A bad performance with a decent result

Congratulations. 700 is great score.

I am in the same boat as you were before. I scored 630(48 Q, 28V)
I am trying to improve verbal. I look forward to your verbal tips

[quote="hemantS"]I have waited so long to write in this Forum - I finally can!!!


First of all let be give you my profile

Engineer MS.- non IT
Experience 5 + years
Non native English speaker in USA

I started preparing for Gmat seriously from oct 2005. Took the exam in Dec 2005 --- had high hopes (690 – 730) – bombed miserably – a dismal 610 (Q 45 V 29).
My V-29 was after going through the SC Manhattan guide. The point I am trying to make here is that if you are a non native English speaker with decent verbal communication skills – a V40 is not a given even if you know the rules that are tested often on GMAT – For that you have to practice practice and practice till you are blue in the face – atleast I had to.

I took the exam again today, after about 7-1/2 months and scored a decent 700 (Q46 V 40). Not a super duper performance but I think it is enough – I do not think a 760 – 780 would make my application significantly attractive – I have 5 + years of experience I should be able to show something – if not then I will be among the many ‘also ran’ top school mba aspirants.

Coming back to my thoughts about GMAT –

1 – For someone like me (see my profile) 4-5 months should be more than enough for a 700 + effort. – I wasted some 3 months – the fire just was not there.
2. First of all buy OG, Manhattan SC guide, Kaplan 800, and Kaplan premier guide
3. Download all the 1000 SC, 1000 CR and 1000 RC files
4. Get all info about the GMAT from OG and Kaplan premier
5. Start with Kaplan and manhattan SG. For SC.
6. Gmat prep is typically 30 – 10 points more easier than the real thing
My Gmat prep 1– 730 – (Q48 V42)
Gmat prep 2– 730 – (Q50 V38)
7. Like many have said – verbal gmatprep is representative of the real thing. As for quantitative – Gmatprep is easier. Perhaps because you might have seen 4-5 questions before solving the Gmatprep – This makes a huge difference – Typically these are 3rd, 4th 5th or 6th questions – If you get them right your level as determined by the test algorithm improves significantly – also your comfort level and confidence is intact. Leading to a decent Q48 +.

Just ask yourself if you were able to solve these qs the first time you saw them – in 2 mins. You can never account for the pressure situation unless you are one of those few who feel no pressure or tension of a test.



My actual GMAT experience today

I started AWA ok but left my last sentence unfinished. I don’t know how bad that is going to be. The Issue essay was fine- in time – I took the break. Visited the restroom –
Stretched a bit – back to the exam

Quant first qs simple geometry – I took 4 mins . I had decided that I would make sure that at least first 6 qs must be right. Qs 2 . something simple but now I was in the 5th min I panicked – but stuck to my plan – got the send correct in another 3 seconds . now the clock read 7 down . Blood pressure increases but I ploughed thru . I was doing ok until the 6th qs accuracy wise but my timing was seriously screwed up. I recollected that in the OG one of the myth is exactly what I was believing in at this point– first 10 are the most imp questions. I gave up being accurate close to 100% - I started clicking with 80% confidence – after that I do not know what I was doing – Panic – despair – “I am ruined againâ€

hemantS,

congrats!!! 700 is a great score... not just decent!!! so please be happy!!!




vel,

this is the 1000 document... and yes, with practice you can beat GMAT verbal!!!

https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=20341

Decent Score?? Wonderful score man....

Enjoy ......

Congratulations...

Thanks for the congratulations.

Here are my verbal tips (for what it may worth)

SC.

1. First of all, understand all the SC rules from Manhattan SC book.
2. Then start solving the 1000 SC - Keep a track of time for each question (it does not take more than 2 secs to write down the time after answering each question -use a digital watch - don't have it? go buy it now!) Solve in sets of 16 ( actual GMAT number) see how many are wrong
3. Note why you are wrong (new concept, new idiom, unheard of usage, carelessness etc )
4. Note all those that took more than 2-3 mins. Color code these -
5. Arrive at the answer by elimination - Find the error - do not look for the right one.
6. For those that you got right - understand why other options were wrong
7. You should get a sense for what is being tested.

