BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

My 1-week GMAT journey

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 11:04 pm

My 1-week GMAT journey

by eSik » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:58 pm
Hey guys,

Today it is exactly seven days 'till my GMAT. Since I know many people are in the same situation as me, pressed for time, and considering to do the GMAT with one week of preparations I will share my experiences from doing so.

As I'm in a stressful period of university, with my dissertation soon to be due, I will spend a maximum of five hours per day up until the test day. I assume this is the same amount of time as many professionals can afford to give up for GMAT studies.

Hope you find me 'blog' interesting. I appreciate comments and tips.

Cheers.[/quote]
Top
Source: — GMAT Strategy |
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 11:04 pm

by eSik » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:08 pm
Day 1:

I started the day by reading through the quantitative section of Princeton Reviews Cracking the GMAT. What a piece of crap, seriously, the methods they are proposing is confusing to me, and I do not think their 'Joe Bloggs' approach suits me at all. Nevertheless, I picked up a couple of decent tips on the way, however, mostly a waste of time.

Then went on to do the official GMAT practice test. Finished the quant section on time, and the verbal section about 30 minutes early. Ended up with an overall score of 660 (Q27, V28), much worse than what I aim for at test day. I felt that the quant section went ok, most of my mistakes were silly ones that I should be able to sort out when I get more used to the way questions are asked. On the verbal part, however, I am actually satisfied, as for many of the questions I was unable to do more than narrowing potential answers down to 2-3 alternatives. It is clear to me that the verbal section will be my biggest challenge, as a non-English native speaker, and I should focus my energy on this.

Hopefully the Princeton Review book will aid me more on the verbal part of things. Maybe I'll even benefit from a Joe Bloggs approach.

Lessons from day 1: I had high expectations for the Princeton Review book, by after reading the quant part my impression is that these 'courses' are generally a waste of money and time, and may even adversely affect your score. If I was to choose what material to get I would focus on the official stuff from GMAT.com, which seems to be more challenging, better preparing you for the test.

Next step: Gonna finish the Princeton Review book tonight and then start working on the official GMAT review guide tomorrow. Anyone have any tips for challenging practice tests?
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:52 am
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Thanked: 14 times
GMAT Score:770

by shadowsjc » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:15 pm
nice idea for a blog. i think the scores you posted are incorrect though.. getting in the high 20s wouldnt correlate to a 660 i dont think.

as far as challenging CAT tests, the ones I used were MGMAT. i took 3 of them during my final week of preparation. you get 5 free ones by buying one of the MGMAT books. I'm not sure if you'll be able to order it and get it shipped fast enough to make use of them, but it's worth a shot (also check to see if any local book stores carry it, although I'm not sure if they normally do).

You can also get one free MGMAT practice test by going to their site (Manhattan GMAT). It's generally agreed that the quant section on these tests is more challenging than the actual quant. Verbal seems kinda right on the money. good luck on the rest of your studying
my GMAT debrief: https://www.beatthegmat.com/came-through ... 44327.html

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right, but it will not come near you.
- Psalm 91: 5-7
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 11:04 pm

by eSik » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:37 pm
660 is what it said, 37 quant questions, 10 incorrect answers, 41 verbal questions, 13 incorrect answers. It was the official GMAT test prep software, practice test 1.

Manhattan GMAT tests looks good, and I know they have a great repuatation, however, I will probably not have time to do six tests in addition to the second official practice test, so are there any other online tests that are comparable in quality, but a bit cheaper?

Cheers.

edit: just saw that I can buy access to the MGMAT exams for $39, so I guess the price isnt all that bad. Ill go for it, and do one practice exam each day up till the test. Thanks for your tip!
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:52 am
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Thanked: 14 times
GMAT Score:770

by shadowsjc » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:43 pm
ah i see where the discrepancy lies now. For the GMAT Preptest, there is a difference between the scaled score and the # of questions right.

The scaled score is what is used to approximate your percentile ranking. It's what users report from their practice tests and their official scores (for example Q 42 V 38, etc.).

The # correct, unfortunately, is not really a good indicator of anything. People have taken practice tests and gotten the same # right but received 2 different scores. To make matters worse, if you didn't write down what your scaled score was at the end of your practice test, then there's no way to go back and check what it is (a major drawback of the software).

Not sure about any free online tests.. Kaplan might have a free one (check the links on the right hand side). Also you should at least attempt the one free Manhattan GMAT test from their website.
my GMAT debrief: https://www.beatthegmat.com/came-through ... 44327.html

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right, but it will not come near you.
- Psalm 91: 5-7
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 11:04 pm

by eSik » Wed Sep 23, 2009 4:41 am
Day 2:
Finished off the Princeton Review book today. I must say, this book is a piece of shit. Seriously. The author's tone is seriously pissing me off, he writes as if I neither want to take the test, nor enjoy science/business. He describes stuff as boring and uninteresting, and the analogies in the book totally blows. I do not know the target audience, but honestly, its almost as if the writing style is adapted to 10-year olds.

So... The PR book is going in the trash. Its a complete waste of money, and I am really starting to agree with GMAC - stop wasting your money on practice material other than the official GMAC material (which really isnt that expensive either).

