The Beginning Before I start off with my story there is something I want to share. Given my lack of interest in an MBA abroad and also my ordinary profile, I never really thought I would be writing the GMAT, but CAT 2009 taught me the lesson t…
The Beginning
Before I start off with my story there is something I want to share. Given my lack of interest in an MBA abroad and also my ordinary profile, I never really thought I would be writing the GMAT, but CAT 2009 taught me the lesson that I should keep all my options open. So this post is dedicated to CAT 2009 for making me write the exam I never thought I would!
The Preparation
It was around May this year when I realized I wouldn't be joining any college in 2010 and I immediately decided that I wanted to give GMAT a shot. My preparation was not structured at all since I had to balance between CAT, GMAT and other things and was split across three months.
May 2010
Started my preparation in May and went through the Manhattan SC Guide and Powerscore CR. Both these books are fabulous and laid the foundation for the Verbal section. I finished OG 12 Verbal part after going through these books and had more than 90% accuracy there.
August 2010
I had access to a Manhattan Account which would expire by Aug 14th. So I revised what I had learnt in May and jumped into the tests. The scores were pretty decent but after 4 attempts at CAT I had the tendency to rush through the Quant Section, finishing it 30 minutes in advance and making a few silly mistakes every time! On top of that I had to give the tests around 9:00 PM after coming back from office and I really did not have the strength to give the paper for 2 hrs and 30 minutes. I decided to book the date for my GMAT on the basis of my performance in these tests. Manhattan gives a great analysis of your tests underlining the weak areas and I used these reports to understand my weak areas and concentrate on those.
September 2010 -October 2010
With around a month left for my exam I decided to put everything else out of my mind and concentrated on GMAT. I went through the OG 12 PS and DS questions. Thankfully, after years of preparation for CAT my Quant was pretty good and I did not need to work on it too much. Verbal in general and SC in particular was a concern. I practiced SC continuously over the next couple of weeks from OG11, OG Verbal and OG 10. The improvement was clearly palpable. The mistakes in SC went down to 0-1 from the initial 6-7 but another problem-area surfaced which was the RC where the mistakes were creeping up. Since I had only a week to go, I went through the Powerscore CR book once more (If I haven't mentioned it already it is great for RCs too) and took more tests. It was only around this time that I came across Grockit.com. It's a pretty neat site where I could practice unlimited questions from a specific section for free. I used this to check if my Verbal was getting any better.
The Study Material
I guess I used the same old material that everyone else uses. Nothing special here!
Manhattan SC Guide - Used only this for SC
Powerscore CR and RC - Useful for both RC and CR
OG 12
OG Verbal
OG 11
OG 10
Though there are repeat questions, I would suggest that you take up other material only after you have exhausted all the OG material available with you. I did not use any GMAT material for preparing for Quant.
The Mock Tests
I wrote all the Manhattan tests in August within a week.
MGMAT 1 - 720(51Q,37V)
MGMAT 2 - 750(51Q,41V)
MGMAT 3 - 740(51Q,40V)
MGMAT 4 - 740(50Q,41V)
MGMAT 5 - 770(50Q,45V)
Took a break of a month before I gave the next set of tests. Tried almost all the free tests which were on offer!
Powerprep 1 - 760 (Don't remember the split)
Veritasprep - 750 (51Q,44V)
Princeton - 750 (51Q,43V)
Knewton - 770 (51Q,46V)
GMATprep 1 - 780 (51Q,46V)
GMATprep 2 - 770 (51Q,44V)
AWA
I prepared for the AWA only during the last week before the test. I scanned the net and based on the inputs prepared a small template. I attempted the AWA section only in the two GMATprep tests since I wanted it to be a correct indicator of my performance. There's a lot of difference in the stamina required for writing a 2.5 hr test and 4 hr test.
GMAT Day
The day before the test, I revised the basic concepts and looked through all the tough questions I had marked while going through the material. I also went and checked out the test center so that there would be no issues identifying the place. Started early on the day of the exam armed with a couple of chocolates and a bottle of water. There was a bit of nervous energy and a lot of adrenaline. The security procedures went without a hitch and so did the AWA section. I started getting the difficult questions in Quant soon so I knew I was doing well but was worried that I might make a silly mistake and end up with a 50. Verbal seemed easier than Quant and I was done with it with 5 minutes to spare. I was desperately hoping for a 780 but ended up with a 770. I was relieved with the 51 in Quant but a little disappointed with the 44 in Verbal especially since I had finished the test in advance! I got my AWA score of 5.5 only yesterday which was a bit of a let down considering the fact that both the issue and the argument I got were easy. I would suggest that someone taking the test prepare for the AWA at least 2 weeks in advance!
