The 700 Pledge : Share GMAT Experience

arinv1618beta

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05 Sep 2013, 22:15

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hell yeah! lets kick in the exams butt :lol:

engbong

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06 Sep 2013, 00:23

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This is going to be my second attempt in GMAT...I felt the guilt of not giving my 100% on the first attempt...

I am in ..I pledge to look for every possible way to make this dream come true.

sayansarkar

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06 Sep 2013, 00:52

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I am in.

I will become serious about GMAT cuz MBA is my dream

ankurgupta03

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06 Sep 2013, 01:43

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You rock bb.
You seriously know how to motivate others

monirjewel

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06 Sep 2013, 05:04

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Wow great!!!...Sign me up!

iammanish

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06 Sep 2013, 05:15

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I too am in and pledge to do my utmost to get my target GMAT score!

shalmali20

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06 Sep 2013, 09:45

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That would be fantasic! Would you like to make this study group as a separate thread? I am new to this forum and I am still figuring my way here.

crackgmat2013

THX BB.....

I am in .....
we can form a study group of candidates who are with "700pledge"
we can be in the flow of 700,can monitor each other to be on the track.
let me know if anyone interested.

ALL THE BEST........

bb

The 700 Pledge of a GMAT Test Taker

I have been asked many times by members who scored 600 after 3-4 attempts (often after years of preparation), two main questions: what should I do and why can’t I improve my score.

So here is my answer to all of those questions, PM’s and posts – if you are finding yourself not being able to improve, stuck, or lost, join me in taking this 700-pledge. I have to warn you, however, it involves a lot of hard work, it does not have shortcuts, and the consequence of breaking it are depression, inferiority, and apathy. Proceed only if you think you can handle it and only if your MBA dream is something you are very serious about.

I pledge to:

Align my priorities with goals and if I may have to make hard decision such as shift my study schedule to be before I go to work or before I go to work out, or instead of a Friday night poker game, I will do it.
Keep track of my mistakes. I will maintain an error log for at least the questions I got wrong.
Use the timer with every question and exercise
Commit to building a study schedule.
Ask myself every day if there is anything else that I can do to study/improve/answer/not make mistakes? Is there ANYTHING in this world that can help me? Is it memorizing all formulas? Is it memorizing the question? Is it learning some concepts that are not covered on the GMAT but are important for understanding (verbal or quant), is it stopping before every question and pausing for 5-10 seconds? is it studying at 5 AM? If any of these is yes, no matter how challenging or how painful, I commit to them because I wan to achieve my dream and
Set my preparation at the highest priority (right with my health and family)
Squash every doubt in my mind
Create/write my own notes. I will never write in books - that's worthless. I will take any notes in a separate notebook so that I can remember better.
Do what it takes. If I need to remember the whole book, I will write out the whole freaking book into notes and organize it so that I can memorize it and if it does not work the first time, I am ready to do it again.
Not let GMAT rest. I will be obsessed with the GMAT, with critical reasoning, with identifying assumptions, with calculating speeds, etc.
Get a 700+ score. I may get it easy or I may have to work hard for it. I realize that if I do not get the score I want, it does not mean I am stupid or hopeless or poor. It just means that I am lazy and GMAT was not my priority.
Not take shortcuts in my prep and if I took shortcuts in my past in Quant or Verbal, I commit to undoing them
Not leave a chapter/area/book/test until I can score above 90% of the questions within the time frame.
Stand proud because I have and will do everything in my power to achieve my goal. Should I fall short of that score, I will still stand proud of my score because I have done everything in my power and I have not a single doubt in my mind that not a stone was left unturned and I have done my absolute best. I will have no regrets and no retakes.

