My journey from 600 (in MGMAT) to 750 (Actual GMAT)

Question

My brief profile: I'm working full time in a managerial role at a construction firm. I graduated from IIT-Bombay (India) with an engineering degree in 2012. I'm innately strong at Quant and have a great vocabulary as well. However, when it came to PROPER tested English, I had found my nemesis. :cry:

In the INDIAN CATs (For admission to IIMs), I had scored above 99 percentile in Quant, but struggled under 50 percentile in English, in successive years... Here's how I went about my preparation for GMAT: (Not exactly the ideal way) As I was working, I was able to to put in only 1-2 hours of study every day. (Early in the morning before office hours and sometimes after work as well) I used to drink a glass of sweetened lemon water each morning and ate a bowl of sprouts/fruits. I followed the same diet till my actual GMAT. Tip - DO NOT GET INTO THE HABIT OF DRINKING WATER DURING YOUR EXAM. During the actual GMAT, you are not allowed to carry water inside the testing zone and can only replenish yourself during the breaks or at the cost of the exam time itself. February - Month 0 I started my preparation and bought the GMAT Review (Official Guide - 13th Edition). I spent 1 month in solving it completely and tried to analyze my strengths and weaknesses. Quant was relatively easy, but DS was surely tricky! I used to make many silly mistakes here. My Verbal was in a really poor shape and my accuracy was about 50% in all the sections. I gave the MGMAT CAT 1 and got 600 (Q46, V28) Demoralization by a poor CAT score and excessive work load in office, forced me quit my GMAT preparations for a few months. Mid May - Month 1 After a lot of coaxing from my friends, who had fared well in the GMAT, I resumed my preparations again. I bought the Princeton Review Book, which provided some really helpful test taking tips. I thoroughly recommend this book, after the OG Review. I downloaded the complete OG Verbal Question Bank from GMATClub and started practicing a 10-15 questions everyday from each section. the-most-comprehensive-collection-of-everything-official-rc-140373.html the-most-comprehensive-collection-of-everything-official-cr-140375.html the-most-comprehensive-collection-of-everything-official-sc-140372.html I also started practicing Quant from a set of 12 Tests I found on the forum (which I later suspected of being sub-600 questions) I gave the GMATPrep CAT 1 and got 710 (Q49, V36) This was my cue that I needed serious help in Verbal. By now, I was doing well in RCs and CRs, but SCs were pulling me down. June - Month 2 After reading about similar experiences of people on the GMATClub, I bought the Manhattan Sentence Correction Guide (5th Edition) and that was the best decision I could have taken. I gave the MGMAT CAT 2 and got 680 (Q48, V35) Somehow I got lax after this and almost wasted the subsequent week without much prep. I then gave the MGMAT CAT 3 and got 630 (Q43, V33) Assuming that it was a random blip on the radar, I gave another MGMAT CAT 4 and got 650 (Q46, V33) I was literally on tenterhooks in the week after that. I changed my Quant strategy. I downloaded the MGMAT 700+ collection from GMATClub and started rigorous preparation from that. (700-800-level-quant-problem-collection-detailed-solutions-137388.html) I started taking my Verbal more seriously as well. I gave the MGMAT CAT 5 and got 720 (Q48, V40) Wanting to confirm that this was for real, I gave another MGMAT CAT 6 and got 720 again (Q50, V37) Knowing that my peak performance was near, I went all all guns blazing and upped the ante. I gave the GMATPrep CAT 2 and got 760 (Q51, V41) July - Month 3 I lowered the gears and focused on OG questions only. I practiced all the OG Questions using the Timers on GMATClub extensively from office itself. :wink:

