I scored 700 (51,32) and what dissaponts me the most is that the score of 32 in verbal is the least i got in any of the practice tests. During the last two weeks, i have been scoring in the range of 35-39, so i was confident that i would get a good score in verbal.
This has been quite a long journey and i learnt what i would not have learnt if i had not thought of giving GMAT- learning English Grammar
. Learning every bit of the nuances of english grammar was a pleasant experience.
GMAT Test day Experience:
Quant was VERY easy. i was under the impression that i was commiting several mistakes, resulting in easier questions. But, i got a probability question in the middle,so i was sure that i was on track. Incidentally, the first question of both quant and verbal seemed quite difficult. i did the verbal section just as i have been doing for my practice test and was waiting to see a Bold -faced question though it never came. Some of the SC questions were not that straightforward in the sense that i couldnot understand what the GMAT was testing me with those questions. I strongly wish GMAC shows the sectional wise performace of Verbal. I still cant figure out if it was CR that ruined the day.
Though i have a lot to say about my experience, most of it would be redundant as many of posters have already stated their's in their debriefs. So, i will limit to what i felt has been very important in my progress ( though there has not been really any progress in terms of the score).
I will divide my experiences based on the sections..
Quant:
I am from India, so you can guess my quant standards are not so bad
PS- I haven't really been tested, so apart from analyzing my mistakes in the CATs, i dont think i have prepared much for this section.
DS- each mistake made me realise how clever the test makers can be at creating good, intelligent, twisting questions. The only way to overcome the difficulty in this section is to practice as many types of problems as possible.
A special mention to Ron Purewal of
MGMAT- i saw a video of his on Number properties. The approach was really useful to me in dealing with some of the Number properties problems.
Verbal:
i dedicated 99% of my study time to master the section.
SC:
My opinion is that one can master SC if one knows all the formulae of SC a.ka. grammar points of SC. After each month and after reading several books-
MGMAT SC Guide, Aristotle SC, Knewton Videos and Knewton SC materials, i felt i mastered the language, but every time i get to see a new type of question that pops up and shouts on my face saying that it's not over yet.
I enrolled for Knewton's course in August, and i think that the course's SC concepts and materials are good. I learnt a LOT from the discussions really- i learnt a number of new formulae.
CR-
I have struggled with this section. I dont know why and it just got worse on the test day
RC-
i thought that this was a tough section, but extensive practice and analysis will make the section a cakewalk UNLESS you see a passage that you dont like reading
Knewton:
As promised to the creator of this wonderful site,bb,here is my view on Knewton Course.
How is the course? Good, but not great
Will Quant score improve at the end of the course? I am not sure.. i was already doing well in Quant before i joined this course
Will Verbal score improve? i strongly felt so until my GMAT score of 32 showed up. I think one has to get used to the GMAT-like questions as much as possible. So, the best sources are
OG, and GMAT PREP to get oneself aquainted with the patterns as much as possible.
The CR section in Knewton is good, but it could not lay that strong foundation i needed to fall back on if i am in 'no-where' situation.
Knewton CATs- Overall rating is good but they must really improve the Quant standards. The overall score is accurate though.
A few questions to my fellow GMAT test takers..
1. Should i give another attempt? I have been scoring well in the practice tests. My last test scores were..
Knewton- 700 (49,37) (2 weeks before exam),
MGMAT- 730 (51,39) (10 days before exam),
GMAT prep- 720 (50,38), 710(50,35)
2. If i give the exam in the 2nd week, Can i send a scanned copy of the score report to the school, because GMAT score reach after 20 days and R2 deadlines are around Dec end.
3. Is TOEFL mandatory? Is indian education system considered english medium?
Shoot your questions fellas