720 + dare = 760

Hello friends,

Before I begin my similar looking, long GMAT story, here is a brief summary for the quick readers:
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My GMAT journey started in July 2010, ended on 24th August 2011.

My brief bio: Indian engineering graduate, 3 years WE in pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, want to do an MBA as almost everyone else on this forum.

My stats: GMAT Attempt 1 in October 2010: 720 (Q51, V35), AWA 5.5
GMAT Attempt 2 on 24th August 2011: 760 (Q50, V44), AWA 6.0

Tests taken: MGMAT tests, 800 score tests, GMATprep, gmatclub.com verbal sectional tests
Books referred: Manhattan verbal guides, Powerscore Bibles, GMAT Official Guide, GMAT verbal handbook
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My story:

GMAT attempt 1 (July-October 2010)

Motivation: To go through the formality of GMAT, and get a good enough GMAT score to apply to top 10 US B-schools.

Strategy: Finish GMAT OG, read a few supplementary GMAT books, solve as many questions online as I can, give 5-6 practice tests and then crack the GMAT on the D day.

Backdrop: My academics history is very strong. I have been in the top 1% of any class I attended.

The Quest: Having an engineering background, my maths is very strong. In the first GMAT prep test I scored 51 in quant, but much lower in verbal. I knew I had to focus on verbal, and dedicated more time towards it. My score kept on improving in the practice tests.

GMAT Prep 1: 720
GMAT Prep 2: 720
MGMAT 1: 710
MGMAT 2: 720
MGMAT 3: 720
MGMAT 4: 740

I felt confident that I would score in the 730-750 range (though I was greedily praying for 750).

Everything was flowing smoothly. I completed GMAT OG, Powerscore bibles, 6 practise tests, and a lot of online practice questions (more than 1000, including those on gmatclub forum).

On the test day I got a 720.

720 is a good score. I was not shocked or disappointed, but was neither satisfied. It is generally said that things that are farther from you attract you the most, a similar case happened with me. I decided with my scorecard in my hand that I will be entering the 750+ club.

My reasons for retaking the GMAT:

1. My progression was consistent, up to the very day of the GMAT, and scoring higher seemed plausible.
2. I belong to the Indian pool of applicants, whose GMAT scores are very competitive
3. I wanted to target top 10 B-schools
4. My GMAT score didn't place well with my other academic achievements

Interval: After my first attempt I took a break. I tried to turn things happening around myself into a motivation to retake the GMAT. Slowly, I knew the decision has to be mine, and made it in May 2011.

My New Story

GMAT Attempt 2 (June-August 2011)

My new motivation: Succeed, or die trying.

My new Strategy: complete GMAT OG, read more supplementary books, take more practice tests, solve more online questions, crack the GMAT on the D day.

Backdrop: I had given GMAT once; I knew my enemy now, and also my weaknesses. I just have to work on them now.

The Quest: The preparations began. I tried to stick to my schedule, and decided to give more sectional verbal tests in order to gauge my progress.

The mismatch: Not everything was flowing smoothly this time. My workload had increased. Some days I walked into my room so tired from work that I would fall asleep the instant I sat down on my chair, or bed, or anywhere. Then I would wake up at 3 or 4 am in the morning, take few bread loaves with nutrella as my dinner and go back to sleep again. My sectional verbal scores on 800score tests were disastrous. Some friends even joked about the fact that our ability to learn new things is declining. I started reading GMAT retake stories on gmatclub and found many who got the same or lower scores. I started doubting my capacity. But finally decided in favor of going for the reattempt, and convinced myself that even though a lower score will make me look like a fool, but like a fool in front of everyone else, not in my own eyes. I would be fool to back out without challenging my limits.

The haphazardly correct path: I started making use of the little time I could get. In my free time at office, I started solving online practice GMAT problems. I stopped counting the questions I solved per day, but rather relied on the new things I learned. I gave GMAT prep 1 (3 weeks before my GMAT), scored 770 (Q51, V41). I kept on digging deep, taking more time to understand and reach an answer instead of guessing and moving on.

One week before my GMAT appointment, I gave GMAT prep 2. I couldn't complete the verbal section on time, and canceled the exam. But I knew I was on the right path. I had deliberately slowed down my speed to gain better understanding and higher accuracy, or I just said these words to myself to keep my calm. 2 days later I retook GMAT prep 2 and scored 750 (Q50, V41). Somehow I didn't feel bad about my quant score (which should not have dropped from a consistent 51 to 50). Maybe the verbal was still challenging to me as a non-native speaker.

