hello everyone, i just wanted to finally take a moment to go over my recent GMAT experiences and provide you all with my insights and opinions on this stressful process. i posted earlier about improving from a 610 to a 730, so for anyone out there that didn't score as well as they thought they should, stay determined and keep hope that the 2nd attempt will be much much better. that being said, here goes... Preparation: i started my prep around april, reading and working through problems in ARCO and princeton review... but i quickly realized that these books were too easy and not going to be representative of the actual test, so i picked up the OG 10th edition. as often said, this book is an absolute must... if you're a muslim, jew, or christian, this thing is like the koran, torah or bible. its the law man. no ifs ands or buts about it. you'll be wise to pick it up. before working through the questions, i took the two powerprep exams to see where i stood... there's alot of advice about when you should take the powerpreps, personally i think its best to take one cold before going through OG, and then one about midway through your OG studies. i did both cold cause i was so anxious to see my score on a program that undoubtably mirrors the acutal test the best. the results were not impressive PP1- 590 and PP2- 590. my weak points went straight across the board so i knew i had alot of work ahead of me. i started tackling the OG in earnest. basically i did every question in every section, timed in about sets of 20. i kept a error log and also a log of the questions that took me over 2 minutes to complete. i believe its crucial to study in a timed setting so that you get used to battling the clock and the fatigue that comes with answering multiple sets of questions. also the error log is crucial. these mistakes are your weakpoints and need to be addressed. also when reviewing your answers, be sure to review the correct ones as well and compare your method of attack to that of ETS or whatever book you may be using. this reinforces your good instincts and takes away the possibility that you got lucky and answered correctly. in any given problem, you should be able to identify what topic, theory, or rule ETS is trying to test you on and go about attacking the problem. overall, i got about 80-85% right in each section of the OG. by this point, i was feeling fairly confident on my timing and my ability to attack the questions with the ETS's mindset. during this time, i also took the kaplan classroom course, but only because my company paid for it. i found the classroom instruction to be very basic and more geared towards those who are not looking to score in the upper 90th percentile. however, the course was beneficial for grasping critical reasoning methods and certain number properties rules. but in no way worth the $1,300 tuition. in that respect, i dont recommend the classroom course, unless of course, its paid for by someone else. that being said, i did find the kaplan course book and online tutorials, quizzes, workshops and tests to be very very useful. as everyone states, kaplan quantitative is very very difficult, so it basically prepares you for anything the actual gmat will throw. this only works to your advantage if you don't get too discouraged by missing kaplan questions and scoring poorly on thier GMAT cats and losing confidence. otherwise, i found the practise of deciphering kaplan questions beneficial to the process of problem solving. its great practice and there's a ton of questions to practise on if you take the online course. my kaplan scores were as follows: diagnostic-690, CAT1- 620, CAT2- 560, CAT3- 580, CAT4- 680. kaplan also offered full length practise tests that are not CAT, so they tended to be easier.. i scored between 690-730 on those. again, its practising the full length test, including essays, which is what is important... getting used to being under the gun and the cumulative 3 hours of having to focus. Test day #1: scheduled the test at noon and i woke up early but had a hard time relaxing. i was anxious and a bit stressed since i had too much time to think about what was about to happen (note: 2nd test i scheduled at 9am so i didnt have any extra time to think or stress out.) the AWA's were a cinch i felt confident that i would score well (ended up with 5.5)... so i took my break and tried to psyche myself up for quantitative. got the first question, an average problem with an inequality... too easy i thought, though i was still nervous. 2nd question was a ratio problem where you had to figure the percent difference between two variables... easy but for some reason i blanked out and it took me a few minutes to nail it.. not a good start... the following questions started to get very difficult... one on coordinate geometry, and a couple DS and PS on geometry that were near impossible... these early questions really rattled me as i struggled to keep pace at 2 minutes per question. i finished the section on time, but i had to guess at a fair number of questions just to maintain my pace througout the test. i think that was my big mistake, not plowing through solveable problems and being too quick to make a guess justto keep pace. it was like midway through the test, if i saw a problem where i could not recognize a plan of attack immediately, i gave it for guessing.. which is not a good idea. anyways take my break and tried to stay positive for verbal. start off with a few easy SC and some CR which was way more difficult than OG... CR had become my bread and butter but that day it failed me... i got one boldface early... and got hit with 4 RC passages... 