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Hello Clubbers,
So I finally took my GMAT last Saturday (4/12) and I am done with it. I was lucky enough and very satisfied to walk out with my 710 (Q50, V35)....(Notice the low verbal score....more of that in a few minutes).
Before I begin my GMAT preparation saga I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of the fellow club members, for all the help and advice I received from them. I truly think that I would have not scored at this level without the insight and help from fellow clubbers. So once again thank you very much all!!!
While on the one hand I think it would be unfair on my part to give credit to specific clubbers, on the other hand I feel equally obligated to mention a few names who have been my true mentors (passively I guess…without them knowing it
).
I truly learned a lot from their posts on how they approach at various kinds of problems and their way of thinking. This helped me build my technique. So here are some of them
walker -- (I guess everyone on this club owes a lot to his highness Walker. He is simply the best...I can probably fill several pages with praise for him of how much of a help he has been to me. His SC software...simply the best, gotta love it!!!)
abhijit_sen
bsd_lover
eschn3am
GMAT TIGER
marcodonzelli
jimmyjamesdonkey
prasannar
sreehari
vavali
vshaunak
hanumayamma (dude you are a killer in SC verbal..too good)
GMATBLACKBELT (love your simple techniques to solve complex problems)
srp
bmwhype2
santaurian
tarek99
pmenon
Coming back to my GMAT story….let me start off by giving my background.
Background: Bachelors in Engineering, Masters in Computer Science. Total of about 12+ years of experience in IT industry
Profile: MIT (Male-Indian-Techie) -- most subscribed demographic on all MBA Applications.
GMAT Score: 710 (Q50, V35, AWA 5.0)
Current Work Profile: Working as a technology project manager for a big financial services firm. Managed small to medium size team sizes (3-14 team members)
Total Experience: 13+ years
I started my preparation around mid January of 2008. Spent approximately a month before that following various posts on the forum and getting an understanding of what is needed to score well on the GMAT. I also spent that time purchasing/collecting all the relevant books and study material.
Here are the study materials that I used:
• OG-11
• OG-11-Verbal Supplement
• Manhattan SC Guide
• Kaplan 800 & Kaplan guide (although I was not very impressed with the material)
• GMATClub Tests (25 Quant, 5 Verbal tests)
• GMATPrep Tests
• 6 Manhattan Tests
• Actively participating on the GMATClub forum
Quant Preparation:
Being from an engineering field I have a very decent math background and felt that I had a good grip on it. But I was consistently making very silly mistakes. Sometimes even in simple addition and multiplication. I was also not very cautious when reading the question stem and was making too many mistakes. I was averaging at about 11-15 mistakes in every test. With the various GMAT Club tests I was able to improve my score from a mere 44-45 range to the 49-50 range.
Verbal Preparation:
I am not good at verbal and usually scored in the 25-27 range. Additionally I was not able to give it a lot of attention due to lack of focus and a very busy full time job. I studied a lot of sentence correction that helped me improve my score. I truly believe that reading comprehension is like a crap shoot. You could get the entire passage right or get it all wrong. For RC & CR I just stuck to the OG and did not touch any additional material. For SC I did try to do SC-1000 and might have done about 300-400 questions from there. But again I should emphasize that if you get the concepts of all questions in OG correct and actively participate on the forum you should be good to go. Know exactly why the answer is correct and why the others are not. I think Manhattan SC guide is one of the best book for GMAT SC preparation. I might have read it at least 6 times during my whole preparation.
Mock Tests:
I started taking the GMATClub quant tests which helped me a lot in improving my score. It helped me build my attention and focus while reading a question. In fact during the real test I was double checking and sometimes triple checking my answers before moving on to the next question. I never had to struggle with finishing the quant test within the allotted time and usually would have 10-12 minutes to spare. So I started using this extra time by spending longer on a question and making sure to not make any silly mistakes.
