This post is not meant to elaborate my study plan for GMAT or to provide valuable tips and tricks for the test - there are already excellent posts on such matters - but to draw attention to certain aspects not related to studying, yet significantly contributing to my 780. When I first started preparing for the GMAT about half a year ago, I wondered how difficult it could be for a 41 year old professional, out of academics for more than 15 years, to cram once again through the tenses, the modifiers, the time and distance problems and the set theory, devoting almost half a day each day to work and then the other half to family. Trust me, the journey was not unpleasant. Isn’t the GMAT test and the associated preparation supposed to be demonic in nature? May be, but here are a few points that I consider will help future test-takers tame the demon, making way for a ‘not so unpleasant GMAT journey’: 1. Set fire to your heart and feel the heat in your stomach: Yes, you need to feel the heat almost continuously. Prepare as though your life depends on GMAT (yes, it actually does). Clench your teeth and determine that 7xx is what you are destined for; do not hope, decide. “I hope to get 7xx”: no, this thought is weak. “I decide to get 7xx”: yes, this though will take you to 7xx. 2. Stick to your plan: If you have planned your study schedule, stick to the plan. You may have an important meeting to attend at the office or may have to put in extra hours of work to complete a presentation or to meet a tender submission deadline, or you may have to take your wife for weekly shopping or drop your daughter for the dance class – come what may, do not deviate from your study plan. Make broader plans, weekly or even monthly plans, plans those are easier to stick to than to daily plans; but once your plan is frozen, you must not deviate. 3. Eat brain food, live healthy: Ban junk food, eat a lot of salt-water fish and a variety of nuts and seeds, and drink a couple of cups of coffee everyday. Exercise vigorously at least 4 days a week and sleep at least seven and a half hour daily. Maintain this routine throughout your preparation stage. 4. Breath right: Conscious breathing helps improve concentration – practice paced breathing whenever you become conscious that you are not practicing and continue practicing till you are no longer conscious that you are practicing. Determine a pace suitable for yourself – I used to practice on ‘Inhale 4 second – Hold 2 second – Exhale 6 second – Hold 2 second’ cycle, about 4.3 breaths per minute. I was using an android app by the name ‘paced breathing’ to help me with the timing: whenever possible I had my earphones on with the paced breathing app running on my phone. 5. Take many, many mock tests: The scoring system in GMAT prep tests and Veritas prep tests seems to correlate more closely with that in the real GMAT than the scoring system in the Manhattan tests does. The Manhattan tests gave me much lower scores, but those tests were very useful in keeping me on my toes. Whenever I became a bit complacent scoring a 750+ in a GMATprep test , a 700 in a Manhattan test tightened me up . My mock test scores are as below: GMAT prep 1 750 50 42 GMAT prep 2 770 50 47 Veritas Prep 1 720 50 39 Manhattan 1 680 46 37 Kaplan free 760 97 percentile 97 percentile Veritas prep 2 760 49 46 Manhattan 2 690 45 39 Veritas prep 3 750 51 42 Manhattan 3 690 46 38 Veritas Prep 4 740 49 43 Manhattan 4 720 46 42 Veritas Prep 5 770 51 45 Manhattan 5 760 51 42 Veritas Prep 6 800 51 51 Veritas Prep 7 760 51 43 GMAT prep 3 760 50 40 Manhattan 6 720 48 40 GMAT prep 4 770 51 45 Manhattan 1A 710 47 40 GMAT prep 1R 790 51 51 Manhattan 2A 700 46 40 (A note on Manhattan tests pricing: I do not consider it wise spending $50 for the Manhattan tests; these tests come free with purchase of any of its test prep books. I purchased an IR book for $26 and got all these tests in addition to an online IR question bank. I still do not understand the reason that Manhattan fixed such pricing.) 6. Eat a lot of energy food on the test day: I had 8 Granola bars, 2 bananas and a 500 ml bottle of Gatorade for breakfast. During each break, I had 2 granola bars and half a bottle Gatorade, even though I did not feel hungry. I do not know how caffeine works since I did not have caffeine on the test day. 7. Spend money on quality material: Buy the exam pack 1 (test 3 and 4) and question bank 1 of GMAT prep. Buy the IR prep book from Manhattan, allowing you access to its mock tests. Buy the Veritas prep tests. I also purchased a Magoosh test prep course. 8. Don’t let your nerves take over during the test: Into the 30th question in the quantitative section, my computer screen went blank!!! There was utter darkness, on the screen, and in my mind!!! I realized that I inadvertently touched the power button of the monitor while carrying out calculations on the scratchpad. I lost about 20 seconds, perhaps costing me one additional error in the quant section. However, now I have a valid consolation that I could not break the 51 threshold in quant section because of that 20-second black-out, even though my success rate in reaching Q51 in the mock tests was only 1 to 3.