I had my GMAT in the first week itself and finally scored 750 (Q51, V40) The actual GMAT Experience I arrived at the test centre an hour earlier. That was advantageous because the test centre demanded a photo-copy of my passport, which was a prerequisite NOT mentioned on mba.com. I had to rush to get a photo-copy from a nearby shop. Also, I got hold of the scratch book and spent a good 15 minutes getting used to it. I started with my AWA, which was easier compared to some of the practice topics I had come across. I used the Chineseburned Guide Strategy to ace it and got a 6.0 - how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html The IR seemed tricky and I was at my wits' end half-way through it. I don't know if it was me or it was just generally too difficult to understand. Lack of time piled on the misery and I was unable to devote much time to the easier questions in the end. I got a 5 eventually (52 percentile) The Quant was much simpler than what I had been practicing (MGMAT) and I was sailing through it. Yes, there were those really tricky DS questions and I was happy to be able to dodge through them with ease. There were quite a few questions that were NEARLY IDENTICAL to those in the OG. The difficulty level was random as there were some really nasty questions followed by some dead giveaway ones. By the end of Quant, I knew I had done well and it was upto Verbal to make it or break it for me. The Verbal was a bit tougher than what I had been practicing (OG) and I was literally racing against the clock towards the end. The questions were tricky and since Verbal was not my natural strength, I was made to toil to earn those 40 points in Verbal. The final score was quite a surprise as I was not anticipating such a good score in Verbal. My Test Scores: MGMAT CAT 1 - 600 (Q46, V28) GMATPrep 1 - 710 (Q49, V36) MGMAT CAT 2 - 680 (Q48, V35) MGMAT CAT 3 - 630 (Q43, V33) MGMAT CAT 4 - 650 (Q46, V33) MGMAT CAT 5 - 720 (Q48, V40) MGMAT CAT 6 - 720 (Q50, V37) GMATPrep 2 - 760 (Q51, V41) GMAT - 750 (Q51, V40, AWA 6.0) Reference Books: GMAT Review - Official Guide Princeton Review Manhattan Sentence Correction Guide Test Series: Manhattan CATs GMAT Prep Other Preparation Sources: Quant - Manhattan Verbal - OG I would like to thank all the people on this forum who have contributed in way of compiling questions banks, providing solutions or just narrating their GMAT experience. Without this support, I would not have been able to improve on my weaknesses and get a good score. Thank you all very much!

Sweety04 · Answer

Hi, congrats on your success. Just wanted to get a feedback from you about the math books. Was the MGMAT QUANTS better than the princeton quants.which one would you refer.

Thanks

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rahulajmera · Answer

Thank you very much!
I thought the MGMAT Quant was tougher than the Princeton Quant, that only made it better because preparing such questions made the actual GMAT Quant seem like cake walk.

Sweety04 · Answer

Great thanks for your reply. One more question: did you do all the online practice questions that comes with it apart from the CAT.

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rahulajmera · Answer

I did not practice the online practice questions on Manhattan. However, I did download this Manhattan CAT Question Bank - quant-700-800-questions-ps-ds-with-solutions-123039.html / 700-800-level-quant-problem-collection-detailed-solutions-137388.html If you practice 2 questions from each topic regularly, this will help comprehensively seal Quant for you in 2-3 weeks.

Sweety04 · Answer

Thank you so much for sharing the link. This is what i was looking for. Awesome.

Thanks,
Sweety04

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trocker · Answer

Hey Rahul! Great to see you score 750, that is absolutely fantastic! I am, kind of, at the same level. I have been scoring v38-40 but I just couldn't make it go beyond 40 how-much-ever I try. I think I know almost all the CR , SC concepts but I just couldn't score above 40, and I don't want to practice from a lesser difficulty source. These days, I am starting to believe that it really doesn't matter how much ever you practice 'CR'. Anyway, do you have any suggestions on good practice materials (like really difficult but good) ? Or any suggestions in general for Verbal? What other exams did you take? Also, did you feel real GMAT verbal was more complex (in terms of 'word' usage) than GMAT prep? Everybody kept on mentioning that MGMAT verbal was at around the same level as GMAT verbal is, but I found that GMAT Prep was significantly different plus a notch higher than the general MGMAT CAT tests. I'd love to hear more about the 'Scratch' pad (or was it erasable pad) that they gave you and how it was different from what you were user to. :wink:

Also, did you practice IR and AWA when you used to take MGMAT mocks? Or were these scores without AWA IR? Thanks!!

rahulajmera · Answer

Hello! Thank you very much! Regarding Verbal, I highly recommend completing the OG set completely first. If you are still not improving, then you have conceptual problems, which can be sorted by using Manhattan SC Guide or Powerscore CR Bible. Getting a score of V40+ is achievable. I was not the best in Verbal, but like I mentioned on my debrief, regular practicing and identifying your weaknesses can help boost your score beyond V35. Check out Slingfox's notes - slingfox-s-gmat-strategies-condensed-96483.html. They're good. The Scratch Pad was a laminated paper and the pen was like a permanent marker. My pen was pathetic and it couldn't draw straight lines. Please spend 10-15 mins in scribbling using that marker and pad, so that you are aware of the minor difficulties in using such a system. You can request for new markers in case of problems. Yes, I practiced the IR and AWA when I took the MGMAT mocks and these are scores with AWA/IR. Merely attempting AWA/IR should not affect one's score because if it does, then that person has some serious problems. Also, I only practiced IR/AWA on the MGMAT exams and did not practice them separately. So in total, I just practiced these 6 times before my actual GMAT.

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