Hey guys, I guess from my headline itself it is evident that I did not do too well in the test. But I will be happy if some body can learn from my mistakes and get a better score. I got 700 (Q 48 and V 38 ). First thing, I was not preparing…
Hey guys,
I guess from my headline itself it is evident that I did not do too well in the test. But I will be happy if some body can learn from my mistakes and get a better score. I got 700 (Q 48 and V 38 ).
First thing, I was not preparing for CAT or any other such exams to supplement my GMAT prep. (Agreed I have given CAT once 2 years back but that does not count). So when I say that I prepared only for a month, that is what it exactly means.
Just one month, that is mistake #1. If you are in mad rush to finish GMAT before the R2 deadline of many US colleges in Jan, as I was, than you have no choice, so read on for how to prepare in a short amount of time. Otherwise please take at least 2/3 months for prep, as suggested by most of the 740+ PGs. I am saying this because you will not have enough time to be comfortable with the dreaded SCs.My suggestion is to start with a basic brush up of grammar even before you try the Verbal Workout for the GMAT (The Princeton Review), this was the most helpful guide for Verbal and SC.
Do as many practice tests as you can under timed conditions when you think your "concepts" are clear enough. Because GMAT is not about giving the right answer only, it is mostly about giving the right answers in the allotted time.I am certain my first 15 Qs in verbal is right, but took too much time in those and struggled towards the end.How many tests did I complete under timed condition, ONE, this is mistake #2. Got 710 in the test(PP), so I guess I could have taken the test that day itself without struggling to make time for prep with the heavy workload at office.
Be smart, pick a day for your GMAT, when you think that office workload will be the least. I picked the worst date for my test. Mistake # 3 Practically before even applying for a single biz school , I was living every MBA student's nightmare, 18+ hr workdays for a month straight, 10-12 in office and the rest for GMAT.Believe me fatigue sets in very easily. Only thing that pushed me through this phase was endless cups of coffee and 10 cigarettes a night. At the end, nobody really cares what was the situation leading to your GMAT,how many months you prepared and all, it is the great equalizer, 750 is always better than 700.
So if you can not follow any of the above because you have less time (may be to meet R2 deadline for 2006 Fall admissions), than I guess these points might help you.
1) Like me, If you are better at PS than DS,than instead of solving too many PS, look for a plan to attack the different types of PS questions. Go through all the maths concepts and remember them.
2) For DS with inequalities, try to simplify it couple of steps till it is clear what are the must have conditions in it before you look at the statements.
Starting from what is asked and simplifying it down to what is given was my fav approach which helped in getting the mistakes down.
3) If your verbal is not so good, mine was very bad, start from Princeton Verbal Workout and Kaplan and work your way up to the OG.
4) If your time is less, don't bother downloading questions from the net, spend the money and buy the books straight away or get it immediately from your friends.
5) Best place to practice RC is the office, if you have to read a lot of tech doc in your work, than go for it or else grab the news paper in the lunch/coffee breaks.
6) For RC follow CPA method as much as you can. I did that 90% of the time.
7) For SC, try as many questions as you can and keep revising your mistakes as frequently as possible.
Will be happy if it helps anyone (though use at your own risk !!) . Now comes the essays and recos for me.Still planning to apply for the top colleges for consultancy and entrepreneurship. Hope one of them takes 😃 me in, do not really want to go to a school not in my top 10 and do not want to wait for a year also. I have a 5+ year of exp, 2.5 yr of it in various US and European locations, good enough work progressions etc..
Keeping my fingers crossed.
congratulations pranj!
The tone and language of your post was quite gloomy, but 700 is a good score by any standards, and coupled with 5 yrs experience, it is a great combo. so stop being down and out about it.
i`m in the kind of work situation as u were, i`m doing 14 hours a day for the last 2 weeks, and my G-day is just 7 days away! been feeling a little ill too lately. shit scared.
i do agree, you should have taken some more full tests. can u elaborate on your actual test experience and your approach to preparing for AWA. what was the difficulty level u experienced and what abt the probability/permutation/combination type of questions.
good post, found it pretty useful...congrats again!
