For people who have taken their GMAT, what is the best test preparation guide to get?
What I found most helpful when I took the exam was practice, so I used as many sample tests as I could. The goal is to be comfortable with the style and know the instructions so you don’t not have to read them during the actual test. This meant timed tests at least once a week.
Not all the practice exams are the same, so try to get as many as you can of all publishers. If you can access old real tests, those are better since the completely contrived questions tended to be harder/more complicated than necessary.
I worked out a deal with The Princeton Review Review where I took their GMAT prep course for free in exchange for teaching TOEFL grammar (they insisted on paying me, too). It worked out great and my ultimate scores were very good. I had become very comfortable with the test, so I could focus on question strategies. The computerized version of the test was just being introduced at that time, so the basic strategy of getting the first 10 correct was critical
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How much time did you take to prepare. I have realistically 2 months. I wonder if thats enough. I should have no problems dedicating 2 hours every day to it for the next 2 months.
That’s enough time. I sat for it 3 times over 2 periods in my life. The first period was soon after college after working for 2 years. I left my job just before summer and had 3 months to kill before moving to Taiwan for the first time. I did some odd jobs in New Jersey while waiting for my girlfriend to take the CPA exam and took the 4 week intense course at Kaplan. It helped and I raised my practice test scores over 100 points, and was happy to get a 720 on the test.
10 years later, after working in Taiwan and the Philippines in English teaching, equities research, and a couple entrepreneurial businesses related to the Internet, I had to take the GMAT again because my first score was no longer valid. I gave myself more time to prepare and approached TPR, since I was a believer in “beating the test”. I think I gave myself 3 or 4 months and took the test twice. The first time was disappointing, and I got 680. But I aced it the second time and scored almost 800.
I ultimately choose an MBA program that did not require the GMAT, but the test prep got me into a study mindset and I never regretted it. For me, it was all valuable experience
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Wow, you got some nice scores. I’m just hoping for 650 at this point.
That was my initial goal, too, but I realized the test is very beatable. I managed to raise my score over 150 points, so this indicates how meaningless the actual exam is. I don’t think GMAT score reflects anything more than an ability to prepare ahead of time and take the GMAT.
I did find the test prep mindset useful in business school, but only in getting focused on exams, which were the least interesting part of grad school anyway.
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I have a 4.0 so I think 650 should be enough to get me into most top 25 B Schools besides schools like MIT. I feel a lot better now, thanks. I will need to buy the materials ASAP. Was freaking out all last night when I realized I had so little time.
I agree with @GooseEgg that practice can really help yoir scores.
In Asia you can usually find whole books of practice test (or copied real tests) in copy shops. There’s a place in Gangnam in Seoul called ě śěťĽëłµě‚¬ that sells them. Maybe ask your Korean relatives to get them and send them over to you.
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