740 (Q50,V40) Did I beat it??? Strategies and files update

Hi GMATters, I am writing this debrief not to show off but because the debriefs have helped me. Also, I can identify with people who feel the pain of failing once.

First attempt:

I put in a lot of hard work for 4 months studying religiously every single day. I had till last year been having a successful time in the office as well. Times changed and unluckily during my first time preparation for the GMAT. My project leader kind of didn't approve of me. So much so that I was given bad yearly ratings, a letter was written to the human resource that I am not performing up to the mark and my performance based salary was reduced. I took a pledge to prove my point in the office and use GMAT as my redemption. However, as the word goes, you do not get more than you are destined to and earlier than you are destined to.

After intense preparation from OG, GMATPrep, 800Gmat and some other stuff, I got a 660 in the first attempt at GMAT. In my practice tests, I had got 730 and 760 in GMATPrep. In that attempt, I was hit by the first question in Maths and took 10 mins to answer that one. Even after that I think I got it wrong. After that I knew I won't get a 50 or 51 in Q. But I hoped for 49. I tried to hit everything after that but I knew I would have to really excel in V. I attempted V at a very nice pace and thought I had done justice to V and would manage just about 700. What I then saw was a big shock. In Math I had got 47 despite guessing last 2 questions and in V I could manage only 34. My lowest in V in practice had been 37.

What went wrong: I guess I was underprepared for V. I guess I was unsure most of RC and did some SCs wrong which I thought I attempted correctly. And Maths, my pet subject since childhood was also screwed. Basically, everything from the beginning of the exam was bad.

I thought I had done the mistake of believing that OG helps a lot. I had thought that doing too much of difficult stuff that does not even come up in GMAT won't help. I based this on people's advice about GMATPrep being reflective of real GMAT. Ofcourse, GMATPrep is close. But, the RC in real GMAT is harder than GMATPrep. All other stuff was comparable. I think that, OG ofcourse is good for building the basics. But, it is not the book for somebody aiming for 750+. The books for the advanced people are Manhattan Online CATs for SC and Q, Kaplan for RC and Kaplan GMAT 800 and CR Bible for CR.

Now--> SECOND ATTEMPT YESTERDAY --> 740 (Q50,V40). My last attempt was on 5th Aug, 2008 and this one was yesterday. After my first attempt I did not study for 2 weeks. I went to Spain and had a week's holiday. That was anyway planned before I took GMAT. I started studying again on 22nd Aug.

What I did differently:

I had realized my OG based prep was not at all sufficient. GMATPrep did not reflect the level GMAT had. Things were a bit more difficult as was promised to me. I felt cheated. But I knew what I had to do. I would do the hard stuff this time. People, I still do not mean to say that OG is useless. It was a book that built my basics. But, after my 660 in first attempt, I had the basics. I needed that something extra that MGMAT Online CATs, Kaplan and Kaplan GMAT 800 provided.

I bought Kaplan GMAT 800. Read that book completely. Read the Verbal section 2 times. I saw that I could do the hard questions from that book as well. I had been foolish not to try the difficult stuff for my first time preparation. I had Kaplan book as well. I was in a fix on the issue of buying Manhattan's Online CATs. But in the end I said what the heck, this time it's going to be hard preparation for all sections. So, I wrote down strategies to tackle all sections (mainly Verbal). I followed Kaplan's (Mixture of Kaplan and Kaplan GMAT 800) strategy for RC and CR. I started with Manhattan CATs. The Q section in these CATs was insane. I could only manage 30 questions in time. This happened for first 2-3 tests. Then the tests became easier. Meanwhile, I always used the explanations of Manhattan in Verbal for questions I did. Manhattan CATs have a very good section of assessment reports. It records every question one does in all tests. This helped me in the final revision. I could see all kinds of patterns and the way those questions could be solved.

Also keep doing GMATPrep once in a while to test how Manhattan is helping overall. Alternate between Kaplan, Manhattan and GMATPrep and revising your strategies once you see that you are lagging behind in one section. In the end, Manhattan is most helpful for Math and SC (the ultimate). Kaplan helps a lot for RC and Kaplan GMAT 800 helps the most for CR. Did not try CR Bible.