Congrats on your score Pranj!!...with your kind of profile & experience it's a super score, equivalent to 730-750 any day
GMAT score is only a part of admission to B-Schools. man that's some effort..10-12 hrs. at office & then GMAT. salute to your spirit.
hey crash test, ATB for your GMAT buddy...7 days na..i would say more than anything else "it's a mind game" buddy...more about attitude, maintaning calmness n all from now on.
cheers
SHEKHAR
Though I understand the others empathizing with him, I think Pranj realizes the importance of having a good GMAT score and the overall context of how it fits into the larger picture of apping. Coming from a Mathematics Olympiad background and good vebral skill, it is but natural to feel bad. Still more, when you know that it was due to circumstance beyond your circle of influence.
Instead I think it was pretty awesome for him to have put up his experiences in such a manner for others to learn and reflect. Not many people have it to post so much in their 2nd post. Great work there Pranj.
Lets keep the off-PG email thread going :wink:
Arun
Hey guys,
I guess from my headline itself it is evident that I did not do too well in the test. But I will be happy if some body can learn from my mistakes and get a better score. I got 700 (Q 48 and V 38 ).
First thing, I was not preparing for CAT or any other such exams to supplement my GMAT prep. (Agreed I have given CAT once 2 years back but that does not count). So when I say that I prepared only for a month, that is what it exactly means.
Just one month, that is mistake #1. If you are in mad rush to finish GMAT before the R2 deadline of many US colleges in Jan, as I was, than you have no choice, so read on for how to prepare in a short amount of time. Otherwise please take at least 2/3 months for prep, as suggested by most of the 740+ PGs. I am saying this because you will not have enough time to be comfortable with the dreaded SCs.My suggestion is to start with a basic brush up of grammar even before you try the Verbal Workout for the GMAT (The Princeton Review), this was the most helpful guide for Verbal and SC.
Do as many practice tests as you can under timed conditions when you think your "concepts" are clear enough. Because GMAT is not about giving the right answer only, it is mostly about giving the right answers in the allotted time.I am certain my first 15 Qs in verbal is right, but took too much time in those and struggled towards the end.How many tests did I complete under timed condition, ONE, this is mistake #2. Got 710 in the test(PP), so I guess I could have taken the test that day itself without struggling to make time for prep with the heavy workload at office.
Be smart, pick a day for your GMAT, when you think that office workload will be the least. I picked the worst date for my test. Mistake # 3 Practically before even applying for a single biz school , I was living every MBA student's nightmare, 18+ hr workdays for a month straight, 10-12 in office and the rest for GMAT.Believe me fatigue sets in very easily. Only thing that pushed me through this phase was endless cups of coffee and 10 cigarettes a night. At the end, nobody really cares what was the situation leading to your GMAT,how many months you prepared and all, it is the great equalizer, 750 is always better than 700.
So if you can not follow any of the above because you have less time (may be to meet R2 deadline for 2006 Fall admissions), than I guess these points might help you.
1) Like me, If you are better at PS than DS,than instead of solving too many PS, look for a plan to attack the different types of PS questions. Go through all the maths concepts and remember them.
2) For DS with inequalities, try to simplify it couple of steps till it is clear what are the must have conditions in it before you look at the statements.
Starting from what is asked and simplifying it down to what is given was my fav approach which helped in getting the mistakes down.
3) If your verbal is not so good, mine was very bad, start from Princeton Verbal Workout and Kaplan and work your way up to the OG.
4) If your time is less, don't bother downloading questions from the net, spend the money and buy the books straight away or get it immediately from your friends.
5) Best place to practice RC is the office, if you have to read a lot of tech doc in your work, than go for it or else grab the news paper in the lunch/coffee breaks.
6) For RC follow CPA method as much as you can. I did that 90% of the time.
7) For SC, try as many questions as you can and keep revising your mistakes as frequently as possible.
Will be happy if it helps anyone (though use at your own risk !!) . Now comes the essays and recos for me.Still planning to apply for the top colleges for consultancy and entrepreneurship. Hope one of them takes 😃 me in, do not really want to go to a school not in my top 10 and do not want to wait for a year also. I have a 5+ year of exp, 2.5 yr of it in various US and European locations, good enough work progressions etc..
