570 to 720 :)

Question

]Finally done with my GMAT(First AND hopefully last attempt)....got 720(Q48,V40),,,,,,I had targeted 750 ....so a bit disappointed, but still not too much :D UPDATE: received official score report: AWA 5.5 My background: Indian/female/ working in an Power and Automation (manufacturing)fortune 500 company for the past 10 months. ...I graduated in Electrical engineering(GPA 3.18) from a mid -tier engineering college last may...I will probably be applying to MBA programs for their fall 2014 or 2015 intake...I just wanted to be done with GMAT while I was still in 'student mode' A quick question for any expert reading this : How do I need to build my profile to be competitive for MBA programs in the 10-25 ranking bracket? (Colleges like Carnegie Melon, Emory etc.?) I began my GMAT journey on 17th september 2011 with a GMAT PREP1 score of 570 (Q32,V35). It was a real blow....I am an engineer and also have done some freelance writing work while in college, so I have always considered myself decent in both Math and English....the GMATPrep scores brought me down to reality..and HOW! I Knew I had a longggg road ahead....I had time however, I just wanted to give the GMAT before the IR section was added-that still gave me 8 solid months-october to may. I studied intermittently between september 17th and november 30th ....probably studying for 45 days in total. From December, I got caught up in work-related and personal stuff ....GMAT Preperation went out of the window...and would've remained there hadn't I idly visited mba.com to check out the seat-availibility scenario...I was in for a shock...there were VERY few seats available before the June 5 switch....especially for the 1pm slot(I am soooo not a morning person…at 8am I am about as bright as a potted plant

) So that very day (29th Jan) I booked the date for my exam. Anyway , I wouldn’t have started studying seriously till the proverbial wolf was at the door, so it was good only that seats were limited and I was forced to book a date for today. Anyway,I have summarized my CATs and Resources used in the tables below. Feel free to ask any question... P.S: After reading 100s of debriefs about people who couldnt sleep before their GMATs....I too couldnt sleep

....I have never ever faced this problem before...I sleep easily....guess theres something bad about reading debriefs too

At around 2 30 am I called up my bf and he sang a song for me for 17 minutes ('Dogs' by Pink Floyd

) Finally I was lulled into a state of semi-sleep from which I kept waking up but because my xam was at 1 pm, I could stay in bed till 9 30 and more or less didnt feel too tired. P.S.S; A HUGE thanks to GMATClub for being my friend, philosopher, and guide in this journey....I am SURE I couldnt have achieved a 700+ score withoout GMATClub. Lots of thanks to People like Karishma and Brunnel whose quant explanations have really contributed to my quant improvement. Also thanks to the people I met online in this journey-Specially rajeevrks and ankit gupta who have always encouraged me whenever I have felt low .......thanks ankit for listening to my incessant rants about how I am gonna flunk

All the best to you too.....I'm sure u guys will do really great.

icaniwill · Answer

Hearty Congratulations!

Waiting to hear your debrief. I am especially interested in your review of Gmat Prep Pack 1 (400 Questions) , and also how you prepared in the last week.

rajeevrks27 · Answer

Hey Upasana, 
Congo to you for the great score. Finally, the hard work has paid off. Looking forward to ur de-brief. 
Good luck for the journey ahead.

Dreaming · Answer

I really didnt do much during the last week.....except for going through my error logs. The week before the last, I took a leave from office and completed the entire GMAT PREP PACK 1 , as well as OG verbal Supplement. I also went thorough all my detailed notes and prepared super-condensed notes from them so that I may read them at the end. (I never really went through these, but i guess the process of summarizing my notes had helped anyway) My opinion on GMAT Prep pack 1 can be summarized in 2 words: GET IT. There are a few real hard questions which can make you CRY!

Zynga · Answer

Congrats on the great score ! Good luck for the app process .
Your verbal scores seem to be consistently very good.Can you please share your tips for verbal prep.