Important Note:
If you have booked your appointment make sure that you check if your Name matches with your Passport exactly. I almost had a problem with this since the name in my passport is different from the one in all other certificates but luckily I came across a post where someone was not allowed to write the GMAT because of this problem! I checked my passport immediately, found that it was different and contacted Pearson Candidate Services and got it rectified!
Before I start off with my story there is something I want to share. Given my lack of interest in an MBA abroad and also my ordinary profile, I never really thought I would be writing the GMAT, but CAT 2009 taught me the lesson that I should keep all my options open. So this post is dedicated to CAT 2009 for making me write the exam I never thought I would!
The Preparation
It was around May this year when I realized I wouldn't be joining any college in 2010 and I immediately decided that I wanted to give GMAT a shot. My preparation was not structured at all since I had to balance between CAT, GMAT and other things and was split across three months.
May 2010
Started my preparation in May and went through the Manhattan SC Guide and Powerscore CR. Both these books are fabulous and laid the foundation for the Verbal section. I finished OG 12 Verbal part after going through these books and had more than 90% accuracy there.
August 2010
I had access to a Manhattan Account which would expire by Aug 14th. So I revised what I had learnt in May and jumped into the tests. The scores were pretty decent but after 4 attempts at CAT I had the tendency to rush through the Quant Section, finishing it 30 minutes in advance and making a few silly mistakes every time! On top of that I had to give the tests around 9:00 PM after coming back from office and I really did not have the strength to give the paper for 2 hrs and 30 minutes. I decided to book the date for my GMAT on the basis of my performance in these tests. Manhattan gives a great analysis of your tests underlining the weak areas and I used these reports to understand my weak areas and concentrate on those.
September 2010 -October 2010
With around a month left for my exam I decided to put everything else out of my mind and concentrated on GMAT. I went through the OG 12 PS and DS questions. Thankfully, after years of preparation for CAT my Quant was pretty good and I did not need to work on it too much. Verbal in general and SC in particular was a concern. I practiced SC continuously over the next couple of weeks from OG11, OG Verbal and OG 10. The improvement was clearly palpable. The mistakes in SC went down to 0-1 from the initial 6-7 but another problem-area surfaced which was the RC where the mistakes were creeping up. Since I had only a week to go, I went through the Powerscore CR book once more (If I haven't mentioned it already it is great for RCs too) and took more tests. It was only around this time that I came across Grockit.com. It's a pretty neat site where I could practice unlimited questions from a specific section for free. I used this to check if my Verbal was getting any better.
The Study Material
I guess I used the same old material that everyone else uses. Nothing special here!
Manhattan SC Guide - Used only this for SC
Powerscore CR and RC - Useful for both RC and CR
OG 12
OG Verbal
OG 11
OG 10
Though there are repeat questions, I would suggest that you take up other material only after you have exhausted all the OG material available with you. I did not use any GMAT material for preparing for Quant.
The Mock Tests
I wrote all the Manhattan tests in August within a week.
MGMAT 1 - 720(51Q,37V)
MGMAT 2 - 750(51Q,41V)
MGMAT 3 - 740(51Q,40V)
MGMAT 4 - 740(50Q,41V)
MGMAT 5 - 770(50Q,45V)
Took a break of a month before I gave the next set of tests. Tried almost all the free tests which were on offer!
Powerprep 1 - 760 (Don't remember the split)
Veritasprep - 750 (51Q,44V)
Princeton - 750 (51Q,43V)
Knewton - 770 (51Q,46V)
GMATprep 1 - 780 (51Q,46V)
GMATprep 2 - 770 (51Q,44V)
AWA
I prepared for the AWA only during the last week before the test. I scanned the net and based on the inputs prepared a small template. I attempted the AWA section only in the two GMATprep tests since I wanted it to be a correct indicator of my performance. There's a lot of difference in the stamina required for writing a 2.5 hr test and 4 hr test.
GMAT Day
The day before the test, I revised the basic concepts and looked through all the tough questions I had marked while going through the material. I also went and checked out the test center so that there would be no issues identifying the place. Started early on the day of the exam armed with a couple of chocolates and a bottle of water. There was a bit of nervous energy and a lot of adrenaline. The security procedures went without a hitch and so did the AWA section. I started getting the difficult questions in Quant soon so I knew I was doing well but was worried that I might make a silly mistake and end up with a 50. Verbal seemed easier than Quant and I was done with it with 5 minutes to spare. I was desperately hoping for a 780 but ended up with a 770. I was relieved with the 51 in Quant but a little disappointed with the 44 in Verbal especially since I had finished the test in advance! I got my AWA score of 5.5 only yesterday which was a bit of a let down considering the fact that both the issue and the argument I got were easy. I would suggest that someone taking the test prepare for the AWA at least 2 weeks in advance!
