Hi All, (sorry for the long post) GMAT - 420-570-590-700 ; Admitted at Harvard Business School for class of 2014. I wanted to share my two cents about my experience with GMAT and MBA application process. Before I start the saga, I wanted to thank all the leadership of Gmat Club, Alumni of this legendary forum, and active users for sharing all the information and support. Though I was never an active poster in the forum, I believe I made use of all resources GMATCLUB has to offer to my fullest of abilities. I sincerely like to express my gratitude to all. I read a quote by Einstein and I believe it applies to me rightly – It read, “It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer”. I believe there are much better post here on the forum that will tell you the intricacies about how you can boost your score with conceptual knowledge, so I will not bore you with resources I used, exams I wrote etc etc… It’s all the same but I will talk about things I did, which kept me going through the thick and thins in the process. I would not necessarily recommend that you try this at home but I am sure some can relate and hopefully will believe that there IS light at the end of the tunnel. Long long ago, Year 2006: I got fascinated by the thought of getting an MBA from a Top Business School. Learnt about an animal called GMAT and how big a pain in the a** it was. I put my first binder of GMAT material together. I soon forgot about it and started using that to be my scratch paper for other routine work. Status quo - Still graduating from school and had no job Year 2007: Ha! Got a job in a Business Jet Manufacturing company and guess what! I was still collecting material for GMAT from all resources I can get my hands on. I din even know what GMAT structure looked like but I kept collecting material that would say Gmat on it. Year 2008: Got Married! GMAT was going no where so I decided on joining an online class that would get me into a discipline to study. I learnt that MGMAT was the best out there. I registered for the online class. I was asked to give a mock test to asses where I was, SO I followed the instructions and scored a CRUSHER! – 420 on the exam of MGMAT. I was told that MGMAT was +or – 30 point off the real exam and my hopes of getting a 700 where butchered. Thinking I wasted my money in even registering for the class, I continued… I finished the class and gave GMAT prep multiple time, only to fool myself and see 700+ scores on my practice exams … Parallely, From this forum, I learnt about how much non-profit work was important for the MBA schools and I joined a Non-profit management association in my company in a committee officer role and actively pursued opportunities every where else - IMPORTANT STUFF. Year 2009: Early Jan. I gave my first official attempt on GMAT. Left 3 questions on verbal unanswered and scored a Q48 V21 AWA 6.0(Thanks to Chinese burned) - 570 and I was like really! I did a post exam review with MGMAT . I took a break for 2 months and figured I would give a good shot later that year. I would have never come back to do GMAT again if I would not have repeated the class of MGMAT for $300. I wasn’t learning anything new but I needed to do something to keep up my continuity so I created a group of people, who I can study with offline. I gathered 6 people from the class and took up the role to host a meeting almost daily or weekly to talk about GMAT. I realized that a leadership role got me to do things I would never do – Organizing my study pattern, chewing a question until we know what are the lessons learnt, Be ahead of the group to bring insights, solve more questions , do more research etc etc… GMAT was no more an exam but an evening past time. Even if I did not study, I talked GMAT and MBA schools to keep up my motivation. Lesson learnt – You teach, you share information only to become the master of that subject. I am not native English speaker but I could see myself getting better at SCs. I did this for an year, I was doing good at SCs, ignored quant, CR and RC were left to GOD! I read book and CR and RCs but I don believe I had any structure when it came to practice CR and RCs. Year 2010: Feb 2010, I gave my official GMAT again. I thought I did pretty well. I even had a RED BULL between the break.. Felt no lack of energy or time… I agreed to send my score to schools like Harvard and I was so ready to see my score. It blew my mind when I say a V29,Q43 AWA 5.5 – a 590. Tsunamis went through my brain and I lost hope in hardwork, prayers, and cursed GMAT for what it was. I came home..My friend (who scored 690) told me that may be I am not built for GMAT. My parents suggested to move on. I was close to believing that people who get 700+ on first attempt are super human and I was probably some kind of an outcast. I churned this fact for a month and told myself I would not give up. I have come so far, I know 85% of the stuff, If I give up now…I would waste all the effort, I would let myself down, I will prove everybody, who did not believe in me, right. I told myself that the last stretch is the most difficult and I will not give up when I am so close to the finish line. One by one, people from my group disappeared and I was left with 1 guy – Abishek Boinpally, whom I met regularly to share my GMAT virtual enthusiasm with. Only good thing happened this year was I got promoted at work. Year 2011: The leap for me was beyond imagination, I needed a jump from 590 to 700, A 110 points, which was an indicator I should quit GMAT. Beginning of 2011, I knew RC and CR were my weakness in GMAT. I evaluated my exam simulations, I reviewed all error logs, I created voice memos to revise formulae and cheat sheets, I created a template that I will follow in the exam for my scratch work, and the day before the exam, I followed the advice to relax, meditate, and play in the rain . I went to the exam with Redbull and a sandwich (Realizing that RedBull just doesn’t help by itself). I thought I bombed my quant, I felt great about Verbal. I did not select any schools to send my scores too and I din read any screens and stopped clicking the NEXT button only when I reached the Score page. I looked at the score and kept thinking that it is all over and couldn’t imagine how life will be without GMAT – I saw V38 Q47 – 700. Seems a lot to go through for the same GMAT that some individuals crack in the first attempt with 760s Hats off to all of you who did it! My qualitative analysis of GMAT is that you need to learn the content and then learn to write the test, things such as timing, techniques to increase comprehension, shortcuts, how to use scratch paper etc… I apologize, never thought this would become a real epic and I will put people to sleep. I wanted it to be a one page long piece. I would continue the admission into Harvard in the next post if there is any interest. Thanks for staying with me if you are still reading! Best, Abhishek

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420-570-590-700-Harvard Business School

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yogenderarora

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29 Jun 2012, 05:27

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Congrats for great achievement in GMAT as well as in Harvard scholarship !!!

