My GMAT - 720 (Q50 V38)

MBA
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Finally I am done with GMAT. Scored 720, what a relief. Would share my story in brief. My Profile : Indian IT Male, 6 years Exp. GMAT booked : 17th June’09. Preparation started the same day. GMAT taken : 05th August’09. Preparation tim…

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Finally I am done with GMAT. Scored 720, what a relief. Would share my story in brief.

My Profile : Indian IT Male, 6 years Exp.
GMAT booked : 17th June'09. Preparation started the same day.
GMAT taken : 05th August'09.
Preparation time : 50 days.
Score : 720 Q50, V38. (overall 94 %ile) AWA awaited. Will update when i get it

Books and materials referred :
1. OG12.
2. Verbal workbook
3. Kaplan Premier 2009
4. Manhattan SC Guide
5. 1000 SC.

Tests taken prior to GMAT (not in chronological order):
1. GMAT Prep1 - taken thrice - : 700 (Q49, V37) , 700 (Q50, V35) , 740 (Q49, V42)
2. GMAT Prep2 - taken twice - : 720 (Q50, V3, 730 (Q49, V40)
3. MGMAT Free test - 670 ( Q48, V33 )
4. MGMAT 1 - 640 - ( Q46, V32 )
5. MGMAT 2 - 680 - ( Q48, V34 )
6. MGMAT 3 - 710 - ( Q51, V36 )
7. MGMAT 4 - 720 - ( Q51, V37 )
8. MGMAT 5 - 710 - ( Q49, V38 )
9. MGMAT 6 - 680 - ( Q49, V34 )
10. Kaplan Test on CD - 1 - 590 (Q48 V2

Here is a summary of what I have to say about my GMAT experience and advice to others.

1. Regular practice is the key. How many days you take, depends on the individual, but I think one should be in touch always. One month practice, then break, the practice is not the way. You should be in the zone when you are taking the actual GMAT. For this, one has to build a momentum , and carry that to the test.
2. At the time of the test, staying focused is the key. Take a lot of mock tests to make yourself aware of test environment. To gauge time strategies etc..
3. GMATPrep tests are the key to success. You should use them wisely. Retaking them helps, but you should not retake within 2-3 days else there is a repeat of questions and you will get skewed scores. I would suggest one should take the GMATPrep tests atleast 3-4 times. Save GMATPrep 2 for last 5-10 days of your preparation and take this test in absolute test environment with AWA, breaks etc. Try to score as much as in GMATPrep2 and do look at where you went wrong.
4. For any materials other than SC, i dont think you need to go for materials beyond OG. Take the OG seriously, and keep a error log. Revisit OG once completed. For PS/DS I reinstalled GMATPrep quite a lot of time and got a lot of new questions. It is a huge bank !
5. For SC, Manhattan SC Guide is a must. I also referred to the 1000SC series.
6. Kaplan books and tests are a waste of time, in my opinion. Kaplan tests have different styles of questions, esp in Verbal, and sometimes I didn't agree to their CR answers. So i found them useless.
7. For AWA, one must practice writing, and that too in test environment. Sometimes 30 minutes seem very less a time.

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Awesome buddy!

what kinda schools r you targeting?

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Finally I am done with GMAT. Scored 720, what a relief. Would share my story in brief.

My Profile : Indian IT Male, 6 years Exp.
GMAT booked : 17th June'09. Preparation started the same day.
GMAT taken : 05th August'09.
Preparation time : 50 days.
Score : 720 Q50, V38. (overall 94 %ile) AWA awaited. Will update when i get it

Books and materials referred :
1. OG12.
2. Verbal workbook
3. Kaplan Premier 2009
4. Manhattan SC Guide
5. 1000 SC.

