I took the GMAT yesterday (on 27th July) but could not write because I was partying hard.
I have been a part of GMAT club for more than a year. It has been a great learning experience as a member of GMAT club. Thanks to GMAT club, which has definitely contributed to my score.
This is not a stellar score. But I am no genius so happy with whatever it is. I could do this much with my little son (7 months old) around. I could be happier if it were 80-80 split as I have heard that adcoms prefer 80-80 split.
Exam day:I got the exam scheduled at 9:00 AM on Sunday, July 27th. I was not feeling well (having a fever) as I got caught by viral fever three days back. So I could not study much during final days. The previous night to the G-day, I went to bed early (9 pm) and got up at 6:15 am. Got ready and had a light breakfast and kept a bottle of orange juice and a banana for the exam center.
I reached the exam center quite early and started the test at 8:45am.
Two essays - first (argument) went smooth and the second one went ok...
Took break, went to rest room, splashed some water on face...had some juice and ate half banana to get some energy...
Then came the Quants...first question...was a long PS it took bit long (more than 2 mins) to solve. But I was not in hurry. My strategy was to make first ten questions RIGHT...believe me whatever the GMAT scoring algorithm may be.. but first 10 questions matter a lot for your score.....I have tried this on GMAT Focus and GMAT prep and scored well whenever I did first ten questions correct.
I was not having much problem with the speed. I was very much on the scheduled but last two questions I had 1.5 mins so had to guess the last one. Overall, I was not unhappy with the quants.
After quants, took a break and repeated the same thing as I did in the first break....
Then came the beast...Verbal portion...started with the SC...The same strategy I followed in verbal also - try to make first 10 questions right. Few questions later...RC came... which drove me crazy...I read it twice got nothing substantial out of it...it dragged my confidence down...but never mind...I was ready for the worst..then came a few SCs and CRs..they went smooth...again came a RC, which was worse than the previous..oh my God..I thought I would not get more than 30....these ate up lot of time..and ultimately I had 9 questions and 13 mins left. I knew that I had to guess a few of them...I rushed...and guessed last 3 questions...and left everything to God...Thank God no bold face appeared..I hate them to the core.
After I answered the survey questions..not interestingly...I clicked on the report score...It's started processing...took a few seconds.. I closed up my eyes....and when I opened up eyes....it was 710....oh my GOD...big thanks...I crossed the 700 barrier...I was quite happy....though it may be a mediocre score for some..but I was not tragetting something around 750 or more...
So that's the story of the G-day...
My preparation:
I started serious preparation from Mar 2007 onwards, prepared for 3-4 months. I couldn't continue because of personal reasons. I came back to India in Oct' 2007. My son was born in Dec, 2007. So could not study for 3-4 months....Then I started preparing seriously again from end of Mar 2008 and took GMAT on 27th July, after 4 months of serious preparation.
Quants: I am from engineering back ground so have good maths skills. GMAT club challenges is a good source to learn the tricks and concepts. Last 50 questions from OG11 are good to practice on.
Verbal:
SC:
MGMAT SCs guide, Spidey's Notes. Manhattangmatforums. I would strongly recommend 800BOB's (at testmagic forums) explanations to SCs. He is the master of SCs. I used to score good on SCs in practice test (accuracy - 80-85 %)..
CR: I did GMAT CRs Bible from Powerscore and offcourse OGs. I was neither extremely bad nor good at CRs.
RC: I had to struggle with RCs. I hate RCs.
Study materials:
OG11, OG10, Official Quants Guide, Offcial Verbal Guide: They are must have books. I studied them extensively...
GMAT focus: Not worth, I would not recomment them...
GMAT Club Challenges: (
https://www.gmatclub.com/wiki/tests)Must buy....they are worth every cent you spend on them...
MGMAT SC guide: Must have for SCs
Kaplan 800: I did it but did not like.....Kaplan is not close to GMAT pattern.
Princeton Review: Good to start with but not good for advanced preparation.
GMAT CR bible from PowerScore: Very good book to learn CRs from.
LSAT book: I bought it but didn't study much.
CAT preparation Results:
GMAT prep - I : 670 (Q49, V32) 8th May 08
GMAT prep - II : 690 (Q49, V34) 25th Jun 08
Power Prep -I: 690 (Q47, V37)......not a good predictor of your performance....Qaunts is ridiculous..
GMAT Prep Reset -I : 730 (q49, V40): 6th July
GMAT Prep Reset -II : 620 (q49, V25): 22nd July............off day....but it drove me crazy..
GMAT prep Reinstalled -I: 710(Q51, V35) 24th July....bit skewed..but this was the peak of my quants...thank God it came at right time..
GMAT prep Reinstalled -II: 700(Q51, V32) 25th July..so this..
In
MGMAT CATS I scored from 670 to 730....
I took PR CAT too...but found not good for GMAT preparation...They are not GMAT like.
Real GMAT: 710 (Q50, V35) 27th JulyGMAT Prep tests are the best and the most accurate predictor of your performance. I think the
MGMAT CATs are also good. Their Quants is lengthy and tough but good for practice. Verbal is also good. Actually nothing is close to GMAT pattern as far as verbal is concerned. Verbal questions are very difficult to mimic with GMAT flavor. Kaplan is ridiculuosly tough making no sense. GMAT is not all about solving tough questions, it's about learning the tricks to solve GMAT type problems. Only pratice can make you learn the GMAT pattern.
My success formula for the last SEVEN days(this worked for me)
Better to take a week off from your work and sleep at least 8 hrs every day during the last week.
Revise all Maths formulae and Verbal notes on the very
first day.
For the
next five days...do
ONLY GMAT prep tests and their Questions....to get into rhythm for the real test...take a test (only GMAT prep) daily for 5 days....you will get repeats...don't worry...you know how much you have really scored... This will give the variety and degree of challenge you are going to face in the real TEST.
Seventh day....I would not recommend to take the practice test a day before your G-day. Don't stress too much, Relax,,,,go to religious places....to be calm and get blessings from Almighty..leave it to God and get a proper sleep..
G-day.....smash it...
Last but not least...thanks all of you whoever contributed to my preparation....GMAT Clubbers roccccccccckkkkkkkkkkk...
That's all for now....please feel free to ask about any help...If I can be of any..
My sincere thanks to
TimeSquareDesi, jallenmorris, fresinha12, walker, Tarmac,abhaypratapsingh, dushver, barfer, x-ALI-x, mbawaters for your good words.