Keeping my fingers crossed.
dear arun,
thanks for ur compiled efforts , i too am preparing for my gmats and u have been very helpfull, if ur still around in mumbai it would really be great to speak to u- my no. is
thanks
gaurav
congratulations pranj!
i`m in the kind of work situation as u were, i`m doing 14 hours a day for the last 2 weeks, and my G-day is just 7 days away! been feeling a little ill too lately. shit scared.
i do agree, you should have taken some more full tests. can u elaborate on your actual test experience and your approach to preparing for AWA. what was the difficulty level u experienced and what abt the probability/permutation/combination type of questions.
good post, found it pretty useful...congrats again!
Crash_Test_Dummy,
My test was from 12:00 noon. Checked the place out the previous day, got lost couple of times, but that was useful to to go and talk to the test admins. (I am outside India right now)
Reached the place around 11.00 and after the initial form and signing of confidentiality documents, started the exam 11.30 am.
Did not really prepare for AWA at all, just checked the Princeton Review the previous night and sticked with the format suggested. I think it went pretty well, just remember Analysis of Argument means just attack the chain of logic and assumptions etc close to CR, do not put your own opinions in there. Analysis of an Issue allows you to be a bit more creative, with your own thoughts and readings, try to quote something from a book,movie etc. Take a strong stand for one side but show that you have not discarded the other side without giving it any due considerations.
I got around 4/5 probability/permutation/combination with increasing difficulty..
hey crash test, ATB for your GMAT buddy...7 days na..i would say more than anything else "it's a mind game" buddy...more about attitude, maintaning calmness n all from now on.
cheers
SHEKHAR
Shekhar,
You are absolutely right, it is more about how you handle the pressure during the last 7 days and in those critical 4 hrs on G-day..
There are 2 different school of thought here towards the activity in the last 7 days, some who take a lot of simulated timed tests and those who try to solve more problems without timed tests....and I have seen ppl from both the mindset who has done really well...
Guess you have to figure out what approach is better for you..
hey Pranj,
Have a query from ur post.. when u say "Verbal Workout for the GMAT (The Princeton Review)" u mean the verbal section from the Princeton book rite??
Practice from Princeton, Kaplan and OG is wat is reqd n yes PP too..
Plz do clarify
thnks,
rachana
when u say "Verbal Workout for the GMAT (The Princeton Review)" u mean the verbal section from the Princeton book rite??
No. That's a standalone verbal book from PR.
HTH
-S
HI,
I have got the OG 11th edition with me. N it says tht almost qs in the 11th edition have never been published in the previous editions. So am I required to solve qs from both the 10th n 11th editions or wud only prep from the 11th edition suffice??
thnks
rachana
No. That's a standalone verbal book from PR.
HTH
-S
yeah Elrond is right.
Congratulations 😃 very good score.
Nice write up, thanks for sharing the experience.
I'm writing GMAT towards end of August 2006, is 60 days
of period with 3 hours everyday & full time over wekends enough
to cross 35 in Verbal?
Thanks,
Simone
60 days with 3 hours everyday!!!! ?
I think that should be more than enough for getting a good score.
And you are talking about spending full time on weekends... !!!!
man, you seem to be focused....
even i have registered for august 30 only.
but from the day i registered, everything is going topsy turvy.
my project implementation seems to be getting re-scheduled around that time... so i might have to go onsite.
even for the time being, every week, i am regularly getting invited for some paani party every weekend... 😃 even as i am typing this, i am getting ready to attend yet another ...
God save me...
And God save you too...
All the best...
I think that should be more than enough for getting a good score.
And you are talking about spending full time on weekends... !!!!
man, you seem to be focused....
even i have registered for august 30 only.
but from the day i registered, everything is going topsy turvy.
my project implementation seems to be getting re-scheduled around that time... so i might have to go onsite.
even for the time being, every week, i am regularly getting invited for some paani party every weekend... 😃 even as i am typing this, i am getting ready to attend yet another ...
