First off, Thank you to all of you.

About the test:
Nothing out of the ordinary. Actually I take that back, there was something unusual....I had already seen both my essay topics. The Issue topic and the argument topic were both from the AWA topic list that ETS offers for free on mba.com. Incidentally, these topics were among the few topics that I had actually chosen for practice. Therefore, getting through these topics was a breeze So, I recommend that you guys atleast familiarize yourselves with the topics, even if you just have to mentally pick points that you think will fit into the essay.

Quant:
The quant section was alright, slightly tougher than OG, but not nearly as bad as some of the posts on this site . Work through OG, rote learn all the pointers in Kaplan, and you should be well equipped. I got a Probability problem as my second question, and one more Combination problem somewhere in the middle, neither was difficult. However, I did receive some nasty DS problems that left me scratching my head for a while, especially towards the end. It was surprising though that my first 15 questions were relatively simple. Anyway, I used up maximum amount of time on Qs 25-32, and before I knew it, that darn timer started blinking. I just guessed the last four. I was totally disappointed with my Quant section and was inclined to walk away, but somehow, I pulled it together, and thought that I will give verbal a shot. Keep in mind that Verbal is my weakness. Especially CR.

Verbal:
SCs: The megabank of SCs that was posted by bigB was a blessing in disguise. I strongly recommend that each of you thouroughly understand each and every problem in that document. Even though there are a few typos here and there, the answer choices on an overwhelming majority are right. Working through this really boosted my confidence up a notch. In the actual exam, the questions were identical to some of the questions on the document. No new concept was tested. Most of my questions were on misplaced modifiers, comparisons, and relative clauses. There was one tough one on subjenctive mood.
CRs: The dreaded CR question finally popped up as question no 3. This, however, was a relatively easy assumption question. The rest were a combination of assumption, and strengthe-weaken questions. I did receive one conclusion question. NO BOLD FACE QUESTIONS:-)
RCs: Most surprising that I got 4 essays with an average length of only 45 lines. None of the essays were back to back, and none of them were more than 65 lines long. I didn't know whether that meant a good thing or a bad thing. Anyway, some of the questions were really tricky, and required me to go back to each essay atleast 3 times. What a waste of precious time. Thankfully, my SCs were simple and allowed me to make up time.

Well now that you've come this far, I will tell you my score: seven hundred and twenty. I scored forty nine on quant and forty on verbal. Although it isn't what I expected, I realize that it isn't all that bad either. Don't be upset that I didn't post my score earlier, nothing in life comes easy

I am not expert enough to give any of you any tips. I just wish that all of you do well in whatever you wish to do. Yes, including GMAT!
Bottom line:
Thank you to each of you. Especially bigB for that AWESOME post.

Congratulation gautamps!
_________________

Best Regards,

Paul

Congratulations!!! That's a great score.

You mention

"Verbal:
SCs: The megabank of SCs that was posted by bigB was a blessing in disguise. I strongly recommend that each of you thouroughly understand each and every problem in that document. "

Can someone please direct me to that link.

Thanks

Hey gautam,

great score .. congrats!!
good post too

-trishul

hey execmba

here it is

http://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=5210&sid=f9bbc522599b1d30e046d316e14cc39b

Gautam.. after reading ur post it seems as if u really made the exam easy for urself. Can i know the books and material u used for ur preparation and also ur general strategy? Also, did u use any grammar book or reference material apart from startegies and idioms lists given in kaplan/princeton etc
What is ur backround in terms of education, nationality and work expereince.

Dear Gautam
Really a very good score to get into some good school!! All teh best fro ur apps as well. Keep us informed..
And the link offered by BB is working..I have also got a copy of the document.
This club is really contributing meaningfully to GMAT aspirants! Though I am a GRE aspirant for a PhD in finance, but find that discussion here are quite relevant.
I would also like to share watever I get.!! Next time!

Cheers!!
Anu Anand

You guys are an enthusiastic bunch. I don't think I'd have the patience to read through all I wrote...that too without knowing the score

Thank you for all your comments and wishes.

Background:
Master's in Computer Engineering from NCSU, as my Avatar indicates.
Working for Telecom Major for 2 years now.....and ready to shif gears.
Nationality: Jis desh mein Ganga behti hai, hum us desh ke vasi hai. ( India, for the uninitiated )

Study Strategy:
Nothing different from that of any of you guys. Math I used Kaplan and PR for strategies and OG( a.k.a Bible, Gita, khuran, granth, etc etc...). For Verbal, I used Kaplan material that they provide for free when you buy their book with CD. If someone needs it, Id' be glad to send it to them. Just send me an e-mail at gpsukumarATyahoo.com. However, the best resource for verbal, for me atleast, was the Commnet website at http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm

This site has all the information on grammar you will ever need, and then some. Also, the site has loads of execrcises to get you all warmed up, to attack the OG.

Other than that, the key is to remain calm in the examination. Don't expect to go into the hall and find yourself sitting in a quite secluded room, with no one around. The atmosphere/ setup is just like any cyber cafe in India: A row of computers with separators. Unluckily for me, I was seated right next to the door. People were constantly walking in and out, banging the door and cursing their scores So, please be strong mentally, and learn to ignore. Best strategy, work under pressure. Work on GMAT in your living room with the TV on or with your family yaking away around you. This will improve your concentration, and the confusion around is a close approximation to what you can expect on the GMAT.

Well, I hope I answered your questions. If you have more, just shoot me a mail, or reply to this post, and I'd be glad to help.

Hi Friend!
I am from India and presently working after my Masters in Finance and Control in 2003. I want to pusue a Phd from a good unviersity. with good academics, I am preparing for GRE.
At present I am working on vocabulary and will begin maths in full flow. then sm CATs.
As for vocab, i have got good word lists and "Dictionary of difficult word" by Hutchinson -( for those esoteric words)- .
learning idioms, and ARCOs "Words for smart test takers" - a good starter.
However, I like the book " All about words" by nurnberg and rosenblum - since my college days- bit dificult but a good collection of words.

Please let me know which books to follow for MAths.
Another thing- I have not studied mathematics in my Graduation and thus might face a difficulty to demonstrate my mathematical skills requied for a PhD. Please guide me how can I either make up for that or convince the admisions boards! Is taking maths subject test will be sufficient?
I understand that the forum is for GMAT and my queries may be a bit out of place but I joined the forum since contents of the two exams are quite similar and learnign from others' experiences has always been helpful to me.

Regards
Anu Anand

gautamps, My heartily congrats to you pal.
It is really good score.


Party time, correct ?


BOL for you app process

Dharmin