The smoke has cleared, the test has come and gone. Feel free to share your experiences with your peers.
JW12345
Course Students
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:36 pm
 

710 (Q: 46, V:41, IR: 7) with 4 weeks of study time

by JW12345 Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:14 pm

Hi there,

I thought I'd share my experience as I found these forums very helpful in my preparation.

Four weeks ago my husband and I found out we are moving to London in January, and with the unexpected news, I decided it would be the perfect time to apply to B School (something I have been considering for a couple years, but I hadn't wanted to slow down my career to do so). I immediately signed up to take the GMAT and started studying using Manhattan Prep's Interact GMAT Course, while also working my 12+hr/day job at a tech company in San Francisco. The past four weeks have been non-stop work/study/work/study, but for those of you who don't have a ton of time for prep, breaking 700 can still be done!

My practice scores were:
CAT1: 600 (Q: 34, V: 38)
CAT2: 620 (Q: 37, V: 37)
CAT3: 620 (Q: 39, V: 35)
CAT4: 630 (Q: 40, V: 36)
CAT5: 650 (Q: 41, V: 38)
GMAT Prep: 660

Yesterday, I took the GMAT and scored 710 (Q: 46, V: 41). On IR, I scored 7.

To study, I started by reading the FDP, Algebra and Geometry strategy guides, before I even dove into the Interact Course content. This way, I refreshed my knowledge of math basics so when I watched the lessons and did homework problems, I wasn't wasting time re-familiarizing myself with the foundational content. Then, I carried out the rest of the course as suggested by the syllabus. I really appreciated the flexibility of the Interact GMAT Course and watched the lessons on my hour Bart commutes to and from work each day. If you have self-discipline and a time consuming job, I highly recommend the course.

Also, flash cards for idioms, mental math (2^7) and number properties were a great way to capitalize on 10 minutes here and there. And I strongly recommend that you utilize Navigator to time yourself on homework problems. For timing, I used the yellow pad tricks introduced in one of the lessons, which helped sooo much for timing control!

While, I do think the quant on the real exam is slightly easier than Manhattan Prep's, it was helpful to study with more difficult problems to ensure I understood the concepts and could apply them more broadly.

IR, on the other hand, is MUCH, MUCH easier on the real GMAT, as compared to Manhattan Prep's. I could barely answer a handful of IR questions in the allocated time during practice and scored in the 1, 2, 3 range on my CATs. Two days before the exam I took my last CAT and was not thrilled about my score (650 with an IR score of 3.17), so I started reading forum posts. When I read a couple posts that mentioned score discrepancies between Manhattan Prep CATs and GMAT Prep practice tests, I decided to take a SECOND practice exam that day. This time it was GMAT Prep's practice exam, and my score creeped up to 660 with an IR of 8. This made me feel more confident that I could improve my score to 690-ish on test day, with 2 days left to study.

I also want to express how important good sleep and a fresh mind is for test day. In three weeks, I could only cram in the content so much. So, in the last week of studying, I wanted to make sure my mind and body was ready for success as well. When I signed up for the exam, the only test date and time available for the rest of the year was an 8am spot (since then, I've noticed many spots have reopened in the Bay Area). So, with a week left to go, I started to carry out the routine I would practice on test day -- I woke up at 6am, exercised for 30 minutes (something I hadn't found time for in months) and made sure I had my coffee and breakfast and was ready to rock-and-roll at 8am. Test day I carried out the same routine.

So, there you have it! I hope that helps any of you who are freaking out with little time to go. YOU CAN DO IT!

Now, if any instructors or admissions advisors are reading, I have a question for you about my quant score of 46:

I was initially very excited about my 710 score, especially given the tight deadline, but the admissions consultant I have hired quickly brought me back to reality. She said that although the overall score is great (91 percentile), that the Q: 46 is very low given it only represents a 64 percentile ranking, and she suggested I retake the exam before the admissions deadlines in early January.

I have read what I had considered very helpful articles (like this one: http://www.mbamission.com/blog/2014/08/ ... to-get-in/) which highlight the evolving nature of percentile scores on the GMAT, specifically calling out how much Quant scores have increased, and therefore percentiles have decreased, over the last handful of years as a result of the changing demographics of test takers. Because of this, I was extremely surprised and disheartened by her negative response to my score and emphasis on the 64 percentile, rather than the 46 raw score.

I am trying to go to LBS, LSE, Oxford or Cambridge. While Cambridge's website mentions the importance of a balanced score, the other three (where I'd prefer to go) do not mention anything other than their 690-700 GMAT averages.

I am a Caucasian female with 4.5 years of work experience. I studied Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Southern California and graduated with a 3.7 GPA (3.8 in Finance-related courses). After school I went into tech investment banking for a bulge bracket firm and have since held roles in Investor Relations and as a Director of Global FP&A, running the financial model for a S&P250 company. My LORs are solid.

Can someone please weigh in on whether they agree with my advisor and think I should retake the exam to bring up my Quant score? Or would my GPA in undergrad and work experience check the quant box as is?

I have three more weeks until applications are due and haven't started on my essays. My gut tells me that I should focus my energy on the rest of my applications at this point, but I am also very new to this whole process and hired the consultant for this reason.

Open to any and all feedback.