The D Day: I did not practice quant the last week; neither reviewed the basic formulas/concepts. On the GMAT day, I felt that my body temperature was a bit high. My hands were shaky as I put my belongings in the locker. Probably I was going after something that now mattered to me. After finishing my GMAT and before confirming to get my score, I wrote on the scribble pad: "Please give me 750". I clicked the "Next" button and saw a 760 score.

The Aftermath: the ordeal was over; I became my greedy self again. "Why 50 on quant?? Maybe 51 could have propelled me to 780, a better score than 760 of course." were my thoughts as I left the GMAT center.

Takeaways: You need to have the following three books in your GMAT verbal arsenal:
1. Doing Grammar
2. Manhattan GMAT SC guide
3. Powerscore Critical Reasoning Bible

In case you need more RC practice, buy GMAT verbal handbook, or go for any LSAT question bank.

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I will update my AWA when I get it. Also will debrief my preparations by this weekend.

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AWA updated, got a 6

Hello Guys, as promised I will debrief my preparations that helped me move from 720 to 760. This post has already been a long one, so I will try to keep it short, but do feel free to ask anything you want to know.

QUANT

Some basic tips (these tips might sound familiar, but if repetitiveness makes you feel the importance of something, then here you go.)

Quantitative Questions:

1. For a quantitative question, be ready with the tip of your pen touching the scribble pad. YOU NEED TO WRITE IT DOWN ! There is no alternative way. Some quant questions can be solved by common sense alone, but GMAT has tricky answer choices and it is always better to confirm once by solving. By writing down you help yourself in the following ways:
-> Build confidence
-> Be sure about your answer
-> Avoid rechecking
-> Move on to next question without a drag over last question

2. Word Problems: You have to reduce the given word problem into one or two mathematical equations, before proceeding to solve it.

3. As in verbal SC is a time saver (target = 60 - 90 seconds each), so in Quant quantitative questions are a time saver (90 - 120 seconds).

4. If you cannot decide how to proceed to solve a quantitative question even after 2 minutes, take a guess and move on immediately. However, if you have started solving the question and 2 minutes have already gone, keep on solving for further 1 - 2 minutes.

Data Sufficiency

5. YOU NEED TO WRITE IT DOWN. For reasons as stated in point one. But here, you do not need to reach an answer.

6. Keep the data given in two options separate from each other, i.e., while solving with data given in option A, forget about data given in option B, and vice-versa.

7. The data contained in the question premise applies to both option A and B, so use it while evaluating A and B option. Note: I often made errors by neglecting this point, so be careful and keep this point in mind.

8. You might have heard of the common AD/BCE or BD/ACE split. Also, a more not so common tip is: If both the options A and B provide the same information, then the answer has to be either D or E.

My timing strategy for quant section was:

75:00 -> Question 1
55:00 -> Question 8 [Phase 1: GET IT RIGHT!]
40:00 -> Question 18 [Phase 2: PACE IT!]
20:00 -> Question 28 [Phase 3: Be Steady!]
2:00 -> question 37 [Phase 4: Be steady or pace as per your compliance with the above phases]

I always stuck to the above schedule.

VERBAL: My nightmare

Sentence Correction:

I bought three books to improve my grammar. "Painless Grammar", "Grammar Sucks" and "Doing Grammar". "Painless Grammar" is an average book, a bit boring. "Grammar Sucks" is an interesting read. "Doing Grammar" is what made me move from V35 to V44!! The beauty of "Doing grammar" is that it makes grammar so easy and simplified for you. Now you may ask, "Isn't this what any grammar book is supposed to do?". Yes you are right, but not all books succeed at doing so. The other book that helped me a lot is manhattan GMAT SC guide. I read "Doing Grammar" two times before my GMAT, and Manhattan SC two and a half times.

Basic Tips:

1. "Stop and Check!" As manhattan SC tells you. you have to stop and check for the various errors - Subject-verb, pronoun antecedent etc.
2. Paraphrasing does not help much in SC. (at least not to me)
3. grammatical soundness >>>>> what a correct sentence should sound as per you

Reading Comprehension

I read kaplan, princeton review, manhattan RC, and then Powerscore LSAT Reading comprehension Bible. I found the Powerscore book the most useful and will recommend it. Powerscore's reading and solving strategy suited me and also made more sense. It basically tells you to read a RC from the author's view, that is, you are the author.

My reading style goes like this:

RC pops up on the screen. "Yay, so whats all this about, HUH!" 1st paragraph read. "Now what man!" 2nd paragraph started. "So what! hmm! oh.. is that true? Oh, i didn't know that!" 2nd paragraph read. "So what are you getting at? come on, don't tell me you have no clue! What.. really??". last paragraph read.

