Hi Folks, I have always been a reader here with no posts. I am finally done with my GMAT and to be frank the final scores have surprised me as well. I wrote the GMAT in early June 2011 Total Final score : 770 Quant : 51 Verbal : 42 …
Hi Folks,
I have always been a reader here with no posts. I am finally done with my GMAT and to be frank the final scores have surprised me as well. I wrote the GMAT in early June 2011
Total Final score : 770
Quant : 51
Verbal : 42
AWA : 5.5/6
Materials used:
Official Guide 2011
ETS test papers
Kaplan study software
Wren & Martin - for basic grammar
Schedule & Time lines:
I took a long 4-5 months to prepare. My job was very travel oriented and didn't allow me to be regular with GMAT prep. I took the date only after I was consistently scoring more than 720/730 on the mocks.
Jan - OG verbal all questions(verbal)
Feb - no prep
March - ETS test papers old for practice
April - Mocks tests for verbal only - once a week
May - AWA practice and full length tests
June - first week GMAT
Mock Scores
Kaplan mocks - 720; 610; 590 (gave up after I saw a 500s score)
Veritas free test - 720
MGMAT 1 - 740
MGMAT 2 - 740
MGMAT 3 - 770
MGMAT 4 - 780
MGMAT 5 - 750
MGMAT 6 - 770
GMAT prep 1- 770
GMAT prep 2 - 730
GMAT prep 3 - 750 (reset just to gain confidence)
Strategy
Right from the beginning I was pretty clear where I needed to start the prep from. My quant was pretty good, in fact so good that I really never bothered to practice till the final mocks.
Verbal was a big big problem especially the sentence correction part. I had already appeared for GRE and hence RC was okay for me. Critical reasoning came naturally (at least the OG stuff)
One thing that I had learnt the hard way was that one must not take up a date early (I rescheduled GRE like twice). So for GMAT I took the date only after I was absolutely sure that I could score something like 740+
Over last few weeks i just relied on the MGMAT tests and the GMAT prep software, and I must say that both of them are very accurate predictors of the actual GMAT
D day
I could not get enough sleep the night before because of all the anxiety and consequently the next morning was a disaster for me.
I bought three cans of red bull and drank one in every break and just before the exam. Maybe that made me feel at ease during the whole GMAT thing.
Red bull 1
AWA came as surprise and somehow I could not conclude as well as I had thought on both the essays. Overall a hurried finishing
Red bull 2
Quant was easy as usual and I cruised through it with 8-10 minutes to spare
Red bull 3
Next up was verbal and my weakest section. first 2-3 questions were CRs and were pretty easy. Next few questions were all SCs and I was unsure on a lot of them. None of the RCs that came to me were scientific (I am pretty good with the science RCs being an Engineer). Finally the screen came where you had to list all schools and stuff... and then the final report scores.
Was out of the world to see a 770 on screen. Though was a little surprised to see V-42 + Q-51 giving 770.
Overall a dream come true.
Regards,
ABD
Materials used:
ETS test papers
What is this ETS Test Paper which you have mentioned?
well while I was in IIT kgp i had seen few old papers from ETS. They were GMAT question papers from early 2001 etc.
The paper format was very different from current gmat but the questions were more or less similar
Wow! Thats some score. I have got my GMAT on 29th this month, and I think I might have to reschedule it given my current pace 
Sentence correction is such a bother!!
One major issue is that since I was a CBSE student, we never got to learn grammar from text book. It was always intuition based, and I really can't make out the fundas of restrictive clauses, this type of verb, that type of verb, parallelism. So if the question is correct, its good. but 20% of the questions which i answer wrong, i can't interpret the solution and understand WHY.
CR, RC, Quant is not a problem for me either.
So If u got time, and done partying celebrating the gorgeous score, guide how to fix up sentence correction. Got just 29 days, AND it will be painful spending another 10 grand to postpone it.
nathshaonli SaysI mGot just 29 days, AND it will be painful spending another 10 grand to postpone it.
