My hard work paid off; I scored a 740!!

[KrishnaGupta141]

Hello! Finally I’ve made some time apart to write about my prep. I’m Krishna, nice to meet you if it’s the first time you hear about me!!

Goal: 700++ GMAT score
My score: 740 yuppiiiii!!!!!!

Test taken: 27th of October.
Actual situation: Undergrad in India with masters degree in electrical engineering. Part time job to help paying studies. Very busy.

Time of preparation was 4 months. Approximately 2 hours per day, very enthusiastic! Always slept at least 7½ hours, jogged twice a week and ate properly. Mandatory rest on Sundays of each two or three weeks. Multivitamin supplements were taken daily. I work from 13:00 to 15:00 so my days were endless!! It’s all about discipline and sacrifice!!! If you really want this, anything is possible!

Study methods: ACTIVE Krishna!! paraphrasing and writing things down. Own made flash cards.
Original plan: to schedule test on March 2009. Impossible, started more or less to study in February, but found it very time consuming and stressing.

Material:
1. GMAC Review books: core study guide. Gold standard!
2. ManhattanGMAT questions (always when doubts and weak areas!)
3. 2minuteGMAT website questions
4. PrincetonReview study guide
Schedule (this is what I planned, then things haven’t gone exactly as this!):

1. 70 days 1st read of GMAC book. Started taking 2minuteGMAT questions every day.

2. Practice test done: scored 620. Good path, scheduled for Sept-October-Nov eligibility period. Rested one day.

3. Worked on Kaplan questions. Practice test was 640.

4. Reviewed Princeton review guide.
5. Final review 20 days.

6. GMAT practice score 2 days before test: 640!! was depressed cuz I couldn’t improve my score on these days...

BIGGEST MISTAKES:
1. STARTING GMAC Review guide TOO LATE. It’s an excellent learning tool and I should have done it more calmly.
2. Not being able to practice every day
3. Focused too much in my weak and neglected some of my strong areas.


My single best piece of advice: Don't use 2 or 3 more review books because is time consuming and you don’t familiarize with all of them. Stick to one core source of study and become familiar with it. Try reading it as much times you can and focus to add notes to it when things aren't clear or covered on it. BE A VILE AND FULMINANT ENEMY OF PASSIVE READING, which is ROAD TO PERDITION... being active is the way. Master the art of CRACKING multiple choice questions.

[lynncf]

you went from a 640 to 740 ?
Are you a naturally good test taker? Or you had better scores on your practice exams since the 640?