I took GMAT the third time and scored 710. My previous scores were 680 twice. Please see table below for more details. I want to thank everyone.
Test Date Verbal Quantitative Total Analytical Writing
23 August 2010 35 / 73% 50 / 93% 710 / 92% 5.5 / 77%
21 July 2008 31 / 58% 50 / 93% 680 / 85% 4.5 / 37%
29 October 2007 34 / 68% 49 / 86% 680 / 85% 4.5 / 37%
On the basis of my three attempts over past 3 years, I have learnt the following . I have kept the list small so that its not long winded. Disclaimer : Please take the following with a pinch of salt
#1 - If you are Indian engineer then focus on verbal , don't waste your time trying to raise your quant score from 50 to 51
#2 - Read the document mentioned in link below and analyse how AWA is scored, certain sentence structures and words seem to affect the score positively. It raised my score from 4.5 to 5.5 in the latest attempt
https://acl.ldc.upenn.edu/W/W98/W98-0303.pdf
#3 - In sentence correction , there is always an exception to every rule, so do not eliminate an option because it violated a rule. Build a hierarchy of rules and follow it. For e.g. S-V agreements cannot be violated but modifier placement, pronoun ambiguity can be violated
#4 do not waste time on how much red bull to drink before the exam , location of sample questions and their number in the test
#5 during the exam , do not think about score or difficulty of questions. Esp in verbal I have noticed that my prediction of difficulty were always inaccurate
#6 Lastly GMAT verbal is difficult to improve unless you dedicate. On basis of my preparation, I have found that ROUGHLY every 10 points between 700 and 750 needs 100 hrs of effort , and hours per point keep increasing for higher scores
#7 Never give up
Books used: -
Verbal
Do all 1000SC and read Ron Purewal's explanation for most of them on Manhattan GMAT site for each one . Do not read explanation by people (some tutors included) who know the OA and want to justify the OA. In case Ron has not posted then ignore the question . I mention Ron because he was one of the genuine people
Critical reasoning
think of CR as a math equation , digest the argument and create simple statements , showing cause and effect . then attack the question
also I know for sure there are few questions out there that are so ambiguous that people can justify any answer. In such cases I think best way is to see what led you to conclude the answer and what are other ways can the question be interpreted.
One rule that may be useful is "less likely assumption" rule. read the attached PPT for more guidance
Test Date Verbal Quantitative Total Analytical Writing
23 August 2010 35 / 73% 50 / 93% 710 / 92% 5.5 / 77%
21 July 2008 31 / 58% 50 / 93% 680 / 85% 4.5 / 37%
29 October 2007 34 / 68% 49 / 86% 680 / 85% 4.5 / 37%
On the basis of my three attempts over past 3 years, I have learnt the following . I have kept the list small so that its not long winded. Disclaimer : Please take the following with a pinch of salt
#1 - If you are Indian engineer then focus on verbal , don't waste your time trying to raise your quant score from 50 to 51
#2 - Read the document mentioned in link below and analyse how AWA is scored, certain sentence structures and words seem to affect the score positively. It raised my score from 4.5 to 5.5 in the latest attempt
https://acl.ldc.upenn.edu/W/W98/W98-0303.pdf
#3 - In sentence correction , there is always an exception to every rule, so do not eliminate an option because it violated a rule. Build a hierarchy of rules and follow it. For e.g. S-V agreements cannot be violated but modifier placement, pronoun ambiguity can be violated
#4 do not waste time on how much red bull to drink before the exam , location of sample questions and their number in the test
#5 during the exam , do not think about score or difficulty of questions. Esp in verbal I have noticed that my prediction of difficulty were always inaccurate
#6 Lastly GMAT verbal is difficult to improve unless you dedicate. On basis of my preparation, I have found that ROUGHLY every 10 points between 700 and 750 needs 100 hrs of effort , and hours per point keep increasing for higher scores
#7 Never give up
Books used: -
Verbal
Do all 1000SC and read Ron Purewal's explanation for most of them on Manhattan GMAT site for each one . Do not read explanation by people (some tutors included) who know the OA and want to justify the OA. In case Ron has not posted then ignore the question . I mention Ron because he was one of the genuine people
Critical reasoning
think of CR as a math equation , digest the argument and create simple statements , showing cause and effect . then attack the question
also I know for sure there are few questions out there that are so ambiguous that people can justify any answer. In such cases I think best way is to see what led you to conclude the answer and what are other ways can the question be interpreted.
One rule that may be useful is "less likely assumption" rule. read the attached PPT for more guidance
- Attachments
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- GMAT.ppt
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Last edited by NZOMNIAC on Mon Aug 30, 2010 6:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
