Hi All, I took my GMAT on 7th of November and was anticipating a score of 700+ on the day…but finally fate in the form of pressure had the final say !! I was very much disappointed to see a 610 on the screen and was very much depressed on lo…
Hi All,
I took my GMAT on 7th of November and was anticipating a score of 700+ on the day..but finally fate in the form of pressure had the final say !! I was very much disappointed to see a 610 on the screen and was very much depressed on looking at that. Probably this should become another experience in this forum using which other test takers should make a cautious move..
For the past 2 months i feel i had a decent prep. For Quant, i guess i would have spent hardly around 10-15 hours during the whole prep time. It was verbal which always had been gigantic before me. I was going through the below phase during my prep.
Using
1) OG 10th and 11th editions
2) princeton review - verbal workout
3) Manhattan sentence correction notes
4) Spidy GMAT notes
6) For motivation, Pagalguy forums
Tests:
1) GMATPrep - 590 ( before the start of prep)
2) GMATPrep - 650
3) Kaplan test1 - 550
4) GMATPrep - 690 ( repeated questions )
5) Kaplan test2 - 590
6) GMATPrep - 730 ( repeated questions 6 in quant and 8 in verbal)
7) Kaplan test3 - 610 ( 3 days before the GMAT)
GMAT Day - I was carrying a lot of hopes along with my two redbulls and snickers to have them in the breaks, to the test center. I was really tensed before taking the test..and decided to use the AWA's time to relax. But had to concentrate on AWA as well. I felt AWA section was ok for my 2-3 hours of prep for it. And i got a 4.5 eventually. I had my break and it was for 10 minutes. My eyes were locked on the clock, which made me think of the test again and again. I sat for the Quant and was pretty careful for the first ten and i spared 26 minutes for the first ten. And then tried to start picking up. Then i learnt. It was the pressure to score high was preventing me to concentrate and my readability of the problems deteriorated. Even then i was able to mark the answers quite confidently till 24 questions. And the time seemed to be creeping and had to fasten up. So i had to take some guesses out of the next 10 questions and solved the last three problems. I was never doing this in my practice tests where i had ample time for my quant section. So during the break, i was totally down and started counting the number of mistakes i made in the quant. I was looking for a minimum score of 50 and i donno wat would happen. I wasted the ten minutes of break and sat for Verbal. I was impatient and restless. My mind was wavering round the quant's disappointment. I faced a CR question. I was not able to eliminate the wrong choices which i used to do well for CR questions in my practice tests and it further dragged my confidence. Next a SC and then a CR again and in the first ten i had a RC also. I was running out of time as well as running out of confidence. This proved to be fatal and by the time my conciousness held me up, i had to pass around 16 questions in verbal and left with 25 questions and a 35 minute clock ticking on my screen. Hurry up man !! This is a big day!! You need to strike it hard !! This was going around in my mind..But time played its part here. Made numerous guesses and completed the test with in time. I was totally down and waited for the score and felt..Alas !!
Not only preparation, but also pressure needs to be handled !! This is wat i learnt after the test. And the pathetic thing was...among the five who took the test during the same appointment time, i was scoring next to a 630 and remaining all are below 600.
Wat i found wrong with my prep was:: The verbal questions which i saw and those i faced are of different difficulty levels and the rules involved for SC in the real GMAT looked to be more complex for me.
THough i had a bad show, i am not going to leave this at this point. It would be a mistake on my part if i leave my GMAT like this. Hurt, but fired up to give it a good shot nexxt time !!
Hi,
Looking at ur scores what i feel is the problem is not with your content knowledge rather with your patience level dipping at the end of the test. To coupe up with this u need to study for 4hrs every day continuosly and give the mock test regularly. You have faired well in A.W.A & Quant but not in verbal and the reason is your patience level dipped and couldn't concentrate properly at the end of the test & Which resulted in poor performance in the test.
However practice on this factor and u can fair well in the test. With the kind of content knowledge u have u can score 700+.
So all the best,
mudragada, i too had a very similar score when I took the gmat the first time. I think the splits were exactly the same. I just retook the gmat again and brute forced my way through the va part of the exam. I scored a 720 the second time around. So don't give up hope :)
atb
@Pagalguy,
Can you pls let me know what kind of strategy u used to crack the verbal?
@aspire800,
thank you for the support. but i am still unclear about what to prepare now. Can you pls suggest me a way on how to proceed ?
@Pagalguy,
Can you pls let me know what kind of strategy u used to crack the verbal?
