760/5.5 (QA 50, VA 42)

Question

Been off the club for a while, thanks to work, but hope to be more regular henceforth.

Recently took the GMAT and scored 760/5.5 with QA 50 and VA 42.

Prep time was about 1.5 months with 2 hrs everyday. Weekends 6 hrs with 1 test each weekend.

Prep materials used: GMAT OG 10/11, Kaplan Verbal Workbook, Princeton GMAT 2007 ed., Manhattan SC Guide, 1000 SC/RC/CR and gmatclub.com and scoretop.com

While the OGs are a must-do, Princeton is a rather good place to start and the Kaplan VA Workbook can be used to shore up on weak areas. Since SC was my weakest link, I used the Manhattan SC Guide and I'd rate it excellent.

The 1000 SC and RC provided extra questions for practise, and though the gmat section of the 1000 CR was good, I'd recommend the LSAT CR Questions too, which, IMO are closer to the real GMAT. gmatclub and scoretop provided additional Qs.

For the mock tests, I tried to simulate the gmat as far as possible. This meant isolating myself in my room, switching off my mobile phone etc. and strictly adhering to sectional times. I also bought some graph paper and used it to make the grid and simulate the noteboard that is used on the gmat. On alternate tests, I'd do the AWA section in full, only to build up my stamina so as to gear my mind to last through the 4 hours. 9 online mock tests in all. 4 from Princeton, 3 from Manhattan GMAT and 2 from the PearsonVue CD one gets upon registering for GMAT. Scores ranged from 700-750 on the mocks. Of the lot, I think Manhattan GMAT came closest to the actual gmat.

Day of the GMAT
--------------------

Had an afternoon slot. Spent the morning doing some warm-up (5 Qs in each area) and read a few sample AWA essays (I had a PDF with about 50 Argument and 50 Issue essays, but I cant seem to find it now).

Test started with the AWA. Scratch work for about 8 minutes, composition of essay approx. 18 mins and 2 mins to revise each essay. Thought I did reasonably well. Tips: Spend 5-8 mins noting down the points you want to make.

Break 1: 5 mins to stretch and 3 mins to make the elimination grid for the math section

QA: Based on practice tests, had decided to split time as 25-25-25 minutes for 12-12-13 Qs. Focussed really hard on getting the first 9 Qs absolutely right. Took about 20 minutes. Then came 2 probability Qs. Used elimination strategy and then came another perm/combo problem. Since I was lagging a few mins behind my target time, I picked an answer at random (no elimination, did not even read the Q completely). Worked diligently all through, making good use of the elimination grid and double checking that the marked answer was what I really wanted to mark. Finished section with abt 40 seconds to spare. Tip: As mentioned in Princeton, on the last Q, pick an answer first, work it out and then change answer if reqd. This is a protection against section time out.

Break 2: 5 mins to stretch and also made the grid for the verbal section.

VA: Again, based on practice, time targets were 25-25-25 minutes for 13-13-15 Qs. Went slow at first and ensured that first 7 Qs were absolutely bang-on. The 8th Q was the first one where I wasnt 100% certain of the answer, but made a good educated guess based on elimination. I used the elimination grid for each Question. Took good care that for SC question, I had one really good reason for each ans. choice eliminated; in CR, each eliminated answer choice was tested against the question and the premise in the statement. For RC, went back to passage to confirm that answer seemed right. Once again, double checked the chosen answer before confirming. Finished section with about 1 min. to spare.

Was a bit nervous as I opted to see my score, figured I was on target for about 720 or thereabouts, but 760 was a bit beyond my expectations and I pretty much whooped for joy! Saw it a couple of times to make sure!

Now that I'm done with the GMAT, I hope to be more active here at GMATClub, and I'd be happy to help out anyone in any way I can.

PS: I dont have any of my GMAT material now. Sold it all off. But any other kind of help/guidance, I'll do my best!

standard · Answer

Congratulations!

Using the optional break to draw a grid? Dude, you deserved it.

Tajik4GMAT · Answer

Can you elaborate more on "grid" ?? How do you do that?

todakdw · Answer

Thanks standard!

Tajik, on the practice tests (9 tests), my scores ranged from 700-750. Average of 9 tests was about 730, if I recall right.

Tajik4GMAT · Answer

Can you elaborate more on "grid" ?? How do you do that?

todakdw · Answer

By grid, I mean the mechanism by which I'd keep track of eliminated answers.

The columns were the question nos. and there were 5 rows, one for each answer choice. When I'd eliminate an answer, I'd mark off the box with an X (take care that you mark the box for the correct Q). Any left for consideration was marked with a ?. A "certainly correct" ans. was marked with a tick mark. I'd check against this when I marked using the mouse on the CAT.

Although rare, there were a few questions for which I was so certain of the answer, that I didnt need the grid at all. To avoid confusion and marking against the wrong questions for the rest of the section, for such questions I struck off the whole column with a line.

This graphic should help understand the grid usage. And Princeton Review explains it very well

justincase49 · Answer

you're an animal man! congratulations! Did you take the Gmat simulation tests from GMAC? if so how did you do on those?

I took one the night before my gmat and gota 540. I took the real gmat the next day and got 650. trying to hit 750!

Tajik4GMAT · Answer

Can you do this on actual GMAT?

todakdw · Answer

Thanks Justin! I suppose the "you're an animal" is a complimentary slang. Never heard that before in my part of the world, but live and learn, eh? :-D

By GMAT Simulation tests by GMAC do you mean those on the CD that mba.com sends upon registering? If so, yes, I did them both and if I recall right I scored 720 on the first and 730 on the second. Tajik, I dont see why this cant be done on the actual GMAT. The grid is made on the noteboard/scratchbook that is supplied during the test.

justincase49 · Answer

Hahaha, sorry, not only am I american, but I'm a southern californian. I forget this forum is global. yeah, that is a total compliment.

