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alixjung · 2003 October 3rd, 09:02 PM

My experience this morning... The math was typical except one really difficult question which costs me 15 minutes. For the verbal part, I double-checked each question up to when I get to question 30 when I hit one really long article (100+ lines). I was short of time and guess the last 5 verbal questions.

Ok, this is not a joke but it's kind of hularious. I drank so much coffee, juice and milk in the morning that I went to the restroom 6 times during my staying in the testing center. [

!] I could have used some of those time preparing my abcde elimnation scratch paper.

Ok, back to the main theme: Of all the study guides I used, I like Official Guide, VStudy and Arco 800 the best. I didn't like Kaplan 800; it has too much controversies and there is not too much content in it anyway. I LOVE testMagic and sentenceCorrection. I learned a great deal. THANK YOU, ERIN, HELLOGMAT, BOB, and those who replied my questions! You have made my study easier and fun in so many ways! Erin, your replies are like a word from the Godfather; I trust them more than what a dictionary says. Hellogmat, I got so much encouragement from your postings... For math tough questions, I go to yahoo gmattutor group. I usually get a good response. I am recommending my friends to these sites because they are simply too good to miss.

I really enjoy studying GMAT. It helps me improve my English. It's challenging. It helps me getting focus on serious good stuff. I got so much distractions at work and from friends, who would have every single good reason in the world for me to not to study GMAT; but I resisted many temptations

... especially after I scheduled my test.

I have two questions:

1) Should I retake it? My goal was 720 and I got it, so I am happy. Yet most of my prep scores were between 740-780. Also, like many people on this site, I also want to apply for the top MBA schools. I read a few high-score postings on this site and sensed that maybe 720 is not good enough.

2) Should I apply for MAB school this year or next year? My background: I am 27... grew up in China, got a music undergrad degree (music is my hobby), and woops-daisis, thanks to the heated internet age, got a master degree of science. My GPAs are 3.9/4.0 for both degrees. I have 4 years of full-time working experiences. I was the e-commerce manager of a catalog company and boosted our online annual sales from $800,000 to $6,000,000 in two years. I was the senior web architect for a 2,500-people insurance company, reporting directly to the VP, and did lots of large-scale web projects. Right now, I work for a small private university as a web project manager. I am not sure whether I should apply this year, because 1) I have done absolutely NOTHING other than taking the GMAT. 2) As an international student, I must apply within the first two rounds. I wonder rushing my essays and applications is a good idea. 3) It's kind of related to my first question. Is 720 good enough to apply for those top schools? If not, I will need more time for GMAT; therefore, have to apply one year later.

Your opinion/critics/suggestions/comments/whatever will be greatly appreciated!

MindBend · 2003 October 3rd, 11:07 PM

Congrats ona good score.I think you have enough time to prepare essays. You should target Fall 2004. I took GMAT and did terrible ..got a 630 ..what material did you use for tough math questions. Morover what is V study?

thanks in advance

hellogmat · 2003 October 4th, 02:36 AM

Hi Alix,
Congratulations for achieving your target score. In my opinion, your scores are just perfect to get into any school you want. You also bring the diversity with your music background. Proven leadership will put you ahead of your competition. So, I think you have all the right ingradients. As long as you present those well, I think that you will get into any school of your choice. In addition to your background you need to have a strong reason to do an MBA, a strong sense of what you want to do, and a plan to use the MBA to achieve what you want.

Congratulations once again!! If you can effectively put together an application for the school of your choice, I don't believe that it is too late for you to apply for Fall 2004. It all depends on how much time you can spend and how well organized your thoughts are. Personally, I would love to see you in my MBA class.

Good luck.

thaiva · 2003 October 4th, 05:00 PM

Hey alixjung,

<font color="purple">[/size]WICKED SCORE CONGRADT'S[/size]</font id="purple">

Hellogmat's advice is just what I have to say practically so once again congradt's in your score and good luck for getting in the top MBA schools you can make it....

Right behind you the whole way....