@aspire800,
thank you for the support. but i am still unclear about what to prepare now. Can you pls suggest me a way on how to proceed ?
I used the verbal books of Princeton/Kaplan and redid the OG multiple times to realize that the types of questions that GMAT throws at you are fairly standard. It just took me some brute force way of solving all possible problems to get there. I am sure there are more intelligent ways of doing what I did 😃
@Pagalguy,
I am going through the blogs of urs...they are quite impressive...and of course, u deserve being at wharton...
wat it takes for me to step into ur shoes at wharton? though i am dreaming big,i want build my profile from here on. so cud u throw some light on that?
Thank you,
Mudragada
@Pagalguy,
I am going through the blogs of urs...they are quite impressive...and of course, u deserve being at wharton...
wat it takes for me to step into ur shoes at wharton? though i am dreaming big,i want build my profile from here on. so cud u throw some light on that?
Thank you,
Mudragada
Have fun at work, do your very best and be the very best you possibly can. Those are the things that take you to a top school. Building a 'profile' is not the best way to do this and may even be counter-productive
mudragada, i too had a very similar score when I took the gmat the first time. I think the splits were exactly the same. I just retook the gmat again and brute forced my way through the va part of the exam. I scored a 720 the second time around. So don't give up hope :)
atb
can you please tell us how many Hours of preparation did u put in between first and second test ? did u attend any coaching ??
cheers
Aditya
can you please tell us how many Hours of preparation did u put in between first and second test ? did u attend any coaching ??
cheers
Aditya
I probably put in around a month of concerted effort for the 2nd time
@ Aditya,
As per my understanding,It really doesn't matter how many hours you put in to prepare for GMAT.. More importantly, it is how well you understand the concepts better and apply them. With what kind of precision you will be able to answer the questions. For that you need practice, you need to see the whole spectrum of possibilities(all types of questions) and then decide your strong and weak areas, do your hardwork to strengthen your weak areas. I already posted in some thread. As many mistakes you commit and learn from them in the initial prep, those many fruitful concepts you will learn. Be sure you jot down all the observations and mark those questions for the final reference. This will help you in analysing your mistakes and also not to repeat them. I hope you have ample time to give your GMAT now. Once you feel confident, book a date, go , do well and come out...rest all is life !!
Thanks,
Mudragada
Uniqueness is my virtue !!!
i have the similar situation.... i scored the same (approx) in my 1st
attempt which i gave around mid of Nov 08 .. i am planning for 2nd chance and want some advice on preparation , m left unaware abt the prepartion....i have joined Verbal coaching from V** (Mumbai) . Please explain how shd i go for my prepaation......
i never scored more than 700...(690 to be precise) in the prep tests....but luckily my first GMAT went pretty well and scored 750 there...
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GMAT (Nov '0
750----Q-48 V-45
Well its not jus abt the books and number of hours. Its also abt stamina and mental application. I had got a 570 in my 1st attempt on GMAT. I was completely depressed as I had all the materials mentioned for good prep.
The major prob is that when we take our prep tests, we don't really focus on the entire test. Trust me, even I neglected this aspect. The real test on the GMAT is the ability to build stamina, keep our calm, and work through the sections.
When I took coaching, I thought there was something wrong with me in terms of knowledge. My coach helped me realize that it was not my knowledge but my application which was at fault. He hit the nail right on the head when he asked me, how did you rush through ur Verbal section even when you knew you did well on the quant.
I was stumbled. He then helped me work out a customized plan and trust me, the advantage of personal coaching is not the material but the guidance and attention. Apart from a question bank with some easy and tuff questions mixed, he basically helped us channelize our efforts better.
GMAT Wings charges half the charges that market charges n says that use the rest for books. I have become a fan of GMAT Wings. I have mentioned this on many threads and one may think that I have been hired to sell GMAT Wings on this portal.
No thats not true. The fact is that I moved from 570 to 710 only bcoz of the right guidance I got from GMAT Wings. Talk to the coach guys and experience the difference in ur studying patterns, in ur writing styles n ultimately ur scores. GMAT Wings will fly out with shining colors not only in Pune but all over India.
www.gmatwings.in website sucks but the coach rocks....
3 out of 4 posts u posted in this website is about ur coaching centre gmatwings .
i never scored more than 700...(690 to be precise) in the prep tests....but luckily my first GMAT went pretty well and scored 750 there...
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GMAT (Nov '0
750----Q-48 V-45
ur verbal score is really excellent , can you share ur exp with us