Analysis of GMAT 1- 670(Q49,V31) + GMAT 1 ESR & GMAT 2- 730(Q49,V40)

Hi windofchange,
Thank you for your wishes.
Sorry for the late reply. I was a bit busy( with my b-school applications), hence the delay.

Few of the pointers from the ESR were straight forward:
1) My performance in the RC section was pathetic and needed significant improvements before the second attempt. I could not have known this without the ESR.
2) My CR solving skills needed reinforcements but was overall OK.
3) Timing was not an issue; I completed both the sections on time. However, closer scrutiny of the ESR revealed that I was both inconsistent and over-confident at times.
4) ESR showed that I suffered from a significant drop in performance in the verbal section after the first 20 questions. This revelation made me more aware of this fallacy second time around.
5) Nothing significant of note in maths section except that my performance in the 3rd sub-set of questions brought my score down to 49. I correctly solved the last 12 or so problems in a row, but the score was still 49 because of the errors caused in the 3rd subset. Hence, our performance in each sub-set matters. Never, forget this and hence, allocate the same amount of attention and time to each sub-set of questions.


There is more thing I need to document in this thread. I have explained this to people who contacted me privately but have not mentioned this with emphasis on this thread.

Primary reason for the improvement in my second attempt was my state of mind during the preparation. My thought process and mindset had a major say in the score increase second way around. I will explain:

I tried to improve my score in the quantitative section from 49 to 51. The score in the quantitative section was a matter of pride. I am quite good at maths by default. So, before the 2nd attempt in my mind, my thought process was "Come on Rahul, how can you score only 49!! So, many Indians score 51. That is the score you need to score. Only a score of 51 will mean that you performed successfully!!" Result: a score of 49 again.


Whereas, in the verbal section, my thought process was: "Good Rahul, you scored 31. Great, especially well done in SC. AHH.. RC needs to improve." Additionally:
1) It was fun to learn about the redundancy mistakes I used to make so frequently. For example: "revert back" Ha ha. Another one: "End result."
2) How wrong was I to use "where" in every definition?
3) Learn about the differences between "that" and "which". Also, the use of parallelism in normal conversation.

Furthermore, I realised that as a future manager/consultant, I needed to have strong communication skills and GMAT preparation was the opportunity to augment my prevalent skills.
Finally, I needed to work on my reading and comprehension skills to successfully tackle the MBA coursework.

The point is, I enjoyed preparing for the verbal section. There was no pressure to prove anything to anyone. I just wanted to learn and to augment my skills. Result: improvement from 31 to 40 in a month's time.

Hope the reply helps and makes up for the delay in responding. Best of luck and do let me know if you need any more assistance.

Best wishes,
Rahul