Dreaming · Answer

Thanks

I really dont have much to say about verbal....I nevr had any problems in CR and RC(even on the very first GMATPrep I took months ago, I made 3 and 0 mistakes respectively in Cr and RC).....So I simply practised them from OG and OG verbal supplement. SC was a challenge....I read MGMAT SC guide...but even after completing it twice I was just not 'getting it'....so I tried other means: namely 'Thursdays with Ron' videos....and later when i realized that I learn much better in the video format, I purchased the e-gmat course(I got Grockit and GMATClub tests free with it....great deal I must say!). Each of these three sources have their strengths, and at the end I was feeling much more comfortable with SC. I also reccomend, very highly, going through OG explanations of why a certain answer choice is wrong. Its their game after all, u gotta follow their rules....

Zynga · Answer

Kudos ! for the helpful reply.
Zero mistakes in RC.wow ! thats pretty amazing.
Can you please share you startegy for RC. I mean how do you approach the passage when you first see it ? Read it carefully ? skim through it ? Take notes ?

Dreaming · Answer

I take notes....after doing well in RC consisytently for some time.,...i got overconfident....stopped taking notes and tied getting past by just 'reading carefully'.....My accuracy just came crashing down . So I went back to the more painful route of making short notes. Also , a key point in RC is noting key words like 'However' -you are almost certain to get a question from that part of the paragraph. I have always been an avid reader, but RC paragraphs on topics such as 'diseases in plants' made me feel like crying an I noticed I do considerably worse at those passages in which I have zero interest in. So I tried to build up enthusiasm every time i saw a boring passage and kept telling myself tings such as' oh wow....see u never knew that....isnt that cool! :p '....I think it actually worked.....

rajeevrks27 · Answer

Nice debrief Upasana and kudos to you for writing it to help the community. 
Goood luck for your future endeavors.

BrushMyQuant · Answer

Congrats upasana... Am happy that ur hard work has finally paid off.

Posted from my mobile device

slay3r · Answer

Isn't that basically what Ginn's Strategy is all about ?

Congrats on your 700+ Score. I sometimes feel that its all about retaining the enthusiasm all along the journey. Kudos to your efforts.

Dreaming · Answer

ermmm..is it? Might be....there arent a lot of ways u can read a RC :D

njiqbal · Answer

Thank you so much for your post- congrats on your score!

Any tips on CR and how you approached it?

Dreaming · Answer

Hi...thanks

For CR...i made it a point to understand the argument , read the question stem and then prepare a prephase in my head (basically what Powerscore CR advices) I gave a lot of attention to the conclusion, becoz thats the place which is attacked/supported/ inferred etc in most questions. If you are really clear about the elements of the conclusion , answering CR becomes easier. Try it. take up any question....read it once...concentrate really hard on the conclusion(take more time if u need)...read the question stem.....read the conclusion again if u have forgotten it.....try prephasing an answer if u can....scan the answer choices. match prephase with answer. u r done. And let me know if you need any more help :D

mrinal2100 · Answer

what is the difference betwen gmatprep1 and gmat-prep2 software.where can i get both of them and which is the one which we download from mba.com

balkan · Answer

Very inspiring story. Thanks for sharing it with us.

siddheart22 · Answer

Congratulations Upasana for a great score!

I've been following you for a bit, and was anxious to see how you fair. I am glad you did so well.
Your story from 570 to 720 is an inspiration and your command over Verbal (evident from your consistent high score) despite being a non-native English speaker holds a message for all fellow test takers that there is a way to get around this test.

Based on your debrief, I am going to try out the Ron videos and see if they can help.

Thanks,
Sid.

jtrem · Answer

This really is such an inspirational post. Like Sid, I too am going to invest some time in the Thursdays with Ron videos and hope to have the same advancement that you gained! Great story and I am so happy for you!

Dreaming · Answer

Thanks balkan, sid, ,jtrem

It feels great to hear tht my story could be inspirational to others.....thanks and all the best for your tests !

burnttwinky · Answer

upasanadatta, I noticed you rated the gmat question pack 1 a 10. How did the "hard" quant questions fair with the questions that you faced on the actual gmat? How about verbal as well? Going through many of the "hard" quant questions, I definitely found many of them difficult when I tried to simulate the quant section in exam mode (37 questions - mostly med and hard difficult questions). I found them more challenging than the OG and GMATPREP quant problems.

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570 to 720 :)

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