hello everyone,
I started preparing or the GMAT in december, last year. Things went well. i as only using the GMAC official guides.I'd also bought prep exams from manhattan and veritas.
before starting my prep i took the GMAC practice test and scored a 590. The breakup of the sore was probably Q45 and V 24.
i realised that i needed to put in a lot of work. But i kept losing focus as i was trying to prepare for the exam and give it in a month.
In a mad dash to figure everything out, i watched tons of youtube videos, gave a lot of practice tests, and tried solving the questions which i did not understand.
After about 2 weeks i believe i had reached a stage where i was capable of scoring a 620 or a 630 on the mock exams.
i used to give the practice exams, but i had this nasty habit of looking up a formula online if id forgotten it.
My quant scores had jumped to almost 48 or 49, but i was making little progress with my verbal section.
if i remember correctly a rough breakup of my verbal score would be
8/12 on CR
8/12 on RC
7/15 on SC
i was failing miserably and had no idea on how to deal with it. i thought the only way out of this was reading up on the forum and trying to learn as much as i could.
i think i made a few critical mistakes.
1. i stopped reading the GMAC official guides as a lot of people said they were too easy and wouldn't help much.
2. i was reaching for the moon and I believed i could score a 700+ regardless of whether people said it was possible or not.
Test day was 10th Jan 2017. i couldn't sleep the night before the exam because i was incredibly nervous. I felt as if i'd missed out on a lot preparation and also a lot of material to prepare with.
I barely slept for an hour and was incredibly nervous.
I scored a 530. Q39 and V 22. maybe the only saving grace was the 8, which i scored on the IR section. I was horrified with my score; but the IR section gave me hope.
At least i wasn't stupid!!
i have now started prep again. my exam is scheduled for the 25th of april 2017.
i have the following material with me.
1. GMAC
OG , Official Verbal review and Official Quant review.
2. Manhattan Verbal set- CR,SC and RC Books( bought them off of amazon)
3 . Manhattan advanced quant (bought the ebbok)
With the background and the prep material that i already have, i'd really appreciate inputs on how to go about studying. I have quit my job with the sole aim of getting this right for once.
I have all the time in the world. As of now, i have 74 days to go for my exam. I'm really looking forward to some ideas from you guys.
One of Sun Tzu's ideas for fighting a difficult battle was to fight in a manner which did not allow for a retreat/strategic withdrawal.
For bettter or worse, i have taken the same path and i intend to see it through.
I hope you guys will help me make it.
Cheers!