I started my GMAT research a while back by looking at some of the posts online. There were a lot of useful tips on here and now I wanted to add my own experience to maybe help some of you who are currently preparing for the GMAT.
Background:
I am currently in an german undergraduate business administration programme and about 1 year away from graduating. My plan is to continue with a masters programme, preferably a Masters in Finance. I knew that most of the top business schools would require the GMAT so I decided to get it done with now. This would also help me to better evaluate at which schools I had a realistic chance of acceptance.
During my undergraduate programme I never had many problems with quantitative subjects. I am also among the top 1-2% in my undergraduate programme , so I probably had a good starting point in terms of learning ability and ability to comprehend new skills.
I first registered for the actual exam. There were exactly 8 weeks until the exam day and I would be able to study fulltime as I currently had summer break at uni.
Beginning of Prep:
I bought the OG book bundle and all six practice test and spent about 1-2 hours reading through the general exam info in the OG book. I then did my first practice exam (I would advise everyone to do this right at the beginning of your prep) and actually did pretty well.
Practice Exam #1: 660 (Q45/V35)
Week 1 to 4:
After reading a lot of reviews, I figured that TTP should be a good way to study as it included Quant and Verbal (except for RC) and is apparently well received. So that’s pretty much what I did for the next month. I worked through the lessons and did every single practice question (TTP Review at the end). I also finished the SC part of TTP.
Week 5:
I was half way through my prep so I did the second practice exam.
Practice Exam #2: 780 (Q50/V48)
Well that was a nice surprise! I couldn’t believe it, especially as I hadn’t even touched the geometry lessons of TTP yet and guessed every single geometry question.
I then continued following the TTP plan (more quant lessons and starting with CR lessons). I also did 10-15 SC questions from the OG every day to keep my skills in this area.
Week 6:
I did my third practice exam and continued working through the TTP plan.
Practice Exam #3: 770 (Q50/V45)
Week 7:
I finished the TTP course and started doing OG Questions (Quant and Verbal). I finished the OG Book and started doing the questions from the Verbal and Quant Review. I also did my fourth practice exam
Practice Exam #4: 780 (Q51/V47)
Week 8:
I finished the Verbal and Quant Review and almost finished the OG Advanced Questions book. I then did my last practice exam about 7 days before the exam day.
Practice Exam #5: 770 (Q50/V45)
Exam Day:
I did only a light session of reviewing questions I did wrong in the days prior and some additional hard questions the day prior. On exam day I got up early and drove to the test center (with plenty of spare time, so I wouldn’t get stressed). When I arrived I did some warmup questions in my car and then walked to the test center. The administrators were really nice and the exam went smoothly.
GMAT EXAM RESULTS: 760 (Q51/V42)
Quant went really well, I only had to guess one geometry questions. Verbal felt a bit harder and there were several questions I wasn’t sure about (as you can see in my verbal score which was slightly lower than in the practice exams).
Overall I was really happy with my result, as I anticipated a slight drop in my score due to nervousness and the unusual environment of the test center (when compared to my study spot at home).
TTP Review:
I really liked the way the TTP course was structured, as it provided you with a nice study plan that you just needed to follow. I can’t tell you if TTP is THE best course out there (as I didn’t do any other courses), but it’s certainly a very good course.
The Quant lessons and practice questions were awesome.
I also enjoyed the SC section. The SC lessons were really thorough and in depth (maybe in parts even too in depth), and they will give you a really solid grammar foundation.
The CR lessons were alright. If you are short on time you can probably skip most of the lessons, but make sure to at least go through the first lessons of every topic. That way you will still learn the basics (what is an assumption? etc.).
Other Helpful Tips:
-Make sure to first get a solid foundation (e.g. by doing a course or reading some Manhattan books etc.) and then tackle the OG questions.
-TTP will take you longer than you think it will!!! I finished the complete course (on the Expert+ Track) after about 250h, but I am probably on the faster side in terms of study speed.
-I didn’t do any specific RC lessons but just did the OG questions. I already had a solid foundation as I read a lot of englisch books. Reading books and/or articles will strengthen your RC skills, but it will take some time, so start now!
-There are awesome SC explanations online. After you answered some OG SC questions I advise you to go to the forums and read the experts explanations of the question and answer choices (Shoutout to GMATNinja, daagh, and EmpowerGMATVerbal)
-I didn’t do any specific prep for IR, as I scored an 8 in every practice exam. IR will automatically increase if you study for Quant and Verbal, so unless you score really bad in IR in your practice exams, there is no real need for specific IR practice
-Same goes for AWA. I just followed the structure outlined in an article I read. Your grammar and vocab skills will increase if you study for verbal, so no need to specifically study for AWA.
Other stats:
-TTP Quant accuracy: 93%
-TTP Verbal accuracy: 93%
-Quant OG and Quant Review accuracy: 94%
-Verbal OG and Verbal Review accuracy: 91%
-Quant Advanced Questions accuracy: 91%
-Verbal Advanced Questions accuracy: 85%
-Total time studied: 400h over 8 weeks
If you have some further questions I will be happy to answer them
