560 to a 680...AWA 4.0 to a 5.5

GMAT Test Takers

It has been a few months since I have taken the GMAT (second time), and I have finally decided to post my experience, which hopefully will help some people out with their GMAT preparation. Immediately, some people may look at a 680 score and think that the score doesn't really constitute "beating the GMAT". True, everyone's opinion on what a good score is differs, but if you look at the top 20 b-schools, 680 still falls within the 80% score range; not to mention, that the 680 was a vast improvement from my original 560 score. Fact of the matter is, this post is more to help with trying to achieve your goal, not someone else's.

After I received my score, after the first go-around, I was extremely disheartened. I was mentally and physically drained, but worse, I felt I only reached a little more than half my potential. Backing up a bit, when I began studying for the GMATs I made sure that I was going to take it seriously and not take it for granted. My cumulative study time was over a year. At first I just spent a little time throughout the week brushing up on the GMAT, progressing to some of the test books assessment exams, and finally leading up putting in at least an hour plus everyday for sample tests and 4 hours on the weekends. When it came to taking the test, all my studying was in vain. The night before, I tried to cram as much as possible (mistake), and due to anxiety, I only managed 4 hours of sleep. Needless to say, I was a mess during test time.

I vowed to learn from my mistakes, and improve greatly on my score. To make it short and sweet, here are the things that I did differently that I feel helped with my success:
1. I used Beat the GMAT a ton more the second time. Doing individual timed questions, in areas that I needed help in most, was a savior. Figure out which type of questions challenge you most, and just do a search for these on the site. Do not feel bashful about posting comments if you do not understand. The people who use this site are friendly, encouraging, and provide a bounty of help.
2. Similar to above, but for the AWA. There are some postings that lay out a writing structure for a 6.0 score, which, astonishingly, works pretty well.
3. When going over your practice exams make sure you mark your responses according to how hard it was for you. For regular questions that I answered incorrectly, but knew the answer to, I would use a slash, but for hard ones, I would give stars relative to how hard it was for me.
4. Make sure you constantly review the questions you marked wrong, especially the starred (or whatever mark you choose) ones!
5. Do not cram the night before the test. If you do not know how to do something, one day will not be enough for you to store it and use it for the test. I like to workout, so I did a light workout the day of, and drastically helped with me being able to fall asleep.

That is basically what I did, and was rewarded for my efforts with a score that I wanted. Do not give up hope, the GMAT is just another standardized test, and does not reflect actual intelligence.

If there are any questions, feel free to comment, and I will answer promptly. Thank you

This topic has expert replies