How I scored a 750 on the GMAT

English as a Second Language Preparation forum for the GMAT® Test and MBA Commu
1

Got my results back on the day after Halloween, it could have made my november either the worst or best of my life, thankfully the second option took place.

I graduated 4 years ago from the University of Texas with a major in Accounting. My AIM for the GMAT was to get a good score in order to get an interview at a top 10 MBA program. I was aiming for score higher than 700, but since I got a 750, I feel like I couldn’t be happier.
It took me around five weeks,though probably the hardest part was the beginning when I had to collect all of the material and plan my studying for the upcoming weeks.
But in order for you to follow my advice I should tell you that those 5 weeks were hell. no friends, classes, parties or sex for 5 weeks, and an average of 12 to 14 hours a day of studying.
I started reviewing all of the subjects (which more or less were all covered from prior school) once (see sources below) (took me around 18 days, while making detailed notes). then I reviewed everything a second time with focus on subjects I was feeling weak(10 days). and the last 7 days I reviewed everything again. using a blackboard to memorize the tough things, and writing them over and over again till they were stuck in my mind.

All of my study time(until the very end) was divided into 50% studying and 50 % taking random tests from kaplan and GMAC, with review of them. I also found it extremely beneficial to take practice questions from 2minuteGMAT.com, which offered questions not covered by Kaplan; I saw 7-8 questions of that format on my official GMAT test. I finished and reviewed all the questions, and took twice the most difficult ones.

Sources:
2minuteGMAT: a MUST, great questions, and great explanations, the layout is almost identical to the one of the real test, which helps lower your stress. lot of questions similar to real test. at the and I was scoring above a 700. Checking my email for the daily questions was the first trigger point for my study day.

Kaplan:I hated it, I think a lot of their questions are difficult just because they are misleading. the explanations are fine. But anyway you should take it cause is good for some topics. I was scoring above 650 at the end.

GMAC Book: A must buyu. Extremely helpful. you all know about how vital this book is

Things that could have improved my outcome:
-Taking practice tests on math and verbal at the beginning and random only at the end,
it would have probably helped me out to stick more things in my head as soon as I studied them for the first time.

Some advice:
-Don’t panic: no1 source of panic during preparation are forums. take their advice but always remember that we all had different preparations, and we deal with stress in different ways.
-take stats and predictions with reasonable doubt: it was tough reading forums about the GMAT taking 6 months to give the exam, since I was aiming for a good result but at the same time I had no time.
Last but not least,
BE CONFIDENT!!

2

I just started reading Kaplan books (Verbal and Math) and I have only 5 weeks to exam. As you recommended I am going to read GMAC too. Would you please give me full name of this book.

3

Nice advice…thanks.would be helpful if you can post your test score from kaplan and GMAC

4

Hi KenBrownstein congratulations.
Where are you studying now. I thought of preparing GMAT. Please tell me how to plan my preparation. Please suggest me the books in detail. Thank you so much in advance.

5

have you any link of kaplan or GMAT versions to download for free

6

Hi Ken!

Thank you for your advice! I bought the GMAC book you recommended and it has helped my score. I signed up for www.2minutegmat.com and I do the questions every day.

Can you give more advice please?

7

Hi everyone,

Djiho, here is a list of free exams. These websites offer 1 free exam (I recommend all of these)

  1. www.Knewton.com
  2. www.Princetonreview.com
  3. www.Manhattangmat.com
  4. www.MBA.com (2 official free tests)

Ak, my scores for the GMAC Practice Tests (At www.mba.com) were 740 and 760

8

Thanks so much Ken! I checked out the free exams and they are really helpful.

9

Got my results back on the day after Halloween, it could have made my november either the worst or best of my life, thankfully the second option took place.

I graduated 4 years ago from the University of Texas with a major in Accounting. My AIM for the GMAT was to get a good score in order to get an interview at a top 10 MBA program. I was aiming for score higher than 700, but since I got a 750, I feel like I couldn’t be happier.
It took me around five weeks,though probably the hardest part was the beginning when I had to collect all of the material and plan my studying for the upcoming weeks.
But in order for you to follow my advice I should tell you that those 5 weeks were hell. no friends, classes, parties or sex for 5 weeks, and an average of 12 to 14 hours a day of studying.
I started reviewing all of the subjects (which more or less were all covered from prior school) once (see sources below) (took me around 18 days, while making detailed notes). then I reviewed everything a second time with focus on subjects I was feeling weak(10 days). and the last 7 days I reviewed everything again. using a blackboard to memorize the tough things, and writing them over and over again till they were stuck in my mind.

All of my study time(until the very end) was divided into 50% studying and 50 % taking random tests from kaplan and GMAC, with review of them. I also found it extremely beneficial to take practice questions from 2minuteGMAT.com, which offered questions not covered by Kaplan; I saw 7-8 questions of that format on my official GMAT test. I finished and reviewed all the questions, and took twice the most difficult ones.

Sources:
2minuteGMAT: a MUST, great questions, and great explanations, the layout is almost identical to the one of the real test, which helps lower your stress. lot of questions similar to real test. at the and I was scoring above a 700. Checking my email for the daily questions was the first trigger point for my study day.

Kaplan:I hated it, I think a lot of their questions are difficult just because they are misleading. the explanations are fine. But anyway you should take it cause is good for some topics. I was scoring above 650 at the end.

GMAC Book: A must buyu. Extremely helpful. you all know about how vital this book is

Things that could have improved my outcome:
-Taking practice tests on math and verbal at the beginning and random only at the end,
it would have probably helped me out to stick more things in my head as soon as I studied them for the first time.

Some advice:
-Don’t panic: no1 source of panic during preparation are forums. take their advice but always remember that we all had different preparations, and we deal with stress in different ways.
-take stats and predictions with reasonable doubt: it was tough reading forums about the GMAT taking 6 months to give the exam, since I was aiming for a good result but at the same time I had no time.
Last but not least,
BE CONFIDENT!!