Apipong Nakayuenyongsuk

GMAT Real Score: 710
Quantitative: 50 / Verbal: 36 / Analytical Writing: 4.0

How did Kaplan’s curriculum, facilities and materials help you to prepare for the test?
Surely they all help!  For me, the classroom session helped me to understand what I have to face in the exam. The teachers provided not only knowledge but also strategies.  The exercises in the Kaplan book were also a good resource for preparation.  Sometimes those exercises were even better than the ones in the GMAT Review Book since many of Kaplan’s questions have never been used in the real exam and could even be a surprise question in the real GMAT.  The computer lab was extremely important for the final preparation in, timing management and strategy.

How did you plan yourself for the GMAT in terms of time management?
Time management is very important for GMAT preparation.  Admittedly, my timing was too tight for my final test.  My preparation can be divided into 3 periods; the study period, the self practice period and the wrap up period.  The entire preparation took about 6-8 months (if rushed). In the study period, I also took some self practice parts at the same time to have a better understanding and to reduce the time requirement. This period lasted 3.5 months. The next period is the most important - the self practice that took about 2 months.  It took this long because I had only time at night to prepare during the week and very limited time during the weekends due to my work.  During this time, I had a schedule for each section I have to finish. I forced myself to follow this schedule which made preparation more efficient.  The last part is the wrap-up that took only 3-4 days before the test where I would only go though and re-cap what I had done.

What techniques did you use get a high score?
1.Use teacher’s timing technique with some personal adjustment.

2.Throw away all Thai-language materials.  Read only English books, always searching for unknown words.  Always notice the grammatical usage in every article (you will be able to work through the Sentence Correction part more quickly.)

3.Adapt teacher’s sentence correction approach and modified it into my own approach (create a step-by-step approach in sentence correction)

4.If unable to do a question or if it could take too much time, make a calculated guess!

5.Do a lot of computer tests.

Did KAPLAN’s strategies help you get a higher score?
Yes, absolutely.  Always use them in your preparation period and you will be so adept with the strategies that you will not notice using it when you do the real test.

Do you have any encouraging words to friends who are preparing for the test?
Good practice and planning can change everything. I walked into Kaplan with very rusty math and grammar skills.  But with good preparation, including using Kaplan’s GMAT Book, I made progress and became confident.  My success rate in sentence correction jumped from 25% to 75% or even 90% in just 5-6 months.  Only hard work and sheer tenacity counts!