The score has sunk in and I am now back to earth getting ready to do my essays. But before that, I would like to tell my Gmat preparation story and I hope most of you might benefit from the same. Believe it or not, when I started my GMAT study, I found that I was bad in Math, SC, CR and RC. Trust me I was good at none of these stuff. In real life too, I am just street smart average joe. I am niether the "brainiac" nor the "intelligent" guy. I am just the practical guy.
Before the test, I encountered all sorts of problems, some of them personal and some of them healthwise. I was totally sick the whole week before the test and I was in more than half a mind to cancel the test. In addition, my 2 year old son kept me awake the whole night before the test. Still I wanted to take the test and all I wanted to see was what I could score in such hopeless circumstances. Now to my preparation...
I attacked Math first. Its been 10 yrs since I have been out of school and as I observed GMAT Math more, I found that it was more of tricks than of any intelligent stuff. Getting a 51 in Math does not mean one is good in Math. All it means is that the guy is alert and observant. So What did I do for math ? Just mugged up the various formulae. Now after mugging up the formulae , I practised using them in each and every problem. I found that most of the PS questions are pure formula substitutions. Also using formulae saved me time in PS. Next fun part was the DS. Trust me, DS is the area where you can actually save time. No need for any calculations and all you have to say is whether you can solve the problem or not. For a person like me, this was the best part in the whole GMAT. Remember in DS questions, solve the info in the stem as much as possible before even looking into the answer choices. Almost in all cases, you will find that you would be left with 2 variables and the choices will relate to the 2 variables. If you solve for each and every stmt in the DS problem, it is like solving the question atleast 3 times and this is where u will lose time. So try following my advice for DS. You will solve the problem only once, get the problem right and most importantly you will be confident about your answer.
Now to the most challenging part for me- The verbal section. To truly explain my hopeless situation at the start of my study, you need to understand that I did not start my career as a professional. I started as a low level policeman in a developing country, read India. For me even basic grammar has been a challenge all through my life. Currently I am into IT but for me it is a huge graduation unlike most of the guys in this forum who have started their lives as professionals. For me life has truly been tough partly because I never had a good educational degree. I have survived by being simply street smart.What did I do in Verbal ? Start your prepartion by reading quality articles on the internet. One thing that went my way was that the my first sincere attempt at learning english started with learning GMAT english.So when you guys say that GMAT english is of a higher standard compared to normal english, I didnt feel so as I learnt GMAT english in the 4-5 months without much prior knowledge of normal english. Non Indian readers may find this difficult to comprehend but this is true. Any Indian reader will attest to the english proficiency of a local police constable.
Read good articles and always try to enjoy the essence of the article. In every article, I tried to understand the article in full and then critiqued them. Also I ensured that all my emails followed proper GMAT grammar protocols. Moreover I listened critically to all the ads on the radio and this was the way I prepared for CR. In our daily lives we listen to so many arguments, so replay them in your mid and then strengthen or weaken them. In a few months you will be a CR. One material that I enjoyed reading both for its content and its grammar is the powerscore CR bible. I used the techniques mentioned in the bible to bring my CR time to under 2 minutes.
So guys let me reiterate. If a low level policeman from a developing country can do it in abt 5 months, you guys can easily do so too. All you need to remember are these 2 facts
1. Be alert in the test. GMAT is all abt tricking you. It is not abt concepts or anything
2. Enjoy the verbal part of GMAT. You can actually use the AWA drills in your essays. How ? Read on...
In AWA you are the critique of the arguemnt and the issue. In the MBA essays, the adcom is the critique. Now if you develop a story that is air tight and if the conclusion(s) in the story cannot be waekened then you have a good essay and you are highly likely to receive an interview call. So enjoy the GMAT. I hear people say GMAT is the easiest part in this whole journey. SO PM me if you have any questions. I will try my best to answer you guys. My answers may not be as refined and professional as your answers are, so please bear with me and just take the content of my responses.
Dahcrap
Apr 26
Apr 27
Apr 28
31 Aug 2007, 18:18
i'm sure a score that high should entice any elite program to take your application more seriously.. congrats!! from your contributions on the forum, your score does not surprise me! good luck with apps! 
Could you please give us the SC pointers too? 