Basic Tips:
1. Treat RCs as a Treat. they help you score. One clear understanding of the RC and 3-4 questions right straightaway.
2. Practice and practice. it is the only way to keep on improving.
3. GMAT OG 12th edition RCs are easier than those in GMAT Verbal guide, and also easier than those that you will probably get on your real GMAT.

Critical Reasoning:
I would recommend mahattan CR and Powerscore CR bible. Powerscore's book gives detailed strategy on all types of CR problems. Manhattan CR focuses mainly on the most common CR question types in GMAT. Powerscore's questions are a bit tough, hence good practice. But, powerscore's book tells you to read the argument first, then the question, while manhattan tells you to do the vice versa. I agree with manhattan. your pick which book to use.

Basic Tips:
1. there maybe more than one correct answer, but only one best answer. (yup, it matters)
2. You MUST have a strategy to solve each type of CR question, a strategy well tested and practiced.
3. Paraphrasing helps, a LOT.

My timing strategy for verbal section was:

75:00 -> Question 1
55:00 -> Question 10 [Phase 1: GET IT RIGHT!]
40:00 -> Question 20 [Phase 2: PACE IT!]
20:00 -> Question 31 [Phase 3: Be Steady!]
2:00 -> question 41 [Phase 4: Be steady or pace as per your compliance with the above phases]

I always stuck to the above schedule.

General Tips:

1. If you come across a new strategy, try it on questions without timing yourself, then by timing yourself. Also, do not try any new strategy 1 week before the exam.

2. It is best to spend the last 2-3 days revising rather than solving a bunch of new hard problems.

3. Good luck!

Nicely done!

Congrats, I'm the first one to wish you.

thanks czarczar!

Great job man. Good luck with apps.

I am surprised with 720 Q51 V35. I would expect 690-700 with this Q-V split, anyways I don't quite understand how GMAT decides the final big number. I have been lingering in this range, hope I can get V to 40 - then 750 is almost certain.

Thanks abhi, abhishek I guess?

Q51 gives you a huge score jump (at least 20 marks). In GMAT prep 1 I got 770 (Q51, V41), and in GMAT prep 2 I got 750 (Q50, V41).

On final gmat day (1st attempt), I got Q51 and 98 percentile, my percentile may indicate there may be a chance of more score increase with same Q score.

Also, sometimes in GMAT prep I would get Q51, with 6 incorrect, and at other times I would get Q50 with 6 incorrect. The score may have to do with the hardness level of the question one answers correct/incorrect.

Your practice scores look good and consistent. Good luck with your gmat.

Also your affiliations mention IIT Bombay. Are you a graduate from IITB? which year? I am from 2009 class.

Cool. Let's see how this goes - hopefully I won't have to think about GMAT again after 2 weeks.

btw, yeps, btech '05. Good guess on name

Bombastic, mayansd... That was a well written debrief...

CONGRATS and All the best for your apps..

I m struggling badly with my verbal scores.....
01/08/11 GMATPrep 49 31 670
15/08/11 Manhattan GMAT F 46 33 650
Veritas 47 34 650
Princeton Review F 50 28 640
30/08/11 Manhattan GMAT 2 48 32 650 I wrote the two essays and was exhausted at the end,
D Day 15 th sept
I m preparing hard for the past two months, but scores are not improving. Specially the verbal part.
For me the devil part is the CR and i did badly in the MGMAT last test(4/14 incorrect)
I did the Manhattan CR guide and is practicing hard on Verbal part.Can u please tell me the stuffs for a good rigorous practice in the last days.
Q 48 Q 50
V 32 V 38
Target 730
My inspiration my mirror

thanks sarang

Hey avinash,

it is good that you are analyzing your progress and weak points. Generally when I reach a plateau, I take a break for 3-4 days. I rethink my study plan, study few hard problems for a longer time, and dig deep on how and where exactly I am lacking. As for CR, there are different strategies that work for different types of CR problems, and these strategies when practiced with, will work well for you.

Manhattan CR is good for strengthen/weaken/assumption/main point question types. These are the most common questions upto 700 level. For further strategies you may refer to powerscore CR bible. As you have 2 weeks left, I would suggest revise Manhattan CR and revise the problems that you did wrong, as after some time the CR question types and the types of wrong answers will start looking familiar to you.

you will find more good advice on this forum! good luck!

Thanks a ton mayan...I m practising the 700 pool question of this forum and analysing the mistakes and approaches.As u said,it is not possible for me to go for any new literature at this point of time.
So I am following ur suggestion and theory of dare,which can increase the score by 40 marks and I badly need that.
And hey good luck for ur applications

Since you are in last 2 weeks of your prep, I would not tell you go re-read things from scratch, etc - as that would implicitly mean as if I am recommending you to postpone. As I can understand that sometimes postponing is just NOT an option. And I am not at all recommending to do so, unless you have time in hand.