God save me...
And God save you too...
All the best...
Thanks 😃
This is true with me too, difficult to keep up the 3 hours but need to fight 😉
Hey guys,
I guess from my headline itself it is evident that I did not do too well in the test. But I will be happy if some body can learn from my mistakes and get a better score. I got 700 (Q 48 and V 38 ).
First thing, I was not preparing for CAT or any other such exams to supplement my GMAT prep. (Agreed I have given CAT once 2 years back but that does not count). So when I say that I prepared only for a month, that is what it exactly means.
Just one month, that is mistake #1. If you are in mad rush to finish GMAT before the R2 deadline of many US colleges in Jan, as I was, than you have no choice, so read on for how to prepare in a short amount of time. Otherwise please take at least 2/3 months for prep, as suggested by most of the 740+ PGs. I am saying this because you will not have enough time to be comfortable with the dreaded SCs.My suggestion is to start with a basic brush up of grammar even before you try the Verbal Workout for the GMAT (The Princeton Review), this was the most helpful guide for Verbal and SC.
Do as many practice tests as you can under timed conditions when you think your "concepts" are clear enough. Because GMAT is not about giving the right answer only, it is mostly about giving the right answers in the allotted time.I am certain my first 15 Qs in verbal is right, but took too much time in those and struggled towards the end.How many tests did I complete under timed condition, ONE, this is mistake #2. Got 710 in the test(PP), so I guess I could have taken the test that day itself without struggling to make time for prep with the heavy workload at office.
Be smart, pick a day for your GMAT, when you think that office workload will be the least. I picked the worst date for my test. Mistake # 3 Practically before even applying for a single biz school , I was living every MBA student's nightmare, 18+ hr workdays for a month straight, 10-12 in office and the rest for GMAT.Believe me fatigue sets in very easily. Only thing that pushed me through this phase was endless cups of coffee and 10 cigarettes a night. At the end, nobody really cares what was the situation leading to your GMAT,how many months you prepared and all, it is the great equalizer, 750 is always better than 700.
So if you can not follow any of the above because you have less time (may be to meet R2 deadline for 2006 Fall admissions), than I guess these points might help you.
1) Like me, If you are better at PS than DS,than instead of solving too many PS, look for a plan to attack the different types of PS questions. Go through all the maths concepts and remember them.
2) For DS with inequalities, try to simplify it couple of steps till it is clear what are the must have conditions in it before you look at the statements.
Starting from what is asked and simplifying it down to what is given was my fav approach which helped in getting the mistakes down.
3) If your verbal is not so good, mine was very bad, start from Princeton Verbal Workout and Kaplan and work your way up to the OG.
4) If your time is less, don't bother downloading questions from the net, spend the money and buy the books straight away or get it immediately from your friends.
5) Best place to practice RC is the office, if you have to read a lot of tech doc in your work, than go for it or else grab the news paper in the lunch/coffee breaks.
6) For RC follow CPA method as much as you can. I did that 90% of the time.
7) For SC, try as many questions as you can and keep revising your mistakes as frequently as possible.
Will be happy if it helps anyone (though use at your own risk !!) . Now comes the essays and recos for me.Still planning to apply for the top colleges for consultancy and entrepreneurship. Hope one of them takes 😃 me in, do not really want to go to a school not in my top 10 and do not want to wait for a year also. I have a 5+ year of exp, 2.5 yr of it in various US and European locations, good enough work progressions etc..
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Hey Pranj!
Thanx a ton for tht post - This is exactly wht i was looking for - a feedback on "a crash prep - will it work or shud i tk out some more time"
am planning to give my gmat around november - going to start preparing for it form this weekend (16th of aug) - was in this huge state of disarray of should i give in november or wait untill december-jan.
but tell me something pranj, am also taking up cat this nov - do u think the taking up both these tests in the same month can prove to be disastrous (since they both r really not alike tests even though on the same line)??
also, i suck big time at quant - do u think 2 month can make miracles happen?
Wow. That was informative thanks kamotim \m/
Most welcome :)
Feel free to share the article!
Sure thing! 😃