I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi Friends,

Just came back after giving my gmat. done lot of travelling and gotta catch up on my sleep, so will write a detailed post in the evening only.....
Thanks a ton to everyone connected with this incredible site and especially d moderators

bye
harry

Hi friends,

Before i give you d details of my prep i must briefly outline my profile. I am a commissioned officer in Indian Air Force with 6 years of experience. Did my graduation in Bachelor of commerce from Punjab University India.
I am no quant genius as I have not studied mathematics after 10th standard. In Verbal also I will consider myself as above average.
I started preparing for GMAT from mid June and gave the real thing on 24th july. Following is the material I used :

1. GMAT OG 11th edition
2. GMAT OG verbal review(though I didnt compete it)
3. Kaplan GMAT premier edition with CD.
5. Mathematics for MBA by RS Aggarval( a book containing basic mathematical concepts)

I started of with trying to brush up my basics from the above mentioned book. Though this was the right thing to do but I didnt have had the patience to go through entire concepts.
Gave GMAT prep1 on 17 June without any prep and scored 700.
That gave me a lot of confidence. Came across this great site beatthegmat... three cheers to these guys they are superb.
I realised that my weakness was quant and SC. So finished of kaplan premier edition book paying special attention to SC and quant. Simultaneously solved SC in OG. Improved my accuracy in sc to 85%. Kaplan is a good book to improve but in hindesight I think OG combined with questions available on beatthegmat is more than sufficient. Kaplan CD and book are gr8 for practice but they dont quiet follow the logic of actual gmat or gmatprep for that matter. Many people say that kaplan is too tuff. I dont exactly agree. Though I might agree that to certain extent they are not able to copy the exact logic of GMAT guys. But still their tips on SC and tricks for quant can be genuinely exploited if practised in real earnest. I didnt go through the entire kaplan CD only sectional tests on quant and one full length GMAT test.
The gmat diagnostic tests in OG indicated that my weak area was quant( and they were dead rite man). So I cocencentrated on quant during prep. But I had no clear cut strategy about how to improve my ability and confidence in quant section. Result was that I scored more or less the same in actual gmat what I scored in the gmat prep tests before I had even started preparing.


MY TEST PREP SCORES WERE:

1. GMAT prep1(17th jun)- 700(quant48, verbal38) this widout any prep.
2. Kaplan diagnostic paper based(19 jun)-700
2. Crack GMAT(22 jun)- 590(quant 43 V21)
3.Gmat prep2(23jun)-700
4.GMAT prep1 reload(01 july)- 720(Q47,V41)
5.Kaplan gmat test1(13 july) - 670(Q50,V37)
6. Gmat prep2 reloaded(17 july)- 710(Q48,V 40)




D-DAY 24TH JULY: The EXAM was in a city 250 kms from my hometown and appointment was for 1730 in evening. reached there at about 1600 hrs. The exminer was kind enough and he allowed me to start m exam before time only at about 1630. The exam conditions were excellent to say the least. I was running very low in confidence in quant and payed a heavy price for it. Rushed through the initial questions and am sure I got many of them wrong. After 18th question or so the level of difficulty dropped drastically. I knew that hereafter all my anewers are correct but the difficulty level refused to go up. Infact some of the last questions were way too easy. That gave me a clear cut indication that i wasnt doin too well. My time management was pathetic. Finished the quant section 25 mins before time @#$%#. none of the questions was above OG level. I tried not too loose my cool over this and took a 3 min break. Started of on verbal. Read questions very slowly and as i expected some of the CR questions were too tuff. when i looked at my score after the test i heaved a sigh of relief...as the score was reasonable enough in quant which i thought that i had completely messed up.

Ther are certain conclusions I have reached after all this experience and prep:

1. OG COMBINED WITH THIS SITE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR PREP.
2. HAVING A CLEAR CUT STRATEGY ON HOW TO IMPROVE IS VERY MUCH REQUIRED.
3. CONFIDENCE ON TEST DAY MATTERS A LOT. PLEASE FOLLOW THE TIPS ON THIS ASPECT GIVEN ON THIS SITE.(FOLLOWING THOSE TIPS IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT). I DIDNT FOLLOW THOSE TIPS AND PAID THE PRICE.
4. ACCURACY IN SC CAN BE GREATLY IMPROVED BY PRACTICE. 85% ACCURACY IS VERY EASY TO ACHIEVE.
5. THE MOST DIFFICULT QUESTIONS ON VERBAL U MIGHT ENCOUNTER WIL BE CR. NONE OF THE PREP BOOKS EXACTLY REPLICATE THE DIFFICULT CR QUESTIONS U MIGHT SEE IN VERBAL. PLEASE GO THROUGH AS MANY DIFFICULT CR QUESTIONS AS POSSIBLE.
THE TIME IN VERBAL IS MORE THAN ENOUGH. PLEASE READ THE QUESTION/RC PASSAGES VERY SLOWLY. DONT RUSH THROUGH THEM. IF REQUIRED READ A LINE SECOND TIME IF NOT UNDERSTOOD PROPERLY. READIND QUESTIONS QUICKLY AND THEN REVERTING BACK TO PASSAGE WILL LEAD TO DROP IN ACCURACY AND WASTE OF TIME. IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO NARROW DOWN TO ATLEAST TWO ANS CHOICES ON FIRST READING OF A QUESTION THEN PROBABLY YOU HAVE NOT READ THE PASSAGE CORRECTLY.
6.GMAT PREP SCORES ARE THE MOST ACURATE INDICATERS OF YOUR PREP. I GUESS THEY ARE UPTO 95%ACCURATE. THE DIAGNOSTIC TEST IN OG11 IS THE BEST TOOL TO IDENTIFY YOUR WEAK AREAS.