AWA:
I did not spend anytime on this. My total AWA preparation time was about 2 hours + the time spent on every mock test. One thing I made sure to do was never skip the AWA section on any of my mock tests. I wanted the true exhaustion level of my brain by the time I got to the math and verbal sections.
General tips:
- One of the *MOST* important things which benefited me was maintaining an error log. Keep reviewing your error logs and make sure that you do not make the same mistakes again
- Don’t kill yourself over probability/combinatorics types problems too much. Make sure to get the basics correct first.
- Make sure to practice and maintain a log of questions that you would like to revisit (by category). For example for me DS-number properties was my weak side and I kept practicing them again and again. (this is one tip I have learnt from a lot of the clubbers)
- Take your mock tests very seriously and in similar exam type setting. Do not fool around. This is really important.
- Make sure to take at least 8-10 mock tests before the real exam and of which take the GMATPrep at least 3-4 times. When I uninstalled and re-installed I was getting only about 3-4 questions similar to last time and since I was doing better I was getting a different/harder set of questions.
- Manhattan Mock tests are the next best after GMATPrep. They really help you in guiding which level you are operating for every question. For example in my verbal tests it was very transparent in my scoring that I hardly got any 700-800 level question right.
- PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE
- On the day of the test make sure to drink some good coffee or whatever works for you so that your brain is at your best.
Real Test:
Quant - I did not get a whole lot of questions in probability or combinatorics. But a lot of questions on work/time, mixtures, modulus, geometry, sequences, venn diagram type problems. (I have about 20+ questions memorized even today but unfortunately cannot post them as it is illegal).
I could feel that the questions were getting harder and harder as I progressed. Sometimes I was spending over 3 minutes on a question to get it solved.
Verbal – I don’t have a great score in verbal so cannot comment much on how I did but most reading comprehensions were simple and were not that bad. Sentence correction and CR was also just fine. I was pretty good at keeping a track of time based on the mock tests I took and hence did not have any trouble finishing all questions.
Scoring patterns:
GMATPrep1 – 630 (Q44, V30)
GMATPrep2 – 660 (Q47, V33)
Manhattan GMAT1 – 670 (Q49, V32)
Manhattan GMAT2 – 660 (Q48, V33)
Manhattan GMAT3 – 680 (Q49, V34)
GMATPrep1 (reinstalled) – 710 (Q50,V34)
GMATPrep2 (reinstalled) – 690 (Q49, V33)
Real GMAT – 710 (Q50, V35)
(Noticeably majority of my mock tests were score were not as good as my real score. Hence I do consider that there was some element of luck which helped me with my score)...
GMAT Club test scores:
Test Correct Total % Correct Percentile
m00 2 5 40.0% 38.4%
m01 23 36 63.9% 50.0%
m02 32 36 88.9% 94.5%
m03 31 37 83.8% 88.1%
m04 30 37 81.1% 85.5%
m05 27 37 73.0% 75.4%
m06 25 36 69.4% 86.2%
m07 27 37 73.0% 76.2%
m08 25 37 67.6% 86.4%
m09 30 37 81.1% 92.6%
m10 29 37 78.4% 83.8%
m11 30 37 81.1% 83.3%
m18 24 37 64.9% 33.3%
m22 29 37 78.4% 64.3%
v01 28 41 68.3% 71.6%
v02 27 41 65.8% 53.7%
v05 21 41 51.2% 41.7%
_________________
So I finally took my GMAT last Saturday (4/12) and I am done with it. I was lucky enough and very satisfied to walk out with my 710 (Q50, V35)....(Notice the low verbal score....more of that in a few minutes).
Before I begin my GMAT preparation saga I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of the fellow club members, for all the help and advice I received from them. I truly think that I would have not scored at this level without the insight and help from fellow clubbers. So once again thank you very much all!!!
