I am a non-native applicant, strong in quant, but struggle with GMAT-English. I mentioned GMAT-English because I feel its very different from the purely mechanical & grammatical English one might find in various text books, rather its behavioral English, which I have not been very acquainted of lately.
1st attempt - > 580. Disastrous, to say the least. Screwed up both quant and verbal. Verabl I never had confidence on, but the disaster in quant was the result of lack in my test aptitude. I feel I was never good in writing exams, since the very early days, I feel restless after certain time, anxiety grips me.
So I decided to take a retest in 21 days and started working on those shortcomings.
I made sure to study regularly, every evening, with proper analysis on the question I failed to mark correctly. Bought the GMATprepExamPack1, and
MGMAT CAT pack.
Found that in quant my weakness was in Probability, Set theory and Stats. Worked on those, gained confidence these except on Probability. I made it a strategy to that if I face a probab question and unable to solve it then I wont waste more than 30 secs on it and will move on.
Verbal was still a challenge to me, though I started getting a hang of it.
However, my main focus was to gain 'test aptitude' by writing as many mock test as possible.
Test Day - GMAT1 - 580
First 10 days - getting myself composed and practicing everything, one by one, from various sources (online, free, introductory materials)
10 days prior -
MGMAT CAT 1 - 580
8 days prior -
MGMAT CAT 2 - 580
3 days prior GMATPrepExam3 - 640 (Q47, V32)
1 day prior - GMATPrepExam4 - 650 (Q48, V32)
Test Day - GMAT2 - 640 (Q48, V30)
No major issue with quant. By the time of verbal my brain had already started exhausting itself, I felt that, and gone anxious for a couple of times, as in I was reading the RC passage or the CR paragraphs, but I didnt know why I was reading, my brain was not learning anything out of that reading, so I had to re-read or re-re-read that again.
As I said my main focus was on test aptitude, and didnt really focus on learning or improving on any particular verbal part (which I should have, now I understand, but then gaining test-aptitude is visible by the improvement in the score), or started very late (just 3-4 days prior) if at all I did any, and tried to cram rather than to actually learn.
Where I think I improved : Test aptitude, which all quant questions to leave, solving number system DSs by taking sample numbers for x y and z, set theory, divisibility questions by taking sample numbers, time management (didnt rush this time), doing RCs better (felt so while solving), zeroing on to the last 2 most similar choices for the CRs (from being totally clueless about some), identifying what is wrong with a particular SC (but unable to select the correct one among all the similar choices).
So, now my problem is that I want to score 700+, and also to get a call from ISB, Hyd, India. And with 640 its almost impossible, although there are many cases even at 620-630. The last date to apply is some 2 months away. Do you guys think its possible to push my score by another 60-70? (I already pushed it by 60 in 3 weeks). My main problem is with verbal, and I am a non-native with vernacular schooling, so I dont think I would ever get at par with any native English speaker, definitely not by a few weeks/months' GMAT study.
What should I do? My confidence is quite low now. Should I go for a retake in 6-7 weeks' time, or should I postpone it to the next year giving myself ample time, or should I apply with 640 to the colleges who might accept it? i think as I am already hovering around 47/48 in Quant I might need a 39/40 in verbal (up from my 30/32), or if Q touches 50 then may be a 38 in verbal. So its about a jump of 8-10 in verbal and 1-2 in quant. You think its feasible? Are there cases where candidates gained so in 4/6/8 weeks' time?
If retake is the take then what should I follow for verbal? Is the
OG verbal book (the thinner orange book) good?
Please help.
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Updated on: 28 Oct 2015, 19:49
