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Joined: 20 Jun 2012
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Location: India
WE:Engineering (Manufacturing)
Battled the GMAT for two whole years! - 720 Q49V40
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16 Jun 2014, 23:58
Folks,
Mine is a story of frustration, heartbreak, depression and eventually success. After studying for this exam for almost 2 years and after multiple attempts, I finally managed a 720. I just thought it would be appropriate if I could share my thoughts on this forum and motivate the many others who endeavor to undertake and crack the GMAT.
In my first attempt I got a 680 and in two attempts thereafter I didnt cross that score. This was highly demotivating because I bucked the usual trend where most often than not the second attempt is better than the first. I decided to go ahead and apply to universities and not surprisingly received rejections from every one of them. Being an Indian, I am automatically competing with a highly talented and smart pool of individuals and a 680 is certainly a below average score.
I then set out for the fourth time to beat the GMAT. I enrolled myself into classroom courses and purchased almost all available online tests. As I look back on the months of preparation, I have a few bullet points i'd like to share. Hopefully this will change the way a lot of people view the GMAT.
1) If you have a 680, you already know what you have to know to get a 750 - Unfortunately I was told this very very late in my preparation, but in reality the difference between a 750 and a 680 is not very much. Don't get me wrong, you still need a higher accuracy for a 750, but you must not let this get to you mentally. All you need for that 70 point bump up, is to get yourself acquainted with the nuances of the exam and keep a calm set of nerves in those 3.5 hours.
2) Practice Tests are the key - I was hitting 85%-90% accuracy when i would practice questions at home, but that would drop to 70% during practice tests. This is natural because you are giving the test over a 3.5 hour duration and your mind tends to fatigue and therefore efficiency drops. The key is to accustom yourself to sitting in one place and think for 3.5 hours so you maximize your productivity and minimize your errors.
3) Discipline- Make sure you simulate the exact GMAT environment while taking tests. Ensure you are in a cool air-conditioned environment, with minimal disturbance and strictly adhere to the timing breaks and make sure you give the ENTIRE exam at one stretch, that includes the 30 minute sections of AWA and IR.
4) Above all, DO NOT pressurize yourself unnecessarily, DO NOT berate yourself for simple things and keep a calm and balanced mind during the exam, you should do just fine.
If I can do it, anyone can.
Cheers
Vinayak