Took my GMAT and I can heave a sigh of relief now .Achieved a score of 730(Q-50,V-40). Though this is not a great score given the fact that a lot of members here regularly get scores higher than this, but I’m quite satisfied as this is higher than…
Took my GMAT and I can heave a sigh of relief now .Achieved a score of 730(Q-50,V-40). Though this is not a great score given the fact that a lot of members here regularly get scores higher than this, but I'm quite satisfied as this is higher than my target score
Prep Strategy :
Joined pagalguy after starting my preparation and seriously prepared for 3 months. Studied for a total of 20 hours per week (2 hours per day and 10 hours on the weekend). Had joined a coaching institute in India .They basically did in the class what was given in the books , so it wasn't much of a value addition.I wish I had joined something like CrackVerbal. I have been on an off from the office since October 1st on sick leave for GMAT preparation (cited typhoid as the illness :-D) so that I could focus fully on the GMAT
The GMAT day
The AWAs went fine. The quant part was not very smooth. I was really fumbling and doing silly calculations on paper which I would otherwise do it my head. Told myself that this is a sign of nervousness and took a 30 second break after 15 questions on quant. Just set idle and relaxed. This helped me recover from the anxiety. There were some difficult quant questions related to inequality later ; did guess work on those and moved ahead.
The Verbal section was again quite difficult. Didn't find CR tough . It were the RCs which took the hell out of me. The last passage which I got was very long and dense and I was simply unable to figure out anything in the passage. Thought that there's no point in attempting the questions on RC as I haven't understood the passage. Re-read the entire passage again and then quickly did the question. Was left with only 10 minutes and 7 questions to go . Somehow scraped to finish the section. Phew
Resources used
OG12- Must have general practice book. You simply can't prepare for the GMAT without it.
Manhattan SC Guide- Must have for SC
SC Grail -The second must have book for SC. If you do both these books, then you don't have to look anywhere else
Ultimate One minute Explanations to OG12 SC : I found the explanations in OG12 too confusing and long,but since most experts recommend reading the explanations for they help you understand SC better, so bought this book as it has simple explanations to the SC questions and you'd be able to understand the explanations better. Remember that this book is not a substitute for OG12 explanations but rather compliments it well. I firstly read the explanation to a question from this book and then moved on to OG12 SC explanations
Powerscore CR Bible :This is really the Bible for CR. Look no beyond than this for CR. Make sure that you make your notes while going through it because it's a huge book and it would be difficult to revise it once you're done.
Aristotle RC Practice Sets 1 & 2: Helped me improve my reading speed and comprehension ability and the ability to focus on the big picture. The variety of passages helped me adapt myself to the GMAT type passages.
Quant : The GMAT Quant is relatively easier than the CAT Quant. While the questions on the CAT are usually difficult or lengthy, those on the GMAT are trickier.
A few words of wisdom
1. The GMAT RCs are freakin' tough and be prepared to face some tough ones. Not only are the passages difficult but the way the questions are framed also is something which is not easy to understand
2. Prepare in a systematic way and don't go mad doing all the resources like 1000SC and 1000CR etc.
3. Read the explanations properly when you practice questions and maintain an error log.
4. One thing which really worked for me on CR is that while practicing I remodelled each question I do into a different question. I used to change the scenario of the question and that really helped me think like a test-maker .Probably , that's the reason I could manage CR on the GMAT well
5. For SC, look no beyond Manhattan SC and Aristotle SC. There are notes like Sahil's notes, Spidey's notes , Rajat Nda's notes but I think that most of them are of poor quality. I remember that concept in spidey's notes related in which there was an example on "domestication of camels". I could never understand that concept and felt bad thinking that I am incapable of understanding difficult stuff, but then someone explained to me that it's a badly written sentence and these type of things are not tested on the GMAT
6. Since you can't skip the questions, you have to really be very strict with time management otherwise you may end up spending an inordinate amount of time on some question ,which in turn,is going to screw your perfromance.
Now since the GMAT is behind me, the next stage of the application process beckons and I'm really excited to jump into that.
P.S.- I'm a big fan of PG comics and I think that these comic strips are the best I have ever read since my childhood.
Prep Strategy :
Joined pagalguy after starting my preparation and seriously prepared for 3 months. Studied for a total of 20 hours per week (2 hours per day and 10 hours on the weekend). Had joined a coaching institute in India .They basically did in the class what was given in the books , so it wasn't much of a value addition.I wish I had joined something like CrackVerbal. I have been on an off from the office since October 1st on sick leave for GMAT preparation (cited typhoid as the illness :-D) so that I could focus fully on the GMAT
The GMAT day
The AWAs went fine. The quant part was not very smooth. I was really fumbling and doing silly calculations on paper which I would otherwise do it my head. Told myself that this is a sign of nervousness and took a 30 second break after 15 questions on quant. Just set idle and relaxed. This helped me recover from the anxiety. There were some difficult quant questions related to inequality later ; did guess work on those and moved ahead.
