I just Beat The GMAT!

So full disclosure, I NEVER anticipated writing this post.

My journey with the GMAT started in 2009. I was a graduating senior out of an undergraduate business school with some free time over winter break. My school was offering a cheap GMAT class for students and alumni and I thought why not. I had scored highly on my SATs (98th percentile overall and 99th percentile in the Quantitative section), so I figured the GMAT would be a breeze.

I was wrong.

After taking the class pretty casually I signed up to take a test and without too much preparation I scored a 680(43/40). While many of my friends thought I had done well, I was not satisfied. I had very grand dreams for myself, namely to attend Harvard Business School someday.

Given that I was still far away from applying to business school and that I was going to be starting as a corps member with the Teach For America program, I knew that GMAT studying would have to be delayed to a better day.

After my two year commitment with the TFA program ended this past June I decided I wanted to re-take the GMAT. I was going to be entering a career in Strategy Consulting with a top firm in September and I knew that my goal of attending HBS was attainable. Given that I had a less than stellar GPA, I knew that my chances of getting in depended on acing the GMAT. I figured a score 740+ would do the trick, and having 2-3 months to study diligently would really prepare me.

That is when I discovered "Beat The GMAT". I voraciously read everything I could on this and all the other linked websites. I bought all of best prep books, and did everything I could to prepare myself for this battle wit the GMAT. In all I took over 10 practice test from various sources.

But again - I fell short of my goal.

This time I scored a 710(49/38). While again many would balk at me for being upset - I knew that I had it in me to score an even higher score! I was especially disappointed with my verbal score, as the 38 definitely did not resonate with the 40-40 score benchmark that top schools looked for.

But then I had to start working, which in consulting meant traveling every week to my client site. Additionally I joined the M+A strategy team where we were consistently asked to work past midnight, and rarely had free weekends. I had resolved to score high, but it felt like I was literally either working or studying for the GMAT and giving up on everything else. For someone who was president of their college fraternity and usually a social butterfly it was a really tough transition.

Luckily the week before my test I was able to secure some much needed PTO and told myself I would never get time like this again in my life, so I started studying harder than ever. At times I was taking two practice tests a day to try and push my mental stamina up.

So today, test day finally arrived. I could barely sleep last night. I forced myself to go to bed around 8pm and finally woke up for good around 3am. From 3am - 5am I went through my final preparation (going to through the 65 questions on the GMATPrep software, getting 64 correct). Feeling confident I went to the gym and worked out to get my blood going. I grabbed some breakfast on the way home, showered, changed, and went to the test site.

Mentally I was as confident as I could be. Even though my last practice test had not gone well, I just get psyching myself up - trying to keep only positive thoughts going through my brain. The AWA section was a little up and down, but given that I had received a 6 on my previous attempt I didn't put too much stress on it. When the Quantitative section started I found myself going through many of the questions really quickly, somehow it felt really easy. When I got to the Verbal section, which I had really done poorly on last time, I closed my eyes and told myself no matter what I needed to really focus. I found that during the verbal section it was really easy for my mind to drift, so I was hoping all my "2-a-days" were going to pay off and I would be able to maintain peak mental stamina throughout the test.

I was so nervous to see my score... and when I clicked I could not believe what I saw staring back at me:

Q: 50 (92nd percentile)
V: 44 (97th percentile)
O: 760 (99th percentile)

There had been so much work, so much preparation, put in to attaining a great score. I could not stop smiling as I existed the testing room and picked up my score sheet from the front desk. I want to thank Beat the GMAT and everyone on their help along the way. Every little bit helps.





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Added 01/10/12

This is an excerpt from a note I sent to a colleague regarding my study strategies. I am currently on the road on an M+A Strategy Project so I don't have my "Practice Test Score Catalog" but once I get home in a couple weeks I will be sure to add that, so that you all can see how my practice scores trended with my actual GMAT scores.


