I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi

I just wanted to share this with all of you cause I'm ecstatic and I also think that some of my experiences can help a few people here. I just gave my GMAT(first attempt) on the 6th of June and was delighted to read my score report -: 750 with a 51 Q and a 39 V

I started my prep in mid February by joining a coaching institute. The only reason this makes sense for working individuals is that working people get to imbibe the habit of studying regularly into their schedule easily. If you take weekend classes, then you can work through the week and not study at all but still learn something through your classes on the weekend.

I began by taking a diagnostic test from Veritas and scored about 620 ( q 39, v 35 ). I basically knew nothing about the GMAT when I started my preparation but slowly came to know through people about various study materials. I used the following schedule for covering the syllabus one time -:

Quant topic wise -: Nova and Barron's
Manhattan Sentence Correction 4th Edition
The Official Guide, 12th Edition for CR and RC's

Only once i was done with all the topics from the Barron's book did i start doing the quant questions from the OG. I've always believed that there're people who're extremely good at Quant and Math comes naturally to them. I'm not one of those so i decided I'd be smart about it and analyse my weaknesses at every step of the way.

I gave a mock once I finished reading the Manhattan and Quant sections of the OG, a manhattan test and scored -: 720, Q 45, V 42

I gave another mock ( Kaplan ) and got an abyssmal 640 -: Q 38, V 36. I then realised I had to change my approach to Quant. I got the Kaplan math workbook and read it thoroughly, trying to practice techniques such as plugging numbers and using non-formula techniques.
It was also during this time I discovered this forum. It was a godsend ! I have posted very little here but I have read so many wonderful threads on here ! Seriously, for someone lacking direction or a definite strategy to study, this forum has some really helpful who'll really do it all to help you!

I gave 2 ETS Powerprep tests after this and got 710 and 740 respectively.

After the second test, I scheduled my GMAT for about a month after my second Powerprep mock. In the last month, I took a leave from my job and came home to give it one final push. I had purposely left the 2 GMAT Prep official tests for the end cause I wanted to reserve the actual scoring algorithm for when my preparation was at its peak. It was also then that I read somebody's opinion that we should try and do as practice on the questions prepared by the official test makers. So i ordered the GMATPrep Question Pack 1 and i think it was the best decision I made.

I gave the GMATPrep Test 1 about a week into my holidays and got a solid 740 -: Q49, V41. During my final 2 weeks, I focussed more on brushing up my weaker Quant topics and revising SC rules. I also fell sick with high fever and a throat infection about a week before my exam so also focus on eating right before your exam. 3 days before my exam i gave my final mock, the GMATPrep 2, getting 720 -: Q49, V39.

To all those who made it this far, here are some major suggestions I'd like to share with you all !!

• Pay little attention to AWA. Just use Myohmy's template here in the AWA section and build your essay around it !
  
  IR is also nothing home to write home about. Its very simple math accompanied with a lot of english jargon. You basically need to filter what to calculate or what to use. The scatter plot graphs are also easy to understand so you just need to practice from the CD which comes with OG 13. My suggestion will be to not use any other material for a few months until companies get a fair idea of what IR is like on the exam.
  
  The Question Pack 1 from mba.com is a god send ! Use it to solve questions of varying difficulty. Again, this is useful because the actual questions in the GMAT are pretty similar in make and difficulty.
  
  Use different techniques to solve Math Questions, dont just rely on formulas. My math has never been strong so one thing i did a lot was plug in numbers for DS questions and plug in answer choices for almost all "Which of the following " questions in problem solving.
  
  Analyse your weakest topics in Quant and try and read as many solved examples as you can for those.
  
  For any question that you get stuck on, use these forums more than the book solutions. The reason is you get an answer to the problem through various approaches used by different people, which is very helpful. The more ways you can look at a question, the better your chances of solving a more difficult one involving the same concept.
  
  Mocks only give you an idea, not your final score!! I never scored 750 or a 51 in Quant in any of my mocks but i think due to my extensive practice in Quant, I found the questions in the actual GMAT pretty easy. So your mocks should only matter till the time you're preparing ! On the final day, wipe your mind clear of them.
  
  Its not always about the number of hours, keep your goal always in your mind ! I'm not saying stress about it, but anytime always keep track of what you have to do before the end of each week and what strategy you want to follow for your preparation.
  
  Always remember, the 3 major improvement areas you can target are -: PS, DS and SC. For RC's and CR's, you can follow a lot of strategies but the benefits will not be as tangible or definite as they will be for the other 3 areas. Math and SC is based on a set syllabus and rules so master them and you will have a pretty high chance of scoring highly in them.

Cheers to this forum for helping so much !! I never posted as much but there was so much to read here and learn that I found a quick answers to almost all my problems ( somebody else had almost always posted them so I only had to find the thread, convenient isnt it ).