Journey from 660 to 700 in 3 months!

Hi Fellow GMATters,

I had no intentions of actually posting my journey or experience here, especially considering that my eventual score of 700 is not a big deal when compared to most people's. But I thought I owe it to a few similar articles in GMATClub, so here it goes.

About myself - I'm almost 27. Indian for sure. I have around 5.5 years of Work-ex in one of the most reputed MNCs, but I primarily am into SAP Technical which puts me into the cliched bracket of software developers from India. Probably a few differentiating factors in my case would be that I've been onsite twice (to the US) and I've had the opportunity to do functional (rather than technical) work when I was onsite and had direct interaction with clients there.

I've basically wanted to get out of the software rut and thus weighed my options after 4 years on Work-ex. I didn't really take GMAT/MBA seriously enough then, but it was always on my mind. Serious GMAT/MBA aspirations started in June this year when one of my friends compelled me to choose a GMAT date so as to get seriously serious about this. So I actually booked the GMAT appointment through his credit card, for Sept 15. The materials I was going through was a little random -
1. Try out MGMAT online material/tests. I had purchased the set of 8 MGMAT books and thus had access to the Question Banks and Mock tests that came alone. I didn't use those books at all to be honest. I loved taking the tests though.
2. The Official Guide from GMAC. I didn't really use this also really well. Just skimmed through a few topics here n there and attempted a few questions.
3. Grockit - This was the material that I most extensively made use of since I liked its interface and the fact that this was an online pratice material. I probably did around 1000+ verbal/quant questions from Grockit. I would recommend Grockit to folks like me who are a little lazy with the real books and like to keep their interest alive though the interactive methods.

Here is the list of scores I attained prior to my first GMAT attempt -

Test # Test Source Test Date Time of Test Overall Score Quant Score Quant Erros Verbal Score Verbal Errors
1 MGMAT#1 2-Jun 4:00 PM 640 44 17/37 34 17/41
2 MGMAT#2 16-Jun 10:00 PM 710 46 17/37 41 14/41
3 MGMAT#3 22-Jul 12:00 PM 680 47 15/37 + 1NA 36 17/41
4 MGMAT#4 29-Jul 12:00 PM 720 50 13/37 37 16/41
5 Grockit 30-Jul 8:00 PM 690 51 12/37 35 16/41
6 MGMAT#5 8-Aug 7:00 AM 680 48 13/37 35 18/41
7 GMATPrep 11-Aug 10:00PM 640
8 MGMAT#6 14-Sep 11:00AM 680 47 11/37 36 15/41

Going by these scores I was disappointed when I managed 660 (Q49,V31) in my GMAT. Though I could score only 640 in the GMATPrep, I though it was just bad planning from my end (in taking the exam at 10 in the night, leaving myself very tired towards the end of Verbal) that lead to the dismal score. I had really wanted 700 or more. And going by my MGMAT scores I was hoping for a 700 or at least 680.

A week after the test I decided that I will retake the GMAT before the end of the year, probably in time for ISB application or the XLRI GMP application deadlines. I finally took the GMAT again on December 11th (which meant I missed the ISB deadline), but did it in time for the XLRI application.

Here is what I think helped me make an improvement second time around -
1. I stopped referring to MGMAT tests/materials for Verbal as I felt undone by the quality of actualy GMAT verbal. For Quant, MGMAT is much tougher than the actual GMAT (experience from both tests strongly points to this), but non-native speakers of the English language needs more than the MGMAT verbal I feel.
2. I bought the OG Verbal Review on top of the OG I already had. Made sure I attempted all SC and CR twice, marking and trying to understand my mistakes. OG is definitely one of the most underrated guides out there.
3. Since I was strong in Quant, I actually took a bit of a risk by preparing Quant only the day before the GMAT. Rest of the time I had devoted to Verbal practice only.
4. I purchased E-Gmat material for verbal ($150 value) since I really wanted to get ahead in verbal this time. I went through the CR and SC videos with reasonable concentration and completed them. I must say that E-Gmat is really well structured for an Indian student. It gives detailed approaches and pitfalls and explains grammar really well. Anyone struggling in verbal can definitely go for it.
PS - Even though I did all this, I have to be honest to let you all know that I was hugely addicted to the TV Series "House M.D" and spent at least 1.5 hours every day on House itself. So I feel anyone attempting to redo GMAT has a better potential than me if they don't stay distracted.

I hope I've done reasonable justice to this attempt. Do let me know in case you need anymore info.

Best of Luck,
Rahul

In case anyone wants my E-Gmat online study material which is valid for till 19-March, 2013 please send me a message and I'll share you the login details for a nominal fee. First come first served here. I don't intend to make my login a common login