670 to 710 a long journey without destination :) still Happy

710 Q50 V 35.

AWA 5.5
IR 6

Take 1:
Two years back I scored 670 q49 v31. At that time I had some serious health issues and was on leave for a month. I was damm weak but I did not postpone my exam because there was no issue with my preparation. Just I was not physically ready for GMAT. I felt I nailed each n every quant question, but one. Still got q49. I called up GMAC customer service( not joking) to know is there any possibility of some technical issues. I was not egoistic but I knew I did well as I had done earlier.
In Gmatprep I scored Q51 in all tests, but one. I Mgmat quant too I scored 51. People score 46-47 in Mgmat quant and then score 50-51 in gmat. In my case everything was different. I did curse myself, felt dejected. You can say all kinds of bad emotions. I had just recovered from illness and gmat was just another blow. It took me some time to settle down and accept my defeat. I was not egoistic but I was dejected. There is a big difference in both. I have been good in mathematics and even qualified for national level maths Olympiad in India. But when it came to real time tests I did not perform so good. I analysed it and came to conclusion that I need to improve. Improve in what? do not know. I had finished my quant in less than 55 minutes. Also I thought PS is not an issue, only DS could have been the issue. So I had decided to slow down and recheck all possibilities.
My AWA was 5.5. Verbal score was V31 . I was doing good for sure. The gmat was giving me tough bold face questions. I still remember I got around 3 boldface tough CR and very tough RC. But after question 30-31 I felt dizzy as I had no stamina to go through. I m sure my last 10 questions made the difference.
No problem. Since I respect the almighty's will, I gracefully accepted it though it took some days to digest for quant.

I then moved to other country for a change and took a new job. Things went fine for a year and then I realized I must prepare for retake as being an Indian make with a stable job I must get married. So to postpone the marriage I decided to give it a shot again. I procrastinated for some time too. But when the threshold level reached I woke up from my normal routine and booked the Gmat again, exam date exactly after 2 years.

Take Away's:
1. Do not under estimate GMAT.
2. the quant questions are quite deceptive.
3. Make sure your verbal fundamentals are strong.
4. Take care of health. Do not let the health issues screw your MBA dream. regularly exercise. Do not have time? then visit this link boost-your-gmat-score-exercise-daily-102482.html

My ups and down proof : whenever-i-find-the-key-someone-changes-the-lock-99131.html

5. I had done more than 3000 questions for sure, even more. In GC tests too I scored very well. And I must say GC tests are too good. It really helped me becoming stronger in quant. But I was not able to crack Q50-51. Take away is to concentrate on QUALITY than Quantity. Revise the same things again and again. GC tests are of good quality so it is a must do prep material.
6. DO NOT STOP YOUR LIFE FOR GMAT. You may halt for a month but do not stop. I was preparing since many months and I scored 670 only. The feeling of getting low score after such a long preparation ,especially when you had stopped your life for an exam, is very discouraging.
7. Have a well planned routine and GMAt schedule. Put 80% probability of working on time table. So create schedule accordingly. Many times I had to erase and change my gmat plan.
8. Have a good health, sound preparation, and do not fear from GMAT. It is not the end of life. Enjoy your life to the full - watch movies, date with your gf, even with her friends .....if u are married play with your kids and wife...Just cherish the life. For god sake do not stop the life as i did mine when I was 24 years old.
9. More Tips after my retake review.

Take 2:
710 Q50 v35. IR 6 and AWa 5.5
This time I had booked my exam exactly after 2.5 months and was determined to nailed it down. I joined E-gmat course and found it very useful. I made a strong decision to practice only GMAC questions.
Three reasons:
1. I wanted to concentrate on official questions.
2. Stress more on quality than quantity and review the questions again and again.
3. I have a demanding and stressful job so I was short of time.

I had made some quant notes during my first prep that I thought I would use to prepare. But I actually read them a week before the exam .
I saw improvement in verbal after e-gmat course. So I decided to give my gmatprep. till this time I was done with e-gmat verbal prep + Mgmat SC + CR bible(powerscore) and few og questions.
I got Q50 V38 720. I was happy. I took whole day to analyse my mistakes and rewarded myself with an ice cream.
Then I continued my prep with official guides and bought gmatprep question pack 1. A must buy in my opinion. The real Gmat is of similar difficulty. IT IS A MUST BUY- note this down and write everyday on a paper until u buy it.
I gave another gmat prep. This time 730 Q51 V38. I missed just 2 DS in quant. And those were really tricky. I noted it down with a plan to spend more time in my real exam.
I had scheduled 2 more retakes of quant prep but I got short of time. So I reduced it to one and later to none. I was in good health but because of some xyz factors I had to cut short my preparation so reduced many things that I could have studied or revised.
Just 3 days before my exam, during which my whole revision was scheduled, I fell sick. WOW that's called timing. Stomach upset, fever, throat infection. So I did not study when I had to. My whole life I have passed my exams because of last minute revision. Because I keep many things for last day prep. Just before felling ill I had spend my day revising quant theory. So I lost just my revision of concepts and mistakes. But since I was sick with daily full time job I thought let it be. I m not going to study and will give exam- that's it.
Actually I did not take allopathy medicines and tried to cure with the traditional ones only. So it reduced my symptoms but did not cure. Only the night before my exam I took crocin - paracetamol Tablet. I just did not want to take medicine and feel dizzy.

