Five Attempts: 620->730, Finally Breaking Through to the 700s!
Postscript:
The original author studied in Europe and founded the “Sweden Time” blog, documenting his reflections on his study abroad life and his analysis of this corner of the world. If any of you are aspiring to study in Europe, please be sure to visit:https://swedentime.wordpress.com
Author: deanne (deanne)
Board: GMAT
Title: [Experience] 5 Attempts 620->730 Self-Study Experience for Working Professionals
Time: Thu Feb 2 15:18:00 2017
[Test Scores]
1st Attempt: Cancel 2015
2nd Attempt: 620 Q49 V26 (2016.3)3rd Attempt: 640 Q48 V30 AWA:4.5 IR:2 (2016.10)4th Attempt: 640 Q49 V30 AWA:5 IR:7 (2016.11)
5th Attempt: 730 Q49 V41 AWA:5 IR:5 (2016.12)
Background: NTU Social Sciences, Working Professional
I. [On Whether to Take a Prep Course]
This is one of the main reasons I wrote this experience sharing. Although the title says self-study, I actually attended a certain prep course in 2015. At the time, seeing the experience posts on the forum, I felt I had to enroll.But after completing the course, I realized that the instructor’s methods weren’t suitable for my learning style, and my scores at the time weren’t ideal. Coupled with some personal reasons, I postponed my overseas study plans. When I started preparing again in 2016, I decided not to take any more prep courses or use their methods. Also, due to time constraints, I couldn’t form a study group, so I opted for self-study. What I want to convey here is that whether or not you need a prep course truly depends on your individual situation. I know many people who successfully achieved their target scores after attending a prep course and are deeply grateful to their instructors. However, there are also many who didn’t see significant improvement after taking a course (and then felt anxious seeing all the “7XX in one month” experience posts on the forum, doubting their own intelligence, etc. — these people usually don’t post their experiences). A prep course is not a panacea. While instructors undoubtedly have a strong grasp of the exam, you are the one taking the test. Completing a course doesn’t guarantee absorption, and diligently studying notes doesn’t necessarily lead to complete understanding. After all, the GMAT exam format isn’t about rote memorization; your final score ultimately depends on the depth of your comprehension. If you’re still considering a prep course, in addition to financial and time considerations, you might want to try a trial lesson to see if you can absorb the material.As for those who have decided to self-study, this path might not be a shortcut, but it’s certainly not impossible. My personal goal is to cultivate the skills required for the GMAT, as the exam is merely a means, not an end. A high score might be temporary, but developing actual abilities will be somewhat helpful for future studies.
II. [GMAT Prep Process & Mindset]
Forum member winterfell’s post below is very insightful. I, too, started with the wrong mindset and completely underestimated this exam. I highly recommend it to anyone currently preparing to apply. https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/GMAT/M.1433865821.A.A20.html Key takeaways & additions:
1. Absolutely give yourself enough time to prepare for the GMAT.
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Most people I know prepare for about 4-7 months; working professionals usually take a bit longer. I have indeed heard of prodigies who prepared for 50 hours and scored 760, but I believe those are rare cases. Besides having an excellent English foundation, their natural thinking logic must also align with the GMAT’s question logic.
2. If possible, it’s best to tackle it in one go.
The biggest flaw in my prep process was having two very long interruptions, which made the final stages of preparation incredibly painful, feeling like the GMAT was haunting me. The interruptions were mainly due to work and long trips. Later, besides needing time to re-familiarize myself with the exam questions, my mood was also significantly affected (I kept thinking about having to prepare for the exam upon returning from my trip, unable to truly relax, sigh). So, if you don’t score well, when should you register for the next attempt? Don’t hesitate, do it on the same day you finish the exam. When should the next attempt be? This question requires considering the actual daily study time available to the test-taker. For me, it was at least one month. Also, a reminder that everyone can now take the exam a maximum of 8 times in their lifetime (including attempts before this rule was announced). In some exceptional cases, you can write to GMAC to request additional attempts.
III. [Preparation for Each Section]
There are countless online resources on how to start preparing for each section, so I won’t go into detail. I’ll just share a few insights.
1. The fastest way to improve Verbal is through summarization, bar none.
There are many methods for summarization, and various approaches are shared online. Once you decide on your preferred format, you can start. Initially, I also found it time-consuming and inefficient with all the cutting and pasting. However, based on experience, summarization can indeed help you adapt to the GMAT’s question logic, provided you’re also thinking critically while summarizing. Make sure you fully understand the detailed explanations; simply copying and pasting others’ answers won’t help.
