I wanted to share my GMAT experience as I owe a lot to this forum. I took the test on 29th August and got 710 (49/38; 92 percentile). I am still waiting for the AWA score. I am an Engineer and worked in India for two years before finishing my dual masters from one of the top ten schools in US. I am still contemplating on what to do next as I am currently satisfied with my two year old job. I also have a question for all readers regarding the worth of an MBA degree for me (last section of this post).
But first let me start with my prep that spanned nearly six months. I have a full time job that keeps me busy till late evening on most weekdays. So at the most I could spend two hours on prep during weekdays and around six to seven hours during the weekends. Before I stumbled on BTG my approach was completely disorganized. I was basically practicing with test questions from 1000 series without the knowledge of basic rules/tricks on CR and especially SC. Reading the posts on BTG helped me a lot in terms of planning the prep duration and getting the right books as well as practice tests. I used the following books/tests:
Manhattan SC, RC and CR: I did not come across any other book that lays out the rules of SC as logically as the Manhattan SC. I pretty much memorized all the rules in the book and could see my SC scores go up in practice tests. I remember the comment from one of the experts that SC is one area where one can see drastic improvements by understanding the basic rules and I agree 100% with it. Before I read the Manhattan SC book, I would try to guess an answer based on what sounded right to me. But after going through the book I started to force myself to try and figure out the error in original sentence before looking into the option. For every mistake, I tried to understand which one of the rules mentioned in the book explained the answer. Although there are few questions that involve exceptions not discussed in the book, but the biggest thing that Manhattan SC did for me was to give me the confidence to approach the SC problems.
I did not find the RC and CR books useful as there were other books that cover the area better. For RC, I used the notes posted by one of the user (I wish I could remember the file name) in this forum. Two things that I picked up from that was to start taking sides while reading the passage and also to recap all three (or four) paragraphs before starting to work on the questions. I read a lot of posts regarding taking notes for RC. To test out what worked better for me, I solved 10/15 RCs using both approaches and I noticed that my accuracy was higher after taking notes. So I picked up that approach. I'd write down the notes if the section was long but stick to reading only for short passages. However, I always tried to recap all the passage in 10 to 15 secs before looking at questions.
Powerscore CR : The only thing that I found useful in this book was to get the understanding of Premises and Conclusion. I guess I'd have done better if I had memorized all the rules for different question types but I felt comfortable enough to approach the problems after reading it once. I guess my engineering background make me believe that I'd be able to do well in this section.
Kaplan Premier: I guess this was a complete waste of money and time for me. Although the questions are good in each of the three sections, but there is not a single section that is comprehensive enough for a new user. I guess my first month of prep with this book was a complete waste of time and I would not recommend it to anyone starting his/her prep. The worst part of this book is the CD for practice tests. The questions in the verbal part are way too tough and my range was from 580 to 650 in the four tests. The only thing that it did for me was to discourage me from scheduling the tests earlier. The book has good notes in the end for math section.
Kaplan 800 - Verbal and Maths: I used them towards the end just to check my performance on the practice questions given in the book.
OG 11 - I bought this book early in my prep and as many other users have mentioned, only the last 33% of the questions test the intermediate/advanced test taker. Nevertheless, I believe it's the best resource one can have to assess his/her prep status.
Even though I finished my high school 12 years back, I still remember most of the stuff and it did not take long to get the pace back. I spent less than 3 weeks (including notes revision and solving practice questions) in preparing for this section.
I bought the Manhattan online test and following are my practice test scores:
MGMAT 6: 700 (51/35) - 1 Week before the test
MGMAT 5: 690 (50/34) - 2 Weeks before the test
MGMAT 4: 700 (50/35) - 3 Weeks before the test
MGMAT 3: 670 (47/34) - 6 Weeks before the test (I guess it was stupid to take the second test on the same day)
MGMAT 2: 650 (46/33) - 6 Weeks before the test
MGMAT 1: 710 (48/38) - 6 Weeks before the test (I saw lots of repeat on this one as I had taken the free test earlier)
GMATprep 1 - 760 (Don't remember the breakup) - 2 Weeks before the test
GMATprep 2 - 700 (Don't remember the breakup) - 1 Week before the test
In my last four practice tests I attempted the AWA sections also.
To sum it up, here's what I would suggest to anyone who is starting his prep for GMAT:
1) Read the Manhattan SC, make your own notes and memorize them.
2) Make sure you understand the different CR question types and are able to isolate conclusion from premise. Powerprep is a good resource if you have enough time for it.
3) Use the 1000RC to test if taking notes improves your score. If it does, take as many RC tests as you can. The only thing that matters here is the speed. The sooner you start, the better you'll be towards the end.
4) Do as many drills as possible but make sure you go back and understand your mistakes. As so many experts on this forum have mentions, "it's the quality and not quantity that matters".
4) Use GMATprep 1 after you have gone through the basic reference books in each section. Use the GMATprep 2 later but at least a month before the G-date.
My Questions to the Forum Readers/Experts:
1) One of the concerns for me has been the funding needed for the full time MBA. I did a simple NPV calculation to evaluate my worth with and without the MBA and turns out that for more than 10 years the NPV of earnings from my current job exceeds the NPV of expected earnings after MBA from the best b-school in US. See the attached picture for a sample calculation. The average salary in the sample calculation is assumed as 125K with 26% income tax each year. My question to the group is weather this is a good approach to evaluate the worth of an MBA degree? I know a degree would help me excel faster in my career but it's the numbers that discourage me.