Yeah, I was referring to the MBA.com simulation CD. What kind of guidance do you have for organization of studying. I feel like I have so much to work on, i feel discouraged when it comes time to open my books. I need work on every aspect of the verbal, so I have no clue where to start.

Did you study permutations and combinations for a x days and then move onto another section? I'm so lost.

Mishari · Answer

Congrats. Good JOB !!!

I have a question, how did you prepare for the verbal section ? how could you get the 42 ?

GoalTexasTech · Answer

INSANE YOU ROCK!!

DreamMBA · Answer

Hi Pradyot

Congratulations on your fantastic achievement. Great performance.

I would like to ask you about your practice test scores. I am having some strange experience with them. I did the two GmatPrep tests and scored 730 and 750 on them. I then thought the high scores might be because some questions were repeats as I had gone through the OG10 just a few weeks prior to taking these tests. So I decided to try the PR tests. Strangely, my scores were 650 and 610. I have read a number of posts on this forum and people usually find PR to be easier than GmatPrep and their scores are usually higher on PR. But this is not the case with me. Did you experience anything similar?

Also, my quantitative is usually around 48-49. When I tried the PR tests, I got about 4 ques wrong and none of them were within the first 10 questions. And yet my quantitative score was 38. I just dont understand this. Is PR's scoring mechanism different to the real GMAT?

Could you please comment?

Thanks

todakdw · Answer

@Justin: To answer your Qs, GMAT is all about staying motivated - not just during prep but also during those crucial 4 hours of the actual exam. I prepared for about 1.5 months - the first 4 weeks of which I was in Germany on work. The advantage was that I was close to office (10 mins walk) as opposed to the 2 hr commute here in Bangalore. Also, I'd make it a point to be back in my hotel room by 6:00 pm and I'd study diligently from 6:30-8:30pm before moving on to cooking dinner. The disadvantage of being in Germany was that weekends were completely lost - I'd be travelling to new cities :-D

On the days when I wanted to take a mock GMAT, I had to stretch my study time in the evening, but given that it was either that or losing weekend trips, the choice was an easy one.

As regards the sections, Quant was my strength because of my Engg. degree, so I never did anything beyond reading the basic revision material provided with the OG. For verbal, I went through PR and then having identified SC as my weak link, shored it up by using Manhattan SC. Once I'd the fundamentals in place, I worked through Qs - from OG, 1000 sets and also reading Qs from this forum. If you have the PR, use the study plan given in it or customize it (can be done with their online tools). I found that this gave a target based study plan in terms of what to finish but kept it at a level of workload that could be managed with work. But no doubt, a certain amount of socializing has to be eliminated during GMAT prep time. After all, there are only 24 hrs in a day... Hope that helps. Good luck with the gmat! @mishari: thanks for the compliment. As regards the verbal, in addition to what I've written above, what helped me was a conscious attempt to catch errors - while reading newspapers/magazines, talking to colleagues etc. I must say that I got on the nerves of some of my friends because I'd correct them every so often. :D Further, I figured out the exact kinds of Qs (eg: split infinitive) that I'd screw up most often so when I saw similar Qs a red light flashed in my head... this helped avoid careless/repeat errors. @GoalTexasTech: Thanks!

@DreamMBA: I'll answer your Q shortly. It requires me to think a bit...

todakdw · Answer

The weekends referred to here are the last 2 weekends after my return to India.  (read above post)

todakdw · Answer

Hi DreamMBA,

No, I've not experienced the kind of score range you have. My scores were within a 50 point range always. The only possible explanation is as you've already indicated that you'd done the OG a little while before the tests.

Yes, I did think the PR tests were easier than the GMATPrep tests. My only suggestion is to not worry about which is the easier/more difficult test. Instead focus on finding a time strategy that works for you - taking into account the kind of Qs you most often trip on, and work on maximising your score.

I too cannot understand how 4 Qs wrong on QA can result in a raw score of 38. Having been a programmer, I am wondering if is it likely that the PR software is buggy, because I am certain than getting 4 Qs wrong (esp if not in first 10) will not dip your score as low as 38. If I were you, I'd not fret over it at all. With an average of 48-49, you're already at the 90th percentile and I wish you good luck to push that upto 50 (95th) and 51 (99th percentile) :-)

justincase49 · Answer

Thanks Pradyot!

DreamMBA · Answer

Thanks for your motivational comments Pradyot. I'm planning to take the test on Feb 8 (just booked it in :-D

). I definitely hope to get my quantitative to 50 (if not 51 .. i think that might be over ambitious on my part). Could you recommend any particular study source to get that up .. I'm good with the basics but my weak areas are probability/perms & combs! Should I use the 1000 PS/DS from this forum? Any particular source that you might know of which provides questions from the difficult bin of gmat? I'm just a little concerned that sometimes the answers are wrong with the 1000 PS/DS ... I've managed to get my verbal up from 32 to 40. I'm aiming to get that up to 45 as well :lol:

... fingers crossed! Thanks again and good luck with the next step! Do let us know how it goes!

bmwhype2 · Answer

quick question: when u say Manhattan for the SC readings, are u referring to ManhattanGMAT?

SysAdmin · Answer

Pradyot,

Where did you download the 1000 SC/RC/CR from? 

Thanks

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760/5.5 (QA 50, VA 42)

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