I just Beat The GMAT!

Thanks buddy... a lot of useful information in this post ..... Good luck with your apps this year

logitech wrote:VERBAL

Hats off to iamcste! Find this guy on the forum and hit him with your SC questions and he will enlighten you!

Thanks for acknowledging my work! Great people like you motivate us to do even better. I am quite confident that you would get into the program of your choice. Pls be in touch. Signing off for now. Iamcste

Logitech,
You truly deserve this score. Probably we have had some interesting interactions on this forum from quant to what a solution shoudl like etc... which makes me all the more happy for u.

Keep in touch my friend!

Regards,
Cramya

READING COMPREHENSION

There are different methods for RC and one of them should work better for you compared to other methods. But there are few things I would like to point out:

1) Take notes and don't use them! Taking notes will help you to comprehend what you read.

2) Look for the big surprises and comparisons.

3) Keep the FUNCTION of the details in the passage but don't waste time on them.

4) Just read the entire passage so that you can explain everything to a kid in couple of sentences.


5) Start practicing without timing yourself. Learn how GMAC prepares question. Learn how you can design a wrong answer. Learn how an answer can be out of scope. Learn how one word can make an entire option wrong. ( For example: if there is only one method is discussed and the this attractive answer choice tells : bla bla bla METHODS bla bla bla.... That PLURAL methods is enough to eliminate the entire option. If author explains something he does not ARGUE with anybody! etc...)

6) Once you are comfortable with finding the correct answers make sure that you are not spending more than 3-4 minutes to read the passage.

7) After studying all OG passages, classify the question types.

a) Just look at the MAIN IDEA questions in each paragraphs and find out what WRONG answers have in common and also what CORRECT answers have in common.

b) Do the same thing for inference, and other question types.

I honestly think that OG + GMAT prep is all you need to practice RC.

Once again, QUALITY > QUANTITY

Is LSAT stuff good ? It sure is..but IMO - OG is all you need!

And reading more non-gmat materials will help you to improve your RC skills. Read aggressively. ENGAGE! If you hate business passages - READ A BUSINESS PASSAGE EVERYDAY! If you like Science Passages - DONT MISS ONE QUESTION! - Show your love!

I also would like to share this link with you all:

https://www.gmat760.com/Book/GMATRC.aspx

I am sure you will find it interesting.

Logitech, my MAN!!! Way to throw down. I was just thinking last week, this guy's a GMAT animal, I know he got a disappointing first score, so when is he retaking the test? Much to my delight, BAM, you slayed the dragon, you tackled the beast. Great job!!!

Best of luck with your apps!

Great job..Hats off...
Best of luck for your applications.

TEST DAY

My test was at 12:30. I highly recommend taking the test at noon. Whether you are morning person or not, if you don't get a good night sleep, you will be tired at 7 AM trying to go to test center. Do not take your test in the morning!!!

I read all my notes two days before the test and took the all day off before my test and spent time with my family and dogs.

I also took one last GMAT prep test just one week before my test.

I did not change anything in my diet or sleeping cycle before and during the test day. I usually sleep after midnight and I went to bed around 1 AM. Woke up at 8, had a good breakfast - went out for a jog, took shower and head to test center around 11:30. I took GMAT before in this test center so I did not waste time trying to find the place on the test day.

If you are an international student or taking a test in another country - DO NOT FORGET YOUR PASSPORT!

AWA:

I scored 5.5 before and the only thing I did was reading couple of essays , which are Ranked 6 at Kaplan Premier and studying the attached template. I really did not push myself really hard at this section, because I wanted to start the quant as less tired as possible.

First Break:

I used the restroom, and drank half or my apple juice, which I used to drink during my mock tests.

QUANT:

I asked for two PENs. I was really nervous in the first 5 questions and I double checked all my answers and realized that I am doing good, which helped me to stay calm. The questions were getting tougher to the end and I was getting hit by 300 level questions randomly even after a tough question which I knew I got right. SO PLEASE DO NOT THINK THAT YOU ARE DOING BAD IF YOU GET AN EASY QUESTION IN THE TEST. I guessed 2 questions in order to stay with my timing plan. Remember you are fighting against GMAT, not your EGO. It is okay to kiss goodbye to some questions.

Second Break:

Finished my apple juice. I put my apple juice in my jacket so I did not need to open the locker or anything. Just put your wallet and phone in the locker and put your water, cookies, etc,..in your jacket so you can access them FAST!

Verbal:

This is where you HAVE to do your best to stay calm. At the end, this is the last leg of the triathlon. In a real triathlon, you always start with swimming, because if you leave the swimming to the end, and you get a cramp in the water after running and biking for miles - you can be in serious trouble! And this is exactly what GMAC is doing to the test takers: Leaving the beast to the end.

Both quant and verbal sections are VERY similar to GMAT prep.

Most of the good test takers already knows all the SC and CR rules and practiced RC. But only those who:

1) MANAGED TIME
2) REMAINED CALM
3 ) STAYED POSITIVE

did well on GMAT.

I got a little bit panic when I had only 15 minutes left for the last 13 questions. But I closed my eyes for an entire minute, took deep breath and got back to that lovely Blue & White screen.

It was a serious adrenalin rush when I clicked to see my score. The longest 3 seconds! And a big smile appeared on my face at the same time my score popped up on the screen.

I left the test center and drove back home and realized how blue the sky was

Man you are my G-HERO

Logitech, congratulations!! Great Job mate.

Congrats Logitech!!. You hve done it... But, I thought you will get 750+ Anyways... Please share your test experience...

Regards,
Karthi S

Congratulations! This is great news and, while I'm no admissions expert, I'm pretty sure that with your background you'll be able to get in the MBA of your dreams.
Also, thank you for mentioning my explanations, it's extremely flattering to have a Titan noticing me...

Congrats Logitech. You are great inspiration on this forum. I read your earlier post that you posted after getting disheartening 600. I also just need to do the same turn around with the same persistence.

congrats dude...i went from a 620 (this was in early Sept 08) to a 730 (mid January 09). I know exactly how you feel, so congratulations!

Btw, where r u applying? I am only applying to Euro schools (for Fall 09 and Jan 2010 intakes)....and depending on my aid package, I may apply to US schools towards the later part of this year. Most scholarships and grants for US schools have been expended in rounds 1 and 2, and there aren't alot of monies left for round 3.

superstar performance all the way (2000+ posts; priceless tips, 730 gmat, useful insights. etc etc)

all the best for the rest of the process

sd

Very well done, champion . Hats off!

It's a magnificent feeling, isn't it? Knowing that it's over... at last. Good luck with the rest of the process! And guess what? It's an even crazier ride than the fricking GMAT... but it's still better.