hi guys...
back again...lemme finish my version of "David vs Goliath"....i guess it's going to be a long one....so hold on!!
Offcourse once i had registered for the actual thing, it was the "point of no return" for me....
So, i finally started to go through the
OG problems...I saved them for the last because I had come to know through these forums that the
OG is as close as it gets to the actual thing...I knew i didn't have enough time to cover all the questions and hence decided to cover as many as possible, starting from the end of each section. I divided each section into a set of questions such that each set had around 12-14 questions....less for the sections i was comfortable with and more for the ones with whom i was not...had decided to do one set from seach section per day (so that in all they resemble a full length test) but couldn't follow that...anyways, my strike rate for these
OG questions was PS = 90%, DS = 81%, RC = 92%, CR = 79%, SC = 86%....not great!
.....I was still lacking in CR and hence the only option I had at my hands was to slow down in CR and speed up in RC....also gave some other full-length tests the scores for which were
Kaplan Sample Test = 770 ( i guess the questions were repeat and hence the inflated score)
Princeton Review Sample = 720
Kaplan CD Diagnostic = 690
Kaplan CD Test1 = 640
Kaplan CD Test2 = 620
Kaplan CD Test3 = 620
Kaplan CD Test4 = 630
Cambridge Review Study Mode = 730
Cambridge Review Sample Test = 740
Going through these tests, in the final days before the actual thing, came the
lesson number five...Don't take Kaplan tests just before the actual test date. They are tough and are not representative of the actual GMAT. Though they contain good questions, the low score can actualy fill you more with anxiety than with confidence. And trust me, it's all about confidence. The best would be to keep the powerprep tests for the last.
Finally it was the day I had been dreading all this time...the G-Day...and the million dollar question was "will it be my D-Day or will it be my V-Day?"
.....the day before the test, left slightly early from the office...went to the gym, had an early dinner and was in bed early enough to give me 8 hours of sleep...Woke up at 6:30 the next day...had a slightly heavier breakfast than usual....opened up my notes and browsed through them...YES!...i didn't want the GMAT questions to be the first mental excercise of the day...browsed to atleast three questions (at random) from each section in
OG...didn't bother to solve them, just read the question and the answers to warm up my brain...
Reached the test center around 40 mins in advance...bought some energy bars for the day and that was a one of the good decisions I made...once reaching the test center, I completed the formalities, ate half of an energy bar and I was good to go...They directed me to a seat with not so good keyboard, lot of other people around (taking various tests I guess) and that's where my ear-plugs helped me...and oh ya! Before that I had to convince the admisnistrators there that I will be more comfortable with my ear-plugs rather than with their ear-muffs. Plus they told me not to write any thing on the scrap paper before I begin a section.
...and I had to come out of the test room to keep my wallet in the locker as nothing is allowed on the table (except for your pencil and scrap paper)...
Anyways, after providing the initial info, I took some deep breaths and started with the AWA sections...both the sections were pretty okay...i spent around 5 mins to organize my thoughts for each section, 22/23 mins to type and 2/3 mins to review the stuff I had written...then took the 5 mins break...went out...ate some more of my energy bar, drank some water and washed my face. Why I mention about washing my face is because for me there is nothing like cold water splashed on my face to clear my mind and freshen me up...it might work for you (incase you haven't tried it yet)...worth a try...Though this would mean that some of the ladies will have to part with their make up
(no offence meant)
Once I was back on my seat I realized that the break could have been longer 'cause the test did not start by itself as I had been expecting it to. There was a pop-up on my screen asking if I was ready to start the test. So, when I was organized and ready I pressed the "Yes" button to dive into the Quant section...first couple of questions were easy...then came a tricky probability question...i consider perm/com/probabbility as my weak points but one good thing about GMAT questions is that they are usual solvable through simpler means...no formulas required...after struggling with that question for around 3 mins or so, my palms were sweating...i didn't want to get that question wrong as it was just the 3rd one into the test...so, I decided to take a deep breath and start all over again and sure enough I saw what I was doing wrong...got my answer and moved on....DS came around 5th or 6th question...Rest all was a mixture of medium and easy questions sprinkled with a few difficult ones. At one point of time in the test, I was getting such easy questions that I thought "Is it because I am getting the previous ones wrong?" Then I consoled myself by saying that maybe these are the dummy questions which will not count towards my score...There were some tricky DS questions, which on first look had their answers as 'C' but on closer examination, the correct answer was A or B. I believe that I was able to spot such tricks quite nicely and hence did well...finally it was question number 37 and I had something like couple of mins left...spent all the remaining time calculating the last question, checking and rechecking...and then it was over....what a relief!!...but I knew I was a break away from my nemesis...the heart of my Goliath...
