Some helpful tips from a 750 scorer Q50, V40 Thanks to MGMAT

[SGK]

Hi all,

I took my GMAT this week and scored a 750 (Q50,V40). I wanted to share my experience and some tips as payback, since I found the the MGMAT blogs and forums very helpful...
When I started my preparation I did not get the MGMAT guides. After a few weeks of studying in my first practice test I got a 680. I was a little disappointed and then some on my friends recommended the MGMAT. At first I only got the Sentence Correction and Number Properties books but after completing them I was convinced that MGMAT books are far superior to any other test preparation books out there. I ended up purchasing all their books including the Roadmap and IR and AWA books (all on my ipad) :).
I went through each of the MGMAT books cover to cover and once I was done with the OG I was feeling very confident. I took my GMAT Prep Exam1 and I got a 690. At this point I knew my main problem was with timing and not letting go of questions that would just take too much time. Also, the OG in my opinion is on the easier side and would let me comfortably complete questions in 2 minutes but that was not the case on GMAT Prep. I also felt that the level of CR questions in the OG is easier than what you see at 700 levels.
I then decided to purchase the GMATPrep Question Pack1 for more practice. After doing 1/3rd of the questions in this pack I took the GMATPrep Exam2 and scored a 760! At this point I was convinced that the best questions are from the official test administrators. So, I decided to purchase the GMATPrep Exam Pack 1. At $40 for 2 exams I thought it was a little expensive but in my opinion totally worth it. I practiced some more from Question Pack and took the GMATPrep Exam3. This time I scored a 710, but it was mostly because my toddler had kept me awake most of the previous night and I was mentally exhausted mid way through the exam. Then I practiced some more from the question pack and adv quant MGMAT and finally took the GMAT Prep Exam4. This time I had my husband do the night duty on my toddler and also had a protein bar before the exam and BINGO I got a 770! This was 4 days before the actual test and did wonders to my confidence level.
For a week before my exam my husband slept with our toddler so I would be well rested. On the day of the exam I had a high carb/protein lunch and a protein bar just before the exam. The AWA and IR were pretty easy. Quants was about the same difficulty level as on GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1. I even recognized some questions from Exam Pack. I finished the first 10 question in 10 minutes that gave me more time per question on the harder ones. I had to make an educated guess on the last one since I only had 1 minute. Verbal, towards the end, I felt was harder that what I had seen on the Exam Pack (but, those questions could very well have been experimental). I had only 4 minutes for the last 3 questions and had to rush through them.
Some tips:
1. MGMAT guides and blogs are great! You need only these for strategies and concepts. Stacey has done a great job and her tips helped me quite a bit.
2. I don’t really recommend using MGMAT CATs to gauge your performance. I did solve all quants questions on their CATs but did not really bother with the verbal.
3. Materials from GMAT Prep are the closest you will get to what you will see on the test. At $70 they are a little expensive but, I HIGHLY recommend the Question Pack and the Exam Pack.
4. Once you have figured out your strategies and concepts my suggestion would be to time all your practice sessions.
4. The test is truly a mental marathon as mentioned in one of the MGMAT books. Make sure you have a high protein energy bar before and during the breaks so you are alert during the test.

[hadd2022]

Thanks for sharing your experience! Great to read what other went through to get a 700+ score. I did not know you can buy extra questions from the GMAT creators. I am going to do this right now...

[kouranjelika]

