I just Beat The GMAT!

First of all, I would like to thank the BTG team, all members and moderators of this forum. BTG is a fantastic site for those preparing for GMAT. I took my GMAT on Wednesday(20th October 10) and managed a score of 650. I know that it is not a good score but I am not sure if it is a decent score or a bad one.

A quick summary on the books that I referred to and on my preparation:

I prepared for about 6 months for this exam, spending about 1-2 hour on a daily basis. On many days I didn't have time to prepare and on some days I had ample time. The books that I referred to,during my preparation,are as below:

1. OG 12 Review
2. OG 12 Verbal Review
3. OG 12 Quantitative Review
4. KAPLAN 2010 - Premier
5. MGMAT - Number Properties
6. MGMAT - Word Transalation
7. Power Score - CR Bible

At this point, I would like to thank Dana J. Her review of various GMAT books was very helpful and I decided to buy the above books based on her recommendation. I missed buying MGMAT - Sentence Correction and this may have cost me few points on the exam. I thought that I may not have time to go through that book. My preparation plans were a bit chaotic, actually.

I started taking mock tests two weeks before the actual exam date. I think this may have been another mistake. But I really wanted to get a grasp on all concepts before trying a mock. Also note, I had fixed my date even before I really started the process of preparation. I had to reschedule my exam once, from an earlier date to the October date, as I had some personal and official issues to attend to in between.

The mock results are as below:

GMAT Prep 1 - 600
GMAT Prep 2 - 640
MGMAT 1 - 590
MGMAT 2 - 640
MGMAT 3 - 630

In the actual exam, I got 650, which I think is fair enough considering that I was averaging around 630 in the mock. In hindsight, I should have fixed a date once I started averaging around 700's,which is my preferred range,in the mocks. But I wanted to take the exam as early as I could.

I think the key lessons for me from the GMAT experience are as below.

1. I need to improve the time that I take to solve SC problems.[RC and CR are time consuming anyways]. Improve the overall speed in quant. section. I was struggling to finish the quant section in both my mock and actual tests.

2. Fix a date for the actual GMAT, only after you start averaging your preferred score in the mocks.

That's about the debrief. Now, I need some feedback from you guys. I have couple of questions/views,as below. I would appreciate if I can get as many opinion as possible on these two.

1. Based on my current score, is it worth applying to medium level universities in India and US? Is there a remote chance of success, if I apply to top universities in India and US.

2. I would consider taking another shot at GMAT, to try scoring in the range of 710/700, only if I am sure that score would improve my chance by about 25-40% at least. I might need another 6 months or so to go from 650 to 710/700.

Thanks. Looking forward to your views now.

It is awesome score buddy!!!!

reply2spg wrote:It is awesome score buddy!!!!

All the best for your GMAT mate.

paddle_sweep

2. I would consider taking another shot at GMAT, to try scoring in the range of 710/700, only if I am sure that score would improve my chance by about 25-40% at least. I might need another 6 months or so to go from 650 to 710/700.

Why you need to spend 6 months to prepare for retaking GMAT? Every learning experience shapes one's abilities. Do you have a plan for the next 6-month GMAT preparation or it's just a rough expression you use to attempt scoring 700+?

It's indeed a good score, and you're right about that 50+ points. It isn't as easy as what some believe it to be.

Night reader wrote:paddle_sweep

2. I would consider taking another shot at GMAT, to try scoring in the range of 710/700, only if I am sure that score would improve my chance by about 25-40% at least. I might need another 6 months or so to go from 650 to 710/700.

Why you need to spend 6 months to prepare for retaking GMAT? Every learning experience shapes one's abilities. Do you have a plan for the next 6-month GMAT preparation or it's just a rough expression you use to attempt scoring 700+?

I will not start my preparation immediately and will take a break and then start my preparation. 6 months is just a rough time-line. Say, within 3 month's if I consistently start averaging in the 700's then I may reserve an appointment.

Paddle_sweep,

First of all, I wud say it's a decent score... So Congrats!

Secondly, You haven't mention your score individually in both section... can You please elaborate on it..ie. both section of real and manhattan as well

girishbtg wrote:Paddle_sweep,

First of all, I wud say it's a decent score... So Congrats!

Secondly, You haven't mention your score individually in both section... can You please elaborate on it..ie. both section of real and manhattan as well

Thanks. The split,in the real GMAT, is as below:

Q -> 45
V -> 34

Its conincidental I should read this today because I've been thinking alot about this these issues for the last few days. I expect to in the same range (620-670) in a few days with the real deal. You have not mentioned anything about your background and this is key. To illustrate my point, I am 38 yrs and have a vast body of experience from owning nightclubs to engineering companies to my own little hedge fund.....hence the bar for me has been lowered (thankfully). That said, I am accustomed to scoring in the top 10% thr'out my academic career albeit 15 years ago. At the beginning of my prep, I took a 700 for granted, now I know its a virtual impossibility and heres why- gmat tests you on intellect and processing speed (no problem here)....but as u progress thr' the exam, you need to maintain this momentum, focus and stamina (PROBLEM for me at my age) for eventually 4 hours. This is in essence what separates a 700 score from a sub one. Anyway after swallowing my pride. I've come to accept times have changed. Mind you, I am generalising which is the exact catergory I fall in (you may age better!). Anyway bottom line is look at your background and what you've got to offer the business school.....you may be surprised how many points that is worth. Even the adcom knows most of them would'nt score a 700 at their age afterall.....this does'nt make them any less capable. Hope this helps...adios amigo!

Dinen wrote:Its conincidental I should read this today because I've been thinking alot about this these issues for the last few days. I expect to in the same range (620-670) in a few days with the real deal. You have not mentioned anything about your background and this is key. To illustrate my point, I am 38 yrs and have a vast body of experience from owning nightclubs to engineering companies to my own little hedge fund.....hence the bar for me has been lowered (thankfully). That said, I am accustomed to scoring in the top 10% thr'out my academic career albeit 15 years ago. At the beginning of my prep, I took a 700 for granted, now I know its a virtual impossibility and heres why- gmat tests you on intellect and processing speed (no problem here)....but as u progress thr' the exam, you need to maintain this momentum, focus and stamina (PROBLEM for me at my age) for eventually 4 hours. This is in essence what separates a 700 score from a sub one. Anyway after swallowing my pride. I've come to accept times have changed. Mind you, I am generalising which is the exact catergory I fall in (you may age better!). Anyway bottom line is look at your background and what you've got to offer the business school.....you may be surprised how many points that is worth. Even the adcom knows most of them would'nt score a 700 at their age afterall.....this does'nt make them any less capable. Hope this helps...adios amigo!

I completely agree with your point on the need to point focus and speed for the complete 4 years. I have about 7 years of experience in IT sector and majority of those have been in the consulting division providing solutions for telecommunication clients.

Can you post your splits in Mgmat?
Was it the case that you used to get around 40s in Verbal and 45 in quant?
Wanted to know coz i used to score around 680 in Mgmat mocks and did badly in the real attempt!!

adi_800 wrote:Can you post your splits in Mgmat?
Was it the case that you used to get around 40s in Verbal and 45 in quant?
Wanted to know coz i used to score around 680 in Mgmat mocks and did badly in the real attempt!!

Apologies for the delay. I used to get around 42-43 in quants and around 34 in verbal.