Anyway. I completely smashed the practice tests in the PR book. Got pretty much all the questions right, and spent about a minute per question.. One exception was the "hard" math questions - I got stuck on a few questions, spending 10-15 minutes to figure them out. My weak point is, by no doubt, probability and number theory. Gotta read up on those.

Tomorrow Ill have to spend most of the day working on my thesis, but hopefully I'll get started on the official GMAT review, and finish about 100-150 pages of questions... By the way, I was thinking about relearning some of the basic trigonometry from high school, it seems to me that a lot of the geometric questions can be solved in seconds if you just remember the radian values of cos/sin/tan and their related theorems for some standard angles.

By the way - I know my English is crap, but whats up with these PR guys? "GMAT English", "Boring English", "Even Presidents gets it wrong", "Noone will ever care except for taking the test". While I myself may not be the best writer, I really enjoy reading English that is correctly spelled and structured, and while some of the GMAT questions are phrased in an awkward way to confuse it is embarrassing to read PR mocking correct typing.

Again, the morale of the day; PR Crackin the GMAT may actually be the worst book I have ever read. And Ive read some pretty shit books in my life...
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:52 am
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Thanked: 14 times
GMAT Score:770

by shadowsjc » Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:11 am
aside from very basic trig (30 - 60-90, 45-45-90), there is no actual trig on the gmat. definitely learn the 2 situations i just listed though
my GMAT debrief: https://www.beatthegmat.com/came-through ... 44327.html

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right, but it will not come near you.
- Psalm 91: 5-7
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 11:04 pm

by eSik » Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:29 am
Cheers bro!

Think I will spend the day tomorrow doing these things,

Review quant theory: I'll buy a notebook and write out all the math I need for the GMAT, and if necessary do some simple examples illustrating the concepts. I am really good with maths, but I have realized in the past two days that my fundamental understanding of some of it is flawed and needs a brush-up. This is especially true with respect to number theory and probability.

Do heaps of questions: For the verbal part I think intuition plays a big part. Most of the time I see/feel the answer, without any formal analysis behind it. Such an intuition can imho be trained through intensive practice. On the maths part I will rely on a thorough understanding of the underlying concepts, and trust my intelligence to do the rest.

I'm really curious as to how I will do. Some part of me is expecting to get an amazing score, however, a different part of me is telling me that I'll stuff this up.

While my target score is 7xx, anything above 650 will suffice (my offer to masters is conditional upon GMAT>=650).[/list]
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 11:04 pm

by eSik » Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:33 am
Things arent progressing as well as I wished for.

Have done three more tests,

GMAT Official 2: 660
MGMAT 1: 610
MGMAT 2: 660

I ranked in the 90th percentile on the quant part in all three tests, but low 60th percentile for verbal. Man... This is not good.

Anyway, havent even had a look at AWA yet. Hope it wont be too challenging to pick up...
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 11:04 pm

by eSik » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:13 pm
My GMAT starts in less than two hours, and I am pretty sure the GMAT will beat me.

Over the past 7 days I have skimmed through the Princeton Review book and found it completely useless. I have learnt a lot from the Official Guide, which is probably the only piece of preparation material you need. I bough 8 Manhattan GMAT tests, and have been 680 on pretty much every single one.

Am really pissed off that I cant get up to a 700+ level. My excuse is that, given my abilities, one week was simply not enough.

My only hope right now is to get >650, so that I wont have to do the test again.
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:52 am
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Thanked: 14 times
GMAT Score:770

by shadowsjc » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:15 pm
thats not the right attitude to walk into the test with... if you truly believe that, then you've already lost the battle.
my GMAT debrief: https://www.beatthegmat.com/came-through ... 44327.html

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right, but it will not come near you.
- Psalm 91: 5-7
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Site Admin
Posts: 6778
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 1249 times
Followed by:994 members

by beatthegmat » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:31 pm
I love this concept! Thanks for these updates, and keep working hard!
Beat The GMAT | The MBA Social Network
Community Management Team

Research Top GMAT Prep Courses:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/gmat-prep-courses

Research The World's Top MBA Programs:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/school
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 11:04 pm

by eSik » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:46 pm
Thanks shadowsjc,

I still believe I that both my abilities and preparations reflect a score of 680, however, I must admit that I was expecting to score in the region 730+.

I am trying to set realistic expectations before I go in, so that I want be to disappointed if I stuff it up.

But yeah, you are right, it is wrong to even do the test if you do not believe you will make it. Luckily, my offer to masters is conditional on a >650 GMAT score, so 680 will suffice.

Good luck to me. I'll make a post later today telling you all how I went.

:)
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:52 am
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Thanked: 14 times
GMAT Score:770

by shadowsjc » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:48 pm
don't be discouraged by your latest test scores. I beat my last few test scores by 40 points on the actual test day.. anything is possible as long as you have the right mentality going into the test.
my GMAT debrief: https://www.beatthegmat.com/came-through ... 44327.html

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right, but it will not come near you.
- Psalm 91: 5-7
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 11:04 pm

by eSik » Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:26 pm
Ended up scoring 670, so guess Ill be going to France next year.

Good luck to anyone trying to beat the gmat. Again, my best tip is to focus on the official material, and perhaps Manhattan GMAT.
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1