Hi all,

I took my GMAT this week and scored a 750 (Q50,V40). I wanted to share my experience and some tips as payback, since I found the the MGMAT blogs and forums very helpful...
When I started my preparation I did not get the MGMAT guides. After a few weeks of studying in my first practice test I got a 680. I was a little disappointed and then some on my friends recommended the MGMAT. At first I only got the Sentence Correction and Number Properties books but after completing them I was convinced that MGMAT books are far superior to any other test preparation books out there. I ended up purchasing all their books including the Roadmap and IR and AWA books (all on my ipad) :).
I went through each of the MGMAT books cover to cover and once I was done with the OG I was feeling very confident. I took my GMAT Prep Exam1 and I got a 690. At this point I knew my main problem was with timing and not letting go of questions that would just take too much time. Also, the OG in my opinion is on the easier side and would let me comfortably complete questions in 2 minutes but that was not the case on GMAT Prep. I also felt that the level of CR questions in the OG is easier than what you see at 700 levels.
I then decided to purchase the GMATPrep Question Pack1 for more practice. After doing 1/3rd of the questions in this pack I took the GMATPrep Exam2 and scored a 760! At this point I was convinced that the best questions are from the official test administrators. So, I decided to purchase the GMATPrep Exam Pack 1. At $40 for 2 exams I thought it was a little expensive but in my opinion totally worth it. I practiced some more from Question Pack and took the GMATPrep Exam3. This time I scored a 710, but it was mostly because my toddler had kept me awake most of the previous night and I was mentally exhausted mid way through the exam. Then I practiced some more from the question pack and adv quant MGMAT and finally took the GMAT Prep Exam4. This time I had my husband do the night duty on my toddler and also had a protein bar before the exam and BINGO I got a 770! This was 4 days before the actual test and did wonders to my confidence level.
For a week before my exam my husband slept with our toddler so I would be well rested. On the day of the exam I had a high carb/protein lunch and a protein bar just before the exam. The AWA and IR were pretty easy. Quants was about the same difficulty level as on GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1. I even recognized some questions from Exam Pack. I finished the first 10 question in 10 minutes that gave me more time per question on the harder ones. I had to make an educated guess on the last one since I only had 1 minute. Verbal, towards the end, I felt was harder that what I had seen on the Exam Pack (but, those questions could very well have been experimental). I had only 4 minutes for the last 3 questions and had to rush through them.
Some tips:
1. MGMAT guides and blogs are great! You need only these for strategies and concepts. Stacey has done a great job and her tips helped me quite a bit.
2. I don’t really recommend using MGMAT CATs to gauge your performance. I did solve all quants questions on their CATs but did not really bother with the verbal.
3. Materials from GMAT Prep are the closest you will get to what you will see on the test. At $70 they are a little expensive but, I HIGHLY recommend the Question Pack and the Exam Pack.
4. Once you have figured out your strategies and concepts my suggestion would be to time all your practice sessions.
4. The test is truly a mental marathon as mentioned in one of the MGMAT books. Make sure you have a high protein energy bar before and during the breaks so you are alert during the test.

Hi SGK!

Thanks for this. Do you recommend both the extra Exam pack and the Question pack? What do you think gave you more benefit?
Does the Exam pack come with answer explanations?

Did you find the extra paid tests to be of better quality than the 2 free ones or the same? Is it from the same pool of questions?

Thanks,
Anjelika

[SGK]

Yes, I do recommend both the packs. The questions on these is the closest you will get to the actual test. The question pack helped me train to think the gmat way. And the exam pack helped me figure out my timing and test strategy. For example I figured that in quant I should do the first 10 questions in 10 mins to give me more time for the more difficult questions later. The exam pack does not come with explanations. It has totally different questions and of a higher difficulty level that the free tests and I saw a couple of questions similar to one in exam pack on the test.
Do remember the actual test has some experimental questions so if you do see something vague, move on because most likely it will be not scored.
Good Luck!

[kouranjelika]

Thanks so much!

[binmahmood]

Hi SGK

Thank you so much for sharing your awesome story and tips for success, and best of luck for your applications.

I already have access to the 6 manhattan tests but the questions in them sometimes seem a lot more difficult compared to the ones on the GMAT prep. I gave a free veritas prep test and found the questions to be similar in nature and difficulty to those found on the GMAT prep. Veritas is giving 6 additional tests for $50. Would you suggest I go with those or should I leave Veritas tests and invest the $50 on the GMAT packs.

By the way, I had scored a 640 earlier in Nov, 2013 and I am planning to resit in last week of June.

Thanks and best regards,
Affan

[pyles.warren]

Hi all,

I took my GMAT this week and scored a 750 (Q50,V40). I wanted to share my experience and some tips as payback, since I found the the MGMAT blogs and forums very helpful...
When I started my preparation I did not get the MGMAT guides. After a few weeks of studying in my first practice test I got a 680. I was a little disappointed and then some on my friends recommended the MGMAT. At first I only got the Sentence Correction and Number Properties books but after completing them I was convinced that MGMAT books are far superior to any other test preparation books out there. I ended up purchasing all their books including the Roadmap and IR and AWA books (all on my ipad) .
I went through each of the MGMAT books cover to cover and once I was done with the OG I was feeling very confident. I took my GMAT Prep Exam1 and I got a 690. At this point I knew my main problem was with timing and not letting go of questions that would just take too much time. Also, the OG in my opinion is on the easier side and would let me comfortably complete questions in 2 minutes but that was not the case on GMAT Prep. I also felt that the level of CR questions in the OG is easier than what you see at 700 levels.
I then decided to purchase the GMATPrep Question Pack1 for more practice. After doing 1/3rd of the questions in this pack I took the GMATPrep Exam2 and scored a 760! At this point I was convinced that the best questions are from the official test administrators. So, I decided to purchase the GMATPrep Exam Pack 1. At $40 for 2 exams I thought it was a little expensive but in my opinion totally worth it. I practiced some more from Question Pack and took the GMATPrep Exam3. This time I scored a 710, but it was mostly because my toddler had kept me awake most of the previous night and I was mentally exhausted mid way through the exam. Then I practiced some more from the question pack and adv quant MGMAT and finally took the GMAT Prep Exam4. This time I had my husband do the night duty on my toddler and also had a protein bar before the exam and BINGO I got a 770! This was 4 days before the actual test and did wonders to my confidence level.
For a week before my exam my husband slept with our toddler so I would be well rested. On the day of the exam I had a high carb/protein lunch and a protein bar just before the exam. The AWA and IR were pretty easy. Quants was about the same difficulty level as on GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1. I even recognized some questions from Exam Pack. I finished the first 10 question in 10 minutes that gave me more time per question on the harder ones. I had to make an educated guess on the last one since I only had 1 minute. Verbal, towards the end, I felt was harder that what I had seen on the Exam Pack (but, those questions could very well have been experimental). I had only 4 minutes for the last 3 questions and had to rush through them.
Some tips:
1. MGMAT guides and blogs are great! You need only these for strategies and concepts. Stacey has done a great job and her tips helped me quite a bit.
2. I don’t really recommend using MGMAT CATs to gauge your performance. I did solve all quants questions on their CATs but did not really bother with the verbal.
3. Materials from GMAT Prep are the closest you will get to what you will see on the test. At $70 they are a little expensive but, I HIGHLY recommend the Question Pack and the Exam Pack.
4. Once you have figured out your strategies and concepts my suggestion would be to time all your practice sessions.
4. The test is truly a mental marathon as mentioned in one of the MGMAT books. Make sure you have a high protein energy bar before and during the breaks so you are alert during the test.

