Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over : Share GMAT Experience

eMJ

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

26 Jun 2014, 19:47

@singhaldheeraj and @Sweety04

For Sentence Correction - I would suggest to re-do the official questions and make sure that you understand why correct choice is Correct and why wrong choice is wrong

For Critical Reasoning - I took help from PowerScore CR book. it is quite nice

For RC - I subscribed to Wall Street Journal and i used to read couple of articles daily...

L

egmat

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

26 Jun 2014, 21:54

Expert Reply

@EMJ: Congratulations on scoring 680. Your persistence is motivating. I absolutely agree that you cannot take your eye off the ball, especially on an adaptive test such as the GMAT.

Quote:

there were many instances during my preparation when I felt down, BUT that's the time when we have to leave all these negative thoughts and look for our target..

Great advice. Acing the GMAT requires effort and those who put in the hard yards reap the rewards. Good luck for your applications.

Akshay1

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

27 Jun 2014, 05:33

Fantastic spirit. Congratulations. You really did a lot & finally got what you needed.
As you mentioned in your post that first you opted for e-GMAT verbal online and then upgraded to their verbal live prep, could you please elaborate on the two courses and how the two are different. I mean, you've improved a lot from their verbal online course & your verbal score remained same after joining their verbal live prep course. So, is it feasible to go for their verbal live prep or else verbal online is enough?

B

kinjiGC

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

27 Jun 2014, 10:20

Mujeeb first of all a big congrats !!! and again the adage comes to the rescue "NEVER GIVE UP !!!"

It has been a great learning from you as group mate. And hope you get into your dream school.

I guess the biggest challenge starts now about the application and essays.

sunnymantri

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

28 Jun 2014, 01:17

Five attempts, 2 years ! - Kudos to your patience and spirit.

Very different yet motivating brief.

Best of luck with your applications.

tssambi

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

28 Jun 2014, 04:14

Dude !

680 isn't a sky high score, but YOUR persistence IS. Period
680 MAY NOT take you places, but YOUR persistence WILL. Period
680 WON'T attract good looking girl, but YOUR Persistence WILL. Period

OK that last one was just for FUN.

Congratulations.

eMJ

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

28 Jun 2014, 06:00

Akshay1 wrote:

Fantastic spirit. Congratulations. You really did a lot & finally got what you needed.
As you mentioned in your post that first you opted for e-GMAT verbal online and then upgraded to their verbal live prep, could you please elaborate on the two courses and how the two are different. I mean, you've improved a lot from their verbal online course & your verbal score remained same after joining their verbal live prep course. So, is it feasible to go for their verbal live prep or else verbal online is enough?

Akshay - i reached my verbal score of 32 after the verbal online course + some other verbal books....the best section is Sentence correction.

e-gmat verbal live prep is also cool...it has live sessions on weekends plus you will get free tests from edvento...

i would suugest, if you have time then you can go with the verbal live prep course...

eMJ

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

28 Jun 2014, 06:01

tssambi wrote:

Dude !

680 isn't a sky high score, but YOUR persistence IS. Period
680 MAY NOT take you places, but YOUR persistence WILL. Period
680 WON'T attract good looking girl, but YOUR Persistence WILL. Period

OK that last one was just for FUN.

Congratulations.

I will take last one seriously

btw..thanks!

eMJ

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

28 Jun 2014, 06:05

I got the AWA result...and this time as well i got 6.0

Strategy for getting 6.0

out of my six attempts, I scored 6.0 three times.

and based on my experience, i would suggest one thing....Write as much as you can!!!!

and read the chineseburned template...it's the best....

B

shiblee

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

29 Jun 2014, 05:50

On GMAT you got 680 but you have achieved a perfect 800 score in your fighting and determination , which is more important than your 680 !

congratulations brothers on your extraordinary score of 800 and 680

Posted from my mobile device

eMJ

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

29 Jun 2014, 06:41

shiblee wrote:

On GMAT you got 680 but you have achieved a perfect 800 score in your fighting and determination , which is more important than your 680 !

congratulations brothers on your extraordinary score of 800 and 680

Posted from my mobile device

thanks

that meant a lot!!

