Quest to do my Best - My GMAT Journey Log Dear Readers, I graduated from college in 2008 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering. During my last semester, I was offered employment by a major Engineering and Construction Company which visited my college campus to recruit fresh graduates. I worked with the company for a span of two years, during which I had the privilege to work in two countries. All in all I got a very good exposure and things were great! However, I felt the time was right for me to broaden my horizon and spread my wings before I grew too comfortable. So, I resigned my job, returned to my country and started to prepare for GMAT. I wrote the GMAT on 26th Dec and got the following score: Verbal – 37/80 %ile Quant – 43/65 %ile Total – 650/79 %ile AWA – 5.0 I plan to take the test again this coming Feb because I am not entirely happy with my first attempt. The disappointment stems out of many things I realized after I took the test. I made a series of foolish assumptions which resulted in a sub-optimal performance on test day. PITFALLS: 1. I underestimated the test. 2. I took the verbal section for granted and practiced very little. I own a copy of MGMAT SC, RC and CR, but I only went through them peripherally. 3. As far as quant goes, I solved all the Problem Solving questions but didn't do as many DS questions. I assumed that if my PS skills are strong, DS would take care of itself. 4. I did not have a strategy. Like they say "Failing to plan is like planning to fail" With that said, I recall the words of Zig Ziglar: "Failure is an event, not a person" So, with the ghost of GMAT past locked up in GMAT purgatory, I forge on full steam ahead! There is a Hindu philosophy which I believe in. It says " Do your job without worrying about the result " Therefore, I'm not setting a target score because my aim is to do my best! If I give it my best shot, I will automatically get the score I deserve. (right?) Here is how this thread is going to work. It will consist of two posts. The first post would be about what I did on that particular day and the second post would be about what I plan to do the next day. I will start my preparation from tomorrow. So you can expect the first post within a few hours. Wish me luck and do support me in my journey! Regards, Amrith MAN-HOUR CLOCK - 5hrs

good luck! wish you all the best! Nice to know you are working hard

I will attempt the second Manhattan prep test today! I have not done any sort of additional preparation. However, I have analyzed my previous attempt thoroughly and I've come to realize that I can improve my score by adopting a better strategy. I shall post the results of the second prep test after I finish :D

Manhattan CAT Exam #2 Score: Quantitative - 44 - 73 % Verbal - 35 - 77 % Total - 650 - 84 % :D

Note: I was pleasantly surprised by the number of 700-800 level questions I encountered :D Although I got some of them wrong, I learned the knack to reaching these questions Now it is time to go back to the books P.S. Observation for Quant: The variation in percentile estimate score is the greatest for the first 5 questions (approx +/- 10 percentile). For the next 5 to 8 questions, the variation is approximately +/- 5 percentile. For the remaining questions, the percentile variation is +/- 2. Implication: Focus on getting the first 5 correct even if some extra time is required (not more than 30s though) To get the first 5 right, fundamental concepts must be very strong. Once the first 3 questions are answered correctly, there is a good chance that the majority of questions ahead would be of high difficulty.

Okay... Update: I've been reading about the whole GMAT scoring algorithm and it seems that the first five questions aren't that big a deal and it seems that the best way around is to treat them all the same! Anyway... Today I finished reading through Two Books of the Manhattan Series Inequalities and Percentage Fraction decimal Tomorrow I will finish Word Translation and Geometry :D

Wooooooohooooooooooo! A brand new day and I got a few things to look forward to: 1. Finishing the Manhattan Geometry Guide 2. Finishing the Manhattan Problem Solving Guide 3. Reading through the Manhattan Critical Reasoning Guide A Few things I have realized: 1. My math is not as rusty as I thought it was ^_^ 2. I am familiar with approximately 95% of the concepts in the basic section of the Manhattan GMAT. However, the info in the Advanced Section enlightened me on many areas and broadened my perspective on many subjects.

Alrighty then I'm done with all the Manhattan Quant Books ^_^ Started solving questions from the 'Problem Solving' section of the Official Guide. I'm doing them in batches of 37 questions. I pick questions based on a randomly generated series .e.g. Question Numbers ending with 3 - such as 03, 13, 23, 33, 43 etc. Some Stats: Number of Questions: 37 Total Time Taken: 61 min Break Up: Question No: 01, 03, 11, 13, 21, 23, 31, 33, 41 & 43 - 6 min Question No: 51, 53, 61, 63, 71, 73, 81, 83, 91 & 93 - 15 min Question No: 101, 103, 111, 113, 121, 123, 131, 133, 141 & 151 - 23 min <<< :P Oooops! Question No: 161, 171, 181, 191, 201, 211 & 221 - 17 min Time Taken Per Question: 98s [Average] NOTE: I took more time for the last 17 questions and less time for the first 20 questions. Accuracy So Far: 100% Yeah! I got 'em all right.... YaY! ^_^ [Hope it stays that way!]

NOTE: From now on, when I say PS Series 3, I mean: Questions from the Problem Solving Section (of the Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition) for which the question number ends with 3. e.g. 03, 13, 23, 33 etc. That said, I have completed PS Series 1, 3 & 5 today. That's a total of 69 questions. Number of Questions Correctly Answered: 68

Update for Today: Finished half of the PS Questions in the OG and I plan to finish half of the DS Questions by tomorrow afternoon and write a Manhattan Prep test in the evening

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