Important Note:
If you have booked your appointment make sure that you check if your Name matches with your Passport exactly. I almost had a problem with this since the name in my passport is different from the one in all other certificates but luckily I came across a post where someone was not allowed to write the GMAT because of this problem! I checked my passport immediately, found that it was different and contacted Pearson Candidate Services and got it rectified!
Regarding the passport, actually i had changed my name in passport due to to the reason that in US your surname is required or else u face many problems.
Do I need to get my name changed in the certificates/marksheets of school/college.
The Beginning
Before I start off with my story there is something I want to share. Given my lack of interest in an MBA abroad and also my ordinary profile, I never really though I would be writing the GMAT, but CAT 2009 taught me the lesson that I should keep all my options open. So this post is dedicated to CAT 2009 for making me write the exam I never thought I would!
The Preparation
It was around May this year when I realized I wouldn't be joining any college in 2010 and I immediately decided that I wanted to give GMAT a shot. My preparation was not structured at all since I had to balance between CAT, GMAT and other things and was split across three months.
May 2010
Started my preparation in May and went through the Manhattan SC Guide and Powerscore CR. Both these books are fabulous and laid the foundation for the Verbal section. I finished OG 12 Verbal part after going through these books and had more than 90% accuracy there.
August 2010
I had access to a Manhattan Account which would expire by Aug 14th. So I revised what I had learnt in May and jumped into the tests. The scores were pretty decent but after 4 attempts at CAT I had the tendency to rush through the Quant Section finishing it 30 minutes in advance and making a few silly mistakes every time! On top of that I had to give the tests around 9:00 PM after coming back from home and I really did not have the strength to give the paper for 2 hrs and 30 minutes. I decided to book my GMAT on the basis of my performance in these tests. Manhattan gives a great analysis of your tests underlining the weak areas and I used these reports to understand my weak areas and concentrate on those.
September 2010 -October 2010
With around a month left for my exam I started put everything else out of my mind and concentrated on GMAT. I went through the OG 12 PS and DS questions. Thankfully, after years of preparation for CAT my Quant was pretty good and I did not need to work on it too much. Verbal in general and SC in particular was a concern. I took practiced SC continuously over the next couple of weeks from OG11, OG Verbal and OG 10. The improvement was clearly palpable. The mistakes in SC went down to 0-1 from the initial 6-7 but another problem area surfaced which was the RC where the mistakes were creeping up. Since I had only a week to go, I went through the Powerscore CR book once more (If I haven't mentioned it already it is great for RCs too) and took more tests. It was only around this time that I came across Grockit.com. It's a pretty neat site where I could practice unlimited questions from a specific section for free. I used this to check if my Verbal was getting any better.
The Study Material
I guess I used the same old material that everyone else uses. Nothing special here!
Manhattan SC Guide - Used only this for SC
Powerscore CR and RC - Useful for both RC and CR
OG 12
OG Verbal
OG 11
OG 10
Though there are repeat questions, I would suggest that you take up other material only after you have exhausted all the OG material available with you. I did not use any GMAT material for preparing for Quant.
The Mock Tests
I wrote all the Manhattan tests in August within a week.
MGMAT 1 - 720(51Q,37V)
MGMAT 2 - 750(51Q,41V)
MGMAT 3 - 740(51Q,40V)
MGMAT 1 - 740(50Q,41V)
MGMAT 1 - 770(50Q,45V)
Took a break of a month before I gave the next set of tests. Tried almost all the free tests which were on offer!
Powerprep 1 - 760 (Don't remember the split)
Veritasprep - 750 (51Q,44V)
Princeton - 750 (51Q,43V)
Knewton - 770 (51Q,46V)
GMATprep 1 - 780 (51Q,46V)
GMATprep 2 - 770 (51Q,44V)
AWA
I prepared for the AWA only during the last week before the test. I scanned the net and base on the inputs prepared a small template. I attempted the AWA section only din the two GMATprep tests sine I wanted to be a correct indicator of my performance. There's a lot of difference in the stamina required for writing a 2.5 hr test and 4 hr test.