What does it take to score well?
- Practice, practice, and more practice...
- The GMAT, like any standardized test, has to follow a pattern of how it asks questions in order to maintain consistency across all the tests being administered throughout the world. That is the fact that many people don't realize and thus think of it as a straight intelligence test. Sure, there is definitely a large portion of the test that is measuring intelligence - but if you take the time to learn the tricks and tips you can allow your natural intelligence to better shine through, rather than be shrouded by all the tricks the GMAT uses to make you pick the wrong answer.
- For anyone of a strong level starting out, I would use the following score strategy:
o Practice and consistently score around 650
o Practice to adjust to the new difficulty of the test (this means learning more content)
o Practice and consistently score around 700
o Practice to adjust to the new difficulty of the test (this means learning more content)
o Practice and consistently score around 750
o Take the real thing
- One thing people don't realize is that as a Computer-Adaptive-Test (CAT Exam) the GMAT for someone who scores 650 can be completely different than the GMAT given to someone who scores 750. This is due to the fact that as you are taking the test the questions adjust to your perceived scoring-level. So while you may have similar question in the beginning as all test takers, once you pass a certain threshold the test looks very different for a 650 scorer versus a 750 scorer
o It is because of this difference in the tests that it is imperative that you spend time learning content. You cannot maximize your score until you have effectively learned all of the content that the GMAT could ask you.
- In order to score well you also need to become very familiar with the way the GMAT tests you - using CAT exams. For that reason it is important to find good CAT exams.
Resources:
- Required for the 650 stage:
o GMAT Review 12th edition (the official review guide with REAL GMAT questions)
o Kaplan 800 (a book that features only the toughest questions and explanations for them)
o GMATPrep Practice Exams (these are two practice CAT exams, and 75 additional practice questions, with real GMAT questions given out to anyone who signs up for a practice test by the creators of the GMAT)
- Required for the 700 stage:
o Everything from the 650 stage, plus:
o Manhattan GMAT subject books
o Manhattan GMAT CAT exams
o GMAT Review 2nd edition subject books
- Required for the 750 stage:
o Everything from the 650 and 700 stages, plus:
o Veritas Prep subject books
o Veritas Prep CAT exams (these are by far the most accurate / realistic practice exams)
- All of these resources are available on each company's website. To get good deals on each I would check out specials available at both Amazon.com and BeatTheGMAT.com
- BeatTheGMAT.com is a website chalk full of great information that you can use to help you in your GMAT prep. There are many study guides that have been developed to help you in the study planning process. There are also daily questions you can have sent to your email to keep you studying in between the day
- Sometimes you will be able to get special deals on BeatTheGMAT.com where you can get free online CAT exams with the purchase of even just one $15 book.
- I would also consider downloading the BeatTheGMAT, Manhattan GMAT, and Veritas Prep iPhone apps. Each has more practice questions you can go through while you are on the subway, etc.

Strategies:
- You want to spread out your studying over a 3-4 month period. Because of the way the GMAT is tiered in the types of questions it asks at different scoring levels, you need to take time to practice getting good up to one level, learn more content, practice up to the next level, and so on. This why the "subject books" are great. They are much smaller than the comprehensive study books and help you focus on one area at a time. They are easy to take with you while you are traveling. Finally, you can pick the areas you are weakest in so that you are not just going through general content over and over, but pinpointing where you are getting things wrong and fixing the mistakes for good.
- You want to take practice tests regularly. Over the course of my 6 month preparing I took 25-30 practice tests. The practice test, if given under real conditions, can be the best way for you to gauge how much you have improved.
- ALWAYS record your practice test scores. Always go back through each practice test to figure out what you got wrong and why. Tracking your score, your mistakes, etc will do the most for your improvement.
- Near the end of your preparation period you will find that while you can get good scores if you take your time, it seems like you make a lot of mental mistakes (silly mistakes). That is normally due to the fact that you are probably able to sustain a good level of stamina in order to complete the test -- but that your stamina is not at its peak level throughout the entirety of the test. In order to improve this you should do two things:
o Cross train: Do other puzzles, read books, go to the gym (physical stamina helps mental stamina). This is also why you need to spread practice over a few months... to give yourself the time to do other things and not just cram for the GMAT.
o Take multiple practice tests in one day. With each practice test taking appx. 3hours to complete, if you can sustain good levels of stamina for 6+ hours, then you can train your brain to focus ultra hard for the 3 hours on your actual test day. I would not do this, though until the last 2-3 weeks.
- Take mental break days at least once a week.
- Take the two days before your actual test off... you need time for your brain to decompress
- The day of your test wake up extra early and go through the 75 practice questions that are included in your GMATPrep software (don't go through these before then). The questions will help get your mind rev up its engine for the actual test.