mbaboy wrote:
Folks,
I thought i will post some of my experiences dealing with the GMAT preparation.
To be honest, i had my GMAT exam scheduled on 29th of NOV. After preparation i took the GMAT Prep2 Test 1 and scored 410 ! The next thing immediately came to mind was cancel my exam. And i did cancel my exam !
I was prepared with most of the basics that GMAT tests but did not have enough practice. Also took the kaplan course.
2nd thing that was knocking my mind was am i fit for such exam as the GMAT?
I have a engineering deg from India. My math skills are good.
3rd thing i was researching was what does GMAT really test. Does GMAT requires high IQ? I noticed, GMAT only test basics Maths skills and Basic verbal skill. But yet scoring in the exam is so difficult. I have found a few factors that seems to me like key in GMAT exam.
1. Stamina of the mind. First they asks us to write two essays for about 60 minutes. To develop two good essays from two different diverse topic is cumbersome and drains considerable amount of thinking energy. I also feel this is the reason GMAC asks us to write the essays at the beginning rather than at the end of the exam (so we are given to solve quantitative problems after writing the essays - after tiring our minds!)
2. Then comes quantitative section. Each question is timed little more than 2 minutes. In the quant section data sufficiency generally takes close to two minute or even more some time. Problem solving question can be solved within two minutes but then they would make the question so much wordy that often times its confusing to extract the question stem.
3. Then comes the verbal section, relatively easy but presented at the end of exercising your mind for 60+75 minutes. Questions are also timed less than two minutes and mixed SC, RC and CR are presented at random. If they ask the Qs in serial order like SC first, RC second and CR third, examinees would have at least a flow and mind would not switch frequently. But they don't. What i found was some times it takes more than allotted time to complete a SC or CR question.
I feel if GMAC change the order of the exam to Verbal first, Quant second and Essay third many would score great.
Now how can people like me can improve on the GMAT exam? Am i capable of scoring high on this exam? Or i am not worth for exam such as GMAT and MBA is a distant dream for us ? From my instinct what i feel is i have the qualities it requires to be an MBA. Also have around 10 years of work experience in software industry and have been always in the top 10-15% performer in the team. Yet not able to clear the first hurdle. Score only 410 on a simulated GMAT exam. Would like to hear from people who scored in the 95 to 99th percentile and what was the key to their success? What strategy requires to succeed in GMAT exam? How much study time be allotted? What to do one week before exam?
Thanks much,
A poor soul in the hope of doing better.
GMAT is meant to be tough for all due to its adaptive format. Even 99%ilers sweat on it, no exaggeration. That said, it is also a very simple test since there are only a handful of concepts it tests (as compared to the crazy Math we have to go through to crack IIT, CET etc, the Math here is absolutely basic). But the fun part of GMAT is that it is adept at hiding the concept it is testing.. Plus, its DS and CR question formats are not run-of-the-mill. They take practice and strategy to work out. You could feel that the DS question you just got was very simple, but there might have been this tiny trick that you missed! Since you are an engineer, I am assuming your Math skills are not bad at all... Your Verbal seems fine too. But you have been out of touch for a long time. So forget about why the format is the way it is (since anyway we cannot do anything about it even if we wanted to), focus on what can you do to adapt yourself to this format.
Start working and get back when you get stuck somewhere.
I have discussed some of these things on my blog post:
https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2010/11/quarter-wit-quarter-wisdom-a-prelude/