750 (Q49 V42 IR7)

Question

I gave my GMAT in the afternoon today. I scored 750 (Q49, V42, IR7). The AWA score is awaited. The exam was in the newer shorter format. I will keep my debrief very concise. I am willing to answer any question which might be posted.

Background 
Country - India
Gender - Male
Education - Computer Science Engineer 
English is my second language.

Materials Used 
 Magoosh GMAT - Premium:  It included questions and lesson videos. All the questions have a video explanation which is very helpful. If you still can't understand the explanation then you can write to them and they will try and resolve your query via email. It was a very good experience. 
 GMAT Official Guides  - All 3. I bought the physical copies but hardly ever opened them. I used the online tool. I guessed that since the actual exam in on a computer so it makes sense doing question from the computer only.
 GMAT Prep Software  - Additional Questions Pack and Prep Test - Gave only the free tests. Did not attempt any other test.

Preparation Plan 
I did not take any baseline tests. I took the diagnostic test in the GMAT OG. My quantitative ability was okay but the verbal was a little weak so I decided to focus on that.

I started with the Magoosh course. Saw all the video lessons on verbal ability and then proceeded to attempt the questions. I was did not keep track of time initially as I wanted to get a grip on concepts. Over time I thought that the time taken would reduce significantly which it did. After completing Magoosh I started doing the OG.

With one month to go for the actual exam I gave my first GMAT prep exam. I got a 750 in the test. All the questions were relatively new and I had not seen them. I thought it was a fairly honest exam. By this time I had completed around 30% of the OG. Since I had struggled on the verbal a bit so I purchased the verbal OG and started doing that. Completed that and proceeded to the other OGs

2 days before the exam I gave my second GMAT prep. Scored a 770 on that. Was a good boost to my confidence. Last 2 days I kept doing some questions from the Prep Question pack just to keep in touch and flow going. Though I had purchased the other practice papers i did not attempt them as they are not accompanied by detailed solutions. Practice pack seemed to be a better approach. Also, since I had not referred to any other source apart from the ones mentioned here the GMAT Prep exams seemed very new and thus were accurate. Only in the second test did I have a couple of questions in verbal which seemed familiar.

Test Day 
I chose the afternoon slot at the center closest to my house. I chose afternoon so that I could avoid all the morning traffic rush and also so that I could warm up a little before the actual exam. I woke up at slightly later than my normal routine at around 0800. Had a heavy breakfast at around 1030 (was planning on skipping lunch). Answered some of the easy-medium question from the GMAT Prep software to get into the groove and to boost up my confidence. Did some exercise at home- some aerobic and some with resistance bands - increases metabolism and freshens you up. Ensures you are alert for the day ahead. Took bath and left for the center. The exam was scheduled at 0130. I reached the exam hall around half and hour before time. The examiner check my identification and logged me in. I was at my desk at around 0110. Test started before time.

Order of exam  - I chose to do the exam with the verbal section first, followed by quantitative with IR and AWA being the last. I find that the verbal section demands a little more attention and requires you to be focused so I wanted to be done with it before the exam fatigue sets in. Also, I was fairly comfortable with quantitative so in what order it came did not matter much.

Time Management  - During the initial menus I wrote down the time-left and questions attempted matrix on the scratch pad. Very basic for question number 10-20-30 the time left should be 47-29-11 minutes. It really helps so that you know if you are behind schedule and need to speed up. I keep the clock hidden because it adds to your anxiety and the eye keeps going to it breaking your flow. So after questions 10-20-30 I check the clock and just confirm how I am doing. I was more cautious during my earlier questions and was behind schedule at the 10 question mark but picked up pace later on. There was no scrambling due to shortage of time in either the VA or QA sections. I was left with 2 minutes for my last IR question which was a little less than I would have liked.

