Hi guys, I took the exam a few days back and scored 760(quant:50,verbal:42). Thanks Pagalguy and contributors for all the tips and useful info! Thought I’l share whatever I learnt during my prep too… Books: (1) OG - Everyone knows ho…
Hi guys,
I took the exam a few days back and scored 760(quant:50,verbal:42). Thanks Pagalguy and contributors for all the tips and useful info! Thought I'l share whatever I learnt during my prep too...
Books:
(1) OG - Everyone knows how good this is
(2) Kaplan - The CD is useful. Take these tests first because they are very difficult and they don't give good scores. Good during the beginning of prep and not towards the end!Kaplan also provides lots of online tests.(My scores averaged 640)
(3) Manhattan RC - This book has some really good tips for RC though I had purchased it mainly for the 6 online tests. The tests are good especially because they show you how your percentile varied throughout the section depending on your performance. (My scores averaged 750)
Sections:
(1) Problem Solving: This isn't too difficult for anyone preparing for CAT etc. so the main thing to do for this section is to improve your speed so that you can have more time for Data Sufficiency questions which require more thought.
(2) Data Sufficiency: I think the trickiest in this section are the number problems. They require trial and error and I would often go wrong here because I didn't consider all possible types of numbers. So remember to try all the following types for each variable: negative integers,negative fractions,zero,positive integers,positive fractions(are there any more that I haven't considered?). Some of them can be eliminated depending on conditions provided in the question itself. For questions on geometry, it is very important to know the properties of polygons etc. Otherwise, the data given an option might appear insufficient even if it's sufficient!
In both the above sections, always be careful about what exactly is asked!
(3) Sentence Correction - There are certain kinds of mistakes that keep repeating so before the exam I went through all the questions in which I had made mistakes and kept note of incorrect idioms used commonly.
(4) Critical Reasoning - Denial tests were very useful to decide between choices in strengthen/weaken questions. Wherever evidence is used, always check the time-frame,place and other data given to see if the evidence is really useful or not.
(5) Reading Comprehension- It really is important to learn not to focus too much on details but also important not to skip things which are important to understand the passage! To find out the primary purpose of the passage, you can scan all the connecting words like 'however' and 'but' and see the tone of the passage to understand the overall picture. Manhattan RC has some really good tips that you can go through.
(6) AWA - I think there templates that can be useful but I didn't use them. I always attempted these sections when taking tests so that they wont be unfamiliar on the day of the exam. You will develop the habit of forming points quickly and organising them.The day before the exam, I copy-pasted all these onto a Word document to look for spelling mistakes so that I won't make those mistakes in the exam 😁 It was very useful because I also realised that I was making a lot of typos! Still have to receive my scores!
Overall - I think its better to always attempt the AWA sections while taking tests as it will help you adjust to a 4 hour exam! I took full length tests only after some amount of practice in individual sections.
Test Day - I would advise you to keep something to eat just in case you get really hungry as I did! Throughout the verbal section, my stomach was grumbling.Very upsetting it was 😞 I saw people eat during breaks so it's allowed.
Anyway, hope this is helpful and all the best!
hai,
congratulations 4r geting a good score.I have query about the admission
in the B-schools.for ur score what r the B-schools ur expecting.
hey I'm looking at schools in India only so its ISB and SP Jain..if things don't work out for me in India I'l apply to schools in Singapore
chance Sayshey I'm looking at schools in India only so its ISB and SP Jain..if things don't work out for me in India I'l apply to schools in Singapore
If you have a decent profile you will certainly make it to ISB/SPJ or any school in Singapore.
Best of Luck !
hey thanks!! 😃