Well it has been a little while since I sat the GMAT so this blog entry might require clearing of some cobwebs....
To be honest when I sat for the GMAT I wanted the score to be a true representation of my ability. I knew that diligent preparation for the exam was quite critical to my B-School chances, but while preparing for the test I was mainly looking at regional schools.
As I live in Sydney, this automatically meant some Australian schools such as AGSM and Melbourne Business School and some Singaporean schools such as Nanyang Business School and NUS Business School.
However, I managed to score a 710 in the exam and that got me thinking about other bigger opportunities...I also got fantastic encouragement from my dad who urged me to aim for the absolute top.
I still ended up applying for Nanyang and NUS and I managed to get in, but I knocked them back in pursuit of some of the best schools.
For the GMAT prep, I went through Kaplan's GMAT800 and completed dozens of CATs from GMAC, McGraw-Hill and 800score.com. I thought the 800score.com application was pretty good and the CATs were a great place to formulate a test strategy...but I thought it might have been just slightly easier than the actual test. Not by much though.
As most people say, I thought the CATs sent by GMAC were probably the most accurate predictors of my score.
I ended up with pretty poor scores in the first couple of tests that I did (below 650), but my scores improved steadily over the last 2 months of practice. I remember though, I sat for a Manhattan GMAT sample test about 2 weeks out from the actual test. At this point I was averaging about 700, but in the Manhattan GMAT test I somehow scored a 560!!
I was completely freaked out..not really sure what happened, perhaps they make the sample test extra difficult so students get encouraged to join the classes.
Anyway on the actual test day, I think the best strategy is to focus 10,000% and dont let anything ANYTHING distract you from focusing on the test. Its quite draining considering it takes about 4.5 hours for the whole test......
The GMAT computerised test scales your score as you go, you start off with a medium level question and the questions get harder if you start getting them right. Obviously your score improves too. This means the first 5-10 questions of each section are far far far more important that the last 5-10 questions.
I remember messing up the first question in the quant section, I managed to recover but ended up with a 45 for quant. (42 for verbal), total score of 710.
Anyway so much for the GMAT, it was an experience to remember. Its quite a unique exam and I think its a good scale of one's ability to handle pressure as much as anything else.
Caio....
I still ended up applying for Nanyang and NUS and I managed to get in, but I knocked them back in pursuit of some of the best schools.
For the GMAT prep, I went through Kaplan's GMAT800 and completed dozens of CATs from GMAC, McGraw-Hill and 800score.com. I thought the 800score.com application was pretty good and the CATs were a great place to formulate a test strategy...but I thought it might have been just slightly easier than the actual test. Not by much though.
As most people say, I thought the CATs sent by GMAC were probably the most accurate predictors of my score.
I ended up with pretty poor scores in the first couple of tests that I did (below 650), but my scores improved steadily over the last 2 months of practice. I remember though, I sat for a Manhattan GMAT sample test about 2 weeks out from the actual test. At this point I was averaging about 700, but in the Manhattan GMAT test I somehow scored a 560!!
I was completely freaked out..not really sure what happened, perhaps they make the sample test extra difficult so students get encouraged to join the classes.
Anyway on the actual test day, I think the best strategy is to focus 10,000% and dont let anything ANYTHING distract you from focusing on the test. Its quite draining considering it takes about 4.5 hours for the whole test......
The GMAT computerised test scales your score as you go, you start off with a medium level question and the questions get harder if you start getting them right. Obviously your score improves too. This means the first 5-10 questions of each section are far far far more important that the last 5-10 questions.
I remember messing up the first question in the quant section, I managed to recover but ended up with a 45 for quant. (42 for verbal), total score of 710.
Anyway so much for the GMAT, it was an experience to remember. Its quite a unique exam and I think its a good scale of one's ability to handle pressure as much as anything else.
Caio....
