Beat The GMAT a GMAT & MBA community

Hi Everyone!!

I have been a “not so active” member of Beat the GMAT since last few months just going through questions and replies of members to it. I gave my GMAT in sep-end and this debrief was long overdue. I am very laid back kinda person and just dislike writing anything etall which is very well reflected in my disastorous performance in AWA- 4.0,well nothing to write about it but just one advice do not ignore AWA. I don’t know what would be my chances in US business school with such a poor AWA score.
Now let’s talk about my preparation -
My background first -
I have done my engineering in Comp Science which implies Quant is not an issue. But as most of engineering friend from north India will agree Verbal is a nemesis. Let me tell you something about my English Grammar - it sucks!! I didn’t even know 8 parts of Speech before starting my preparation for GMAT, so you can imagine my condition and my dread facing SC questions. I knew bit about construction since I have been reading lots of English novel and newspaper since my college days but still Grammar was a big big issue.
Quant Preparation -
1) 5 MGMAT maths book - MGMAT guys have covered every GMAT topic and explanation to each concept and all kinda question is pretty good. I don’t think you will need any thing else to clear your maths funda if you are solving these 5 books.
2) OG12 - Can’t go anywhere without solving bible. DS questions are very good. You need to solve OG atleast twice esp DS questions. Problem solving questions are relatively easy.
3) Beat the GMAT - I have subscribed to daily dose of Quant and verbal questions from BTG. These mails when it comes in your mail box, they remind you everyday during your busy office schedule - pull your socks for GMAT preparation.
I didn’t do anything other than the MGMAT, OG12 and beat the GMAT forum questions.

Verbal Preparation -
SC -
As I described above about my not so good grammar. SC was one beast I need to tame if I want to do well in GMAT. Here goes my ordeal with SC -
1) Wren and Martyn - I decided to complete first part of W&M before I start reading any material related to SC. Well it is one of the most boring books I have ever read but when you have a Grammar of my standard you have no other options. I started understanding verb, adjective, noun and all other nuances of Grammar which is expected from a 5th grade student
2) MGMAT SC Guide - After completing W&N first part I started with MGMAT SC guide. Completed it. Still my SC was down n out. I started giving up on my SC when one of my friends suggested that I should go and meet someone who conducts GMAT verbal classes in Bandra (Mumbai).
3) Personal Coaching - I joined this class going three days in week for 2 months. All the credit for my SC and RC improvement goes to this guy.
4) Aristotle SC - One of the best book for SC. These guys have explained concept so clearly and in a very simple way. Very easy to understand and follow.
5) Ron’s post - He is phenomenal. Guys do read all explanations given by Ron. You are going to learn a hell lot of concepts if you just follow his post. Thanks a lot Ron!! You are the best !!
RC -
I was good in reading and am quite a voracious reader but still my performance in RC was not upto the mark. My tutor gave me few tips which I implemeted during my preparation and improvement in RC accuracy was phenomenal. Few tips -
•Concentration is the key. If you can’t concentrate 5min for reading a passage you should think again about giving GMAT.
•Don’t give much of emphasis on writing notes. Writing in between reading disturbs the flow of info in your mind and also didn’t help much in your concentration either.
•Don’t RUSH through passage. Take your own sweet time reading it and don’t go any furthur if you are unable to understand what you arereading currently. Reread it and then go furthur. This is very important - just keep a aim of reading passage once and then solve questions. You might take little more time in reading but you will be rewarded by improved accuracy and time to solve questions will reduce drasticaly. You can look back at passage if you are unsure about anwer but after good understanding of passage you will know where to look for answer.
•Do not time your passage at start of your preparation. Intially you might take 10-15 min to solve a passage but don’t bother about it. Your focus should be on giving all the correct answers. As you practise your timing will improve.
CR -
CR is nothing more than logical reasoning. Just keep your mind open and alert. You can read intial 4-5 chapters of CR bible just to understand - what is premise? What is conclusion? Otherwise don’t bother much about technique and all. Just stick to basic and apply your logic You should solve OG and CR questions of Aristotle prep. They have good source of 100 LSAT questions.

MOCK TEST-
I gave GMAT prep test twice and during first attempt my score was around 660-680 and in second attempt just day or two before my exam it was 750.
MGMAT Test - Although I have not attempted any other test but MGMAT test rocks!! The detailed analysis they give you for your test is simply WOW. I gave 5 tests out of 6 and my score was in range of 680-720. I gave these entire tests just in the week just before my exam but I will advice you guys to start giving it much before and use the report generated by it to evaluate your weak and strong areas.

D-Day -
Giving exam almost after 6 years. My last exam was last semester paper of BE  I took a slot of 1PM as I am not a morning person. 1PM slot gave me comfort to treat it just like any other day. Waking up at 9 and then taking my own swet time to get ready just as I do for my office which starts at 12 noon.
AWA -
Writing is something which I detest. I somehow completed my AWA struggling to give words to my thoughts. Got my first break after answering natures call drank water and ate choclates for energy.
Quant -
Quant went smooth. Few questions were there in which I struggled a lot and then finally an educated guess. I completed in time and thought I did pretty good not exceptional though. Again one break and same set activites as last one.
Verbal -
Verbal I had no idea how I was doing. I was just answering every question keeping in my mind not to thin k or bother about what I did in previous one.
SC questions were quite difficult for me - all the rules, all the grammar and everything else was going for toss. Questions were more of a construction and meaning based rather than rule based.
RC was something I was confident now as I did well in my Mocks in RC and got lucky with one of the passage as it was based on business and agriculture in one of India states.
CR questions were quite easy and I thought I did well in CR.
One blunder I did in verbal - losing track of time. In the end I don’t know may be due to pressure or what- I thought I was answering last question and clicked on answer with just 3 seconds remaing and sadly it was second last question. My time was over and I left 1 question unanswered. I have no idea how much it affected my score.
After completing IR section. Held my breath and reported score. 710!! Elated!! Happy!! Satisfied!! Sigh of relief
One piece of advice to people who are not good in verbal. Don’t give up if you are not doing well in SC and concentrate a lot on RC and CR. These are two areas where you can improve a lot and in turn improve your score. Just be happy everyday that you are learning something new in life even if it as simple as diff between than and then

Apologies if I made lot of mistakes (esp gramatical) in my debrief. I still feel a lot of scope of improvement is there in my grammar and two months after my exam I am feeling like I have forgotten all the grammar rules
Thanks BTG!! You are best GMAT prep forum around !!

Cheers !!

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The will to win is worthless if you do not have the will to prepare.