Brief profile
Indian IT guy
B.Tech ( year 2007)
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Year 2009
First attempt at GMAT, location Delhi
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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.....
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GMAT second attempt
Location US
Exam date: April 2013
GMAT score 550 ( Q 48, V 19, AWA 5.5, IR 4)
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OK, i was devastated to see the score. I again screwed Verbal
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
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GMAT third attempt
Location US
Exam date: September 2013
GMAT score 620 ( Q 43, V 32, AWA 6.0, IR 3)
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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
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..
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GMAT Fourth attempt
Location US
Exam date: January 2014
GMAT score 650 ( Q 48, V 31, AWA 5.5, IR 3)
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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.
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GMAT Fifth attempt
Location US
Exam date: Apr 2014
GMAT score 610 ( Q 45, V 27, AWA 6.0, IR 3)
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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)
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GMAT Sixth attempt
Location US
Exam date: 21 June 2014
GMAT score 680 ( Q 49, V 32, IR 8, AWA- awaiting)
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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.