GMAT - How I went from a 480 to a 640 to a 720

Okay, so I have talked about this before, but I get a lot of PMs asking me for more detail on how I did it. I am going to put it all here so it can be referred to by all interested:

I took the GMAT with little prep and got a 480. Dismal, I know. Fast forward 3 years later, I have to take it again to get into a good B-School. Most people say Manhattan GMAT Books and stuff, but because I am an incremental learner, I did it like this:

1) 7 weeks before exam: Read the Princeton Review Cracking the GMAT from cover to cover, doing all problems. This was a good start because it explains how the exam works, that a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) is, and tips on just things like visiting the test center a few days before so you a comfortable with the expected surroundings and driving directions. They have written exams, but it is still a good warm up. This is kind of like the first few weeks of weight lifting where you are going for form instead of power/strength/weight.
http://www.Amazon.com/Cracking-GMAT-Graduate-Scho…...

2) 5 weeks before exam: I then did 1 of the free GMAT practice CATs you get when you sign up for the test. This was a diognostic to see where I stood, and kind of way to understand the enemy before trying to kill it.

3) 5-weeks before exam: Time to beef up and add some 45-lb plates to the bar. I used Kaplan GMAT 800-- it is the hardest questions. This is a lot like using the heavy bat when you are on deck, so when you are at the plate the regular bat feel lighter.
http://www.Amazon.com/Kaplan-GMAT-800-Advanced-St…...

4) 3 weeks before exam: Manhattan GMAT has 6 practice CATs plus one free one, so 7 total. In 1 week I did 3 exams, after work, every other day, including essays and all. It was painful, tiring, and not fun--but guess what: when you train for a marathon, you run a lot. After a while you get your wind and pick up a pace. I was getting 500s at first and then started to break the mid-600s. Progress made.
http://www.manhattangmat.com/storeitemshow.cfm?It…

5) 2 weeks before exam: Get the Official Guide Math & Verbal. I started to notice I was overthinking the easy questions because I was so used to the Kaplan GMAT 800 examples that were insanely difficult. These questions will bring you back down to earth and boost your confidence a little. I did these for 1-2 weeks.
http://www.Amazon.com/Official-Guide-GMAT-Review-…...

6) Final week before exam: The weekend before I did a Manahattan GMAT CAT exam with essays on both Saturday & Sunday, and then the remaining two I did on Monday and Wednesday. That left the one remaining free GMAT CAT from the makers of the test (you get two, and I did the first one early on as mentioned). I did that one on Friday. I scored a 690. I was hopeful.

7) The test was the next Monday, and I rested my brain over the weekend. I tried to forget the fact the first time I took the real exam 3 years earlier for my local MBA I scored a 480. I did a few practice questions but nothing heavy. I went in and took the exam: 640. FUCK, its an improvement, but not what I needed.

8) I re-signed up for another exam exactly 30 days later (you have to wait a month). I did almost nothing. I relaxed. I was leaving for Iraq soon after. I said screw it all. I walked in, took it, and banged out a 720. I almost fell out of my chair.

 

bookmarked... thanks for the help far far in advance

good luck with the military, stay safe

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough. "There are two types of people in this world: People who say they pee in the shower, and dirty fucking liars."-Louis C.K.
 

Great write-up MBA, more respect for you on every post.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Nice! Thanks for the info!

By the way, how crucial is a solid gmat score? Hypothetically, if someone has a 3.5+ undergrad GPA and tears up the GMAT, are they going to have a really good chance at the top 10? Or do you still need really solid work experience, extra curricular activities, etc.?

 

econ -- its easier to get dinged for a bad gmat than it is for a bad gpa. i know plenty with 3.5 engineering gpas but 680 gmat who have gotten dinged from columbia and the like.

and yes you need solid work experience and extracurric. i honestly think a weak gpa is the least of your concerns provided hat you can make up for it in your other categories granted you can provide legit reasoning for why -- weak WE, gmat, or ECs are much more powerful heavy weights that will ding a candidate

 
shorttheworld:
econ -- its easier to get dinged for a bad gmat than it is for a bad gpa. i know plenty with 3.5 engineering gpas but 680 gmat who have gotten dinged from columbia and the like.

and yes you need solid work experience and extracurric. i honestly think a weak gpa is the least of your concerns provided hat you can make up for it in your other categories granted you can provide legit reasoning for why -- weak WE, gmat, or ECs are much more powerful heavy weights that will ding a candidate

I'm basically just trying to figure out, if I have trouble getting a solid (first) job, but crush the GMAT, how likely can I use the GMAT plus a solid undergrad GPA to get into a program?

 

OP - would be interested to hear what sorts of things you figured out re: studying strategies, focusing your prep on specific areas, things that aren't worth bothering with, etc. that you wish you had known earlier on. Like maybe you wasted time starting with Kaplan/Manhattan instead of the Official Guide, or vice versa, or whatever. You talk about your study schedule and what you used, but I think it's always interesting to hear people look back and say "well, I probably should have/should not have done that."

Impart some of your wisdom on the rest of us monkeys who haven't managed to snag that 700+ gmat score yet!

Hi, Eric Stratton, rush chairman, damn glad to meet you.
 
Best Response

I think it all helped. I am a crawl, walk, run, type of guy. The Princeton Review book helped me undertsnad what the test was all about. GMAT 800 was heavy lifting for the brain. The Official Guide took me back down to regular difficulty questions so I don't over-think the easy ones. The online practice exams helped me adjust to working with scratch paper in front of a computer screen. It all played a roll.

One thing I realized is that this test is VERY studiable. A, D or B,C, & E....3,4,5 triangles...critical reasoning...its all things that if you don't use the information for a while you won't be efficient in answering the questions. If you are going to enter a body building competition, and you are jacked when you sign up, but it is 3 months in the future--you have to keep hitting the gym until you perform. If you eat ice cream the whole time you will be out of shape by the time you need to demonstrate your skills.

 
shorttheworld:
to quote an admissions person 'a lot of our people did not come from doing ordinary things in amazing jobs but doing amazing things in ordinary jobs'

Thanks for that, seriously.

 

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