Beat the Gmat 710 (46/42/6.0)

MBA GMAT
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SECOND ATTEMPT: 710 (46Q, 42V and 6AWA) I had written gmat almost 12 months ago and that was my second attempt. Decided to add my bit to the forum even if its a little late :: . In my first attempt I got a measly 640 (49Q, 28V) :disa…

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SECOND ATTEMPT: 710 (46Q, 42V and 6AWA)

I had written gmat almost 12 months ago and that was my second attempt. Decided to add my bit to the forum even if its a little late.

In my first attempt I got a measly 640 (49Q, 28V) 😞 I was pretty disappointed. But I was not disappointed becase I got a low score but because I messed things up in GMAT even though I was pretty sure that I will score pretty high. I just under estimated the Verbal section and used the tried and tested method on different forums to crack RC and SC.:nono:

I then took at long hiatus from preparation... almost 10 months and then decided to give it again. Went and bought Manhattan GMAT for verbal, OG 12th Edition and start the preparation all over again. I gave myself 2 months with hectic work schedule but I didn't book any date for the exam but I was pretty sure I will stick to the preparation and book the date just 7-8 days before the exam when Iam sure I am ready for next attempt. :)

(Many people will suggest book the date in advance and I kinda agree with them unless you can have the dedication to stick to the preparation):)

I spent atleast 1.5 - 2 hours every day preparation and atleast 6-7 on saturday and sunday including one mock test every weekend.

I changed my strategy completely, that was I guess thats what made the difference. For Quant I started learning all the possible kind of question they would ask and make a sample sample question of each of those and put it in a piece of paper and go through it every day. Solved everything in
- OG 10
- OG 11
- OG 12 (everything is same as OG 11 except for 300 odd questions)
- Kaplan
- Kaplan 800 (Loved solving this one)

For verbal I referred everything in the Manhattam Gmat, and solved OG10, OG 11, and OG 12 (Though didnt solve many RC, though I suggest you solve everything I just didnt get time according to my personal deadlines) Also solved many verbals in Kaplan.

For SC I used all the strategies on the Manhattan and some from the internet and created some of my own.

For RC i chucked all the old strategies I had taken from the internet.. in the exam I just read the passage once and then answered the question, though before reading the passage I read the 1st question associated with it and the choices. And when ever I was stuck I just referred the passage again. I am a fast reader so I was able to manage RC with this strategy very easily.

For CR - This was always very easy for me, so didnt bother much about it.. I almost always had 100% during the practice.

I always gave the Mocks during the time when my real exam was scheduled. Took exactly 10mins break and ate a banana and drank some water during that time as I wanted to do during the real deal. And I always wrote the AWA for whole one hour during the Mocks also.

Mocks:
This was my trump card. I gave every possible MOCK I could put my hands on 😃 I gave mock provided by Princeton, Gmat Prep (The older ones also), All 5 MGMAT tests and loads and loads smaller ones on the internet.

The GMAT Prep I reinstalled it many times and gave the mocks. It did repeat many question but i got to solve many new ones and made myself comfortable. Most of my scores in the GMAT Mocks were between 740 to 760 so I was pretty happy before the exam.

I had also made a strategy by splitting the time 75 minutes into smaller parts and targetting certain number of question that helped me manage time well. But I messed this up on the D-Day and spent almost 7 minutes on the first question and then guessed it. I was in the end left with only 7 minutes for the last 7 question:nono:. And the result I got a measly 46. When I finished the Quant I was sure I did below expectation but was determined to crack Verbal .. so took a break ate a banana and drank some pulpy orange.. splashed some water on my face.. And came back for Verbal.. started of pretty well with SC, then CR and then came RC after first 12 questions but found it very simple with my new strategy. Finished verbal atleast 4 minutes early (was kinda shocked for messing up my timings again)

Clicked on finish waited for the results with bated breath.. And there you go 710 (Q46, V42) was happy that my smart work for Verbal paid off.. and was furious with myself for getting only 46 in Quant when I was pretty capable of hitting 49-50 in that. But well I was happy over all.. Called all my friends and informed them.. went and had a large scoop of ice cream.

