Hey congrats tarunpalta! Congrat for the great score! I think it is good score to go forward.

Thanks a lot for your inputs, camitava and Eric.

Everyone who heard my score yesterday, thought that it was an awesome score. So. I guess I don't have much to worry about, except for the applications.

Regards,
Tarun.

Hey everyone!!

I received my final score report. I got a 5.5 on my AWA. I guess that's pretty good!!!!

As promised earlier, here's my test prep strategy. It's not extraordinary, but I do hope it will help atleast a few people who visit this forum.

I am from a non-English speaking country, but I had given a few competitive exams in my country and was able to do pretty well on the Verbal section in those exams. So when I started out on the GMAT, I thought Verbal would be a cake walk. But I realized how wrong I was when I actually started preparing for the GMAT.

I had no clue about the GMAT and how to prepare for it, so I started hunting for some material on the net and checking with friends for something that they could share. I came across a few communities in Orkut which had some links for online material. I also joined an institute that gives training for GMAT, but by the time the course ended, I realized that my preparation was no where close to what is actually required for the GMAT.

I've used Kaplan books (Comprehensive guide, Kaplan 800), Princeton Verbal Review, OG 11, Manhattan SC Guide. But most of all, I believe OG11 was of most help, followed by the Kaplan 800. I also took a lot of material from the net and tried to do as much study from the computer, to try to get myself acquainted with reading off the computer screen. I also got a lot of test preparation software (GMAT Prep, PowerPrep, Princeton, Cambridge).

I gave the GMAT Prep tests about 8 times (with few repeated questions). I believe one should try to do as much study as possible, from the computer, to get used to it.

I came across this forum almost midway through my preparation and the success stories inspired me quite a lot, while the other stories helped me stay grounded. The test strategy posted by mayonnai5e and Eric were of great help. I made extensive use of the Practice Grids and the SC notes by Sahil and Spidey, in addition to the GMAT Flash cards.

For AWA, I practised the AWA that came along with the test prep software, and it helped me gain control of the time I needed to spend on planning and typing my essays.

I would really like to thanks all the people who provided their inputs and shared their strategies with all of us here.

I'd be glad to answer any further questions.

Thanks once again.

Good luck to all!!
Tarun.