While on the one hand I think it would be unfair on my part to give credit to specific clubbers, on the other hand I feel equally obligated to mention a few names who have been my true mentors (passively I guess…without them knowing it
). I truly learned a lot from their posts on how they approach at various kinds of problems and their way of thinking. This helped me build my technique. So here are some of them
walker -- (I guess everyone on this club owes a lot to his highness Walker. He is simply the best...I can probably fill several pages with praise for him of how much of a help he has been to me. His SC software...simply the best, gotta love it!!!)
abhijit_sen
bsd_lover
eschn3am
GMAT TIGER
marcodonzelli
jimmyjamesdonkey
prasannar
sreehari
vavali
vshaunak
hanumayamma (dude you are a killer in SC verbal..too good)
GMATBLACKBELT (love your simple techniques to solve complex problems)
srp
bmwhype2
santaurian
tarek99
pmenon
Coming back to my GMAT story….let me start off by giving my background.
Background: Bachelors in Engineering, Masters in Computer Science. Total of about 12+ years of experience in IT industry
Profile: MIT (Male-Indian-Techie) -- most subscribed demographic on all MBA Applications.
GMAT Score: 710 (Q50, V35, AWA 5.0)
Current Work Profile: Working as a technology project manager for a big financial services firm. Managed small to medium size team sizes (3-14 team members)
Total Experience: 13+ years
I started my preparation around mid January of 2008. Spent approximately a month before that following various posts on the forum and getting an understanding of what is needed to score well on the GMAT. I also spent that time purchasing/collecting all the relevant books and study material.
Here are the study materials that I used:
• OG-11
• OG-11-Verbal Supplement
• Manhattan SC Guide
• Kaplan 800 & Kaplan guide (although I was not very impressed with the material)
• GMATClub Tests (25 Quant, 5 Verbal tests)
• GMATPrep Tests
• 6 Manhattan Tests
• Actively participating on the GMATClub forum
Quant Preparation:
Being from an engineering field I have a very decent math background and felt that I had a good grip on it. But I was consistently making very silly mistakes. Sometimes even in simple addition and multiplication. I was also not very cautious when reading the question stem and was making too many mistakes. I was averaging at about 11-15 mistakes in every test. With the various GMAT Club tests I was able to improve my score from a mere 44-45 range to the 49-50 range.
Verbal Preparation:
I am not good at verbal and usually scored in the 25-27 range. Additionally I was not able to give it a lot of attention due to lack of focus and a very busy full time job. I studied a lot of sentence correction that helped me improve my score. I truly believe that reading comprehension is like a crap shoot. You could get the entire passage right or get it all wrong. For RC & CR I just stuck to the OG and did not touch any additional material. For SC I did try to do SC-1000 and might have done about 300-400 questions from there. But again I should emphasize that if you get the concepts of all questions in OG correct and actively participate on the forum you should be good to go. Know exactly why the answer is correct and why the others are not. I think Manhattan SC guide is one of the best book for GMAT SC preparation. I might have read it at least 6 times during my whole preparation.
Mock Tests:
I started taking the GMATClub quant tests which helped me a lot in improving my score. It helped me build my attention and focus while reading a question. In fact during the real test I was double checking and sometimes triple checking my answers before moving on to the next question. I never had to struggle with finishing the quant test within the allotted time and usually would have 10-12 minutes to spare. So I started using this extra time by spending longer on a question and making sure to not make any silly mistakes.
AWA:
I did not spend anytime on this. My total AWA preparation time was about 2 hours + the time spent on every mock test. One thing I made sure to do was never skip the AWA section on any of my mock tests. I wanted the true exhaustion level of my brain by the time I got to the math and verbal sections.
General tips:
- One of the *MOST* important things which benefited me was maintaining an error log. Keep reviewing your error logs and make sure that you do not make the same mistakes again
- Don’t kill yourself over probability/combinatorics types problems too much. Make sure to get the basics correct first.