GMAT Day
The day before the test, I revised the basic concepts and looking through all the tough questions I had marked while going through the material. I also went and checked out the test center so that there would be no issues identifying the place. Started early on the day of the exam armed with a couple of chocolates and a bottle of water. There was a bit of nervous nervous energy and a lot of adrenaline. the security procedures went without a hitch and so did the AWA section. The started getting the difficult questions in Quant soon so I knew I was doing well but was worried that I might make a silly mistake and end u with a 50. Verbal seemed easier than Quant and I was done with it with 5 minutes to spare. I was desperately hoping for a 780 but ended up with a 770. I was relieved with the 51 in Quant but a little disappointed with the 44 in Verbal especially since I had finished the test in advance! I got my AWA score of 5.5 only yesterday which was a bit of a let down considering the fact that both the issue and the argument I got were easy. I would suggest that someone taking the test prepare for the AWA at least 2 weeks in advance!
Important Note:
If you have booked your appointment make sure that you check if your Name matches with your Passport exactly. I almost had a problem with this since the name in my passport is different from the one in all other certificates but luckily I came across a post where someone was not allowed to write the GMAT because of this problem! I checked my passport immediately, found that it was different and contacted Pearson Candidate Services and got it rectified!
Hi Buddy,
It was really a great experience which u shared here with puys, who definitely can utilise your wordings & reap the dividends.
Need a small favor from your end
I have never ever gone for either CAT or GMAT so far.
I have a work experience of 5 years in IT Industry in BFSI domain.
I do know anything abt GMAT, but I am pllaning to go for it in Q2 Next year.
Can you please let me know the entire things abt GMAT means when shd i start with what things (Material)
What is the pattern & all that relevant stuff as I am even not much aware abt the short cut terminology being used.
U can also mail me the relevant details if you feel it posting here will be a waste of effort or people may not require that stuff.
Please help
The Beginning
Before I start off with my story there is something I want to share. Given my lack of interest in an MBA abroad and also my ordinary profile, I never really though I would be writing the GMAT, but CAT 2009 taught me the lesson that I should keep all my options open. So this post is dedicated to CAT 2009 for making me write the exam I never thought I would!
The Preparation
It was around May this year when I realized I wouldn't be joining any college in 2010 and I immediately decided that I wanted to give GMAT a shot. My preparation was not structured at all since I had to balance between CAT, GMAT and other things and was split across three months.
May 2010
Started my preparation in May and went through the Manhattan SC Guide and Powerscore CR. Both these books are fabulous and laid the foundation for the Verbal section. I finished OG 12 Verbal part after going through these books and had more than 90% accuracy there.
August 2010
I had access to a Manhattan Account which would expire by Aug 14th. So I revised what I had learnt in May and jumped into the tests. The scores were pretty decent but after 4 attempts at CAT I had the tendency to rush through the Quant Section finishing it 30 minutes in advance and making a few silly mistakes every time! On top of that I had to give the tests around 9:00 PM after coming back from home and I really did not have the strength to give the paper for 2 hrs and 30 minutes. I decided to book my GMAT on the basis of my performance in these tests. Manhattan gives a great analysis of your tests underlining the weak areas and I used these reports to understand my weak areas and concentrate on those.
September 2010 -October 2010
With around a month left for my exam I started put everything else out of my mind and concentrated on GMAT. I went through the OG 12 PS and DS questions. Thankfully, after years of preparation for CAT my Quant was pretty good and I did not need to work on it too much. Verbal in general and SC in particular was a concern. I took practiced SC continuously over the next couple of weeks from OG11, OG Verbal and OG 10. The improvement was clearly palpable. The mistakes in SC went down to 0-1 from the initial 6-7 but another problem area surfaced which was the RC where the mistakes were creeping up. Since I had only a week to go, I went through the Powerscore CR book once more (If I haven't mentioned it already it is great for RCs too) and took more tests. It was only around this time that I came across Grockit.com. It's a pretty neat site where I could practice unlimited questions from a specific section for free. I used this to check if my Verbal was getting any better.
The Study Material
I guess I used the same old material that everyone else uses. Nothing special here!
Manhattan SC Guide - Used only this for SC
Powerscore CR and RC - Useful for both RC and CR
OG 12
OG Verbal
OG 11
OG 10
Though there are repeat questions, I would suggest that you take up other material only after you have exhausted all the OG material available with you. I did not use any GMAT material for preparing for Quant.
The Mock Tests
I wrote all the Manhattan tests in August within a week.
MGMAT 1 - 720(51Q,37V)
MGMAT 2 - 750(51Q,41V)
MGMAT 3 - 740(51Q,40V)
MGMAT 1 - 740(50Q,41V)
MGMAT 1 - 770(50Q,45V)
Took a break of a month before I gave the next set of tests. Tried almost all the free tests which were on offer!