After I had done the 6 Online CATs of Manhattan and reset the Question Bank to do another 2 and also had done Kaplan's 4 CATS atleast once, I thought I should check for a date. I did this on 12th October, 2008. I had the options of 20th Oct, 23rd Oct and 12th Nov. I thought the golden middle is going to help. I was a bit scared that it was so near, but I thought I have exhausted 6 months on the test and have done all possible material and am hitting 770 in my tests, I should just be confident.

After a day of thinking, I booked it. I thought I want to be free on Diwali, an Indian festival (on 28th Oct) as important for us as Christmas is for many Christians (won't say most or all Christians, too extreme for GMATters).

My scores in the tests were:

Manhattan free online test (I would recommend this so that you see how Manhattan assesses your performance, this made me go for the 39$ 6 online CATs): 680

Manhattan MGMAT 1: 620
MGMAT 2: 590
Kaplan 1: 600
Kaplan 2: 620
MGMAt 3: 670
Kaplan 3: 650
MGMAT 4: 710 or 720 (don't remember)
Kaplan 4: 700 (I kicked ass there, to get 37 in Kaplan's verbal was a high).
MGMAT 5: 770
MGMAT 6: 770
GMATPrep 1: 760

Retakes:
Kaplan only verbal (ofcourse I knew the questions by then, but still): V50 (could not believe it)

MGMAT 1a: 710
MGMAT 2a: 720
MGMAT 3a, 4a, 5a: 770 (All verbals 45)
MGMAT 6a only verbal : Again V 45

One day before GMAT GMATPrep 2 (Complete reinstallation): 780 (Q50, V48).

All the final tests, even though with repetitive material, gave me confidence to get atleast a Q48, V40 in my worst dreams. I thought a 50,40 would be fine. In the end I hit bull's eye. My verbal in the original thing is nothing compared to my practice tests again because Verbal in the GMAT is hard (especially RC).

Conclusion: In first attempt when I was hitting 37-42 in Verbal in practice tests I got 34 at the GMAT.
Second attempt : when I was hitting 45-47 I managed 40.

This is for high scorers--> "Improve your verbal to such a level that you can secure atleast 38-40". This means prepare till you get 42-44 in practice tests. If you are not getting it, it is always a risky deal. It is not only because Verbal is hard on GMAT. Verbal seems hard also because it is the last part of a very long battle. One loses concentration. But one has to remember that one has got a 48 and a 50 (or whatever high score one gets) in Verbal in practice tests. One needs to focus harder and say I am doing it today.

Test Day: Took my time before starting, did not have to read the rules but took them and thought about the task at hand. I asked for the secluded computer and used earplugs. AWA went smooth, didn't proofread Analysis of Argument. Before starting Math, I thought even if the first question is a very hard Probability question I will do it right and do it in little time and that will set the tone. It was the unexpected, Maths started in my second attempt with easy questions. I progressed through in a nice manner. I was going at an amazing pace. Then came some tricky questions, I think 8th or 9th question. Everything after that was either hard (but I saw all the trickiness as I had done such stuff in Manhattan) or an easy one once in a while to make you unsure whether you are doing well. In the end, I guessed on the last question on Math.

Verbal: I was praying that first question is SC. I got 1st two very managable SC questions. I was already at a level by now (due to my practice tests) where I did almost every SC right. So, after 6-7 carefully answered questions I got a f**d up RC. I felt like I was lost in a forest. But I told myself I have to do it today, how much ever time it takes. I was behind time on Verbal. Usually in my practice tests I was managing timing in V better than Q. Then came some more CR and SC. But still, in the end 20 mins, 20 questions. That was hard. I paced myself well after that, some easy RCs came after that. Last 2 mins, 3 questions left. I hoped for SC again. But fairly long CR. I clicked on choice A and moved ahead because that question would have cost me atleast a 1.5 mins. Then again a similarly long CR. Something told me to click at A again. Did it and saw an SC as the last question. I had about 50 seconds. I think I did that correctly. A tad disappointed with Verbal in the end, but I cannot be upset because God will be upset with me then.

At the office, I worked my way through that shitty time some months ago, so much so that last week I gave a presentation to the plant head and he was impressed. This was 2 days before my second GMAT. I had got the feeling after that presentation that the good times had arrived and that I would do well in GMAT, it was a matter of how well.

Signing off,
Best of luck !!

P.S.: I will attach some strategy notes and other files (no copyrighted material) in the next week. Right now I am on holiday, it is festival time all the way.

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