2) I have been looking for resources where I can see discussions on the application process regarding topics such as dates for campus visit, good way to approach the AdComs, interview process in different B-Schools etc etc. Can anyone refer me to some website/forums where I can get more info in this regard?
But first let me start with my prep that spanned nearly six months. I have a full time job that keeps me busy till late evening on most weekdays. So at the most I could spend two hours on prep during weekdays and around six to seven hours during the weekends. Before I stumbled on BTG my approach was completely disorganized. I was basically practicing with test questions from 1000 series without the knowledge of basic rules/tricks on CR and especially SC. Reading the posts on BTG helped me a lot in terms of planning the prep duration and getting the right books as well as practice tests. I used the following books/tests:
Manhattan SC, RC and CR: I did not come across any other book that lays out the rules of SC as logically as the Manhattan SC. I pretty much memorized all the rules in the book and could see my SC scores go up in practice tests. I remember the comment from one of the experts that SC is one area where one can see drastic improvements by understanding the basic rules and I agree 100% with it. Before I read the Manhattan SC book, I would try to guess an answer based on what sounded right to me. But after going through the book I started to force myself to try and figure out the error in original sentence before looking into the option. For every mistake, I tried to understand which one of the rules mentioned in the book explained the answer. Although there are few questions that involve exceptions not discussed in the book, but the biggest thing that Manhattan SC did for me was to give me the confidence to approach the SC problems.
I did not find the RC and CR books useful as there were other books that cover the area better. For RC, I used the notes posted by one of the user (I wish I could remember the file name) in this forum. Two things that I picked up from that was to start taking sides while reading the passage and also to recap all three (or four) paragraphs before starting to work on the questions. I read a lot of posts regarding taking notes for RC. To test out what worked better for me, I solved 10/15 RCs using both approaches and I noticed that my accuracy was higher after taking notes. So I picked up that approach. I'd write down the notes if the section was long but stick to reading only for short passages. However, I always tried to recap all the passage in 10 to 15 secs before looking at questions.
Powerscore CR : The only thing that I found useful in this book was to get the understanding of Premises and Conclusion. I guess I'd have done better if I had memorized all the rules for different question types but I felt comfortable enough to approach the problems after reading it once. I guess my engineering background make me believe that I'd be able to do well in this section.
Kaplan Premier: I guess this was a complete waste of money and time for me. Although the questions are good in each of the three sections, but there is not a single section that is comprehensive enough for a new user. I guess my first month of prep with this book was a complete waste of time and I would not recommend it to anyone starting his/her prep. The worst part of this book is the CD for practice tests. The questions in the verbal part are way too tough and my range was from 580 to 650 in the four tests. The only thing that it did for me was to discourage me from scheduling the tests earlier. The book has good notes in the end for math section.
Kaplan 800 - Verbal and Maths: I used them towards the end just to check my performance on the practice questions given in the book.
OG 11 - I bought this book early in my prep and as many other users have mentioned, only the last 33% of the questions test the intermediate/advanced test taker. Nevertheless, I believe it's the best resource one can have to assess his/her prep status.
Even though I finished my high school 12 years back, I still remember most of the stuff and it did not take long to get the pace back. I spent less than 3 weeks (including notes revision and solving practice questions) in preparing for this section.
I bought the Manhattan online test and following are my practice test scores:
MGMAT 6: 700 (51/35) - 1 Week before the test
MGMAT 5: 690 (50/34) - 2 Weeks before the test
MGMAT 4: 700 (50/35) - 3 Weeks before the test
MGMAT 3: 670 (47/34) - 6 Weeks before the test (I guess it was stupid to take the second test on the same day)
MGMAT 2: 650 (46/33) - 6 Weeks before the test
MGMAT 1: 710 (48/38) - 6 Weeks before the test (I saw lots of repeat on this one as I had taken the free test earlier)
GMATprep 1 - 760 (Don't remember the breakup) - 2 Weeks before the test
GMATprep 2 - 700 (Don't remember the breakup) - 1 Week before the test
In my last four practice tests I attempted the AWA sections also.
To sum it up, here's what I would suggest to anyone who is starting his prep for GMAT:
1) Read the Manhattan SC, make your own notes and memorize them.
2) Make sure you understand the different CR question types and are able to isolate conclusion from premise. Powerprep is a good resource if you have enough time for it.
3) Use the 1000RC to test if taking notes improves your score. If it does, take as many RC tests as you can. The only thing that matters here is the speed. The sooner you start, the better you'll be towards the end.
4) Do as many drills as possible but make sure you go back and understand your mistakes. As so many experts on this forum have mentions, "it's the quality and not quantity that matters".
4) Use GMATprep 1 after you have gone through the basic reference books in each section. Use the GMATprep 2 later but at least a month before the G-date.
My Questions to the Forum Readers/Experts:
1) One of the concerns for me has been the funding needed for the full time MBA. I did a simple NPV calculation to evaluate my worth with and without the MBA and turns out that for more than 10 years the NPV of earnings from my current job exceeds the NPV of expected earnings after MBA from the best b-school in US. See the attached picture for a sample calculation. The average salary in the sample calculation is assumed as 125K with 26% income tax each year. My question to the group is weather this is a good approach to evaluate the worth of an MBA degree? I know a degree would help me excel faster in my career but it's the numbers that discourage me.
2) I have been looking for resources where I can see discussions on the application process regarding topics such as dates for campus visit, good way to approach the AdComs, interview process in different B-Schools etc etc. Can anyone refer me to some website/forums where I can get more info in this regard?
- Attachments
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- NPV calculation for Option: MBA
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