Many thanks!
gategoreg933
Forum Guests
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 3:09 am
 

Re: 710 (Q: 46, V:41, IR: 7) with 4 weeks of study time

by gategoreg933 Tue Dec 10, 2019 3:12 am

JW12345 Wrote:Hi there,

I thought I'd share my experience as I found these forums very helpful in my preparation.

Four weeks ago my husband and I found out we are moving to London in January, and with the unexpected news, I decided it would be the perfect time to apply to B School (something I have been considering for a couple years, but I hadn't wanted to slow down my career to do so). I immediately signed up to take the GMAT and started studying using Manhattan Prep's Interact GMAT Course, while also working my 12+hr/day job at a tech company in San Francisco. The past four weeks have been non-stop work/study/work/study, but for those of you who don't have a ton of time for prep, breaking 700 can still be done!

My practice scores were:
CAT1: 600 (Q: 34, V: 38)
CAT2: 620 (Q: 37, V: 37)
CAT3: 620 (Q: 39, V: 35)
CAT4: 630 (Q: 40, V: 36)
CAT5: 650 (Q: 41, V: 38)
GMAT Prep: 660

Yesterday, I took the GMAT and scored 710 (Q: 46, V: 41). On IR, I scored 7.

To study, I started by reading the FDP, Algebra and Geometry strategy guides, before I even dove into the Interact Course content. This way, I refreshed my knowledge of math basics so when I watched the lessons and did homework problems, I wasn't wasting time re-familiarizing myself with the foundational content. Then, I carried out the rest of the course as suggested by the syllabus. I really appreciated the flexibility of the Interact GMAT Course and watched the lessons on my hour Bart commutes to and from work each day. If you have self-discipline and a time consuming job, I highly recommend the course.

Also, flash cards for idioms, mental math (2^7) and number properties were a great way to capitalize on 10 minutes here and there. And I strongly recommend that you utilize Navigator to time yourself on homework problems. For timing, I used the yellow pad tricks introduced in one of the lessons, which helped sooo much for timing control!

While, I do think the quant on the real exam is slightly easier than Manhattan Prep's, it was helpful to study with more difficult problems to ensure I understood the concepts and could apply them more broadly.

IR, on the other hand, is MUCH, MUCH easier on the real GMAT, as compared to Manhattan Prep's. I could barely answer a handful of IR questions in the allocated time during practice and scored in the 1, 2, 3 range on my CATs. Two days before the exam I took my last CAT and was not thrilled about my score (650 with an IR score of 3.17), so I started reading forum posts. When I read a couple posts that mentioned score discrepancies between Manhattan Prep CATs and GMAT Prep practice tests, I decided to take a SECOND practice exam that day. This time it was GMAT Prep's practice exam, and my score creeped up to 660 with an IR of 8. This made me feel more confident that I could improve my score to 690-ish on test day, with 2 days left to study.

I also want to express how important good sleep and a fresh mind is for test day. In three weeks, I could only cram in the content so much. So, in the last week of studying, I wanted to make sure my mind and body was ready for success as well. When I signed up for the exam, the only test date and time available for the rest of the year was an 8am spot (since then, I've noticed many spots have reopened in the Bay Area). So, with a week left to go, I started to carry out the routine I would practice on test day -- I woke up at 6am, exercised for 30 minutes (something I hadn't found time for in months) and made sure I had my coffee and breakfast and was ready to rock-and-roll at 8am. Test day I carried out the same routine.

So, there you have it! I hope that helps any of you who are freaking out with little time to go. YOU CAN DO IT!

Now, if any instructors or admissions advisors are reading, I have a question for you about my quant score of 46:

I was initially very excited about my 710 score, especially given the tight deadline, but the admissions consultant I have hired quickly brought me back to reality. She said that although the overall score is great (91 percentile), that the Q: 46 is very low given it only represents a 64 percentile ranking, and she suggested I retake the exam before the admissions deadlines in early January. moto x3m

I have read what I had considered very helpful articles (like this one: http://www.mbamission.com/blog/2014/08/ ... to-get-in/) which highlight the evolving nature of percentile scores on the GMAT, specifically calling out how much Quant scores have increased, and therefore percentiles have decreased, over the last handful of years as a result of the changing demographics of test takers. Because of this, I was extremely surprised and disheartened by her negative response to my score and emphasis on the 64 percentile, rather than the 46 raw score.

I am trying to go to LBS, LSE, Oxford or Cambridge. While Cambridge's website mentions the importance of a balanced score, the other three (where I'd prefer to go) do not mention anything other than their 690-700 GMAT averages.

I am a Caucasian female with 4.5 years of work experience. I studied Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Southern California and graduated with a 3.7 GPA (3.8 in Finance-related courses). After school I went into tech investment banking for a bulge bracket firm and have since held roles in Investor Relations and as a Director of Global FP&A, running the financial model for a S&P250 company. My LORs are solid.

Can someone please weigh in on whether they agree with my advisor and think I should retake the exam to bring up my Quant score? Or would my GPA in undergrad and work experience check the quant box as is?

I have three more weeks until applications are due and haven't started on my essays. My gut tells me that I should focus my energy on the rest of my applications at this point, but I am also very new to this whole process and hired the consultant for this reason.

Open to any and all feedback.

Many thanks!

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