7 calendar days or more before the scheduled test date, time, or location: US$50.00 fee (each time you reschedule)
Fewer than 7 calendar days before the scheduled test date, time, or location: Additional USD 250.00 fee
-- from the GMAC website.. so its arnd 2.5 grand if u do it a week before..
And same pinch
I got it on 29th too ....
Hi Folks,
I have always been a reader here with no posts. I am finally done with my GMAT and to be frank the final scores have surprised me as well. I wrote the GMAT in early June 2011
...
Regards,
ABD
Hi,
First of all congratulations for the outstanding score.
What is official guide 2011? Is it different from OG-10,11, and 12.
Thanks in advance
7 calendar days or more before the scheduled test date, time, or location: US$50.00 fee (each time you reschedule)
Fewer than 7 calendar days before the scheduled test date, time, or location: Additional USD 250.00 fee
-- from the GMAC website.. so its arnd 2.5 grand if u do it a week before..
And same pinch
I got it on 29th too ....
The problem is that in the first week of september I am flying out of Chennai to some other city of India for my next training stint. And my awesome company doesn't tell a day before the next stint, where is the next stint. Even if I manage to convince the HR to tell me where I am going next, we can't change the test centre, can we? If we can, HURRAY! :cheerio:
BUT, I wanna get done with it fast, manage a good score and start with CAT 2011 properly.
BUT, I wanna get done with it fast, manage a good score and start with CAT 2011 properly.
Hot damn! Same pinch again :w00t:
Yeah I am in a pinch too as far as prep time is concerned.. all the best
For 29 days bracket, which are good sources to prepare for?
Emphasizing that Verbal is the weak spot..
Hey there, Great score I must say.
Congratulations on the score and ATB for your next actions.
Quick question, Could you let me know where can I get the MGMAT tests that you have mentioned, are these same as the Princeton review test? I know that might sounds silly if they are not the same.
Thanks
Abhi
Hi,
First of all congratulations for the outstanding score.
What is official guide 2011? Is it different from OG-10,11, and 12.
Thanks in advance
Hi There,
OG Stands for Official Guide. So OG 10,11 and 12 are all different versions of the Official Guide. TO precisely answer your query: Official Guide 11 is OG 11.
Thanks
Abhi
@natshaonli -
SC was my weakest section as well, I did the OG questions twice & did a pdf doc called 170 SC & solutions.
Finally I quickly went through the wren & martin's standard grammer book
The key is to practice hard and get to know the frequent errors that gmat tests,
misplaced modifier
subject verb agreement
not only - but also/neither-nor type idioms
tenses.
Once you master these few types atleast 70 % SCs are cake walk
Wow! Thats some score. I have got my GMAT on 29th this month, and I think I might have to reschedule it given my current pace
Sentence correction is such a bother!!
One major issue is that since I was a CBSE student, we never got to learn grammar from text book. It was always intuition based, and I really can't make out the fundas of restrictive clauses, this type of verb, that type of verb, parallelism. So if the question is correct, its good. but 20% of the questions which i answer wrong, i can't interpret the solution and understand WHY.
CR, RC, Quant is not a problem for me either.
So If u got time, and done partying celebrating the gorgeous score, guide how to fix up sentence correction. Got just 29 days, AND it will be painful spending another 10 grand to postpone it.
Hi There
Please go for Manhattan Strategic Guide for Sentence Correction. Give it a full read. you will gradually start developing interest, so dont give up. YOu might need to go through a few things twice to really understand them, so dont worry if you dont get something in the first go.
With a layman's approach, you will take one day a chapter. There are 13/14 chapters in this book as far as I remember. So you will be done with the book in 15 days. The latest book has question numbers from OG 12 mentioned at the end of the chapter for the topic covered in chapter. I will recommend , you solve the OG questions once you are done with a chapter. That helps in really understanding the concept.
Hope that helps.
Abhi.
@ AbhishekISB
No Princeton & MGMAT are different
by MGMAT I meant Manhattan Gmat tests. i bought the test series off the internet website. Link if it may help
Online Practice CAT Exams & 8 Question Banks
Regards,
ABD
@natshaonli -
SC was my weakest section as well, I did the OG questions twice & did a pdf doc called 170 SC & solutions.