2. There are many resources, choose carefully.
Precisely because there are so many resources, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. I’ve looked at quite a few study materials, and it’s curious how most seem to work well for one group of people but offer little help to another (for example, with the CR Bible, I knew halfway through that it wasn’t very helpful for me, so I didn’t finish it). Manhattan SC seems to be an exception; almost everyone praises it, and I personally read it twice and took paper notes. On ChaseDream, many experts share their logic diagrams and condensed versions of study materials. However, for me, these were only for reference; it’s hard to fully grasp someone else’s work, and drawing it myself was more practical. The most valuable study material, of course, is the questions themselves. I truly believe that if you become thoroughly familiar with the questions, you won’t need any special problem-solving techniques. This phenomenon is most evident in CR: if you do enough questions and review them properly, the answers genuinely seem to emerge on their own. However, in my experience, methods are just methods, and effectiveness varies from person to person. What works for others might not work for you. You must take the time to identify your weaknesses and avoid blind studying to achieve better results with less effort.
IV. [From 4th Attempt to 5th Attempt]
1. Record the use of “every hour” of your time.
This is something I didn’t do for my first four attempts. It was mainly to gain control over how I used my time. It sounds obvious, but when you actually start tracking, you’ll find a lot of time is wasted inexplicably. The benefit of tracking your time is that it constantly reminds you that you’re being monitored, making you more mindful of how you spend your time.
2. Analyze ESR
I purchased ESR for all my 2016 exams, and I highly recommend it to forum members who hit a plateau. After my first three attempts, I discovered a peculiar fact: my weakest section was different each time, conveniently being SC/RC/CR respectively. The reason isn’t hard to understand: I would focus on improving whatever was weak, and then for the next exam, the previously strong section would become weak. However, I don’t think everyone experiences this; I’m just the unstable type. So, before my final attempt, I scheduled time for every section daily, without exception, even if it was just to do one question.
3. Plan your progress and follow the schedule.
After that November exam, I knew it was a critical moment for survival, and I needed a very clear grasp of my study situation. That evening, I went on ChaseDream and read over a dozen experience posts from people who improved by more than a hundred points. I set clear major goals to achieve before the next exam, and then scheduled my progress based on my previous preparation. I planned one week at a time, leaving Sundays open for catching up. Although it was really hard to achieve 100% (in fact, I was catching up on previous progress every day, sigh), having goals made the preparation much more solid. There’s one drawback to be careful about with this approach: because you’re eager to achieve your goals, sometimes you might not truly complete your studies thoroughly. For example: if you need to finish 20 questions today, completing them properly is one way, but guessing through 20 questions is also “completing” them. However, the effects of the two are completely different. This time, I made a special effort to avoid such shortcuts. Additionally, regarding my mindset during this phase: this period was truly agonizing. I had to work every day, and school deadlines were approaching. But I knew that without a GMAT score of 650, many schools wouldn’t even consider my application, so I still had to prepare diligently. Honestly, at that time, I was already prepared to retake the exam if I didn’t do well, accepting it as fate. But on the other hand, I still aimed for 750, and tried my best not to overthink things, just following the schedule.
V. [On PACE]
Those who research PACE are truly impressive; ChaseDream even has a tracking Excel spreadsheet that requires macros, and its intricate design is astonishing. However, I didn’t particularly focus on this area myself. I’m the type who reads questions relatively quickly (though many say this is key to scoring above 700). During the exam, after carefully answering the first 20 questions, I would ensure that for the remaining questions, I had at least 2 minutes per question. If not, I would speed up, and I ended up guessing one question.
VI. [On GMAT Exam Memory (Jijing)]
From experience, I found that I would be heavily influenced by Jijing and unable to think critically, so I only reviewed the Q section once before the exam. It’s a pity I didn’t get a 50, but knowing V was my weakness, I didn’t pay special attention to Q.
VII. [Materials and Resources You Might Need]
Online Resources:
– KMF (Kaomanfen): I almost made it my homepage. It records your question-solving time, accuracy, and allows for question-by-question review, which is extremely useful.
–Dustin’s GMAT Blog: A must-read, very diligently maintained. If you can only use one website for prep, this is it.
– Verbal Summarization – Schedule & Time Table (including some prep principles)
– Donz Math Knowledge Points
– CR helr Logic Notes
– SC Key Concepts Summary Table
To all forum members preparing for the GMAT, no matter what stage you’re at, please believe that you will ultimately achieve your goals.During the period when my scores stagnated, I persevered by relying on many previous test-takers’ experience posts. I hope you will be the next person to realize how wonderful the world is because you no longer have to study for the GMAT :) Throughout this journey, I received a lot of help and encouragement (special thanks to my study buddies N, Y, S, and W who witnessed all of this). If there’s anything I can help with, or if you’re a forum member currently preparing to apply for an MSc in Management, feel free to send me a private message to discuss and exchange ideas. Thank you all.