Anyways, let's get to the meat of my recommendation. Since you are V32, there is something that you can actually do to expect some improvement - how much it is up to you.

SC: Modulate your SC strategy such that you improve your accuracy quickly. SC is something you can get ALL right - trust me - ALL right in relatively less time. First thing first, you MUST understand what the author means by the sentence - is it a fact? is it a contrast? is it a prediction? is it a comparison? is it a proposal? is it a claim? is it just a laundry list? This is the MOST IMP aspect of SC - expect to spend 30-50% of the time that you spend attacking SC understanding the meaning. Secondly, spot errors in the original sentence (~20-40% of the time). Lastly, spend last 10-30% of the time in eliminating ans choices. Sole SC accuracy will give you a decent boost in your score.

CR: Since this is the MOST troubling part for you, I would recommend try to do these 3 things early-on before looking at the choices in chronological order: (1) Spot conclusion after reading the Stimulus and Stem (within 30s-1min). (2) Spend next 10-30 sec thinking about assumptions made in the argument and pre-thinking the answer. (3) Last 20-40 secs analyse the ans choices.

RC: It is very hard to improve in 2 weeks. At this point, I would say try to finish reading the passage in < 2-3 mins for short ones and < 3-4 mins for long ones, while looking for the ONE thing that author would like you take from the passage. Get genuinely interested in the passage - love it or hate it - get emotionally attached. Try to make notes - get into the attacking mood.

I think if you could do most of the above for next 1 week, by the end of the week, you should see some improvement. Good luck

Thanks abhi....The SC part really works for me as I am doing good in that section.The spirit to solve the RC problem is really interesting and actually I enjoy doing the RC questions.In the last mgmat test CR really spoiled my score. But i am still very confident that I will reconcile in two weeks.Thanks for ur support and good luck for ur gmat.
lets celebrate the study...cheers

Nice subject line dude and congrats for the effort you put even after getting a 720

Congrats. You prove that who dares wins. I juggle everyday with the thoughts of retaking the GMAT even after having a 710 and posts like these certainly do help bring in motivation. Any tips for me, as to how to raise Quant from 48 to 50 and verbal from 40 to 44? (let me add that I have studied almost all GMAT books, took all tests and done all GMAT club tests),

Good job buddy.. Inspiring.

thanks bonkers and yogesh.



hey gmatpapa,

thanks for your wishes. i went through your gmat journey, which is inspiring. You and I have the same choice for books, powerscore CR for CR and manhattan SC for SC. And you have also analyzed whether to retake GMAT depending on your target schools and scholarship, which I think is sensible. In fact pushing from 620 to 710 seems more arduous than my 40 point increase. So congratulations! If you think you have time before b school applications and that time can be best devoted to GMAT preparation (instead of adding something to your profile, such as community activities etc.) then you can go for a retake. Though an improvement from 620 to 710 will impress anyone and 700+ is a good score to apply with.

in case you go for a retake, in quant you can improve with practice, as you are already at Q48. Q50 or Q51 should be easily achievable, and give you a good score jump. In verbal you can focus on harder problems. eg., in CR improving your strategies for less common question types, in SC focusing on intended meaning, punctuations etc. for differences in answer choices. Other common errors will come easy to you with practice. Good luck!

Hi Mayansd,

I have 'Doing Grammar'. However whenever I scan it, it looks chock full of sentence diagramming. Even Manhattan SC seems to give lot of rules, of which OG uses only a few. I find it difficult to convince myself that the time is better spend on reading 'Doing Grammar' than practising SC problems. Can you eloborate on how you studied 'Doing Grammar' and how it helped you in addition to Manhattan SC.

Thanks

Hello AbhiJ, (abhijeet?)

As I mentioned, I studied three books for improving my grammar. And after I started solving problems, I kept on coming back to one book, and that was Doing Grammar. Doing grammar presents grammar in a very simple way, and finding grammar simple built my confidence. It beautifully explains how different parts combine to form a sentence, and how they can be recombined and still form a sensible sentence. I did not solve all the practice problems at the end of every chapter, but solved a few to check my understanding.

manhattan SC is a great book. Also OG and GMAT verbal handbook uses many of the rules mentioned in this book. GMAT prep courses like manhattan derive their strategies/theory from OG itself (all versions), and in fact from any material published by GMAC, so you can feel assured that these books are meant for GMAT only.

You have two great books in your arsenal, but you will realize their power once you start using them in solving problems. Having said that, different people have different choices. These two books helped me a lot in my preparations, and hence I am a fan of them.

Thanks, that helps a lot.