Tim

alixjung · 2003 October 5th, 05:55 AM

MindBend: For math part, I used to yahoo gmattutor group and part of Official Guide. Math is my strength so I didn't study much. My only advice would be practise, hard and smart. Vstudy is a Korean GMAT prep material. It has 6 books; each book has 6 exams; and each exam has 6 sections of math/verbal questions. They are pretty close to Official Guide style; some of them are actually Official Guide stuff. You can download Vstudy material from yahoo gmattutor group. Its answer sheets are in gif as separate files.

Hellogmat and Mindbend: Thank you for your encouragement.

aaaa · 2003 October 5th, 10:26 AM

is vstudy same as GMAT +

alixjung · 2003 October 18th, 09:09 PM

I just received my AWA score and am extremely excited to share the good news that I got 6.0. I am a "foreigner" and had only prepared AWA for a total of 4 hours---2 hours on consolidating templates, 1/2 writing an issue essay, 1/2 hr. memorizing my templates, and 1 hour brainstorming 6 essays, therefore; I was expecting at most 5.0.

I think the reasons I did well are:

1. I bought the book ARCO Essay Writing and grabbed my template ideas from there. It gives good ideas on examples and possible templates. HelloGMAT has a very good Argument template upon which I twisted mine from.
2. Timing. I spent 5 mins thinking, 20 mins fast typing, and 5 mins reviewing, for both of my essays.
3. Strategies. For example, give one solid example in the issue essay; don't try to articulate more than one point per paragraph; attack Argument essay by its assumptions, premises, and logic of its conclusion.
4. Test performance. Before I started my test, I wrote down on the scratch paper my two templates and listed most common grammar mistakes that I should avoid.

By the way, the order of the two essays are not always issues and then argument. I got my first essay on argument and was not quite ready because I planned to use the 5 minutes break to get the argument article ready. So before you start your tests, get ready for both essays.

Hope this helps someone outthere. And good luck to your exams.

2003 October 3rd, 09:02 PM	#1 (permalink)
alixjung Eager! Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA Posts: 80	My experience this morning... The math was typical except one really difficult question which costs me 15 minutes. For the verbal part, I double-checked each question up to when I get to question 30 when I hit one really long article (100+ lines). I was short of time and guess the last 5 verbal questions. Ok, this is not a joke but it's kind of hularious. I drank so much coffee, juice and milk in the morning that I went to the restroom 6 times during my staying in the testing center. [!] I could have used some of those time preparing my abcde elimnation scratch paper. Ok, back to the main theme: Of all the study guides I used, I like Official Guide, VStudy and Arco 800 the best. I didn't like Kaplan 800; it has too much controversies and there is not too much content in it anyway. I LOVE testMagic and sentenceCorrection. I learned a great deal. THANK YOU, ERIN, HELLOGMAT, BOB, and those who replied my questions! You have made my study easier and fun in so many ways! Erin, your replies are like a word from the Godfather; I trust them more than what a dictionary says. Hellogmat, I got so much encouragement from your postings... For math tough questions, I go to yahoo gmattutor group. I usually get a good response. I am recommending my friends to these sites because they are simply too good to miss. I really enjoy studying GMAT. It helps me improve my English. It's challenging. It helps me getting focus on serious good stuff. I got so much distractions at work and from friends, who would have every single good reason in the world for me to not to study GMAT; but I resisted many temptations ... especially after I scheduled my test. I have two questions: 1) Should I retake it? My goal was 720 and I got it, so I am happy. Yet most of my prep scores were between 740-780. Also, like many people on this site, I also want to apply for the top MBA schools. I read a few high-score postings on this site and sensed that maybe 720 is not good enough. 2) Should I apply for MAB school this year or next year? My background: I am 27... grew up in China, got a music undergrad degree (music is my hobby), and woops-daisis, thanks to the heated internet age, got a master degree of science. My GPAs are 3.9/4.0 for both degrees. I have 4 years of full-time working experiences. I was the e-commerce manager of a catalog company and boosted our online annual sales from $800,000 to $6,000,000 in two years. I was the senior web architect for a 2,500-people insurance company, reporting directly to the VP, and did lots of large-scale web projects. Right now, I work for a small private university as a web project manager. I am not sure whether I should apply this year, because 1) I have done absolutely NOTHING other than taking the GMAT. 2) As an international student, I must apply within the first two rounds. I wonder rushing my essays and applications is a good idea. 3) It's kind of related to my first question. Is 720 good enough to apply for those top schools? If not, I will need more time for GMAT; therefore, have to apply one year later. Your opinion/critics/suggestions/comments/whatever will be greatly appreciated!