GMAT17325

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

29 Jun 2014, 18:57

Hi,

Thank you for sharing your story. I have a similar one where I also started a couple of years back. I took it in 2011 and got a 590 and was supper depressed about it. I decided to stop studying. Just last month I picked it up again because I didn't like where my career was taking me. My get around 46-48 on Quant but my verbal changes a lot from V20- V39. Is there any way to improve in verbal in general? I have tried reading all the WSJ and other articles, and done a lot of sentence corrections. For me, the verbal is a hit or miss. There doesn't seem to be an consistency for me.

Also, what CAT do you use and which one do you think is the most accurate?

If anyone wants an online study buddy or needs help with Quan, please free free to ask msg me.

Best Regards,
LL

P.S. I'm also an engineer (hence the higher Quant)

123Avi

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

01 Jul 2014, 04:53

Hi
One question -
How close are Manhattan mock CATS close to the real thing? If I get 650 there, what could I expect in the real GMAT

Any suggestions which additional mock tests to take before I take the real GMAT>

THanks

eMJ

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

02 Jul 2014, 06:56

GMAT17325 wrote:

Hi,

Thank you for sharing your story. I have a similar one where I also started a couple of years back. I took it in 2011 and got a 590 and was supper depressed about it. I decided to stop studying. Just last month I picked it up again because I didn't like where my career was taking me. My get around 46-48 on Quant but my verbal changes a lot from V20- V39. Is there any way to improve in verbal in general? I have tried reading all the WSJ and other articles, and done a lot of sentence corrections. For me, the verbal is a hit or miss. There doesn't seem to be an consistency for me.

Also, what CAT do you use and which one do you think is the most accurate?

If anyone wants an online study buddy or needs help with Quan, please free free to ask msg me.

Best Regards,
LL

P.S. I'm also an engineer (hence the higher Quant)

I would suggest to study all the Official Questions in details....make sure u understand why Correct answer is correct and why wrong answer is wrong

I bought additonal stuff from mba.com site (Question pack and exam pack), they also helps

eMJ

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

02 Jul 2014, 06:58

mayankpant wrote:

Hi
One question -
How close are Manhattan mock CATS close to the real thing? If I get 650 there, what could I expect in the real GMAT

Any suggestions which additional mock tests to take before I take the real GMAT>

THanks

Manhattan scores are very close to real GMAT.

Quant of manhattan is quite tricky and lengthy BUT verbal is slightly below the GMAT level...all in all...best mock tests (in my opinion)

You can also check veritas..it also has quite good mock tests.

ashishgupta2007

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

06 Jul 2014, 18:37

I am congratulating you for this achievement. A man of your caliber and intelligence was bound to fare excellently sooner or later

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. All great achievements require time

- Ashish G

eMJ wrote:

Brief profile

Indian IT guy
B.Tech ( year 2007)
-----------------------------------
Year 2009

First attempt at GMAT, location Delhi
------------------------------------
Score 510 (Q 47, v 15, AWA - 5.0 , there was no IR at that time)

I don't even remember the books and sources which i used. anyways, that was a disaster, i was never good in standardized test.

After that score, i dropped the idea of GMAT, i thought that I am not made for GMAT. I applied in many UK universitiesand was selected as well ( most of the UK univ don't require GMAT). I made my mind to go for Bradford university in Year 2010.

But during that time, i got an offer of onsite from my company, and i thought it will be good if I can earn some money in US and after one year i will join Bradford MBA.

So, I came to US in year 2010 (oct). Year passed, and in year 2011, I applied to Durham B school and got selected as well ( again no GMAT). Life was cool, i was happy and finally decided to go for Durham B school in Sep 2012. So i packed my bags and came to India ....BUT there was something else in my destiny...for some reason, i was not able to get release from the company and also at that time, UK economy was also slowing down, anyways, as they say, whatever happens, happens for good.

I was not able to get release from my company and again I had to come back to US.

After reading about the UK economy, i decided to do my MBA from either US or India (isb, iim ) BUT for these universities i need to have a cool :!:

GMAT score.