Tests taken prior to GMAT (not in chronological order):
1. GMAT Prep1 - taken thrice - : 700 (Q49, V37) , 700 (Q50, V35) , 740 (Q49, V42)
2. GMAT Prep2 - taken twice - : 720 (Q50, V3, 730 (Q49, V40)
3. MGMAT Free test - 670 ( Q48, V33 )
4. MGMAT 1 - 640 - ( Q46, V32 )
5. MGMAT 2 - 680 - ( Q48, V34 )
6. MGMAT 3 - 710 - ( Q51, V36 )
7. MGMAT 4 - 720 - ( Q51, V37 )
8. MGMAT 5 - 710 - ( Q49, V38 )
9. MGMAT 6 - 680 - ( Q49, V34 )
10. Kaplan Test on CD - 1 - 590 (Q48 V2

Here is a summary of what I have to say about my GMAT experience and advice to others.

1. Regular practice is the key. How many days you take, depends on the individual, but I think one should be in touch always. One month practice, then break, the practice is not the way. You should be in the zone when you are taking the actual GMAT. For this, one has to build a momentum , and carry that to the test.
2. At the time of the test, staying focused is the key. Take a lot of mock tests to make yourself aware of test environment. To gauge time strategies etc..
3. GMATPrep tests are the key to success. You should use them wisely. Retaking them helps, but you should not retake within 2-3 days else there is a repeat of questions and you will get skewed scores. I would suggest one should take the GMATPrep tests atleast 3-4 times. Save GMATPrep 2 for last 5-10 days of your preparation and take this test in absolute test environment with AWA, breaks etc. Try to score as much as in GMATPrep2 and do look at where you went wrong.
4. For any materials other than SC, i dont think you need to go for materials beyond OG. Take the OG seriously, and keep a error log. Revisit OG once completed. For PS/DS I reinstalled GMATPrep quite a lot of time and got a lot of new questions. It is a huge bank !
5. For SC, Manhattan SC Guide is a must. I also referred to the 1000SC series.
6. Kaplan books and tests are a waste of time, in my opinion. Kaplan tests have different styles of questions, esp in Verbal, and sometimes I didn't agree to their CR answers. So i found them useless.
7. For AWA, one must practice writing, and that too in test environment. Sometimes 30 minutes seem very less a time.



Thanks for good post, you solved my confusion that shall i go for Kaplan or Not?

I think, i will not take Kaplan test..I guess Ponds did the same..

Cheers
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Hi Waiwai! Congratulations on a great score! I have been following your posts and am impressed with the way you articulate. You probably have the minimum Number of words/meaning conveyed ratio on PG right now (atleast on GMAT threads). Keep up the good work. I agree 100% on what you said for Kaplan. Great test prep company but unfortunately the "type" of questions asked are no representative of the actual test. Arun

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CONGRATS buddy ...

I was hell lot of confused between choosing Kaplan or GMAT Prep as baseline for tests.

Now, I believe GMAT prep is the key.

You post is the eye opener.
Thanks a ton
:cheers:

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Its my pleasure that I could be of some help.

Ponds, to answer your question, I have yet not decided on the list of colleges. But I have a wish list in my mind, Judge, Said, IMD, IE, all in Europe.

My next step will be to do some research.

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great score man!! congrats!! 😉

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Hey !!!! ....

First of all my heartly congratulations for a great score !!!

I want to ask something about your test prep. what do you mean by GMAT test prep??? is it the software that we download from MBA.com and which has 2 prep. tests ???????

secondly , what type of questions appeared at your Quant. section ????? i am using manhattan course as well and i am just not sure that is it enough for quant or not ???

Thanks for ur help and once again , Congrats ! 😃

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congrats great score

i happen to be a novice in terms of gmat and need some guidence to get into a good college im working with ge capital, have 3+ years of very good credit experience with the company, but wat i lack is a good academic score in my X and XII i have around 55% and a 65% in graduation. In cat last year i scored somewhere around 80pc(doesnot sound good but i was happy since i did it amidst the year end fire and without absolutely without any prepration) but wat i do have is passion passion to achieve.

Can you or anybody reading this post guide me how should i go about it?
Primairly i need to know 2 things

1. With the low academic score do i stand a chance to get into the good colleges.

2. If yes, what is the first step i should take towards the prepration for gmat(books/notes etc)

Thanks in advance for your help 😃