ENCOURAGEMENT to NON-NATIVE test takers + THANKS to Stacey

[emajzlikova]

Hey Stacey,

sorry for a post that is a little off-topic, I just thought this might be a propriate spot. I actually have no problem with GMAT anymore (yaaaay). I SIMPLY WANT TO THANK YOU. Both your great articles and useful advice on timing helped me A LOT.

I took GMAT this Friday after studying about 5 weeks on weekends and Friday as I work weekdays. I studied hard and used every minute. In the two practice tests I took I scored 650, which gave me hope I can get the 600 I needed. To my huge surprise I scored 700 (48,38) when I took the GMAT. I was shocked. And happy of course :)

I am not an English native speaker and there are no courses or books avalaible in my country so I got my books through Amazon. I used the 3 Official Guides, 2 practice tests from GMAC PrepSW and a OG Companion. I made flashcards for idioms plus I used MG flashcards for iPhone :) Oh, and those from BTG too (great for killing time on a way to work while on subway). I also read through all of your articles.

Maybe this will be a little ENCOURAGEMENT FOR ANY NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER who is in the same position I was. What I believe made a huge difference for me was one of your articles in which you stressed that even those who score 700+ get about 30% wrong and that TRYING TO GET EVERYTHING CORRECT is the best way to HELL. This was a huge relief for me and encouraged me a lot. Realizing this (nobody is perfect, righ?) plus careful timing (your article on timing - the positive/negative position) are essential. I learned to stick to a pacing chart (2min/Q on Quant.,1,8min/Q on Verbal) so that I give myself a fair chance on every question...be sure if you do not, the questions that come at the end of each section will be the ones you would be otherwise able to solve - well, if you had enough time - and you might find yourself pulling your hair out why you wasted so much time on a question that was too hard anyway. I notice that when I took the practice tests. And seriously, when I saw an impossible question the more time I spent on such a question the lower the chance I got it right. So I rather moved on. And guess what - I ended up having a few minutes left at the end on the official test...on both sections! I know, not the best scenario either, but at least I spend it taking extra care of the last questions.

Sorry for the awfully long post...but I felt like you def deserve some credit for my success! : ) THANK YOU!

Eva

[StaceyKoprince]

That's so exciting, Eva! I'm really happy for you. Now on to applications, right? The work never ends... :)

You make some very good points in your post and I hope other students find your insights helpful. Thanks for taking the time to share with us! (And I'm glad that I was able to help - though you had to do the hard work yourself!)