From 600 to 710!

[ejdusc]

First of all, I would like to thank the Manhattan GMAT staff for all their help. I am so grateful to write this letter as opposed to my first response. The first time I wrote on the Forum was back in September of 2008, which was after I finished taking the GMAT for the second time.

First GMAT: Q- 40; V- 32; AWA- 6.0; Overall- 600.
Second GMAT: Q- 40; V- 30;AWA- 5.5; Overall- 580
Third GMAT: Q-45; V- 42;AWA- 6.0; Overall- 710

I will share just a few things that I attribute to my jump in score.

First, this time around I only studied using the laminated board and erasable marker. Furthermore, I would do 5 questions at a time and time myself for 10 minutes. I did not study otherwise. The key is to get used to the feel of the real test, which is timed and you are using a marker. You can get every answer right on the OG 11 but if you are using pencil and paper and not timing yourself, you are not mimicking actual testing conditions.

Second, my resources for studying were the OG 11, the Quant and Verbal Reviews, GMAT focus, and GMAT prep forums. That is it. I stayed away from anything that was not written by the makers of the GMAT. I did the OG 11 three times and the Quant and Verbal Reviews twice. If I got a problem wrong, I had to write it down in my notebook. It's about learning from your mistakes and not just getting the same questions right each time.

Third, the biggest boost in my performance is due to my diligent review of the GMAT Prep Quant forum. I would review each question I got wrong on the GMAT prep. Ron and Stacey are amazing assets, and I can't thank them enough.

Fourth, I have to give Corey Hansen credit for his "Doing Grammar", by Max Morenberg recommendation. Get this book, read it, and do the exercises. Your Sentence Correction scores will improve dramatically.

In conclusion, I did put in a lot of work but as you can see it was all worth it. Once again, I want to thank the Manhattan GMAT staff and community.

Good luck studying!