Hey Friends,

I took GMAT 4 days back and scored 730 on my 1st attempt. The break up is 47 in Quant and 42 in Verbal. I would like to thank GMAT Club for all the support, inspiration and guidance. hsampath, fig, hobbit and HongHu you guys rock. I have learned a lot from all of you.

I am not particularly thrilled with my GMAT score, I was hoping to score 50 in math. I feel 47 is a bit low but I am not complaining I am happy with what I got. It's very important to keep in mind that good business schools use GMAT only to screen candidates, what really matters is a great application and a solid reason to join a particular program.

My real preparation started around 3 months back, a demanding work schedule did not help me, but from success stories at GMAT club I learned that GMAT is all about discipline, perseverance, consistency and momentum. I changed my lifestyle, got in a habit of getting up early and putting in a couple of hours in the morning and couple in the evening. Weekends were important especially for taking practice tests, on an average I spent 6 to 8 hour on a typical weekend.

My study material consisted of following books,
* Kaplan verbal review and Kaplan Math review... I found these books extremely lousy. Kaplan could have done so much better with these books.
Next I got Princeton Review, this is a good book which teaches you on how to tackle GMAT. PR book does not prepare you for 700+ but its strength lies in its approach. I ended up using none of the approaches which PR teaches nonetheless PR helped.
Next I got OG, this is simply the best material. I was not satisfied by the way I was tackling SC, GMAT Club recommended Manhattan's little red book for SC. Simply outstanding, Kudos to team Manhattan. By the time I was done with this surprisingly thin book I knew everything about SC.

At the end of it all, I was still not feeling right about my preparation, esp the math section. Last 40 question in OG Math are good, I would rate them 700 level, these are exactly the one you are likely to see on the real day. But OG alone may not sufficient to get to a 700+, at least for me it was not. I had heard lot of positives about GMAT math challenge, decided to purchase it .. and I do not regret it. It's a great collection of tough GMAT math.

GMAT Club's math challenges helped me a lot, the initial ones thrashed me left and right. I got better with each one, performing well towards the end of my practice. Looking back, one thing I do not like about math challenge is their lack in focus on number properties, factors and gmat style geometry. Overall, math challenge gave me the confidence to scoring around 50 GMAT.

Finally, I am happy that I am done with GMAT. Time now to unwind and relax for a couple of days before jumping into the application process.

Feel free to post any questions, I will be glad to help out.

Congrats on a very good score

Good luck for the next steps... Your score is excellent :D

Where would u like to apply?

HBS and MIT are my number one choice. For one they are both local for me ( I live in Boston). More importantly, both school focus on creativity, leadership and entrepreneurship. Harvard is a great strategy school. I am a good fit at these programs ... now I have to convince the adcoms. Being an Indian from technology background I will have to work extra hard on my apps to present myself as a standout candidate.

Other schools I am considering are Wharton, Kellog, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth and Cornell. I was planning on applying in Round 3 but I have read a lot of opinions discouraging applying in round 3. I am still debating whether to apply in R3 or wait until next R1/2.

vmalaiya, congrats on your score!
Cool to know that you've got a tech background too.
I'm a software engineer myself and have about 8 years of IT experience and work as a project manager at a medium sized IT company.
So just wanted to pick your brains a little bit since you seem to have a similar background as mine. What kind of management program are you planning to get into? Are you planning to switch careers after MBA or do you intend to continue with IT?

Hey Gaurav,

I plan to attend a good general management school with a good international focus. I do plan to switch my career mostly to a consulting career or may in a VC firm. Technology used to be fun but it does'nt excite me as much.

Congratulations! I hope HBS/MIT work out for you.


And, man it made me feel good that you wrote my name along with Fig and hobbit, the current math greats here. I sure have a long way to go though.

hsampath...you will man....Keep going

Vmalaiya, thanks for sharing your plans.

When do you plan to apply? For fall 08?

I do love IT and the whole process of controlling the different variables and executing a complex technical project, however I hate working under the time pressure of deadlines and the bosses who care more about getting the timesheets on time rather than the projects. (Seen office space?)

Perhaps my strongest motivation to switch careers would be to shed the IT stereotype

Nah, I don't think any of these reasons are strong enough to make me switch my career. I've worked hard at getting good at IT.

hsampath I believe in you. Now you have to start believing in yourself.

It makes all the difference. All the best.

WAY TO GO YOU ROCK!!!

I really prefer applying in the earlier rounds. It's said it makes a difference, though I'm not sure if that's true.

[quote="vmalaiya"]

I took GMAT 4 days back and scored 730 on my 1st attempt. The break up is 47 in Quant and 42 in Verbal.

Congrats buddy!!!!