[rajateee]

Varun,
Could u please tell me about this EXPERT mentors?
How are they?
Regards,
Rajat

[rajateee]

Varun,
Could u please tell me about EXPERT mentor?
How are they?
Regards,
Rajat

[varun.bullseye]

710/3.5 yrs/IT

[varun.bullseye]

Originally Posted by rajateee

Varun,
Could u please tell me about EXPERT mentor?
How are they?
Regards,
Rajat

hi rajat

saying anything about Expert's would be advertising on PG.

Ill rather advice you to see their website and decide for urself.

the best part is that a fellow PG (maxximus) runs it

PS : It helped me a great deal..

[sid981]

Varun - first of all - congrats on the improved score! Good idea posting this as well - am sure it will be helpful to a lot of folks out there.

As I had the time, and was in an insufferably good mood, thought I'd quickly add my two cents on improving one's GMAT score..

I had scored a dismal 650 the first time I gave the test back in 2008, mainly because I underestimated the test. I had prepared for just over a week and a half for it, assuming that it would be a walk in the park.. Oh how I kick myself now!

A couple of mistakes I made:
a) Underestimated the test based on the practice tests and q's I had gone through
b) Did not enter the test center with a plan in mind - how much time to spend on each q, how to pace my awa, the reading comprehensions etc and ended up rushing through a bunch of q's at the end
c) I didnt practice enough

I retook the GMAT a few weeks back, this time after a month of proper prep - 30-45 mins a day, and 2-3 hours on weekends - plus took 4 Kaplan Practice Tests, the 2 GMATPrep Practice Tests and a couple of Princeton Review Tests.. and the results showed for themselves.

I would advise that, as earlier mentioned in this post - first go through the books (I used Princeton Review), refresh your fundamentals (math & verbal) and then go in for all the practice section tests (not the full test yet!). The 12th Edition of the GMAT Official Guide is absolute gold when it comes to practice.. do atleast 50-75% of the practice q's (there are 120-160 q's of each type). Last of all - 2 weeks before your test date, do a practice test from the GMATPrep Software - give yourself an idea of how you're doing.. then do the 4 Kaplan practice tests for the next week or so - and then finally - do the second and last GMATPrep Software Practice Test.. it's the best predictor of the score you can expect to get in the actual test... I got predictions of 750 and 770 in it.. and ended up in the middle on the test day.

Last of all - avoid preping on the day of the exam.. keep your mind free and focused on the task at hand. Blow through the first set of q's as fast as you can - but with care - try to get ahead of the time curve by around 5-10 mins by the mid-point - that'll give you enough breathing time for the tougher q's later on.

AWA - piece of cake - just do what all the books tell you to - go with an idea of what kind of formatting and examples you're going to use.. and you'll be fine.

All the best!

[varun.bullseye]

hey sid

great to see your post...ur spot on with ur strategies....but wat was ur eventual score in GMAT ?

its really good that guys such as u are coming up with all this information...we usually hear about great scores and great admits...but we overlook the journey to reach that milestone

cheers
Varun

[sid981]

It's actually in my signature... I scored 760 and 6.0 awa..

[vinaydeshpande]

Hey Varun!!!

Great success story. You are definitely an inspiration. But before all the praise which i am going to shower and which you most definitely deserve, let me get one thing straight. you say you have given the GMAT 4 times (wow!!!! thats incredible). How did you manage to keep your hopes alive man. I ask because i gave my GMAT on 04-11-09 and scored an abysmal 560 (Q 42 V 25). Being an engineer myself just cant come to terms with it. But to be fair to the test makers i was getting these scores for every test prep that i gave. My problem is that i seem to have hit the glass ceiling and just dont know how to reduce my incorrect answers. The material that i studied for over two months was

1. OG edition 11
2. OG edition 12
3. GMAT quant review
4. GMAT verbal review
5. Kaplan 800.
6. Kalplan premier

What i need to improve drastically is verbal and that too from scratch. Kindly help me in rectifying this error and get my desired score of over 680 in my second attempt.

Best Regards,
Vinay

[varun.bullseye]

Originally Posted by vinaydeshpande

Hey Varun!!!

Great success story. You are definitely an inspiration. But before all the praise which i am going to shower and which you most definitely deserve, let me get one thing straight. you say you have given the GMAT 4 times (wow!!!! thats incredible). How did you manage to keep your hopes alive man. I ask because i gave my GMAT on 04-11-09 and scored an abysmal 560 (Q 42 V 25). Being an engineer myself just cant come to terms with it. But to be fair to the test makers i was getting these scores for every test prep that i gave. My problem is that i seem to have hit the glass ceiling and just dont know how to reduce my incorrect answers. The material that i studied for over two months was

1. OG edition 11
2. OG edition 12
3. GMAT quant review
4. GMAT verbal review
5. Kaplan 800.
6. Kalplan premier

What i need to improve drastically is verbal and that too from scratch. Kindly help me in rectifying this error and get my desired score of over 680 in my second attempt.

Best Regards,
Vinay

Hi Vinay,

The sole purpose of writing this was not only to inspire but to help people learn from their mistakes.

Coming straight to your point. If there is one person who can help you achieve a bad, good or great gmat score , then thats YOU.

Concentrate on your mistakes and analyse the reasons as to WHY they were wrong. Thats the only key to help you out mate.

As for my inspiration thing, well i must confess that it was a tough ask. I was down after my third attempt. But then I realized the pitfalls by chronically analyzing my weaknesses. quite a few PG's , most specifically maxximus helped me scale my score.

Believe in yourself . You shall conquer the world !

atb
Varun

[rishikesh15]

super achievement ! great to hear the success story !