My GMAT Online Experience and Top Tips
Contents
My situation
Preparation materials
Preparation process
Online experience
Top Tips for GMAT Online
Online experience
I took three tests in total – all GMAT Online, on mid-November, early December, and late December (exactly 16 days after the previous test to improve my score) respectively. I scored 660, 670, and 700. All my mock-ups on MGMAT were around 720.
I chose to do GMAT Online given the flexibility and the familiarity of exam setting, and of course virus avoidance in the midst of the special times. Before proceeding to the exam, there are a Secure Browser to install and a quick computer setting test to pass. I was able to connect with proctor 15 minutes prior to my scheduled exam time.
First attempt. Extremely terrible. Technical lagging. Not helpful proctor.
I was expecting some software, like Protorio, for proctoring and then everything normal as what Official Exams look like. However, it is not a software, but a real person proctoring via GoToMeeting. But ok, not that it changes anything; it was just something not as expected. Then sign-in took forever - I was stuck at the last screen before starting the exam (double-checking-my-name page) and the proctor said this was not normal and some error might be causing the issue on their side. She asked me to log out and log back in a couple of times, and finally I was able to start the exam. I experienced the worst technical lagging I could ever imagine. Doesn’t matter what section I was in. I clicked on the answer - 5 seconds passed before the answer was chosen, then I clicked Next button - another 3 seconds, and then I clicked Yes to confirm the selection - another 3-5 seconds. The thing is, the lagging does not affect the timer at all! I was desperate, because I averaged losing 10-15 seconds per question. That’s about 5 - 8 minutes for Quant, or 6 - 9 minutes for Verbal. My mindset crashed, leaving questions unanswered despite my efforts to catch up in simpler questions. Then Writing was a nightmare also - I typed a full sentence, and then needed to wait 5 seconds for the sentence to show up. Any revision was impossible. I finished the exam feeling defeated, not by the exam, but by the Online format. I tried to communicate with the proctor during the exam, but ended up in vain.
This exam was flagged for administrative review, and around 19 or 20 business days, the result was released.
Second attempt. Shame on me.
Given the first attempt, I was seriously considering going to the test center. Unfortunately I was not able to schedule the time slot that I intended. Further I had been really training for the exam environment in all my mockups to form a habit loop - from the familiarity to my whiteboard to the kind of coffee and the brand of bar that I would have during the break time. The last thing I wanted was a different/foreign environment. And virus did not seem to back off. So I gave it another try, preparing for the technical lagging with the intention to train harder on speed. If 10 seconds was what the technical lagging costed per question, I should train harder to get back the 10 seconds. Well - the intention was good, but my work was extremely busy during the period. I basically did not really look at GMAT two weeks before my second attempt. I started to review some questions the day before, but I was not feeling it (of course). I kind of panicked and tried to reschedule my exam. It turned out that no changes within 24 hours of appointment.
So I took it, not going in feeling confident. Very surprisingly, this time I did not really experience any technical lagging. Well perhaps a couple of questions 1 or 2 seconds lagging when I clicked the button, but nothing that caused me to frown on the technical side. It was all me - especially on the Verbal two 5-paragraph passages about meteorites, I absolutely blew it.
This attempt was not flagged for administrative review, and the result was released 2 or 3 business days afterwards.
Third attempt. A little bit of lagging. Helpful proctor. Could be better but enough.
It was early December after the second attempt. I planned to take long winter vacations, because I basically did not use my vacation during the year (thanks to COVID), so I had a few days to concentrate on GMAT for the last attempt of the year. I focused on Official Guide questions, spot checked my weaknesses, and honed in methodology. I was mocking up to 760 and I felt great going in to the last attempt. I figured, even with lagging (which I was not sure what caused it), I should get 700 now.