3 40 liners early on, and one 85 liner at the very end... it was brutal trying to plow through those passages. they were all obscure passages too, the big one was a physical sciences one, with all sort of bizarre terminology... that killed me. when it was all over, i knew i did poorly, but i had to see my score. i knew that i would probably have to take it again so i just wanted to see what this effort was going to score, so id have a better gauge the next time around... hit the button and wham!! 610 (39Q 34V). ouch... i was bummed... disheartened... at a complete loss... all the studying was for nothing. i took a few days off and then hit the books again, and scheduled another test.. i had come too far to not try again i thought. i figured id give it one more shot and if i could not score well then, it just wasnt meant to be... really believing in this new attitude totally helped to relieve alot of stress and anxiety. if i cant get into b-school, then no big deal, my family and friends will still love me, ill still have my job that pays pretty well anyways, and its not gonna be the end of the world... i think we put way too much pressure on ourselves to perform well on this test, that sometimes its better to just try our best and accept the outcome.. lets the chips fall where they may and roll with the punches if you will. so i studied for another month, more like just reviewing the error logs and going through the OG in mock tests by randomly picking 37 math questions and 41 verbals... i took 4 such of these mock tests to simulate the actual exam. i also reviewed my kaplan materials too. the day before the 2nd test, i took PP2 again and scored a 780... of course i remembered all the problems but it was more for raw confidence than anything else.. and sort of setting a tone for how i wanted things to go the next day. it was a good dress rehearsal. after that i put all my gmat materials away and just relaxed. Test day #2 got a good nights sleep but i woke up with a sore and stiff neck... and a stomach ache... BUT more importanly, i didn't feel stressed out about the exam.. i had like a "lets take this test and see what happens" attitude... and i was going in feeling carefree and confident... get to the site half hour early and i start joking with testing lady about how i cant write in cursive... what the hell man, why cant we print that ETS statement... we have a good laugh about it and im feeling good... again the AWA was a breeze... i finished each with about 5 minutes to spare, which i used to rest my eyes and relax... take a break and i tell myself that i must remain calm for the entire quantitative.. to treat it like a practise test and trust in myself and my preparations. the first two questions are a joke... simple algebra and an easy DS on coordinate geometry slopes. from here on out, the problems got harder, but suprisingly, they were all solveable.. i mean it wasnt like i was completely at a loss.. so i just plowed through them as best i could. i got one easy combination, one super hard probability, lots of DS on number properties with inequalities and absolute values, one counting problem, a couple average problems... one work rates problem, one mileage problem, two problems that only involved simple conversion of feet to yards and feet to miles and seconds to minutes etc... one DS comparing median and means, one remainder problem, and one find the arc of a circle problem. suprisingly no squares or triangle problems... i have a pretty freaking good memory so i actually have a list of questions from both my exams that i memorized... but we are not allowed to post actual questions on here are we?? anyways, i finish with a minute to spare and only had to make like 3 blind guess and only a few educated guesses.. the rest i felt pretty darn confident that i got right... take my break and i remind myself that im on a roll here and to keep it up.. that its almost over and im building up to a better score... i tell myself that this is going to be my defining moment not a moment that defines me... im ready... hit verbal and wham the first SC is pretty darn hard... i get a boldface eary on and some more SC and CR that are not as easy as i thought they should be... at this point i call a 20 second time out and tell myself to relax. take each question one at a time and knock em out. the first RC is a tough one on mangerial theories... 