I started to study for GMAT...Journey begins..... :evil:

-----------------------------
GMAT second attempt
Location US

Exam date: April 2013
GMAT score 550 ( Q 48, V 19, AWA 5.5, IR 4)
-----------------------------

OK, i was devastated to see the score. I again screwed Verbal :twisted:

During this preparation, I only used manhattan guides

anyways, after the exam, i looked for other options, and then I came to know about e-Gmat. I took it's verbal online course and start studying for my third attempt

I only concentrated on Verbal and i was seeing an improvement as well, happy :wink:

---------------------------
GMAT third attempt
Location US

Exam date: September 2013
GMAT score 620 ( Q 43, V 32, AWA 6.0, IR 3)
---------------------------

After seeing my Verbal score, i was ecstatic....

V19 to V32...woo hoo

BUT this time i screwed Quant, only 43...come on ..I am an engineer :arrow:

Anyways, i always knew that I can get 49-50 in my Quant...I was happy to see improvement in my verbal score. someting to cheer about...

I liked the e-Gmat verbal online course, therefore for my fourth attempt, i upgraded my course to verbal LIVE course.

they have online classes on weekends, i like their course....this time I have to imporove both in Quant and Verbal..

I bought aristotle Sentence correction + GMAT official Verbal 2 guide + Powerscore CR

I started my preparation for fourth attempt, this time , i was quite confident...in the mean time I applied to couple of US universities. I got an interview from Babson college as well...anyways..

---------------------------
GMAT Fourth attempt
Location US

Exam date: January 2014
GMAT score 650 ( Q 48, V 31, AWA 5.5, IR 3)
---------------------------

Happy...650...hmmm not bad...great going dude...IR 3 ..hmmm i never prepared for IR ..it's fine ..this score doesn't count in actual score ( mistake !!!)

although my verbal scored went down by one point, but i was happy to see my score and I knew that i will get to some univ with this score.

Since I was moving up the ladder, i thought of giving one more try to GMAT....so i booked the date for April 2014

hmmm...during this time, there were lot of work in the office and i got promoted to new role as well...so i was kinda occupied but in the back of my mind, i was pretty much confident that I will improve ....that was mistake...NEVER TAKE GMAT CASUALLY...i took it casually and the result 610.

---------------------------
GMAT Fifth attempt
Location US

Exam date: Apr 2014
GMAT score 610 ( Q 45, V 27, AWA 6.0, IR 3)
---------------------------

DEVASTATED, almost cried

WHAT HAPPENED...score went down....back to square 1

took me couple of days to get out of the trauma...this was the first time i saw a drop in my score....i started thinking that it would have been good if I had stopped at 650....went into silent mode for couple of days......

After some time, i decided to give a final try....this time whatever it will be i will take it....

So i started preparing, this time i made sure that i am preparing for IR as well....I re-appered in all MGMAT mock testt, 800 score tests, Veritas ( only free one), GMAT prep test including 2 paid tests.

This time, i was more into giving the mock tests....Ramzan (month in which Muslims fast) was approaching and I wanted to ensure that i better be done with GMAT before that, coz Ramzan is the month of prayers, I will not be able spend time on studies during that month...anyway...I took the date 21-Jun-2014 (one week before the starting of Ramzan)

---------------------------
GMAT Sixth attempt
Location US

Exam date: 21 June 2014
GMAT score 680 ( Q 49, V 32, IR 8, AWA- awaiting)
---------------------------

I mean WOW (saif ali khan style

) ...

20 points away from my dream score...but I will take it...plus 8 in IR ...REALLY....8 out of 8....Cool ...I was scoring 3 in IR's but this time 8/8

Q 49 and V 32 ...i am happy..with my current work schedule, this is the best I can achieve...I am still waiting for the AWA score...

Anyways, I am done with GMAT...almost 2 years of continuous preparation finally paid off...I know that 680 is not SUPER score but I am confident that I will get admitted to a good school/univ based on GMAT + Work experience ( 7 years including 3+ years international experience)

there were many instances during my preparation when I felt down, BUT that's the time when we have to leave all these negative thoughts and look for our target..

GMAT is tough..some people take months but some people take years...i was from the second category and i admit that.

I would like to thanks everyone on this forum...this is the best GMAT prep forum.

If anyone has any question, please feel free to contact me...

Signing off

Long and tiring journey.

MJ.

iWant700plusGMAT

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Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

08 Jul 2014, 15:52

I applaud your perseverance and tenacity. Great job! I too am in the same boat. I will not be defeated. You've definitely given me some motivation!

gmatclubot

Re: Journey from 510 to 680....Marathon is over [#permalink]

08 Jul 2014, 15:52