Quant went smoothly at first. I was so happy that there was no lagging. Around Q20, the proctor asked me if anyone in the room that’s using Internet. I said I was alone at home. Then she asked me to stop because my video completely froze and she could not see me. I stopped and asked for further instructions. She said please wait a minute, there was something on their end and the team was working on fixing it. I was like “sure, but could you please stop the clock?” Notice that perhaps 20-30 seconds already passed during the conversation. I really don’t want to blow it, so after another 5 seconds they still had not yet stopped the exam, I said to the proctor that I had to continue because the clock was ticking, and I would stop as long as they stopped the clock. She said ok. I don’t remember exactly whether it were 3 or 5 questions that I answered while they were working on the backend, but I was certainly glad that I did it because otherwise it would be another attempt blown. When she finally managed to stop my exam, we switched to Zoom meeting from the default GoToMeeting following her instructions. After she confirmed everything was fine, I continued to finish the section.
Verbal came next, and I did experience some laggings there. Not as bad as the first attempt, but the lagging definitely costed me around 3-5 seconds per question. Luckily I was feeling really good, and I finished the section a couple of minutes before. Another episode happened here was that I finished the section and asked for the proctor. A general practice before break and after break, as the proctor would need to check your whiteboards, environment, etc. I asked “hi I finished the section and I am going to take a break,” she did not answer. I asked again and again for nearly 3 minutes, without response. I really needed the break so I asked to the camera, “hi I asked for the proctor for the past couple of minutes but no one responded, and I really need to go to bathroom. I am going to show you the front and back of my whiteboard now, and I will go for the break.” I did that and went for break. I came back and the proctor said “sorry I wasn’t able to mute myself.”
Writing was ok. I typed 5 words and waited 2 - 3 seconds for the words to show up. Not ideal but I was prepared for this.
This exam was also flagged for administrative review, which I was not nervous and am waiting patiently for the release of the result in 20 business days.
Top Tips for GMAT Online
Prepare for some lagging.
All my internet settings have been the same. I cannot explain why some was horrible and some ok.
Be ready to take another test.
If anything happen, relax and take another one. Think of the $300 registration fee as part of the learning.
Follow the exact instructions from the proctor.
Nothing sneaky. Online tends to be less trust than physical test center, not ideal but understandably so.
Take the test early.
Don’t wait until the last minute for the application. Be prepared for administrative review, which could take up to 20 business days, before the official score release.
Use the whiteboard - in practice, mock-up, and exam! (GMAC whiteboard requirements)
My situation
I am a working professional for a manufacturing company, so there is a full-time job that I need to cope with. I am considering MBA to pivot my location and industry and meet some interesting people. My targeted start time is 2023, and I would like to apply early and be considered for scholarship.
I started looking around schools and programs at the beginning of the year. I know GMAT is due at some point, so I registered my account on mba.com when I started and took the time to fill out all my information. There are a lot of info session/networking event that the GMAC holds, and filling out my profile puts me in the pool of candidates, both for researching school and school researching me. Meanwhile, I visited the websites of a couple of schools that I am interested in, and started participating some of their info session for MBA admission, to learn about the program and network with the admission team.
By mid-October, I had a school in mind. I connected with them multiple times, to understand their program and admission process, preliminarily assess my fit, etc. Once I was sure, I started GMAT preparation, targeted at 700 by the year end, given that their candidates average is 650.
Preparation materials
Official Exams (1-6): 1-2 for free. 3-6 are included in The Economist GMAT Prep subscription.
gmatclub.com: I signed up for their daily newsletter - Question of the Day, including one verbal and one quant. I also reviewed their threads of questions I got wrong. Expert explanations are generally good.
Preparation process
Average 2-3 hours during week days
My workplace implements rotation schedule during the time - one week in office and another work from home. During at-home weeks, I allocated 7-8AM and 5-7PM (roughly) to GMAT - 1-hour before work and 2 after. During in-office weeks, I did 2-3 hours when I got home. At least 3 days during business days. If I was busy, I tried to do one or two 20-question sessions, roughly 40 minutes, to keep up the pace.
5-8 hours during weekends
Every Sunday became my GMAT mock-up day. I followed the exact timings and procedures as in the real exam - all four sections and 8-min break time, to get myself in the mode by mimicking the real experience as much as possible. Then an hour or so to debrief, and some addition time to reinforce the missing concepts and practice similar questions.
Get real good relaxation
What worked for me to switch up my minds was going out, being active, playing music, reading books etc. Get yourself some good relaxation during the downtime. This is very important to keep up the productivity during work and GMAT practicing. I found myself not that well-rested by lying on couch and watching television.