Powerprep 1 - 760 (Don't remember the split)
Veritasprep - 750 (51Q,44V)
Princeton - 750 (51Q,43V)
Knewton - 770 (51Q,46V)
GMATprep 1 - 780 (51Q,46V)
GMATprep 2 - 770 (51Q,44V)
AWA
I prepared for the AWA only during the last week before the test. I scanned the net and base on the inputs prepared a small template. I attempted the AWA section only din the two GMATprep tests sine I wanted to be a correct indicator of my performance. There's a lot of difference in the stamina required for writing a 2.5 hr test and 4 hr test.
GMAT Day
The day before the test, I revised the basic concepts and looking through all the tough questions I had marked while going through the material. I also went and checked out the test center so that there would be no issues identifying the place. Started early on the day of the exam armed with a couple of chocolates and a bottle of water. There was a bit of nervous nervous energy and a lot of adrenaline. the security procedures went without a hitch and so did the AWA section. The started getting the difficult questions in Quant soon so I knew I was doing well but was worried that I might make a silly mistake and end u with a 50. Verbal seemed easier than Quant and I was done with it with 5 minutes to spare. I was desperately hoping for a 780 but ended up with a 770. I was relieved with the 51 in Quant but a little disappointed with the 44 in Verbal especially since I had finished the test in advance! I got my AWA score of 5.5 only yesterday which was a bit of a let down considering the fact that both the issue and the argument I got were easy. I would suggest that someone taking the test prepare for the AWA at least 2 weeks in advance!
Important Note:
If you have booked your appointment make sure that you check if your Name matches with your Passport exactly. I almost had a problem with this since the name in my passport is different from the one in all other certificates but luckily I came across a post where someone was not allowed to write the GMAT because of this problem! I checked my passport immediately, found that it was different and contacted Pearson Candidate Services and got it rectified!
Thanks buddy,
Could you please also share how much time you spent on your preparation?
regards
Devendra
Thanks for sharing you experience!
I am planning to write GMAT in next 10 days.
I have gone through the material prescribed, except OG 10.
The problem with me is, while solving the book questions, I get all of them right, but when writing a test, I get all of them wrong!
When I analyze the test, I do the same ques easily.
I am constantly getting 50-51 in maths, but only 32 in verbal.
Can you share any test taking tip, which can help me?
Thanks for sharing you experience!
I am planning to write GMAT in next 10 days.
I have gone through the material prescribed, except OG 10.
The problem with me is, while solving the book questions, I get all of them right, but when writing a test, I get all of them wrong!
When I analyze the test, I do the same ques easily.
I am constantly getting 50-51 in maths, but only 32 in verbal.
Can you share any test taking tip, which can help me?
I had the same problem when I started off. I made very few mistakes while solving the OG but in the first couple of tests I made lots of mistakes.
Try a lot of timed Verbal practice tests. I found Grockit to be useful for this. Or else just time yourself on OG 10 or maybe the 1000 Series. I would suggest you give 1 minute for an SC question, 1.5 minutes for a CR question and 1.75 minutes for an RC question. Once you get the hang of this I'm sure your performance in the tests will improve. Also, I found that with a lot of practice the errors gradually came down. And make sure that you analyze the wrong answers not only to understand the official solution but also to understand why you went for the wrong option.
Hope this helps and All the best for your GMAT!
Hi
Thanks for sharing your experience, I am taking GMAT on 17th Nov and need to score a 750+. Any tips as in how can I utilize the remaining days before the test.
I have already completed OG12 and Nova. I am still struggling with timing and Probability n PnC q's.
Rgds
Tej
Hi sarcastix,
I wanted to know if it is necessary to book my GMAT date months in advance OR
prepare now and when I know I'm ready to give the test, book my date, maybe one month prior or something.
I am working right now so I wouldn't be able to tell if I would get that much time to study and exactly when I would be able to give my exam.
What do you suggest I do?
Also, if I want to study MBA in Fall 2012 then when would be the right time to give my exam and when to start the application procedure?
I have prepared from the OG 12. I thought I'll start with practice tests now. Do I start with teh tests or do I practice a bit more from the other OGs too?
If you could please let me know asap, it would be great!
Thanks,
Aishwarya 😃
Hi all,
I'm in great confusion ..please help..
Suppose if I take up GMAT and score somewhr arnd (700-720)..what do I do next(i.e which clgs do I apply)
I'm looking for MBA in sinngapore/Uk/Austraia
Any inputs of gud clgs in these places..I have 2.5 ys wrk ex...?