This second break had pretty much the same iternary as the first one...The energy bar was really seem to be helping me as I was not feeling tired at all (as I used to, during my practise tests)...finally it took a deep breath and started the Verbal section....SC,SC,SC....not tough ones I guess but okay...almost the same level as
OG...and then...wham!!....RC...i looked up and it was just question number 4...and the RC itself...phew!..to tell you the truth...it freaked me out...some passage on women and their social standing as compared to their financial state...blah blah blah...i read it twice and could not make sense out of most of it...and again...sweaty palms
...i didn’t want to get the questions wrong so early in the test...As they say "
When the going gets tough, the tough take a break."....I took another deep breath and decided to change my strategy...since I had already read the passage twice I was familiar with it's structure...so I decided to tackle the questions without fully understanding the passage...and this gamble paid off...except for the first question, rest were all such that I could answer them by going to the specific location in the passge....not bad I thought!...and then..... wham!!!...another one...back to back...this one also had the same difficulty level as the previous one...i didn't know what to think...why was ETS doing this to me
...somehow managed to complete this one too using the same strategy as for the previous one and move on...From there it was the usual stuff....some CRs, some SCs, some RCs....
This went on till aroud number 31...i looked up at the clock and realized that I had lost track of time and had only 10 mins for the last 10 questions....my heart skipped a beat as I scrambled to answer the questions as quickly as I could...but GMAT has it’s own surprizes....first there was a CR, on which I could have swore that I had seen it before!!!! (someplace somewhere)...what are the odds of that happening?!....then came another RC which almost took the breath out of me...i felt it was even tougher than the first two...but then thay maybe because I was short of time....so, I decided to just scan the passage and then get into the questions straight away...somehow managed to answer the associated 5 questions in 6 mins...by that time I had 4 questions to attempt in 3 mins....the next one was a bold face CR...and now I was convinced that something was wrong as the I had definitely come across that question before...unfortunately, I didn't remember the answer so had to read all the choices again
....
lesson number six....try to cover as many questions as possible during your practice time...you never know which questions you might see again in the actual test...and even if you don't get exactly the same question, a familiar question in familiar format is very assuring.....anyways, the last two were the usual SCs and then it was all over...it was close but it was over...phew!!
I was wiping the sweat off my palms while answering those survey questions...then came the big question if I wished to see my score...i closed my eyes and clicked "Proceed"...and wolah!!...760....i thought it was 660 and there was some mistake...i wasn't expecting this score after what I thought was a horrendous Verbal section...but I guess I did better than what I thought I did....the un-official score confirmed that..."Goliath was down"....I am waiting for my official score to put my apprehensions to rest...
This was my long story in long
...Some of the pointers which I used during my test and which might be helpful to those who wanna try them...
1) after each section, take a break and forget about that section. What's done is done. You can't change. Concentrate on the task at hand.
2) Get some energy bars to eat during the breaks.
3) Wash your face with cold water during the breaks...You will feel refreshed
4) and most important...In the verbal section,
instead of making a grid on the scrap paper...
USE YOUR FINGERS....five choices to decide from, five fingers (what a coincidence!!
...they say nothing about not touching the screen of your computer...use your fingers to mark the choices which are not correct....you can place your fingers on the oval marks of the incorrect choices...this is faster...you don't have to read each choice and mark it down in the grid on your scrap paper and refer to it again and again by looking back and forth between the screen and the grid. If you think a choice is wrong then mark it with your finger, then second and then third...worked for me, may work for you....
I guess this is a long enough post...i will be glad if anybody else benefits from whatever I have written....my 2 cents...
keep the faith...