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2003 October 3rd, 11:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
MindBend I JUST got here. Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: USA Posts: 6	Congrats ona good score.I think you have enough time to prepare essays. You should target Fall 2004. I took GMAT and did terrible ..got a 630 ..what material did you use for tough math questions. Morover what is V study? thanks in advance

2003 October 4th, 02:36 AM	#3 (permalink)
hellogmat Within my grasp! Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 177	Hi Alix, Congratulations for achieving your target score. In my opinion, your scores are just perfect to get into any school you want. You also bring the diversity with your music background. Proven leadership will put you ahead of your competition. So, I think you have all the right ingradients. As long as you present those well, I think that you will get into any school of your choice. In addition to your background you need to have a strong reason to do an MBA, a strong sense of what you want to do, and a plan to use the MBA to achieve what you want. Congratulations once again!! If you can effectively put together an application for the school of your choice, I don't believe that it is too late for you to apply for Fall 2004. It all depends on how much time you can spend and how well organized your thoughts are. Personally, I would love to see you in my MBA class. Good luck.

2003 October 4th, 05:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
thaiva TM Guru-in-Training Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Zealand Posts: 761	Hey alixjung, <font color="purple">[/size]WICKED SCORE CONGRADT'S[/size]</font id="purple"> Hellogmat's advice is just what I have to say practically so once again congradt's in your score and good luck for getting in the top MBA schools you can make it.... Right behind you the whole way.... Tim

2003 October 5th, 05:55 AM	#5 (permalink)
alixjung Eager! Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA Posts: 80	MindBend: For math part, I used to yahoo gmattutor group and part of Official Guide. Math is my strength so I didn't study much. My only advice would be practise, hard and smart. Vstudy is a Korean GMAT prep material. It has 6 books; each book has 6 exams; and each exam has 6 sections of math/verbal questions. They are pretty close to Official Guide style; some of them are actually Official Guide stuff. You can download Vstudy material from yahoo gmattutor group. Its answer sheets are in gif as separate files. Hellogmat and Mindbend: Thank you for your encouragement.

2003 October 5th, 10:26 AM	#6 (permalink)
aaaa Eager! Join Date: May 2003 Location: India Posts: 38	is vstudy same as GMAT +

2003 October 18th, 09:09 PM	#7 (permalink)
alixjung Eager! Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA Posts: 80	I just received my AWA score and am extremely excited to share the good news that I got 6.0. I am a "foreigner" and had only prepared AWA for a total of 4 hours---2 hours on consolidating templates, 1/2 writing an issue essay, 1/2 hr. memorizing my templates, and 1 hour brainstorming 6 essays, therefore; I was expecting at most 5.0. I think the reasons I did well are: 1. I bought the book ARCO Essay Writing and grabbed my template ideas from there. It gives good ideas on examples and possible templates. HelloGMAT has a very good Argument template upon which I twisted mine from. 2. Timing. I spent 5 mins thinking, 20 mins fast typing, and 5 mins reviewing, for both of my essays. 3. Strategies. For example, give one solid example in the issue essay; don't try to articulate more than one point per paragraph; attack Argument essay by its assumptions, premises, and logic of its conclusion. 4. Test performance. Before I started my test, I wrote down on the scratch paper my two templates and listed most common grammar mistakes that I should avoid. By the way, the order of the two essays are not always issues and then argument. I got my first essay on argument and was not quite ready because I planned to use the 5 minutes break to get the argument article ready. So before you start your tests, get ready for both essays. Hope this helps someone outthere. And good luck to your exams.

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