Thanks guys for writing back. So many of you have complemented me for this score. I have this funny feeling that this score is good but not great. I,m not trying to be a pig here but believe me I think 750 score is achievable.
I want to share few of my experiences. First of all, It was motivating to read all the posts here and know about different experiences.
Secondly, I had no idea what score I could acheive especially when i started preparing. I knew one thing that I can manage maths because I scored 96% in High school.
With parents who were practically indifferent and uninterested in my life and probably among the worst in the top 10 rankings, and who have a traumatic influence on my childhood, I took admission into occupational therapy. I should have started my career on the right path such as a Medical School-my first choice or Engg. School. Anyway no regrets now.
I wanted to prove something to myself in GMAT. I wanted to score high and very high but had no goals initially as I knew that I am out of touch with Quant especially. Though a non-native English Speaker, I have a good spoken English. I like Hollywood and I used to talk to woods to practise spoken English- Nobody knew it until now. But I knew that the level of English in GMAT is very high.
V-P Eng. asked me re my prep for Verbal.
Well, I really started from basics. I took online course with GMAX and I found it to be very useful with Sentence Correction and Quant as the instructor teaches you the basics and in some areas in Quant, I found that he taught a good alternative way. You can take GMAX online course. Actually, I might sell mine in the near future.
For good Critical REasoning and good Reading Comp., read read and read. REad Scientific American-read articles on Paleontology, archaelogy, astronomy, black holes, exaptation, read anything that you won't read otherwise, read the economist-read business articles. For sentence correction,
mgmat book is good, og is the best for sc.
Also, for reading comp., you will have to find your own way. Towards the end of my prep, I had no difficulty with reading comp. My way is to go through all the passage in the beginning, take small notes and attack the q's. My speed was less than 2 min per question on reading comp. I was able to do 4 q's in 6 min and 6 q's in 9 min.. I would usually spend 2-3 min . reading the passage-depending on the difficulty, and then may be half a minute to 1 minute answering the q's . Feel free to go back to the passage if you have to. I had the confidence that I can make up for the lost time.
I must admit though that I was loosing it completely in the middle of the verbal section. So, i did some breathing exercises and brought myself back on track. If i were to give again, I would practise maintaining concentration for almost 4 hrs. Practice meditation, pray to your god, breathe and breathe. The reason that not many people do not score very well on Verbal is because of poor concentration towards the end. Practice any amount of stamina building , your body is going to be deprived of essential amino acids during the end. That is why I believe that GMat verbal or quant is not only about your knowledge of key concepts but also about your mind. So train your mind. To crack REading comp don't attack various book but instead attack reading habits. Increase your reading speed without compromising on comprehension.
So, understand the pattern of reasoning in critical reasoning, get that mind and eye that can spot the difference betn right and wrong. the most important advice I found was that"For every wrong answer you make 2 mistakes i.e. not identifying the right choice and picking a wring choice."
For Quant I did some Challenge Q's here. I also did kaplan, og-11, gmax online.
MGMAT cat's.
kaplan cat's.
In the end my prep was way short of what I wanted to do. I did not have enough time especially with a full time job. I could not complete all the prep material such as project GMAT, Gmat 800, more challenge q's etc.
I could not get the time even to do powerprep. I kept putting it off until the last week and .......... and in the end I didn't do it.
I must admit that if you believe in yourself and if you believe in god you can score 750 or more. It is achievable. Also have fun with GMAT . Enjoy it. I enjoyed every moment of my prep for Gmat. I shut down my social life, parted away from my wife for almost 2 months. She went home with our small baby and I studied here.
I plan to appear for GMat again in the near future just to score 770 because i know that i can do it.
I will write more as I remember.
Apr 28
03 Jan 2007, 10:05
