I just Beat The GMAT!

I gave my exam this week end (22nd December,2012) and scored a 750(51,40).I had many questions during my preperation i will try to answer some of them in the following few lines (Most of them learnt from these forums ofcourse!)

Time Required for preperation :

This depends on factors like how long it has been that you had prepared for a similar competetive test , your qaunt and verbal basics etc.; Having said that ,it would ideally take 2 months if u still feel comfortable with quant and verbal reasoning and upto 3-4 months if u really need to start from the scratch.(If you study for ateast 2 hrs a day )

First Steps :

1.Know what the exam tests.(It basically tests reasoning,analytical ability ,comprehension and application of some basic qaunt and verbal concepts.)
2.Know your resources.Read through the forums and finalize on what books you will follow for the next couple of months,Choosing right material could greatly reduce the time wasted.The more it is GMAT like the better.
3.Plan your Study. My plan was to cover each topic and do some practice problems from each topic simultaneously in the first month.Mocks ,analysys of mocks and additional practise in the second month.
4.Stick to your plan
5. You are good to Go.

Some Take Aways :

1.Resources :
Picking right resources can save a lot of time and can give you right direction.
Below were really useful in my prep
Quant: Number Properties 4m Manhattan.
SC : Manhattan SC correction if you have time for exhaustive prep or you can go with aristotle SC which takes far less time .
CR : Power Score CR bible - very good book.
ANd ofcourse OG.
2.Timing @ your Check points.
-Some articles about time management by Stacey Koprince are really helpful.your ability to reduce your time at the check points(probs too hard for u to solve in 2 mins) decides your score.
It is like this .. If your current level of preperation is at 700 and u spend too much time on a 750 level problem(or a prob 4m ur weak area) u could end up landing with much less than 700. And if u think u are a 750 taker and u spend too much time on a couple of 800 probs u can end up scoring 700 or less.(becoz of rushing thru easier probs.),Pacing is importatnt.
- The better u prepare fewer the check points and lesser the timing problem.
3.Analyse your tests. Analyse every single problem. Understand the rule , the concept tested,the traps and be sure that you wouldnt get a similar problem wrong again before you move to the next one.
4.Know the traps : those dug by GMAT and by yourselves.Know the GMAT question traps and also know the patterns of your careless errors. Trust me, careless errors do have a pattern.write them down and remember not to repeat those errors.For,example I had this habit of not noticing the word "different"/Positive" etc infront of the word "integers" ,or more than/less than infront of values ;Noting our patterns and making a concsious effort to minimize them helps.
5.Mocks:
POwerprep (from OFficial GMAT gives the closest estimate)
Manhattan - Quant is definetly more time consuming than the original GMAT.No question on GMAT usually takes more than 2 mins to solve once u understand the trick.However these mocks are helpfull in analysing your weakness,in learning concepts and having a rough estimate of your level of prep.Use the tests but dont read too much into the scores.

My Gmatprep 1 : 760
Gmatprep 2 : 730 (had timing issue on verbal)
Gmat rerun : 780(few repeats )
MCATS : ranged btw (670-750) didnt take the last few exams as the bank ran out of 700+questions.

The Exam Day :

1. You have 2 breaks of 8 mins each - u can exchange your scrap books during breaks.Do take cereal bars or wtever wrks for u to have during breaks .
2.Stay calm and focussed till the end. I did loose focus at the end of verbal section and i still think i could have done better on the verbal part.

Anyways.. Good Luck !!







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