65 liner... then more SC and CR all much more difficult than OG. the 2nd and 3rd RC passages are back to back, but the topics are my favorites ones... one on pesticides and another on womens movement... i nail both cos the reading is actually enjoyable and easy. so i gain my confidence back and start working towards closing in on #41... i mean i cant wait... it feels so great when you know youre almost done... anways, i made up so much time with RC passages 2 and 3, that by the time i get to the 4th one at question 30, i have about 22 minutes left. 4th passage is a 70 liner on engineering and stress fractures... again, interesting stuff... so i knock that one down even faster and have like 15 minutes left to work on the last 5 questions, which i needed every second cos they were difficult CR and SC's but with all the time i was able to figure them all out... whew, finish the test and blow through the question and report the score finally... it flashed and it was like how i always envisioned it would play out in my best dreams.... a 730 (47Q 42V). i was so stoked... i basically doing cartwheels out of the testing center like a little girl... My reflections: it is completely true that the GMAT tests your ability to handle stress more than it does anything else. in retrospect, looking back at all the problems i encountered, most of them were very much like OG and only a few were darn near impossible to answer. if given time, each question was solvable. GMAT wants you to be stressed going into the exam so that a few difficult questions here and there will completely throw you off your pace and rattle you. when that happens, GMAT has got you and you are most likely not going to recover. thats what happened to me in the first test... pre exam jitters... a couple of hard problems, and then a spiral downwards as i lost hope and trust in my abilities. theres no one easy way to relieve the stress... each person is different, but do what you can do, to limit any stress before and during the exam. you are guaranteed to peform so much better. i also realized that there's a huge component of luck in the GMAT... despite it being computer adaptive, the computer does not know what areas we favor... in the 2nd exam, i got all my favorite types of problems... i.e. DS number properties, testing positive and negative properties, work and rate problems, absolute values, ratios, plug and play problems, gross profit problems, and to top it all off, they were all in a form that i was familiar with... in verbal, i got 3 RC passages that suited me perfectly. without those specific passages, i would not have done as well as i did. so luck is a definite factor as well. My top tips: 1. work on as many OG problems as you possibly can. keep that error log and review it religiously. when solving the problems, try and figure out what OG is asking for and what approach is the best. review correct and incorrect answers. 2. replicate test conditions at all times. that means timing all your problems, using only pencils and limited scratch paper, re-drawing all figures, and working at least in 60 minutes blocks to ensure that your endurance is built up. 3. do at least a few full length practice tests before taking the real one. you must also do the AWA portion as it will contribute to mental fatigue to a certain degree. 4. the day before the test, do a final powerprep exam to build your confidence and then try to relax and get a good nights rest. 5. on test day, trust in yourself and your preparation. stay calm at all times, and never, under any circumstance panic. 6. be aware of your pace, but don't obsess over time to the point that you can't focus on the problem at hand. this will only rush your answers and cloud your natural reasoning. give each question a good honest effort and don't completely give up on any question if you think you can solve it with a little more time. this is a difficult balancing act, as you dont want to spend too much time on any given question, but those few questions that you are close to solving may make the difference between a high and low score. this is especially true in the first 15 questions i think. therefore, adjust your pace to allow less time for questions 16-37. what i found was that once the CAT levels out, you start getting pretty easy questions from 25 onward that you can knock out in a less time. for example, i answered the last 10 questions in less than 15 minutes. plus the experimental ones are likely to be clumped in the middle of test. 7. stay focused only on the question in front of you. dont worry about previous questions or trying to judge how you're doing by the difficulty of the questions. 8. take all your 5 minute breaks and use that time to clear your head and to psyche yourself up for the next section. 9. if you feel yourself straying towards the end of the test, take a short mental break, or otherwise dig deep for the those last reserves to pull you through. its no time to be throwing in the towel when you're so close to the finish. 10. realize that your final score is NOT a reflection of your intelligence. a low score does not make you a loser or anything less than you actually are. the GMAT is not life or death. its one test of many "tests" that you'll encounter in life. but do be honest with yourself. if you feel that you can really do better as reflected in your practise exams, then definitely give the test another honest shot. nerves play a critical role, but are less of a factor the second time around. thats about it... best of luck to everyone. i hope this super long post helps at least somebody out. i know it was posts like this that i enjoyed reading and got the most inspiration from, so i wanted to give back something. ill be checking this site periodically, more for asking about apps and programs that i might want to apply to, so if anyone has any questions, ill be happy to respond. tvc15