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780 ( Q50, V47) - Never too old !

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bd428

Joined: 18 Aug 2016

Last visit: 19 Apr 2020

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Location: United States (NJ)

Schools: Wharton '22 (A) Sloan '22 (A) Kellogg '22 (A)

GMAT 1: 740 Q48 V44 Verified score

GPA: 3.7

Schools: Wharton '22 (A) Sloan '22 (A) Kellogg '22 (A)

GMAT 1: 740 Q48 V44 Verified score

Posts: 11

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23 Sep 2016, 10:16

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Wow that's a lot of CAT's but looks like they paid off. Congrats!

vedantkabra

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Concentration: Entrepreneurship, General Management

Schools: Stern '19 (S)

GMAT 1: 640 Q44 V35 Verified score

GMAT 2: 700 Q49 V37 Verified score

GPA: 3.8

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Schools: Stern '19 (S)

GMAT 2: 700 Q49 V37 Verified score

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14 Nov 2016, 04:08

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what-to-do-after-a-disappointing-first-attempt-228813.html#p1762346

deependra1234

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30 Apr 2017, 05:02

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sayantanc2k

This post is not meant to elaborate my study plan for GMAT or to provide valuable tips and tricks for the test - there are already excellent posts on such matters - but to draw attention to certain aspects not related to studying, yet significantly contributing to my 780.

(A note on Manhattan tests pricing: I do not consider it wise spending $50 for the Manhattan tests; these tests come free with purchase of any of its test prep books. I purchased an IR book for $26 and got all these tests in addition to an online IR question bank. I still do not understand the reason that Manhattan fixed such pricing.)
.

Hi @sayantan2k ,

Congratulation and thanks for supporting us.

Which of the two version of IR Book should I buy??

https://www.amazon.in/Integrated-Reasoni ... 1935707833
(This one mentions in the description

Purchase of this book includes one year of access to Manhattan GMAT’s online computer-adaptive practice exams and Integrated Reasoning and Essay Question Bank

https://www.amazon.in/Integrated-Reasoni ... b_title_bk

Nothing is mentioned here.

Will it be the same 6 test series which is on their website for analysis?? How do i avail it?? any codes given in book or i hv to mail manhattan something???

sashiim20

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WE:Information Technology (Consulting)

Schools: ISB '19 IIMB IIMA XLRI HEC Sept19 intake Rotman '21 NUS '21 NTU '20 Trinity MBA '20 Bocconi '21 Smurfit "21

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01 Jul 2017, 03:44

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deependra1234

sayantanc2k

Hi deependra1234,

Manhattan has changed its policy about the test series.
Beginning mid-March 2017,Book purchasers will have limited access and Manhattan Prep course students will continue to have unlimited access. If you purchase one book only you will get access to only 1 manhattan test.

However,

MGMAT is running promo until July 10th - you can purchase 6 of their CAT's for only $10, normal price is $49, so this is a great deal! You can of course get them free if you purchase the MGMAT Book Bundle but it is a great offer for everyone else preparing out there!

These tests have the new Section Order feature available in them too!

To take advantage of this offer, use promo code PERFECT10
Link: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/stor ... ice-tests/

Hope it helps.

manusingh

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16 Jun 2018, 23:32

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Hi

@sayantan2k

I need a piece of advice on how do I improve my Verbal score on GMAT. After a few months of practice, I am stuck in the V30s range (from V33 to V 38). I want to improve upon my verbal so that I could score at least close to V44.
I gave 7 Veritas prep exams, and the scores are (in the same sequence, as I gave exams) :-
Q51, V30
Q51, V35,
Q51, V38
Q51, V36
Q50, V33
Q50, V36
Q47, V35

I gave one free GMAT prep exam:- 710, Q49, V38.

I am really confused at this stage. I find CR and RC somewhat more difficult on verbal section than the SC part.
I used Manhattan GMAT books for RC and CR. For sentence correction, I used e-GMAT resources, free Magoosh resources, and Manhattan SC (i found it difficult to understand compared to other SC resources).
For Quant I have relied on material from Gmat Club only.
I have started to feel helpless now about my GMAT score, (as you can see I don't seem to be able to improve my score, it has been more or less constant for the exams I gave).I don't know what more resources to invest in. Please help!

Also, if you could guide me on the strategy to adopt in the real exam. The most recent Veritas test I gave, I obtained a score of Q 47. I got the first 3 problems correct, the 4th problem I got wrong. And similar patter continued for rest of the Quant section ( I got a problem wrong after getting around every 3-4 problems correct. But when I saw my detailed Quant analysis, to my shock, I never got a problem form the 700 or above level (i did not even get a problem in 650-700 level) in the entire quant section. i am unable to understand what went wrong.

I would really appreciate your help!
Thanks in advance
Manu

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