740 (V40/Q50) - Second Attempt self preparation

Question

RESOURCES USED (between 1st and 2nd attempt) 2 Veritas Mocks Official Mocks 3 and 4 GMATClub Tests (Used only 3 quant tests, could have used more) I took the first attempt on 1 Oct and scored a 720 (Debrief : https://gmatclub.com/forum/720-v39-q49- ... l#p2872097 ) I scored 740 (V40/Q50/IR 3

/AWA 6) on my second attempt on 8 Nov. Ideally I had planned to take the exam towards the end of November, but preponed the plan because of 2 reasons: More time to prepare for R2 Applications in case of a good enough score There were 3 holidays in the Diwali week, moreover work pace was slow leading into the Diwali week, so took the entire week off to switch off mentally from work After my first attempt, I left everything GMAT for a week. Then I started filling up the ISB Application, and going through the essay topics. I did not try to learn any more new concepts between my 2 attempts. I was more focused to dissect what went wrong in my first attempt, since my average mock score was 740. This took me almost a week. Attempt 1 mistakes I realised that I panicked towards the end of my verbal section, since I fell behind the timer. I went through the last 8-10 questions and was trying to answer them in an auto-pilot mode without analyzing the meaning (SC) or identifying the conclusion (CR) properly. Further, even though I thought I didn't, I carried the hangover of the Verbal Section well into the Quant section. I started skipping tougher DS questions, not because I did not know the concept, rather because I did not want to devote a longer time (may have been a subconscious fear of running out of time) To be precise, I think the exam day pressure got the better of me. So, for my next attempt I wanted to focus more on the mental aspects, rather than concepts. 2nd attempt preparation GMATClub was sending out surveys which granted access to Forum Quiz. This was a great help. I took a few Verbal quizzes selecting "random" 600-700 and 700 questions exclusively from the multiple OG/Verbal Review versions (Tip : Use older version OGs since GMAC frequently flush some questions, so you can get substantial official questions even after exhausting the latest OG version) Similarly, used a few GMATClub quant Tests for QA. These were enough to get my pace back up and buckle up for a last dash. In the penultimate week, took 2 Veritas mocks. (I experienced the same timing issue in my first mock and ironically again scored a 720) In the final week, I attempted the Official Mocks 3 & 4. How did I tackle the timing issue? Divide the time into 4 quarters and try to solve quarter of the questions in each quarter. For example - For me, in Verbal, the quarters (as per time left) were 49,33,17 for each set of 9 questions . Similar figures for QA. Very important : These time limits are not meant to be so strict that if you take one extra minute to solve a question or you need more time to comprehend a particular RC that you blindly skip the question. These are simply meant to be signposts to track your progress. 3 beautiful ideas I got from some debriefs around the forum: Take a small 20-30 second break to recollect your mind, if you start to get panicked or to feel overwhelmed after solving a tough CR/RC/DS. Though it feels counter-intuitive to lose time, but trust me it helps to tackle the next questions freshly and you can make-up for that lost time. Use the keyboard shortcuts Alt+N, Alt+Y to go to the next question. Cumulatively, you can save some time from constant mouse movements back and forth. For verbal, use your 5 fingers for representing the 5 choices. Open all your fingers and close each one, once you eliminate those options. That way, you will not go through a choice which you had eliminated earlier. (Particularly useful in SC when multiple concepts are used for eliminating options) How did I prepare in the final week? For a high score, I think keeping the mind alert, yet calm is the main key. I took both the official mocks in the final week, last one 2 days before the test date(not advisable for everyone, if you tend to get affected by mock scores) I completely left work for the entire week, not even opening the work laptop even once, since I did not want any distractions. Watched 4 movies to relax Since it was Diwali, a major Indian festival, I spent a lot of time with my family. I checked the chineseburned AWA template last night before the test day and revised my notes in the morning before going to the test center. I was very confident on my abilities in this attempt and felt relaxed because I had a good safety net of 720, which could also get me some good schools even if I flunked this attempt. It is better to trust the process instead of continuously worrying about the end goal. Test Day VERBAL I started well and was trying to maintain the time as per the quarters strategy. Got a very dense complicated passage, which threw me off guard. Took a 30-sec break and recollected my composure since I still had 8 more questions to go through. Section ended well and the experience was smooth. QUANT This section proved to be very challenging. I got a lot of Statistics questions. The related DS questions were brutal. By the time I was halfway into the section, I was getting exhausted by the questions, most of which involved breaking down into multiple cases. I had to take 2 30-sec breaks. This was very much needed as I could have easily screwed the section. The section ended on a happy note with comparatively easier questions. However, the QA took a heavy toll on IR, as I was trying to go through the IR as soon as possible, trying to dodge much of the details. I am extremely indebted to the various experts who share their knowledge openly, that has helped me to achieve an elite score without spending a dime (except the EP1

even there premium bundle reduced the rates

) daagh you have left a wonderful legacy, with your SC posts guiding innumerable candidates

Thanks again bb generis sayantanc2k GMATNinja VeritasKarishma IanStewart AndrewN Bunuel chetan2u Sajjad1994 I have achieved the exact score with the exact VA/QA split that I set out to achieve. Hopefully, this closes the GMAT attempt chapter

Looking forward to the applications! Time to explore the other side of the forums! Please feel free to ping/tag me if anybody needs any help. Always happy to contribute to the forum in any manner !

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Congrats on your achievement, may god bless you with all of your future endeavors.

Good luck!

AndrewN · Answer

Congratulations,  sting8 . Sometimes it proves quite difficult to align practice test scores with official exam scores. A few parts of your debrief really resonate with me:

It takes a lot of discipline and confidence to tell yourself that you  know  the material, you just have to execute. Many people hit the panic button after a suboptimal first run and lose all sense of direction after a week or so of poring over all the rules and concepts all over again.

This is one of the toughest obstacles for test-takers, especially those seeking more competitive scores. I have read case studies and meta-analyses that show that we work best under slight duress. You do not want to be too stressed, but neither do you want to be so relaxed that you are not alert. Finding the sweet spot and learning to let go of mental baggage can add 20 or more points to an already competitive score.

So important that you felt the need to highlight it, but yes, even older questions that might not appear as such on the exam today often test the same sorts of concepts, and since they were official questions, they can be an invaluable resource.

I am still in disbelief that my name was mentioned alongside the others at the end, but thank you, all the same. I am glad my posts may have proved useful to you in some way. Such a response makes me want to do better.

Good luck with the next step in your journey. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

- Andrew

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi sting8,

Fantastic job!! Thank you for sharing such a detailed write-up of your experience.

GMATNinja · Answer

Congratulations on the great score,  sting8 ! Glad to hear that we could help out a little bit.

Good luck with your applications, and let us know where you land!

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