Optional Breaks  - I availed both my optional breaks. I used the the washroom and splashed some water on my face. Drank some water. Had a banana and a chocolate cookie during each of the two break. Did not eat anything too high in sugar or have an energy drink. I know for a fact that Red Bull has a very bad crash. You don't want anything like that happening in the middle of your test. Reached the desk with 2 minutes to spare each time. Settled in a resumed the exam. 8 minutes is not a very long time. You should have planned out how you are going to use it wisely. Also since there is no clock you should have a rough idea of how long 8 minutes feel. The break is really nice and helps you switch from one section to the next mentally.

After completing the exam I was provided with the score report. I was the last one to leave the center. Overall the experience was on the lines of what I had expected. No surprises.

Special thanks to the Magoosh team. I would recommend them. Apart from the official sources they were my only external source. A very well oiled platform.

This was my experience. I am open to questions.

akadiyan · Answer

jatinsindhu

First of all congrats to your amazing score. Your score on both verbal and quants is really good.

I understand that you did not hse any other external material apart from magoosh. How about the mock tests. Did you use GMAT Club CAT’s for quant? If so please let share your experience.

How do you feel about the difficulty level of verbal section. I read in many debriefs that verbal section was tough in new format with majority of questions are RC.

All the best for your applications.

Regards
Raghu

HKD1710 · Answer

Time strategy for new GMAT is good

How many weeks/months did you take to prepare? Could you please write more about how was verbal in the real exam: how many RCs and difficulty level? were CR questions too difficult? were the most SCs meaning based? Congrats

jatinsindhu · Answer

Hi,

Thanks for the wishes.

Like I mentioned earlier, I gave only 2 mock exams. Should I have given more? Probably. It becomes difficult to spare around 3.5 hours at a stretch and give the exam frequently. So instead if I wanted to practice I would do it section by section. Pick 41 questions of verbal, set the clock and do it. Magoosh has that option. It is more compact and easily repeatable. Before doing this I used to do it topic by topic - 12 questions for RC, SC or CR.

I did not use GMAT club much. For some questions on the 2 GMAT Prep Mocks that I gave, I could not understand the some of the answers. For that I used to Google up and found good explanations here. On the hindsight I guess that had I seen too many of the questions here they might have impacted my GMAT Prep scores as I would have already seen some of those questions.

As far as the verbal section is concerned, I think it was slightly on the difficult side. I am not very sure whether it was me that found it difficult or it was actually one but I took more time than I would have liked for the first 10 questions (largely because of the first RC). There were 3 or 4 (most probably 4) RC in the test each with 4 questions (So between 12-16 questions - 34%-45% of the verbal). Some of the verbal questions were difficult. My first passage was at 6-9 and the last one was roughly 29-32 (that is, evenly spaced). The first one was about professional lives of women, 2 paragraphs, and was not easy at all . The very first question took me around 3 minutes on top of the reading time. However not all RC questions were difficult, some were straightforward.

Regards
Jatin

jatinsindhu · Answer

I took around 2-3 months. Verbal was the main focus of my preparation. As far your questions -
-> mentioned in my previous reply. Last paragraph. 
-> too difficult? No. Probably slightly on the higher side but not that much.
-> Some of the SCs were meaning based but only rarely did I encounter one in which only meaning was the decider. In most cases you could use other mistakes to narrow down on the correct one and then realize that the meanings in the other ones are also distorted. Doing it the other way is complicated I guess. Very difficult to mix up the words and keep the meaning same so I guess this is bound to happen.

Overall, for the verbal section I did feel that a the a significant part of the questions were "fresh". I had not encountered very similar questions before. But I guess it ultimately went well for me. The GMAT Prep tests are accurate and it is a good idea to give them as they do paint a good picture.

Regards
Jatin

jatinsindhu · Answer

I got my official report recently. My AWA score is 6.

I also have the ESR - I screwed up in the reading comprehension. If anyone is interested in anything particular regarding the ESR I am willing to answer.

Maria Antony · Answer

Hi Jatin,

Congratulations for the 750.

Would you mind sharing the ESR either here or in a PM?

Many thanks,
Maria

rahul16singh28 · Answer

Congratulations bro.. do you mind sharing your ESR??

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