The Verbal section was again quite difficult. Didn't find CR tough . It were the RCs which took the hell out of me. The last passage which I got was very long and dense and I was simply unable to figure out anything in the passage. Thought that there's no point in attempting the questions on RC as I haven't understood the passage. Re-read the entire passage again and then quickly did the question. Was left with only 10 minutes and 7 questions to go . Somehow scraped to finish the section. Phew
Resources used
OG12- Must have general practice book. You simply can't prepare for the GMAT without it.
Manhattan SC Guide- Must have for SC
SC Grail -The second must have book for SC. If you do both these books, then you don't have to look anywhere else
Ultimate One minute Explanations to OG12 SC : I found the explanations in OG12 too confusing and long,but since most experts recommend reading the explanations for they help you understand SC better, so bought this book as it has simple explanations to the SC questions and you'd be able to understand the explanations better. Remember that this book is not a substitute for OG12 explanations but rather compliments it well. I firstly read the explanation to a question from this book and then moved on to OG12 SC explanations
Powerscore CR Bible :This is really the Bible for CR. Look no beyond than this for CR. Make sure that you make your notes while going through it because it's a huge book and it would be difficult to revise it once you're done.
Aristotle RC Practice Sets 1 & 2: Helped me improve my reading speed and comprehension ability and the ability to focus on the big picture. The variety of passages helped me adapt myself to the GMAT type passages.
Quant : The GMAT Quant is relatively easier than the CAT Quant. While the questions on the CAT are usually difficult or lengthy, those on the GMAT are trickier.
A few words of wisdom
1. The GMAT RCs are freakin' tough and be prepared to face some tough ones. Not only are the passages difficult but the way the questions are framed also is something which is not easy to understand
2. Prepare in a systematic way and don't go mad doing all the resources like 1000SC and 1000CR etc.
3. Read the explanations properly when you practice questions and maintain an error log.
4. One thing which really worked for me on CR is that while practicing I remodelled each question I do into a different question. I used to change the scenario of the question and that really helped me think like a test-maker .Probably , that's the reason I could manage CR on the GMAT well
5. For SC, look no beyond Manhattan SC and Aristotle SC. There are notes like Sahil's notes, Spidey's notes , Rajat Nda's notes but I think that most of them are of poor quality. I remember that concept in spidey's notes related in which there was an example on "domestication of camels". I could never understand that concept and felt bad thinking that I am incapable of understanding difficult stuff, but then someone explained to me that it's a badly written sentence and these type of things are not tested on the GMAT
6. Since you can't skip the questions, you have to really be very strict with time management otherwise you may end up spending an inordinate amount of time on some question ,which in turn,is going to screw your perfromance.
Now since the GMAT is behind me, the next stage of the application process beckons and I'm really excited to jump into that.
P.S.- I'm a big fan of PG comics and I think that these comic strips are the best I have ever read since my childhood.
Congratulations!! That's a great score and puts you well above the average of ALL b-schools 
So, where you aiming? And what is thy profile?
Congratulations!!!!!
Great Score!!!
Congratulations!! That's a great score and puts you well above the average of ALL b-schools
So, where you aiming? And what is thy profile?
I'll not be applying this year. Just took the GMAT well in advance so that I don't have to worry about it when I apply next year. Btw, Neo , I just went through your blog and the last post was that in way back 2010 in whcih you have mentioned about the dings. Did you apply to schools again this year ?
arung SaysI'll not be applying this year. Just took the GMAT well in advance so that I don't have to worry about it when I apply next year. Btw, Neo , I just went through your blog and the last post was that in way back 2010 in whcih you have mentioned about the dings. Did you apply to schools again this year ?
Nope, havent applied to b-schools since. Got an MS and working in the US for the past 1.5yrs. We'll see how it goes 😃
Neo2000 SaysNope, havent applied to b-schools since. Got an MS and working in the US for the past 1.5yrs. We'll see how it goes :)
Oh fabulous. I'm also curious to know what makes you interested in being a moderator on PG ,given the fact that you're already done with your MS and will not be applying to an MBA in the immediate future ?
arung SaysOh fabulous. I'm also curious to know what makes you interested in being a moderator on PG ,given the fact that you're already done with your MS and will not be applying to an MBA in the immediate future ?
Well, i might not have anything in the "immediate" future but I still have plans for it someday
Plus I am greatly interested in the higher-level education industry. Finally i've been a Mod for 5years so it's something that I still enjoy doing.I'm not the only one though - PsychoD has no MBA plans and mba_crystal_ball already has one but are still around.
The outstanding example though is baccardisprite who has an MBA from IMD no less, over a decade of work-ex and is as active as they come 😃
Well, i might not have anything in the "immediate" future but I still have plans for it somedayPlus I am greatly interested in the higher-level education industry. Finally i've been a Mod for 5years so it's something that I still enjoy doing.
I'm not the only one though - PsychoD has no MBA plans and mba_crystal_ball already has one but are still around.
