^^^ Adderall slows your comprehension. So you focus much longer on one thing.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

^^^ Haha, the later has definitely happened. The key is with adderall, is that you have to take it when you've already started whatever your studying

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

i wouldn't recommend addy on test day.. you get really parched and you will need to go 60 min, 75 min, 75 min without any water. then you'll pound water on ur break, and then maybe need to take a huge piss in the middle of verbal. epic fail.

and you always need to be cognizant about your speed and roughly 2min per question... i think if u took addy you could just not realize that you're taking 2:15 per Q and get screwd

 

I took an addy on test day and definitely thought it to be advantageous. I took a 20 mg time release, you won't get a huge rush but when hour 3 rolls around you will be glad you had that extra little help. If it's your first time I wouldn't recommend it but if you take it semi-regularly, I say go for it.

As people have mentioned it may slow you down/ make you concentrate more on questions, I typically would finish my practice exams with 10 min to spare but on test day I ended up guessing on the last question of verbal because i ran out of time.

Good luck

 

Yeah I will probably take it on test day. If it were a two hour test I wouldn't worry about focusing all the way through, but as someone stated above, adderall will be highly advantageous come hour 3 when you are halfway through the verbal.

 

Well, my buddies that scored the mid 700s used a book and a yellow notepad. If you're smart enough, couple practice test would work, if you're not... it really doesn't matter you have GMAT Viagra... plus it's just a test... aren't b-school candidates suppose to have prior work experience? (which means they should have enough life experience to know that profits/productivity/efficiency is the best test score of a business?)

 

Do not click on that link. Do not even think about studying for the GMAT without first consulting Bankerella or she will send one of her dads to get you

I was taught that the human brain was the crowning glory of evolution so far, but I think it's a very poor scheme for survival.
 

I looked into the GMAT Pill prior to my second go at the exam. I did a lot of research, and it seems like all of the positive comments fit the same stylistic mold, leading me to believe they were all written by one or a small handfull of people. Some of the testimonials were flat out ridiculous, such as a non-native english speaking guy who aced the verbal section with 20 minutes to go. There are also a few comments out there by former customers who were dissapointed by the program, some even calling it a joke beyond the SC tutorials. You will notice that wherever there is a GMAT forum with a post that criticzes the Pill, the Pill's people will be quick to counter with several "confirmed" emails touting the programs successes.

I personally think the MGMAT books for math are first class. The CR bible is also a great resource. There is no real RC book that I liked, but the MGMAT one gives you an idea of the question formats and tricks. There are so many differeing opinions on the SC book to use. On the test, once you start to get into the 700 level SC questions, they become about subtle modifiers and meaning, enclosed in multi-line, fully-underlined sentences, and there is no book that can prepare you for that.

I think there are better options than the GMAT Pill.

 

It's so bad. I gave it a shot when I was studying for the GMAT a few years ago. Not even worth the $300 or so it charges. The questions look nothing like real GMAT questions and the instructional videos are all over the place.

 

Ya I was debating between the manhattan online prep or the GMAT pill. I was immediately skeptical when I looked through 45 reviews on another site and each rating was 5/5 stars. There was actually one semi negative review and about 4 people immediately refuted it and starting bashing the OP

 

I did the full Manhattan prep and supplemented it with GMAT Pill. The only useful part of GMAT Pill is the Sentence Correction. Manhattan prep makes the SC section WAY too complicated. Pill makes it much simpler and helped me boost my verbal score.

For the math sections, Manhattan all the way

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
 
WeGoHam1:

Did you do the manhattan fully online??

No, in person at the SF location

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
 

I would avoid courses, unless you struggle with standardized tests. Look at all of the people on here who score in the 99th percentile. I have yet to hear one 99th percentile debrief anywhere where someone used a program (e.g. Kaplan, MGMAT, Princeton Review, etc.).

I used the OG guides, MGMAT books, and Chineseburned's AWA guide (just Google "Chineseburned AWA"). It got me a 700 (43Q/42V). I would have scored higher (kept getting 51Q/42V on practice tests), but made the stupid mistake of drinking a Five Hour Energy right before the GMAT.

 
KKS:

I would avoid courses, unless you struggle with standardized tests. Look at all of the people on here who score in the 99th percentile. I have yet to hear one 99th percentile debrief anywhere where someone used a program (e.g. Kaplan, MGMAT, Princeton Review, etc.).

I used the OG guides, MGMAT books, and Chineseburned's AWA guide (just Google "Chineseburned AWA"). It got me a 700 (43Q/42V). I would have scored higher (kept getting 51Q/42V on practice tests), but made the stupid mistake of drinking a Five Hour Energy right before the GMAT.

I have to disagree with this to be honest. You are taking a severely skewed sample by saying "look at all the people here who score in the 99th percentile". Your average person would benefit from a class. The GMAT is not a knowledge test, its a test of how well you can identify certain parts of a problem that will let you solve it more simply than would normally be possible. This can be learned through extensive book study or taking a class that will teach it to you and provide some help if there is a particular concept you struggle with. I dont think that telling people to avoid courses when you havent taken one is very good advice. I'm glad you could do well without one, but there are people who benefit from it.

A couple disclosures: *I did not learn much from the class and did not find it incredibly useful but know people who did. **I have no vested interest in this, I do not teach classes or get paid for classes or blog about them

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
 

I am not sure if I am good at standardized testing or not. I only got an average score on the SAT but that was over 4 years ago and I studied for maybe one week.

I just want to prepare myself the best I can as I only have one chance to take the exam before my apps are due.

 
WeGoHam1:

I am not sure if I am good at standardized testing or not. I only got an average score on the SAT but that was over 4 years ago and I studied for maybe one week.

I just want to prepare myself the best I can as I only have one chance to take the exam before my apps are due.

I understand the "I got an X on the SAT, so I should get a Y on the GMAT" logic, but it makes no sense. Both tests are completely different. The SAT is very straightforward, while the GMAT is not. For what it is worth, I did poorly on the SAT, but well on the GMAT.

Why not go through the books and see where you are then?

 
Best Response
dukebanker12:

KKS what was your GMAT diagnostic if you mind sharing? I'm curious about how much I can realistically improve. Can you share your GMAT study schedule as well? Thanks!

I took the GMAT twice. The first time I scored a 580 (39Q/31V) with a 4.5 on AWA, and the second time I scored a 700 (43Q/42V) with a 5.5 on AWA and 7 on IR. I would not place that much weight in a diagnostic test, as you are entering it with little or no knowledge of the GMAT.

I purchased the MGMAT books and the three OG guides (the big one and the two small ones). I went through each MGMAT book and completed the assigned OG problems. If I did not understand something, I would post one GMATClub.com. Two days before the GMAT, I read through Chineseburned's AWA guide and memorized it. I also took a few minutes to go through the OG's IR section. If I had more time, I would have spent several weeks doing problems on GMATClub.com.

 

Somewhat disagree. MGMAT quant is much harder than the actual test. If you're killing it in the quant section and want a challenge then the MGMAT CATs might be ok, but if you're just trying to get a good sense of where you stand on the test, they aren't that accurate.

People have reported not being able to break 700 on the MGMAT CATs, but then taking the official gmat practice tests and getting to 700 easily.

 

MGMAT CATs are not good. The math is too hard and the verbal is convoluted. Between the two free gmat prep tests and the two additional you can buy for ~$40, that should be close to enough. Supplement with MGMAT CATs if you must but keep in mind they really aren't an accurate representation of the actual test.

 

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