SGK,

You mentioned the adv MGMAT quant book. Did you go through that book and how long before your test or where in your studies did you use it?

[johnm677]

Congrats on the great score, and thanks for your words of wisdom!

[johnm677]

Hi all,

I took my GMAT this week and scored a 750 (Q50,V40). I wanted to share my experience and some tips as payback, since I found the the MGMAT blogs and forums very helpful...
When I started my preparation I did not get the MGMAT guides. After a few weeks of studying in my first practice test I got a 680. I was a little disappointed and then some on my friends recommended the MGMAT. At first I only got the Sentence Correction and Number Properties books but after completing them I was convinced that MGMAT books are far superior to any other test preparation books out there. I ended up purchasing all their books including the Roadmap and IR and AWA books (all on my ipad) .
I went through each of the MGMAT books cover to cover and once I was done with the OG I was feeling very confident. I took my GMAT Prep Exam1 and I got a 690. At this point I knew my main problem was with timing and not letting go of questions that would just take too much time. Also, the OG in my opinion is on the easier side and would let me comfortably complete questions in 2 minutes but that was not the case on GMAT Prep. I also felt that the level of CR questions in the OG is easier than what you see at 700 levels.
I then decided to purchase the GMATPrep Question Pack1 for more practice. After doing 1/3rd of the questions in this pack I took the GMATPrep Exam2 and scored a 760! At this point I was convinced that the best questions are from the official test administrators. So, I decided to purchase the GMATPrep Exam Pack 1. At $40 for 2 exams I thought it was a little expensive but in my opinion totally worth it. I practiced some more from Question Pack and took the GMATPrep Exam3. This time I scored a 710, but it was mostly because my toddler had kept me awake most of the previous night and I was mentally exhausted mid way through the exam. Then I practiced some more from the question pack and adv quant MGMAT and finally took the GMAT Prep Exam4. This time I had my husband do the night duty on my toddler and also had a protein bar before the exam and BINGO I got a 770! This was 4 days before the actual test and did wonders to my confidence level.
For a week before my exam my husband slept with our toddler so I would be well rested. On the day of the exam I had a high carb/protein lunch and a protein bar just before the exam. The AWA and IR were pretty easy. Quants was about the same difficulty level as on GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1. I even recognized some questions from Exam Pack. I finished the first 10 question in 10 minutes that gave me more time per question on the harder ones. I had to make an educated guess on the last one since I only had 1 minute. Verbal, towards the end, I felt was harder that what I had seen on the Exam Pack (but, those questions could very well have been experimental). I had only 4 minutes for the last 3 questions and had to rush through them.
Some tips:
1. MGMAT guides and blogs are great! You need only these for strategies and concepts. Stacey has done a great job and her tips helped me quite a bit.
2. I don’t really recommend using MGMAT CATs to gauge your performance. I did solve all quants questions on their CATs but did not really bother with the verbal.
3. Materials from GMAT Prep are the closest you will get to what you will see on the test. At $70 they are a little expensive but, I HIGHLY recommend the Question Pack and the Exam Pack.
4. Once you have figured out your strategies and concepts my suggestion would be to time all your practice sessions.
4. The test is truly a mental marathon as mentioned in one of the MGMAT books. Make sure you have a high protein energy bar before and during the breaks so you are alert during the test.

Good job