All in all just a bad luck again with the health but I was keep praying to God for the help and indeed he did help.
So a night before I took medicine and woke up better than before but still weak. The night before I slept with a promise that I will not go if my health is too bad. It is just a matter of 250 USD but I m not going to compromise my health now. Enough is enough. but at the back of my mind I was hoping to at least walk till the exam centre and give it anyhow. why to waste money. Why not take strong paracetamol and ibruprofin tablet and give the exam.
So I woke with a positive attitude and bad health. My exam was at 9 and I reached at the centre 7:35. 2 days before during my sickness I went in the morning before office to see my gmat centre. DO VISiT IF YOU ARE GOING FOR FIRST TIME.period.
I waited till 9 and was drinking some traditional medicines mixed in water. I took one 1.5L normal water, 0.5L ORL mixed water, 0.5L traditional medicine mixed with water, bananas, HONEY.


GMAT experience: So After all the blah blah stuff I went for the battle with bad health. I was nervous and anxious. My mind was not but my body was forcing me to feel. It happens when you are not in best health. And fever makes you helpless.
I had crammed chinese burned AWA template while travelling to test centre so I had pasted everything even before reading AWA argument..... haha even M laughing typing this. So I found some flaws and filled the blanks.
The IR was tough, so did not spend much time on questions having sub questions. Because in such questions if u miss even one sub question you lose marks for the whole question. So I spent less time on such questions. Overall IR went okie.

I took break. Took all my three water solutions( I had too I did not want to take paracetamol again as my stomach was also upset). Took banana and some honey. Went to Loo and released my tension. Then I came for battle with QUANT.
Quant is not like OG and I would say even tricker than GMATPREP. Only gmatprep question pack 1 could match its difficulty level. Some of the questions were really easy and it makes you feel you are doing terribly wrong. Some of the quant questions were really tricky. I was not able to concentrate after 20th question as I was feeling week and dizzy. But I still carried on motivating myself that I must score q50, if not 51. I finished it comfortably in 70 mins. I took break. all my 3 water solutions, banana and honey. Went to loo and wanted to pump up my blood by stretching my body. I tried and I almost fainted. LOL .

I went for verbal with confidence. I was not able to read the first question and spend 3+ minutes. It was a tough SC question and I was as usual unable to concentrate. So when things started moving I was able to tackle SC but CR and RC were giving me issues as my comprehension power was lost. I had to re-read several times to be in the game. I still pushed myself till end somehow. I was not able to read one tough RC after 30th question and I just moved myself. The last 10 questions are so difficult for a normal user , let alone for person in my situation. I took god's name and started doing questions again. I slowed down for last 2 questions and m sure I nailed them. This time no boldface question. I was sure m not doing so great so i tried to maintain some stream of correct answers at the end to make up for the damage in between. Also i thought it is not as bad as to guess around 25-30 than to around 38th question. I filled the questions and saw my score 710. I was happy and sad both.
happy because under this situation too I scored 710 and thanked the god.
Sad because I thought If I had been fit I might have scored more . But is okie- it's almighty's will. I m contend with it. Unless required from adcoms I will use this score to apply.

Materials used this time:
1. Gmatprep + gmatprep question pack.
2. OG 12 + og verbal +og quant.
3. MGMAT SC
4. CR bible
5. Gmat Club quant book + my compiled notes.
6. LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST e-gmat. Pls read my reviews on it under my verbal thread.
for-all-those-who-fear-from-verbal-lets-give-it-a-fight-93029-280.html

Pls scroll to the previous posts too.
I think I have made this FR too long. So for E-gmat I would just say my Thanks to Rajat, Payal,and Shradha.
The live sessions of RAJAT on strategy and CR are awesome.
Payal and Shradha are no less than Stacy and Ron of MGMAT. No doubt no one knows more than these two experts of Mgmat, but sometimes I used to find their replies too technical to grasp. On the other hand - the lives sessions of Payal and Shradha were awesome. Their articles and replies on the questions are fabulous. REALLY something that helps you to learn the concepts.
I would highly recommend e-gmat for non natives, not only the course but also the replies and articles of its representatives.
I personally hate ROn's voice so I did not attend his Thursday's. No offence, but I could not watch at all. He is so good at verbal I have no words to praise but his voice really pinch some nerves in my brain.

It might not be right to say after the exam, but I strongly feel I did not prove up to the quality of e-gmat. I should have scored 38-40 but I attribute my low score to the bad condition. The stress on meaning for SC, and pre phrase in CR and RC is the key for gmat , as it for the e-gmat's prep course.

Pls ignore my bad sentence structure and grammar. If you can not still okie you can not do anything of it. You have already read and understood. So chill and have a great time. Pls shoot questions.

PS: those who want to know about the miracle traditional medicine I was taking to cure my ailment - it is an Ayurved herb called GUDUCHI or Giloy. Latin name: Tinospora Cordifolia