The outstanding example though is baccardisprite who has an MBA from IMD no less, over a decade of work-ex and is as active as they come :)
Yeah true but PsychoD and mba_crystal_ball are around mostly because they are running their companies.There's nothing wrong with that; in fact I appreciate them that they are running their businesses by helping out people here and creating a goodwill for themselves but you're here for long because you're voluntarily doing it for quite long as you said. Cheers to all of you.
arung SaysYeah true but PsychoD and mba_crystal_ball are around mostly because they are running their companies.There's nothing wrong with that; in fact I appreciate them that they are running their businesses by helping out people here and creating a goodwill for themselves but you're here for long because you're voluntarily doing it for quite long as you said. Cheers to all of you.
Not true. PsychoD's company is maybe 2-3yrs old but he's been around heaps longer even though he stopped giving CAT a long while ago. And let's be honest here - PG/India junta is almost always looking for freebies which given their time committments, both Psycho/mba_crystal don't really have.
And baccardisprite has the least possible reason to be active here - in my books he is poster of the year every year, hands-down.
Anyhow - this is diverging from you - what is your profile and where all are you aiming next year?
Not true. PsychoD's company is maybe 2-3yrs old but he's been around heaps longer even though he stopped giving CAT a long while ago. And let's be honest here - PG/India junta is almost always looking for freebies which given their time committments, both Psycho/mba_crystal don't really have.
And baccardisprite has the least possible reason to be active here - in my books he is poster of the year every year, hands-down.
Anyhow - this is diverging from you - what is your profile and where all are you aiming next year?
Hehe. Yeah, we diverged a bit but it was good discussion. I'm working in the IT sector and have around 3 years of work experience. I think this work ex is a little on the lower side. Will be applying to only two schools this year to see where do I stand and get a feedback also. Don't wanna apply to many because it will be wastage of money. Aiming for NUS and NTU.
Btw, I have some ideas to make the GMAT forum on PG more resourceful. We can structure the forum better as in how should a newbie go about preparing and lot of other resourceful stuff and I'm ready to volunteer my time for doing this ,but this would be once I am done with the application process. So by Feb, I'd be ready to work on this.
Would need your support
@Neo
You didn't reply to the second PM I had sent you . Didn't you find my suggestions good ?
@arun,
didn't want to cause you heartbreak 😃
Replied though so...
@arun,
didn't want to cause you heartbreak 😃
Replied though so...
Hehe. Yeah, I was expecting that since you didn't reply for quite long.
@arun
Thank you for the tips and for the great debrief. I'm quite comfortable with Quant and I think shouldn't be much of difficulty securing 50 but Verbal still is a pain. I have used Aristotle + Manhattan SC for SC but RC is still a pain area. Shall I buy Manhattan RC ? Will it helpful ?
@arun
Thank you for the tips and for the great debrief. I'm quite comfortable with Quant and I think shouldn't be much of difficulty securing 50 but Verbal still is a pain. I have used Aristotle + Manhattan SC for SC but RC is still a pain area. Shall I buy Manhattan RC ? Will it helpful ?
I didn't use any strategy book for RC and frankly think that a RC strategy guide will be of not much help. All the available strategy gyaan on RC is available on the threads on PG,gmatclub and beatthegmat. RC is more about practice and analysis. So go through the basic strategies first and then practising passages would help
arung SaysI didn't use any strategy book for RC and frankly think that a RC strategy guide will be of not much help. All the available strategy gyaan on RC is available on the threads on PG,gmatclub and beatthegmat. RC is more about practice and analysis. So go through the basic strategies first and then practising passages would help
Thank you arun. I downloaded gin's RC Guide from gmatclub and it is indeed helpful. Have also gone through some free videos on BTG . Really really thankful to you for the clues.
@arun
Thank you for the tips and for the great debrief. I'm quite comfortable with Quant and I think shouldn't be much of difficulty securing 50 but Verbal still is a pain. I have used Aristotle + Manhattan SC for SC but RC is still a pain area. Shall I buy Manhattan RC ? Will it helpful ?
RC in GMAT requires concentration and patience.Try and understand crux of every paragraph before moving to the question.By the end of passage you must have an idea what the author is trying to convey as a whole,in simpler terms.If you do not understand the passage,read it again.Your heart will cry out not to do so with clock ticking but trust me once you understand the passage,most of the questions would be a cakewalk.
Try your hand at simpler passages of OG and then move on to the tougher ones in RC99.It has got some real tough passages and wonderful explanations to gauge your performance.
All the Best!!!
RC in GMAT requires concentration and patience.Try and understand crux of every paragraph before moving to the question.By the end of passage you must have an idea what the author is trying to convey as a whole,in simpler terms.If you do not understand the passage,read it again.Your heart will cry out not to do so with clock ticking but trust me once you understand the passage,most of the questions would be a cakewalk.
Try your hand at simpler passages of OG and then move on to the tougher ones in RC99.It has got some real tough passages and wonderful explanations to gauge your performance.
All the Best!!!
Thank you for the tips. So the takeaways are that I should summarize the passage before moving on to the questions. Will try that. One more thing, did you try making notes ?Most of the test prep companies suggest doing so
@spartan007 : I didn't make notes but what worked for me may not work for you.If you can improve accuracy through notes that may be the idea for you.Although i suggest that you do away with making notes in long run and rely more on your memory of the text as making notes is time consuming and many a times the questions may not require that at all.