After few days I got my AWA result and got a full 6 in it. I did not practice for AWA, just before the D-day on the internet I just read about .. and noted down certain key words like "Thus, first, second, last, While, in conclusion" etc And decided to use them directly on the D-day .. and kinda got the right result there.
But I suggest you practice AWA, I could not manage time with my hectic work schedule to practice this, going without practice in any section is downright stupidity It may not always give favorable results

In the end I was disappointed for scoring 46 in Q.. but ecstatic for scoring 42 in V and 6.0 in AWA. I am from IT background.

There you go... Hope it help someone. I wrote it in pretty hurry but I just wanted to add my experience.

Regards,.,,


@EDIT: Gave wrong score it is 710 (46Q, 42V and 6AWA) and not 720 .. How do we edit the topic? Mods please do the needful. Apologies for the mistake.

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Firstly, i want to congratulate you on your score..
even i am quiet confident with my verbal but though being an engineer i am weak in quants..
i scored 95 percentile in English in CAT09 but around 45 percentile in Quants..
I am a civil engg with 3 years work ex..i too have a hectic work schedule..
i am preparing for GMAT and plan to give by this year end. can you please suggest me as to how i should go about with the preparation of quants? should i attend some coaching classes?
where can i get the mock tests??

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Congrats!
Really a good score

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Congrats man ! All The Best for your app process. 😃

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Firstly, i want to congratulate you on your score..
even i am quiet confident with my verbal but though being an engineer i am weak in quants..
i scored 95 percentile in English in CAT09 but around 45 percentile in Quants..
I am a civil engg with 3 years work ex..i too have a hectic work schedule..
i am preparing for GMAT and plan to give by this year end. can you please suggest me as to how i should go about with the preparation of quants? should i attend some coaching classes?
where can i get the mock tests??


Thanks..
also by being in IT i meant we are usually are good with quant.. and I am good with quant.. I messed up my strategy which was pretty stupid of me...and i deserved a bad score due to that..
Dont give up on quant.. Gmat quant is not that difficult..Dont worry abt probability and Perm & Comb, if you get them u are scoring pretty good .. my 30th question was P&C; .. but I screwed my timing.

I dont know anything about coaching classes.. I referred all the popular books available.. for Quant Kaplan, OG are enough.. if you want real tough ones then go for Kaplan 800.. I think only one strategy works.. PRACTICE, PRACTICE PRACTICE and then SOME MORE PRACTICE .. absolutely no shortcuts according to me.. as even if you know all the strategies that can be asked in gmat it can stilll confuse you in the examination. Mocks.. you get one set when you register... and rest all just do some beg. borrow and steal .. from friends

And when ever I used to get time in office i used to find some gmat based quiz or mock and solve them.. it was fun
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Hi,

I've been studying for GMAT since some time and intend to give the exam this month end. But I've heard that GMAT for Asians is a bit tougher. Is that so? Also,can anyone suggest good material for tests and the sources for the same?

Thanks a ton in advance,
Rish90

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Hi,

I've been studying for GMAT since some time and intend to give the exam this month end. But I've heard that GMAT for Asians is a bit tougher. Is that so? Also,can anyone suggest good material for tests and the sources for the same?

Thanks a ton in advance,
Rish90


Where did u hear such a thing????

Gmat is same for every person in the world irrespective where he/she takes the exam from of what his or her ethnicity is.


I am pretty sure GMAC does not discriminate based on Race, Religion, Caste or Country
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Hi.. First of all congatulations on your score. I have scheduled my GMAT on Sep 1st. I am almost done with Preparation and now i am thinking of starting with the mocks. In which order I should go?

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Hi Guys,

Can anyone tell me how many wrongs can be afforded in GMAT verbal and quant sections for a section score of around 48? I ask this because for equal no of questions wrong, I see a drastic difference in scores of tests from different courses.

Thanks in advance

rish90