GMAT recap 710, Q47, V40, AWA 6.0

Question

So I went through my first sitting yesterday. I thought I would do a brief recap.

7-11am:

Wake up at usual time (7:30am) and brush up on some last minute stuff while enjoying some slam bang 20/20 cricket courtesy IPL. I just chilled for the most part. I am from the school of thought which thinks, ‘If you dont know it the day of, you arent learning it then’ and consequently I just enjoyed my Saturday morning.

11am:

I learn that the TTC is on strike, this after 2 weeks of news suggesting that all was well between the corporation and the bargaining unit. Anyhow, I am able to get to the test center by the scheduled time. They inform me that they are running over time and hence my appointment doesnt begin till 12:10 am.

Start of Test:

The AWA is a breeze, or so I felt. The issues were actually not that boring and consequently I found writing about them unburdensome. I finished both essays with about 3-4 minutes in hand, I wrote at a steady pace and didnt find this section of the exam tiring.

1st Break:

Despite itching to call my better half and find out if the Rajasthan Royals defeated the Bangalore boys I refrained. I have heard of instances where people have been ‘failed’ for using mobile technology in between breaks.

Quantitative Section:

I start off decently, but soon enough I find myself getting stuck. There seem to be some question types/structures I havent seen before. I wasted some time on one of the new ones, and consequently was playing catch up the rest of the test. I felt like I did alright when it was all said and done. However, I could certainly not say with any level of confidence that I would hit anything more than 45.

2nd Break:

Get some water and chat up some of my fellow test takers. Most of them seemed to have breezed through their math, which seemed odd to me. Anyways, I quickly get back to the test center, which requires more security than Canadian immigration!!!

Verbal:

The verbal seemed to flow pretty nicely for me and as usual I finished with about 20 minutes to spare. I found some of the reading comprehension sections pretty tough, the sentence correction were easier than expected. I was hoping to see something north of 42 on it.

Drumroll: Score

So after answering some more questions about myself, my interests blah blah. I get the score:

Q - 47 , 81 percentile

V - 40, 89 percentile

Overall score - 710, 93 percentile

Summary:

This exactly the kind of score I was not looking forward to getting. It has left me in a quandary over whether I should do it once over to try and push the overall score to 760+. Anyhow, I am going to do some other things this weekend and figure out early this week whether I am going to give another run.

mymba99 · Answer

finished verbal 20 minutes to spare?? :roll:

...in real GMAT? and scored V40.. :shock:

Am I the only one surprised here? :shock:

kharavela · Answer

Congratulations. (For me this is a dream score, :-)

) Can you please share your preparation tips and your practice scores, if any.

sm332 · Answer

Surprising .. but to be honest it has rarely taken me more than 55-60 minutes on any of the practice tests to do the verbal. I rely on my ear for SC and consequently it takes me no time to get it right or wrong

altaurus1 · Answer

Congrats. That's a good score.
Any tips for picking up the speed for the verbal section?

sm332 · Answer

Thanks mate ... to be frank I really dont know whether I have any tangible tips to give. All I can say is that I have a good ear and a fairly decent memory which means I dont really have to re-read passages often, or look at critical reading passages again.

I suppose practice under timed conditions can only help, but am not sure this is the best technique for everyone.

I am very open to suggestions on how to improve my math score! As my mom said, 'what kind of Indian are you, scoring 81 percentile in math!!!' Leaving aside the sheer comedic value of that comment, it was fair on many counts .. and I need to look to improve 3-4 points on both sections if I want to have a crack at my target score.

All those GMAT acers on our board, any thoughts?

bsd_lover · Answer

I'm afraid you'll find going from 710 to 750+ tougher than going from 600s to 700s

. I am in the same boat as you, and I've realised that to bump up the score significantly, I need to bump up my verbal score from 40 to 43+. This means actually learning sentence correction rules rather than just relying on the ear and volume practice. Also quant 48+ means not only developing fundamentals (I am talking hard number theory, inequalities, mathematically intensive word problems, probability and combinatorials ) along with eliminating all silly errors. The good news is that all the resources are available right here on gmat club. Along with the best bunch of people to achieve this with. Good luck.

sm332 · Answer

BSD - I think that is a fair point, but I reckon I have enough room to do so. My math score can certainly improve and even my verbal score can improve If I am able to ace RC and CR.

But yes, in principle I would agree that incremental gains from 700 and above are tougher to gain. I just need to work out a plan of action to be able to execute on that front. I appreciate your thoughts on how to get there. I need to canvass the GMAT guru's on this board on what plan of action might make sense.

dushver · Answer

Congrats SM, great score!! Wish you all the best for all your future endeavors!

sm332 · Answer

thanks mate appreciate it.

suyashjhawar · Answer

Congrats sms....20 in to spare....hats off....i scored miserably low in verbal and this should encourage me....all the best....

bhatiagp · Answer

Good score... Very Balanced... Do u think u d ever be rejected if u have a 710 with such a balanced score..

Though I do feel that if u dont try , having the time in hand, and if u do not get into ur dream school u may have that sick feeling of not having tried again.. But I doubt it would ever be ur GMAT that got u the reject ....

With the Rajasthan Royals at Number 2 on the IPL , im sure ud prefer to wait to give ur next GMAT after the IPL finals..

Congrats and Best wishes to both u and Raj Royals ....

sm332 · Answer

yeah mate ... in fact in hindsight .. one of my strategies to improve the verbal score is to utilize the extra time to really nail RC and CR and reduce SC mistakes as much as possible.

sm332 · Answer

I think you have hit the nail on the head, there is a strong chance I will get denied either way whether I have a 710 or a 770 (then usual excuses for Indian males!!!) but at least I dont go down like I did in UG wondering whether my 99th percentile 1460 was enough or not!!! What bothered me then was not knowing why I got dinged, I would prefer to have more concrete reasons this time. the Royals are doing nicely much to most people's surprise!! After all the most beautiful state deserves a nice team!! :wink:

sm332 · Answer

updated with my AWA score ...glad to see that worked out fine.

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GMAT recap 710, Q47, V40, AWA 6.0

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