710( V:39, Q:48 ) Dream come true

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710( V:39, Q:48 ) Dream come true

by dreamzz2010 » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:31 am
Though the score is not as appealing as it may seem to you while reading my post but i still didnt expect it with the kind of score i got in my prep tests. But a clear mind and right focus did the trick for me on the test day i guess. I would like to mention that this was my second stint with GMAT, the first one being 660, which i took also with full preparation. Before the exam i was not very enthusiastic. Had a mediocre preparations and also not very exciting scores in the mock tests to back my confidence. But when its your day then it really is. I will put my complete debrief in a couple of days.... :D
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by ogbeni » Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:58 am
dreamzz2010,

I'm sure I speak for many in this forum when I say I look forward to your detailed debrief.

Congrats! Pat yourself on the back and go get yourself some ice cream and cake to celebrate!!

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710( V:39, Q:48 ) My Debrief

by dreamzz2010 » Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:43 pm
So guys here it goes....

I divided my preparations into 3 months.

Week 1 and 2: Focus - SC..
Did SC from Kaplan Verbal Work book and then from Manhattan SC( OG 10 and OG 11 SC portion according to the breakup given in Manhattan SC )

I found these two sources of SC strategies to be very comprehensive and sufficient. I could see a marked improvement in my SC scores.

Week 3 and 4: Focus - CR..
Did CR from verbal workbook then all questions from OG - 11.

Then i did CR from Kaplan800 which took a completely different approach to CR as compared to any other book.

CR was a bit tough for me though i saw improvement in my CR score but not as high as i saw in SC. I still recommend these sources to be the best ones available.

Week 5: Focus RC..

I followed strategies from Kaplan verbal workbook and Kaplan800.
Then started with OG Verbal Review for practice.
From this week onwards i decided to do 3 RC passages every day for practice.
I did RC from OG 11, Verbal Review, Kaplan800 and Kaplan Verbal Workbook.

RC obviously is the hardest but still practicing it every day is the best possible solution at hand.

Now i was left with 3 weeks and started taking tests online.

I had 4 Princeton Review tests(only for practice, score may not be reflective of actual gmat score), 4 Kaplan Tests, and 2 GMAT powerprep.

So i decided to give a test every alternate day.

Princeton Test 1: 580
Princeton Test 2: 600
Kaplan CAT 1 : 550
Princeton Test 3: 580
Princeton Test 4: 640
Kaplan CAT 2 : 580
Kaplan CAT 3 : 600
GMAT Powerprep1 : 680
Kaplan CAT 4 : 580
GMAT Powerprep2 : 690

Actual GMAT 710(Q 48, V 39):D

On the other alternate days i use to do 50 questions of quant. and 20+20+20 questions of verbal every day for practice. Along with this i also revised all SC, CR questions which i marked wrong on first attempt during my prev. preparations.

I followed this test taking schedule very persistently not missing even a single test. I also did additional on screen practice using Kaplan sectional tests, they are a good help.

Maths: In maths for the first 3 weeks i use to spend around 1 hr every day and took a CAT package and did theory as well as practice questions for 1 topic each day.

In the next 4 weeks i did maths practice from OG 12, Quant verbal Review and Kaplan800 spending one and a half hours every day doing 50 questions each day. I think this much is sufficient for maths if you have been an avg maths student.

Finally be very focused and 15 days before the exam do every thing every day so that you never loose touch and revise strategies and mistakes again and again.

I hope this will help....
ogbeni wrote:dreamzz2010,

I'm sure I speak for many in this forum when I say I look forward to your detailed debrief.

Congrats! Pat yourself on the back and go get yourself some ice cream and cake to celebrate!!

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by dmateer25 » Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:55 pm
Congratulations, dreamzz2010!

Do you plan to apply to MBA programs this year?

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by dreamzz2010 » Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:22 pm
Yeah i do, but i am short of time as i still hv to appear in TOFEL, so just getting back to the hard work routine :)

dmateer25 wrote:Congratulations, dreamzz2010!

Do you plan to apply to MBA programs this year?

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by dmateer25 » Sun Oct 11, 2009 4:13 am
dreamzz2010 wrote:Yeah i do, but i am short of time as i still hv to appear in TOFEL, so just getting back to the hard work routine :)

dmateer25 wrote:Congratulations, dreamzz2010!

Do you plan to apply to MBA programs this year?
Best of luck to you with your apps! Where all are you applying?