The good thing about SC1000 is that the qs are by categories so you get tested on variations of a single concept. e.g use of 'although' -- in some the use of although is correct in others it is in the wrong option.

USE THE FORUM EXTENSIVELY FOR THIS. People have really dissected the SCs for your benefit. Contribute and learn.

Once you solve the 1000 SCs your hit rate will be about 80% . The rest 20 % should be carefully noted down and reviewed time to time.



Your SC average will come down from 2: 30 min to 1:20 min - there you have 16 x 0:40 = 10 mins - allow 2-3 mins for pressure situation - you still get 7-8 mins more for RC and CR.

Kaplan 800 also gives you good categorized qs and explanation - buy it. - I know I also thought another $20 ;( . But think about you are going to drop 100K any way later.

CR -
1. Again turn to 1000CRs.
2. Use same strategy.
3. Keep a record .... Categorize ...... determine your own approach for "Support" questions.
4. Read a little about circular reasoning, %s, correlation causality, etc - Read about LSAT qs types a bit -- it helps
5. 1000CR has LSAT questions also
6. Most important -- time everything. Try to work under pressure conditions- keeping an eye on the watch.
7. Again use the forum extensively for various perspectives - For CR it is about looking at it from the right perspective.
8. The thing with CR is that once you solve a lot of qns upon reading the stem you almost know the qn and the answer- Just train yourself to read all the options carefully and completely.


RC -

RC's were never easy for me - But ever since I improved by SC timing I got those 6-7 mins for RC . Kept me cool and confident.
Some people say skimming is the way to go - I could not do it . I had to read the entire passage.

Again timed practice helps here. Go back to 1000RCs. Just practice diligently at least 2-3 everyday (I must admit I could not do it myself). Make notes. See which type you screw up consistently. Train yourself to read above and below the key word for detail questions.

Although you time RCs do not pick answers based on memory. Even after reading the entire passage I would make mistakes if I did not go back to the passage. In the beginning you may take 20 mins to solve 8 questions (single RC - 1000 RC are rather long- there are about 6-7 questions). But practice will get you accustomed to the type of questions and you will start saving seconds in each aspect of RC - You will attain a 2min/question rate - RC passage reading included.

I don't know if I should talk about math - I think someone else may have a better strategy - I improved by only 1 point in Math. But I can tell you this "DO NOT PANIC" even if you think all the qs that you have solved thus far are wrong. To avoid panicking take as many CATs as possible. May be I should have solved more papers. I solved just the two Gmatprep.

My 2 cents.

Happy Gmatting !

If you are not able to solve all 1000Sc atleast try to go over these 200 -250 - that I found tough.

Hi, hemantS.
I am not a native speaker either. It is realy hard to get a very good score in Verbal. I have a few questions for you.
How long have you studied English? and
How can I download all the 1000 SC, 1000 CR and 1000 RC files?
Thank you.


vel,

Although a non-native speaker I was born and brought up in the land of 'call centers' so I have been exposed to english significantly but I am stressing the point of being a Non native english speaker to say that it is possible to go from V29 to V40. My effort pales in comparison to those who come from China and score V40 + . hats off to them.

Good luck with the SCs.

I really thing you can do it if you identify your weaknesses. All of us have our own.

Hi, hemantS.
I am not a native speaker either. It is realy hard to get a very good score in Verbal. I have a few questions for you.
How long have you studied English? and
How can I download all the 1000 SC, 1000 CR and 1000 RC files?
Thank you.


vel,

Although a non-native speaker I was born and brought up in the land of 'call centers' so I have been exposed to english significantly but I am stressing the point of being a Non native english speaker to say that it is possible to go from V29 to V40. My effort pales in comparison to those who come from China and score V40 + . hats off to them.

Good luck with the SCs.

I really thing you can do it if you identify your weaknesses. All of us have our own.

Hi,

It would be nice if you can post the answer key(if you have them handy) for the documents you posted. Otherwise, it wouldn'd save us much time since we might have to search for this question in the original document and then refer back to the corresponding answers.

Thanks

the answers are hidden in the document

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