I think I have the ability to improve on my quant score. So might consider giving it again. Any advice on this moderators?


NWAYS GUYS THIS SITE ROCKS THIS IS BEST SITE ON ALL MATTERS RELATED TO GMAT OR MBA U CAN COME ACROSS . These guys are doin a great job. I must heartily thank them for all their support especially gabriel for his invaluable advice.
I am looking forward to remain connected with this site.
[/b]

"(TFOLOLHIS IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT). I DIDNT FOLLOW THOSE TIPS AND PAID THE PRICE."

Good post! However, this part almost seems like a cruel joke. You're saying "<insert long acronym here> is VERY IMPORTANT!" but I don't think anyone has any clue what the acronym "TFOLOHIS" means.

Can you elaborate so that we all know what is so important?

Thanks,
Sadowski

I agree, what is that. I have never heard that before either.

SORRY FRIENDS,

THAT WAS JUST A TYPING ERROR IN MY POST. MY APPOLOGIES FOR CAUSING SO MUCH DISTRESS.
HAVE CORRECTED IT NOW.

THANKS AND BEST OF LUCK
HARRY

harry_x1 wrote:SORRY FRIENDS,

THAT WAS JUST A TYPING ERROR IN MY POST. MY APPOLOGIES FOR CAUSING SO MUCH DISTRESS.
HAVE CORRECTED IT NOW.

THANKS AND BEST OF LUCK
HARRY

No problem, Harry. Thanks for the post.

Congrats buddy.
710 is a great score! 8)

harry_x1 wrote: I think I have the ability to improve on my quant score. So might consider giving it again. Any advice on this moderators?


NWAYS GUYS THIS SITE ROCKS THIS IS BEST SITE ON ALL MATTERS RELATED TO GMAT OR MBA U CAN COME ACROSS . These guys are doin a great job. I must heartily thank them for all their support especially gabriel for his invaluable advice.
I am looking forward to remain connected with this site.
[/b]

Are you thinking of retaking the test?

What are your target schools?
If you tell us your profile and your goals in detail we'll try to help you making you a decision

hi aim,

thanks for ur offer to help. am quiet confused nowadays.
nways i am a commissioned officer in indian air force with 5 years of leadership experience till date.
graduation from panjab university india- score 66.4%
12th standard from CBSE india: 82.4%
good extra curriculars in school and college(NCC, hockey, cricket, theater, cultural dance)

am searching for options which provide me with good enough international exposure and assured good placement. as am not having very sound financials to back myself, therefore will have to rely more on loans, so am loookin for schools which provide me with good enough career to repay my loans back quickly.

have made a tentative short list of schools am considering applying to;

1. IIM Ahmedabad, india
2. ISB, hyderabad
3. Ivey, canada(economical enough with good placement oppurtunity)
4. Tuck, USA(provides loans without USA based gauranteer)
5. Duke, USA(provides loans without USA based gauranteer)
6. NUS

ur advise on the issue is highly welcome. will go for foreign university only if there is reasonable enough surity of getting a good job in a western country so that am able to pay to pay of my debts.

am reasonably confident of breakin the 730-750 barrier if i give my gmat again. but have been advised by many to concentrate on my applications rather than to reappear.

ur advise on the issu is highly solicited.

thanks

harry

I remember reading your profile in Ask Stacy section: https://www.beatthegmat.com/viewtopic.php?t=4134

harry_x1 wrote:hi aim,

thanks for ur offer to help. am quiet confused nowadays.
nways i am a commissioned officer in indian air force with 5 years of leadership experience till date.
graduation from panjab university india- score 66.4%
12th standard from CBSE india: 82.4%
good extra curriculars in school and college(NCC, hockey, cricket, theater, cultural dance)

am searching for options which provide me with good enough international exposure and assured good placement. as am not having very sound financials to back myself, therefore will have to rely more on loans, so am loookin for schools which provide me with good enough career to repay my loans back quickly.

have made a tentative short list of schools am considering applying to;

1. IIM Ahmedabad, india
2. ISB, hyderabad
3. Ivey, canada(economical enough with good placement oppurtunity)
4. Tuck, USA(provides loans without USA based gauranteer)
5. Duke, USA(provides loans without USA based gauranteer)
6. NUS

ur advise on the issue is highly welcome. will go for foreign university only if there is reasonable enough surity of getting a good job in a western country so that am able to pay to pay of my debts.

am reasonably confident of breakin the 730-750 barrier if i give my gmat again. but have been advised by many to concentrate on my applications rather than to reappear.

ur advise on the issu is highly solicited.

thanks

harry

Have you considered applyng to European B-schools? (I'm not making you more confused I'm just asking? any UK school? of one year Program? )

Rather than commenting on your profile I'd directly tell you my suggestion. (because ultimately that is what you are looking for! )

I think you dont have to re-take GMAT.
710 would have its role, now lets concentrate on the other parts of application.