- Make sure to practice and maintain a log of questions that you would like to revisit (by category). For example for me DS-number properties was my weak side and I kept practicing them again and again. (this is one tip I have learnt from a lot of the clubbers)
- Take your mock tests very seriously and in similar exam type setting. Do not fool around. This is really important.
- Make sure to take at least 8-10 mock tests before the real exam and of which take the GMATPrep at least 3-4 times. When I uninstalled and re-installed I was getting only about 3-4 questions similar to last time and since I was doing better I was getting a different/harder set of questions.
- Manhattan Mock tests are the next best after GMATPrep. They really help you in guiding which level you are operating for every question. For example in my verbal tests it was very transparent in my scoring that I hardly got any 700-800 level question right.
- PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE
- On the day of the test make sure to drink some good coffee or whatever works for you so that your brain is at your best.
Real Test:
Quant - I did not get a whole lot of questions in probability or combinatorics. But a lot of questions on work/time, mixtures, modulus, geometry, sequences, venn diagram type problems. (I have about 20+ questions memorized even today but unfortunately cannot post them as it is illegal).
I could feel that the questions were getting harder and harder as I progressed. Sometimes I was spending over 3 minutes on a question to get it solved.
Verbal – I don’t have a great score in verbal so cannot comment much on how I did but most reading comprehensions were simple and were not that bad. Sentence correction and CR was also just fine. I was pretty good at keeping a track of time based on the mock tests I took and hence did not have any trouble finishing all questions.
Scoring patterns:
GMATPrep1 – 630 (Q44, V30)
GMATPrep2 – 660 (Q47, V33)
Manhattan GMAT1 – 670 (Q49, V32)
Manhattan GMAT2 – 660 (Q48, V33)
Manhattan GMAT3 – 680 (Q49, V34)
GMATPrep1 (reinstalled) – 710 (Q50,V34)
GMATPrep2 (reinstalled) – 690 (Q49, V33)
Real GMAT – 710 (Q50, V35)
(Noticeably majority of my mock tests were score were not as good as my real score. Hence I do consider that there was some element of luck which helped me with my score)...
GMAT Club test scores:
Test Correct Total % Correct Percentile
m00 2 5 40.0% 38.4%
m01 23 36 63.9% 50.0%
m02 32 36 88.9% 94.5%
m03 31 37 83.8% 88.1%
m04 30 37 81.1% 85.5%
m05 27 37 73.0% 75.4%
m06 25 36 69.4% 86.2%
m07 27 37 73.0% 76.2%
m08 25 37 67.6% 86.4%
m09 30 37 81.1% 92.6%
m10 29 37 78.4% 83.8%
m11 30 37 81.1% 83.3%
m18 24 37 64.9% 33.3%
m22 29 37 78.4% 64.3%
v01 28 41 68.3% 71.6%
v02 27 41 65.8% 53.7%
v05 21 41 51.2% 41.7%
_________________
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
neelesh
congratunation!
Congrats!!! Hard work always works! See you later in B-school threads
neelesh - superb work. Tremendous improvement to go from Q mid fourties to 50, not to mention the V improvement. Hard work pays off !!!! 
Congratulations Neelesh
Amazing !
Amazing !
Congratulations Neelesh 
. very nice score. Another GMAtClubber joins the 700 club! Good luck with the Applications.
. very nice score. Another GMAtClubber joins the 700 club! Good luck with the Applications. 
Congratulations Neelesh, thank you for the de-brief. 
congrats and welcome to the 700 club.
Posts: 325
Neelesh i have followed your posts....awesome.....all the best for application....
That is very inspiring Neelesh.
congratulations! and best wishes for your next steps.
congratulations! and best wishes for your next steps.
neelesh, i am a little late in seeing this, but congratulations ! Thats a great score and i can only hope to pull off something similar when I sit to write.
Posts: 160
Posts: 309
Congratulations! Good luck with essays!
Congratulations!! All the best for your B-School Quest!!
nice score ..congrats!
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