Finally I quickly went through the wren & martin's standard grammer book
The key is to practice hard and get to know the frequent errors that gmat tests,
misplaced modifier
subject verb agreement
not only - but also/neither-nor type idioms
tenses.
Once you master these few types atleast 70 % SCs are cake walk
Thanks a lot for the tips man. :-P Can you possibly mail the 170 SC& solutions to me. Today I ordered for Kaplan Verbal workbook as a few seniors suggested it. Would like to look into this 170 SC ebook too.
And I finished OG sentence correction once, will say out of 135 odd questions, got almost 100 correct in the first attempt. Will give a second run to OG soon.
Thanks a lot for the tips man. :-P Can you possibly mail the 170 SC& solutions to me. Today I ordered for Kaplan Verbal workbook as a few seniors suggested it. Would like to look into this 170 SC ebook too.
And I finished OG sentence correction once, will say out of 135 odd questions, got almost 100 correct in the first attempt. Will give a second run to OG soon.
My id ......
please dont post your email-id . you can PM the user incase you want any help.
Thanks ankit.
Hi Folks,
I have always been a reader here with no posts. I am finally done with my GMAT and to be frank the final scores have surprised me as well. I wrote the GMAT in early June 2011
Total Final score : 770
Quant : 51
Verbal : 42
AWA : 5.5/6
Materials used:
Official Guide 2011
ETS test papers
Kaplan study software
Wren & Martin - for basic grammar
Schedule & Time lines:
I took a long 4-5 months to prepare. My job was very travel oriented and didn't allow me to be regular with GMAT prep. I took the date only after I was consistently scoring more than 720/730 on the mocks.
Jan - OG verbal all questions(verbal)
Feb - no prep
March - ETS test papers old for practice
April - Mocks tests for verbal only - once a week
May - AWA practice and full length tests
June - first week GMAT
Mock Scores
Kaplan mocks - 720; 610; 590 (gave up after I saw a 500s score)
Veritas free test - 720
MGMAT 1 - 740
MGMAT 2 - 740
MGMAT 3 - 770
MGMAT 4 - 780
MGMAT 5 - 750
MGMAT 6 - 770
GMAT prep 1- 770
GMAT prep 2 - 730
GMAT prep 3 - 750 (reset just to gain confidence)
Strategy
Right from the beginning I was pretty clear where I needed to start the prep from. My quant was pretty good, in fact so good that I really never bothered to practice till the final mocks.
Verbal was a big big problem especially the sentence correction part. I had already appeared for GRE and hence RC was okay for me. Critical reasoning came naturally (at least the OG stuff)
One thing that I had learnt the hard way was that one must not take up a date early (I rescheduled GRE like twice). So for GMAT I took the date only after I was absolutely sure that I could score something like 740+
Over last few weeks i just relied on the MGMAT tests and the GMAT prep software, and I must say that both of them are very accurate predictors of the actual GMAT
D day
I could not get enough sleep the night before because of all the anxiety and consequently the next morning was a disaster for me.
I bought three cans of red bull and drank one in every break and just before the exam. Maybe that made me feel at ease during the whole GMAT thing.
Red bull 1
AWA came as surprise and somehow I could not conclude as well as I had thought on both the essays. Overall a hurried finishing
Red bull 2
Quant was easy as usual and I cruised through it with 8-10 minutes to spare
Red bull 3
Next up was verbal and my weakest section. first 2-3 questions were CRs and were pretty easy. Next few questions were all SCs and I was unsure on a lot of them. None of the RCs that came to me were scientific (I am pretty good with the science RCs being an Engineer). Finally the screen came where you had to list all schools and stuff... and then the final report scores.
Was out of the world to see a 770 on screen. Though was a little surprised to see V-42 + Q-51 giving 770.
Overall a dream come true.
Regards,
ABD
gr8 score. :p
My Question is does red bull really helps ? I know it is a Caffeinated alcoholic energy drink,but never used it.
I also have problems in getting sleep before D-Day and that hampers chances
.Suja