Awesome and your Determination paid off !!!

I am also Indian and weak at RC but my SC and CR is fine now after practice... Can you pls suggest a strategy to blow GMAT without good hold at RC.

I afraid practicing RC and also seems that I am not improving at it :!:

.. Share your experiences and Advise. :idea:

Thanks and Congrats again !!! :-D

bschooladmit

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29 Jun 2012, 08:13

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WOW.. that's called never giving up!! :D congrats!!

ktlemba

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01 Jul 2012, 21:00

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Congrats Abhishek!!! I love stories like this... it's the ones about folks who barely study and score 750 that drives me nuts, lol.

harshavmrg

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06 Jul 2012, 06:26

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Hello abhishek....great post....though i am exactly in the situation that you were in 2011. I have not quit and am not going to quit... i have already taken two attempts and preparing myself for the 3rd attempt where i hope and wish to tame the gmat... this post is an inspirational one so that it would keep my motivation up always...thanks mate..hope that i could somehow connect with you in FB or others....i will keep this post as a sheet that i should read often to keep me UP ..thanks

Vid14

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20 Jan 2013, 06:13

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Dear Abhishek,

I just did my first practice exam to get an idea of where i stand and I got a 400!! But after reading your story; i have a feeling that anything is possible
if you practice hard enough. Maybe im delusional but theres no harm in trying is there.

Thanks a ton bud.

Regards,
Vid

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20 Jan 2013, 22:22

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I think somebody needs to make a point of bumping this post up to the top every month or two. It gets more amazing every time I read it.

Abhishek, you're unbelievably inspiring, and I hope that you're having a blast at HBS.

kseethep

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07 Mar 2013, 14:12

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Very Inspiring , especially for a person like me who is in the middle of an unforced break in GMAT prep. Did you already post your admission story somewhere ?

Aximili85

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07 Mar 2013, 15:34

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You are an Indian engineer who doesn't have a 750+ GMAT and you got into HBS. That means you are just a stellar human being my friend, very inspirational and humongous congratulations for cracking the most competitive seat in the world.

chemsonam

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08 Mar 2013, 00:33

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Hello !!!

Its quite a motivating post ....do share your details about Harvard admissions ....

gmatgooner

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08 Mar 2013, 07:09

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GMATNinja

GMATNinja,
Did Abhishek post his Harvard story somewhere else?Would love to hear that.

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08 Mar 2013, 08:54

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I don't think Abhishek posted a separate admissions story, but he did post his profile on GMAT Club once: profile-evaluation-gmat-116100.html

And this one is even better: https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/gea ... t6510.html. GMAT Club member voodoochild sent me this link a few months ago, and it's one of my favorite forum interactions ever. Abhishek posted his profile, some jerk (supposedly an admissions consultant) told him that he had no hope, and then Abhishek got into HBS. Justice!

Aximili85

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08 Mar 2013, 10:26

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GMATNinja

Wow, I just read the Manhattan post and laughed out loud at work. Truly inspirational story, and yeah these admissions consultants can be a pain. Mine kept telling me I need to include back ups in the rank 20-40 range. I didn't either.

gmatgooner

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08 Mar 2013, 12:15

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I love it that Abhishek remembered the post and gave a fitting reply after he got admitted.Epic

shanmugamgsn

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08 Mar 2013, 20:47

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Ah! great story... Congrats dude...

I wish i could do same some day....
Coz right now, i'm on same boat as u were...
I lost GMAT thrice

IMConqueror

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12 Mar 2013, 03:11

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Great debrief Abhishek .... I am very much inspired by ur post as I am facing similar situation GMAT1: 610, GMAT2: 620

...... hope, I will be able to reach that magic number 700+ third time ....

sdas

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12 Mar 2013, 05:34

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It happens thus.....not a myth

liolya2901

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13 Mar 2013, 11:24

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Hi.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for a great story. your story is trully a great one, since it shows that scoring low at first attempt doesn't mean 700+ is not reachable, and not giving up pays well. Scored 470 first time, just took Gmat second time, scored 590, and really needed a story like yours to keep me going on with my preparation and trying again with a confidence that 700 is possible ( that missing 110 points is not a good reason to give up yet) and Harvard is possible (my goal for the last 2 years is HBS and no other).
I think u can see, how happy I would be to read ur second post about application process

I WOULD GREATLY APPRICIATE if u share ur expirience with application to HBS and tips and anything u have to share on this matter. Thank you ahead !

Prudence

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13 Mar 2013, 20:37

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GMATNinja

Wowie wow, now THAT is called justice! Simply amazing Abishek.

tinphan

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14 Mar 2013, 07:48

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Amazing!!! A great story to learn.

tgt2012

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17 Mar 2013, 03:45

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No body will give you in writing except admission's office at HBS that you cannot get in Harvard and the only way to find out is to APPLY with a SOUND application.

particularly this line really gives confidence to believe in myself , motivation to prepare and strength to stay in ground with hope ... great thought ..

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