If you agree to follow this pledge, please SIGN it publically so that there is no going back

- You can post a reply with your username.
- You can LIKE THIS PAGE on Facebook or on Google+ (see buttons above this post)
- You can Tweet it on Twitter

ShreyaMotwani

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06 Sep 2013, 11:09

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I have got only a month for preparation.
I'm IN! :yes

engbong

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Concentration: General Management, Technology

Schools: ESMT FT'16

GMAT 1: 420 Q32 V16 Verified score

GMAT 2: 440 Q39 V14 Verified score

Schools: ESMT FT'16

GMAT 2: 440 Q39 V14 Verified score

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06 Sep 2013, 11:38

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I am in for the separate study group too ! :idea:

quote="shalmali20"]That would be fantasic! Would you like to make this study group as a separate thread? I am new to this forum and I am still figuring my way here.

crackgmat2013

THX BB.....

I am in .....
we can form a study group of candidates who are with "700pledge"
we can be in the flow of 700,can monitor each other to be on the track.
let me know if anyone interested.

ALL THE BEST........

bb

The 700 Pledge of a GMAT Test Taker

I have been asked many times by members who scored 600 after 3-4 attempts (often after years of preparation), two main questions: what should I do and why can’t I improve my score.

So here is my answer to all of those questions, PM’s and posts – if you are finding yourself not being able to improve, stuck, or lost, join me in taking this 700-pledge. I have to warn you, however, it involves a lot of hard work, it does not have shortcuts, and the consequence of breaking it are depression, inferiority, and apathy. Proceed only if you think you can handle it and only if your MBA dream is something you are very serious about.

I pledge to:

Align my priorities with goals and if I may have to make hard decision such as shift my study schedule to be before I go to work or before I go to work out, or instead of a Friday night poker game, I will do it.
Keep track of my mistakes. I will maintain an error log for at least the questions I got wrong.
Use the timer with every question and exercise
Commit to building a study schedule.
Ask myself every day if there is anything else that I can do to study/improve/answer/not make mistakes? Is there ANYTHING in this world that can help me? Is it memorizing all formulas? Is it memorizing the question? Is it learning some concepts that are not covered on the GMAT but are important for understanding (verbal or quant), is it stopping before every question and pausing for 5-10 seconds? is it studying at 5 AM? If any of these is yes, no matter how challenging or how painful, I commit to them because I wan to achieve my dream and
Set my preparation at the highest priority (right with my health and family)
Squash every doubt in my mind
Create/write my own notes. I will never write in books - that's worthless. I will take any notes in a separate notebook so that I can remember better.
Do what it takes. If I need to remember the whole book, I will write out the whole freaking book into notes and organize it so that I can memorize it and if it does not work the first time, I am ready to do it again.
Not let GMAT rest. I will be obsessed with the GMAT, with critical reasoning, with identifying assumptions, with calculating speeds, etc.
Get a 700+ score. I may get it easy or I may have to work hard for it. I realize that if I do not get the score I want, it does not mean I am stupid or hopeless or poor. It just means that I am lazy and GMAT was not my priority.
Not take shortcuts in my prep and if I took shortcuts in my past in Quant or Verbal, I commit to undoing them
Not leave a chapter/area/book/test until I can score above 90% of the questions within the time frame.
Stand proud because I have and will do everything in my power to achieve my goal. Should I fall short of that score, I will still stand proud of my score because I have done everything in my power and I have not a single doubt in my mind that not a stone was left unturned and I have done my absolute best. I will have no regrets and no retakes.

If you agree to follow this pledge, please SIGN it publically so that there is no going back

- You can post a reply with your username.
- You can LIKE THIS PAGE on Facebook or on Google+ (see buttons above this post)
- You can Tweet it on Twitter

[/quote]

taransambi

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Concentration: Operations, Entrepreneurship

Schools: ISB '16 INSEAD Jan '16 Ross '17 Kenan-Flagler '17 Sloan '17

GMAT 1: 620 Q47 V28 Verified score

GMAT 2: 680 Q45 V38 Verified score

WE:Engineering (Manufacturing)

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Schools: ISB '16 INSEAD Jan '16 Ross '17 Kenan-Flagler '17 Sloan '17

GMAT 2: 680 Q45 V38 Verified score

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07 Sep 2013, 01:49

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I pledge to put in everything i can to achieve my target score. Here is what i intend to do/change in my day to day life:

1. Priorities - I realized that I've been putting in study sessions consistently but at the end of the day, when i am little tired from the day's work and my exercise. Really, i should put in the required effort before i go to work. So, that is something i will change from coming Monday. I also tend to skip my study sessions when another appealing opportunity to go out and drink comes my way

.
2. I am going to time each study session and sometimes each question. I've started doing so already and find interesting results about my preparation. Solving a bunch of questions is no big deal, but that cannot be said for solving the same questions timed.
3. I've started creating my own notes. I forget quant formulas that i do not use frequently and the only way to remember them is to write them down every other day or even daily. My notes will contain formulas from Manhattan GMAT guides, Gmatclub math book, Sandeep Gupta's Ivy-GMAT Quant Concepts book, and some old notes from friends.
4. Health - During my first attempt, i neglected my health and ballooned up to 98 kg. I am now at 90 and feel much better. I am exercising - weights and long distance running every other day now. I feel happy and alert. My consistency in all sections has gone up. I pledge to continue to do this lifelong.
5. I am going to attack my weaknesses. I solved only about 15 passages last time and i am sure i scored poorly in the verbal because of that reason. I also did not do enough practice full length tests. I lost stamina and focus while i was attempting the verbal section. This time, I am not letting all that happen again. I have started working on RC and CR seriously and have planned to take 8-9 full lengths before the actual one.
6. Not ignore my wife completely

. Guys, don't take this lightly. You ignore her for one day, then second day, then third day, and then she will make sure that you cannot ignore her the fourth day. By fifth day, you will be thinking more about how to keep her calm and peaceful and less about how to score high on the GMAT. So, my plan is to spend quality time, although less, with her EVERY single day. That could be just a cup of coffee in our balcony together. But yeah, don't tell her about this shhhh. Or i might not write the GMAT at all

)

That's all. Thanks BB for starting this thread. We all want to score high on this exam but sometimes forget these nitty gritties that can slow us down. Kudos to you.

GandalfGrey

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Schools: HEC '15 (D) Schulich '15 (D) Simon '15 (I) Mays '16 (D) Melbourne '16 (S) Sloan '15 (D) Johnson '15 (D)

GMAT 1: 700 Q47 V38 Verified score

WE:Information Technology (Telecommunications)

Schools: HEC '15 (D) Schulich '15 (D) Simon '15 (I) Mays '16 (D) Melbourne '16 (S) Sloan '15 (D) Johnson '15 (D)

GMAT 1: 700 Q47 V38 Verified score

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07 Sep 2013, 08:06

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[quote="bb"]

The 700 Pledge of a GMAT Test Taker

I have been asked many times by members who scored 600 after 3-4 attempts (often after years of preparation), two main questions: what should I do and why can’t I improve my score.

So here is my answer to all of those questions, PM’s and posts – if you are finding yourself not being able to improve, stuck, or lost, join me in taking this 700-pledge. I have to warn you, however, it involves a lot of hard work, it does not have shortcuts, and the consequence of breaking it are depression, inferiority, and apathy. Proceed only if you think you can handle it and only if your MBA dream is something you are very serious about.

I pledge to:

Align my priorities with goals and if I may have to make hard decision such as shift my study schedule to be before I go to work or before I go to work out, or instead of a Friday night poker game, I will do it.
Keep track of my mistakes. I will maintain an error log for at least the questions I got wrong.
Use the timer with every question and exercise
Commit to building a study schedule.
Ask myself every day if there is anything else that I can do to study/improve/answer/not make mistakes? Is there ANYTHING in this world that can help me? Is it memorizing all formulas? Is it memorizing the question? Is it learning some concepts that are not covered on the GMAT but are important for understanding (verbal or quant), is it stopping before every question and pausing for 5-10 seconds? is it studying at 5 AM? If any of these is yes, no matter how challenging or how painful, I commit to them because I wan to achieve my dream and
Set my preparation at the highest priority (right with my health and family)
Squash every doubt in my mind
Create/write my own notes. I will never write in books - that's worthless. I will take any notes in a separate notebook so that I can remember better.
Do what it takes. If I need to remember the whole book, I will write out the whole freaking book into notes and organize it so that I can memorize it and if it does not work the first time, I am ready to do it again.
Not let GMAT rest. I will be obsessed with the GMAT, with critical reasoning, with identifying assumptions, with calculating speeds, etc.
Get a 700+ score. I may get it easy or I may have to work hard for it. I realize that if I do not get the score I want, it does not mean I am stupid or hopeless or poor. It just means that I am lazy and GMAT was not my priority.
Not take shortcuts in my prep and if I took shortcuts in my past in Quant or Verbal, I commit to undoing them
Not leave a chapter/area/book/test until I can score above 90% of the questions within the time frame.
Stand proud because I have and will do everything in my power to achieve my goal. Should I fall short of that score, I will still stand proud of my score because I have done everything in my power and I have not a single doubt in my mind that not a stone was left unturned and I have done my absolute best. I will have no regrets and no retakes.

If you agree to follow this pledge, please SIGN it publically so that there is no going back

- You can post a reply with your username.
- You can LIKE THIS PAGE on Facebook or on Google+ (see buttons above this post)
- You can Tweet it on Twitter[/quot

I am in. I am taking the GMAT for the first time so this is a much welcome motivation. Thanks.

shalmali20

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07 Sep 2013, 22:01

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I have been preparing GMAT for past one month. I noticed the following:
1. Be consistent and focus! Reduce your night outs and other stuff. Live, eat, and breath GMAT till the time you crack it.
2. GMAT is an exam that involves thinking so get yotur concepts right.
3. Practice and practice consistently
4. Stick to your schedule. This is sooooo tough esp for those who are working for long hours (indians). 25% of the battle is won once you are able to stick to the schedule
5. Know your mistakes and learn from them
6. Dont take the exam in an hurry. Read and practice till your confident.
7. Visit this site as much as possible.

I shall try to be more focussed and persistent and set my mind away from distractions. This could mean lesser tv and taking up lesser work load. I guess that's fine because its worth cracking this exam!

RaminderSandhu

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GMAT 1: 610 Q51 V23 Verified score

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Schools: ISB '16 NUS '16 NTU '17 Rotman '16 Queens'16

GMAT 1: 610 Q51 V23 Verified score

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08 Sep 2013, 04:13

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I'll do whatever it takes.

knowh0w

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Location: United Kingdom

Concentration: Finance

Schools: Anderson '16 (S) Stern '16 (WL) Wharton '16 (D) Kellogg '16 (D) LBS '16 (A) CBS '16 (D)

GPA: 3.72

WE:Other (Other)

Schools: Anderson '16 (S) Stern '16 (WL) Wharton '16 (D) Kellogg '16 (D) LBS '16 (A) CBS '16 (D)

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08 Sep 2013, 07:54

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I too pledge the 700! No giving up, no giving in, just giving it everything I got!

udayhere2002

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08 Sep 2013, 08:08

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I am in .. I will give my best to get my dream score

avohden

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Status:1,750 Q's attempted and counting

Affiliations: University of Florida

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GMAT 1: 570 Q42 V28 Verified score

GMAT 2: 610 Q44 V30 Verified score

GMAT 3: 600 Q45 V29 Verified score

GMAT 4: 590 Q35 V35 Verified score

GPA: 3.45

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GMAT 4: 590 Q35 V35 Verified score

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08 Sep 2013, 09:11

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I'm in. Here we go!! Thanks BB.

nalin1

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Status:Hell of a job to do now !

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GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V37 Verified score

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Schools: Tepper '16 (D) Ross '16 (WL) Anderson '16 (S) Kenan-Flagler '16 (D)

GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V37 Verified score

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08 Sep 2013, 10:48

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prateekbhatt

Hell yeah!

I am on it...No looking back this time.

Good to see you taking the pledge!

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