoning test online, so I think this was quite useful, especially for time management. I didn't find very useful the integrated reasoning preparation integrated in the GMAT REVIEW.
QUANTITATIVE: I took a 54-55 percentile the first time and a 70 percentile the second time. oh man, I've studied super hard for that one (the month in between the two tests I just focused on that one). the first time I've spent a lot of time of the preparation with a book that was totally unuseful (at least, for me). I think the trick to really understand whether you are ready or not is when you are capable of solving the exercices proposed on the daily GMAT question (of the beatthegmat blog). the first time I was able to solve the first 130 ca.exercices on the GMAT review without apparent mistakes, and for the questions I was not able to solve I was able to understand my mistake. that is NOT enough! to prepare well, it is not sufficient to understand your mistake, because there are so many little shadows of everything that a correct answer for a question will surely be wrong for the next one.
VERBAL: studied for the first time with two excellent books, didn't study for the second time: the morning of the test I read my old notes, and that is it. I took a 64 percentile the first time, and a 96 percentile (absurd!!!) the second time. couldn't believe my eyes.
BOOKS:
- Gmat review, 13th edition. fundamental, I used it for the preparation of the first time, and the second time I reviewed the wrong answers. I was happy when I was able to solve my previous mistakes. piece of advice: this book is not for preparation, is for a review of your knowledge. I wouldn't use it to acquire knowledge, but to test it. especially useful for sentence correction, problem solving and data sufficiency (I've never seen that kind of question before, and that could be unsettling).
- Manhattan GMAT, Number Properties: super useful. It was easy to follow and it helped me a lot (I bought it for the second time). I think it was fundamental to understand the little tricks that are beneath the logic of the whole GMAT test.
- Manhattan GMAT, Advanced Quant: also a good book. I bought it for the second time, and it also helped me to "click". I think that the big problem behind the test isn't just the real math, but the click necessary to understand it. and the time, of course. This book was quite tough, but not impossible - and I am not a genious.
- Manhattan GMAT, Math Foundations: UNUSEFUL (for me) book. really unneccessary, I focused a lot of my efforts on it and it was a total waste of time. everything that is included in this book is explained better in the above-mentioned ones, it is a really easy book. the only thing I could save in this one, is that it helped me to remember to revise the multiplication table.
-Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning bible: what a book! I've bought it the first time and the notes I've took from it helped me also the second time. there is a whole strategy explained in it (quite complicated, actually, it is all about recognizing the kind of question and acting accordingly). I didn't follow the procedure but this helped me for the mind click. helped me also for the AWA.
- Manhattan GMAT sentence correction. also an excellent book, it explaines everything that needs an explanation in the sentence correction part.
this is my preparation. it took me a month to really focus on the math part. I printed a lot of stuff that I found on this forum (excellent flashards!) and I also wrote my own flashcards. this helped me a lot -> every mistake I made and every thing I learned is in those flashcards. They will be my future childrens' most valuable inheritance.
I think the bigger effort required by this test is the mental preparation. don't underestimate it, but everyone can do it.
good luck!
