My GMAT Story - 670 to 730 - The Beat The GMAT Forum - Expert GMAT Help & MBA Admissions Advice

Took my second crack at the GMAT yesterday and scored 730 (Quant- 50 Verbal -39). I want to thank everyone on this forum for making it the go-to place for any GMAT related query. Coming to my experience this was my 2nd attempt. My first experience was not really too great - had scored 670. But that was like 2 years back. I was extremely disappointed with my 1st attempt and just could not believe that I got only 670. No offence to people who aim for a score in that range but I thought I deserved much better than 670 - having scored 99.59 and 99.18 percentiles in two attempts in India's Common Management Entrance test ( I did not convert my calls on the first go and did not get any calls from IIMs in the second attempt). But even with that feeling somehow didn't consider a retake until about 3 months back.

As soon as I decided that I would retake the GMAT I knew I had to fight my eternal foe - the verbal section. Quant has always been my stronghold. I gave myself around 10 weeks to improve my verbal performance. My target score was 750 for which it was crucial to get a 40 on verbal. The diagnostic test gave me 34 on verbal and I knew I had to work hard to reach 40. I figured out that there was no particular section which I would regard a strength/weakness. I needed to improve on all the 3 equally. As far as resources are concerned I used the following:
1. OG -12th edition.
2. Powerscore CR
3. Manhattan SC
4. Manhattan RC
5. GMAT Verbal Review - 2nd edition
6. GMAT Quant Review - 2nd edition.

In retakes it is crucial to distinguish what you didn't do well the last time and make sure you don't repeat the mistakes. I decided to make detailed notes for the verbal section - SC particularly. Over the ten weeks devoted couple of hours on weekdays and 4-6 hours each day on the weekends. Eventually what matters more is the quality of the time devoted. After finishing all the fundamentals of the verbal section started with CATs. In my first attempt I had taken MGMAT CATs so wanted to try something else upfront and return back to MGMAT in the later stages of preparation. Took the Kaplan series - must say I wasn't particularly impressed with their scoring logic. I managed to score well into the 700s, 750 being the highest. But I decided to take my Kaplan scores with a pinch of salt as there was something amiss in their scoring pattern. After taking 3 Kaplan tests- one every weekend I decided to move on to MGMAT, which by far is the best that you can get apart from the official practice tests. In all the tests I managed to score between 700 - 750. It is highly critical that you review the tests and figure out what mistakes you make most often. Only then would you be able to truly understand the problem areas and work accordingly.

As far as official tests are concerned gave 1 about a month before and the other 4 days before the actual test. I scored 710 and 750 respectively on the first and second. Before the D-day took the week off work - took a couple of tests and did some light revision and was all set for the test day. It is critical to get in the zone and mentally condition yourself before the test - so carry no baggages from office/family/friends. I was actually hoping to score 740 and above given I was touching 40+ on verbal consistently on the last few tests. However, that didn't quite happen on the test day as I ended up scoring 39 on verbal and missed 51 on quant too. I won't really say I was too scared/nervous but would have loved to improve by a point on both the sections. As far as AWA and IR are concerned I didn't do any practice apart from the CATS and could manage to score 7 on IR. A very critical point to note is that you must give all your CATs along with AWA and IR. Thats the only way to build your focus for the 4 hour journey.

Once again I would like to thank everyone here especially Rich who would answer all my queries. Off to the applications now. Cheers!

My GMAT Story - 670 to 730

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