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tvconefive

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28 Mar 2005, 11:34

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saurya- regarding the essays, i think the keys to success are the following:

1. be concise and specific as possible with respect to why mba, why now and why this particular school questions. this is the bread and butter essay that all schools require, so make sure you slam dunk it. and were talking about a story here, so dont hold back at all and however you can make it more interesting then go for it...
2. regarding why mba, i think its key to tie in your previous experience, inside or outside of work, to your future goals. how has your past influenced what youre going to do in the future?
3. regarding why now, its key to talk about your maturity and what you can contribute to an MBA program now as opposed to one or two years ago. you need to convince the adcomms that youve been planning this move for a long time now.
4. regarding why this school, try and make a link specific to the school.. i shyed away from curriculum based stuff b/c most top schools are the same, even though they might not want to admit to it... its better to make a unique connection, like a special club on campus, opportunity to study abroad, location (very important for ny schools), class size and culture, etc etc... if youve attended class, spoke to a professor, mention it here... show interest and how you fit!
5. personally i prefer to write in a structured manner... ive read some essays that read more coversational, but i wrote mine in a serious academic tone... with a nice intro, body+supporting evidence and conclusion, like we learned in the 5th grade. not flashy but effective.
6. choose 3-4 traits that you want the adcomms to understand about you... in mine, i wanted to emphasize, initiative, creativity, teamwork and integrity.. so i used each essay as an opportunity to describe how i conveyed those characteristics... these traits are the substance of your application so you have to stick to them and hammer the examples home.
7. go through at least 3-4 rewrites.. have (brutally honest and competent) friends read the essays and proof read and re-write them... so you need to start early. i spent as much time on essays as studying for the gmat.. if not more...
8. dont be repeat yourself.. if something is mentioned in one essay, theres no need to mention it again in another... likewise if its mentioned on the app, it might not be necessary in the essay.. also use the optional essay to explain important things, not to complain about insignificant things....
9. dont be a rogue, so stick to the required font sizes and word limits... double space and all that good stuff... i know this is hard but short and effective is better than eloquent and long...
10. once youre finished with the essays, memorize them inside and out in preparation for interviews. you will need to regurgitate most of your essays so learn them again... its your story, stick to it...

hope this helps.... good luck...

HongHu

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28 Mar 2005, 11:48

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This is great advice! Thanks for sharing it with us. I'm sure lots of people would benefit from it.

Paul

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28 Mar 2005, 11:53

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Thanks tvconefive, the advice for essay writing is just brilliant!

tvconefive

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31 Mar 2005, 15:25

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so here's the final report card regarding all of my applications... in case anyone following this thread is interested...

yale- admit
nyu- admit with directors scholoarship
columbia- currently wait listed
usc- admit with fellowship
ucla- admit
chicago- admit
cornell- admit
kellogg- ding

banerjeea_98

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01 Apr 2005, 21:56

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Congrats on ur wonderful achievement ! Did u apply all in R2 ?

tvconefive

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01 Apr 2005, 23:06

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thanks.. yes, i applied all in R2... you have no idea how hectic my december and january was!!! but it was all worth it. are you applying for class 2008?

britto

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22 Apr 2005, 20:23

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One of the most inspiring posts i have ever seen!
Truly inspiring!
Gives me the hope to believe in my own strengths.

Where have you decided to join, finally?

tvconefive

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23 Apr 2005, 00:58

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britto... im glad you were able to take something away from the post... really believe in yourself and great things will happen. i didnt always trust in this concept but i have more in the last couple years and have seen it materialize.

as for my decision im torn between staying in LA at anderson and braving the cold in chicago... but most likely i think it will be chicago as i want to get into investment banking... plus i visited recently and the people were great and the town, at least in spring was superb... best of luck to you!

britto

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23 Apr 2005, 09:40

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Thanks for the wishes, tvconefive.

All the best for a great mba education that will get you where you want to be.

above720

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09 May 2005, 18:27

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tvconefive, thank God for your post! It is very inspiring.
Please share how long you studied for your first GMAT test and the total length of time that you spent studying for both. Also, how long did you spend studying daily including weekends? THANKS.

anandobhattacharya

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30 Jun 2005, 08:00

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Life threatening thread!

BULLdoser

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02 Jul 2005, 09:00

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Hi tvconefive
I'm really feeling motivated by going through your post.I'm down after scoring 510 & you have inculcated a sense of purpose in me.Thanks friend.

jjhko

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24 May 2006, 20:44

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Hi tvconefive,

Your story was really inspirational to me... I took my GMAT yesterday and only scored 590

but after hearing your story, I'm going to committ myself to give it a 2nd try... and like you say, it's not the end of the world, if I don't get 700+ I like your perspective of life...

Also, congrads on all your acceptances thus far. I'd love to hear your background and what your thoughts on what you made you such a stellar candidate?

Thanks...

jjhko

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