I just Beat The GMAT!

7th Oct 2009, Thursday 5pm :

My First attempt at Gmat. Everything went well. Except during the verbal section, renovation started in the next room. The workers were sawing and banging nails in the wall. I raised my hand and asked for assistance and the land gave me these headphones which were of no use at all. I kept thinking the noise will go away and i will be able to finish my verbal. But it dint. I got a score of 690(50Q,33V). Extremely disappointed but i decided to raise an issue. I thought the rest of the 20 guys will too stand up for themselves and raise an issue, strengthening the case. But no1 did.

11th Oct 2009 : GMAC gave a free retest.

12th Nov 2009: My second attempt at GMAT. No noise, no disturbance and a score of 750 (47Q 45V)

My Advice to everyone giving GMAT

1. Gmat is NOT easy. Whoever tells you that you can study CAT and score well in GMAT has probably never seen GMAT verbal. Please dont take this exam lightly. It is tough and nerve wrecking. Give it its due. And it will give you yours.

2. Gmat Quant is your basic math but the questions in OG are too easy. I found the real math on GMAT much tougher. The hard part is to do them fast and get them right. Get your concepts in place. Solve the OG but try tougher problems too. I found Kaplan 800 a book math book to refer.

3. Gmat Verbal is a killer. Especially for students who gave up grammar 8 years ago. There is no other way, you have to practice. The 8 common errors on SC u find on most books are the basic errors. Make your own list. Your own notebook of clues. This helps - trust me. The CRs need you to remain calm and reason stuff out in any situation. The RC can be confusing but only one answer is correct. Dont JUMP to the answer. Read and re read the passage till you get the other four crossed out.

4. Gmat is a test of nerves.Whatever you do - dont panic. Either before or during exam. practice till you drop. I did 3 OGs, Kaplan 800, Kaplan GMAT 2009, Princeton review and Barrons (horrible for verbal but math is good). It paid off.

5. Dream big. I dreamt of writing on this forum. Also dont panic reading about others. Make your timetable prepare and go for it.

6. If anything happens during Gmat which is not in your control like noise, computer crashes and renovations. Please raise an issue. Look where it got me. Dont walk out losing hope.

And BELIEVE you can do it. Say it to yourself that you deserve and want a 780. If you believe it, so will the GMAT

best of luck guys. I am open to questions and ready to help

Regards,
Mishti

Mishti,

Great job! Could you tell us what you did the week before you gave the test? Thanks!

-jb

Great Job..well done..

If u wuld have scored same 50 in Quant and this 45 in Verbal...wow..that wuld have been superb..anyways.

Great work done..

Plz do post ur prep for CR ..

Hi Mishti,

Great score .Congrats

Could you please give some tips to improve verbal.My Quant has been good but verbal is pathetic.

Preparation - one week before GMAT

3 full fledged tests at the same time of GMAT

MGmat Free test - 710
Kaplan - 690
Powerprep - 720

Revision of OG 10, 11, 12, Princeton Review, Kaplan Gmat 2009 and Gmat 800. I had marked what i had done wrong and redid them

Revision of the log of errors i had maintained.

Read 6 essays daily.


Very necessary to study in the same time as ur gmat. My gmat was 5 - 9 pm. Make your body used to sitting at one place during the same time.

My advice to all those weak in verbal:

Practice - OGs and Kaplan is good for verbal so practice till you drop.

Critical Reasoning:
whenever you get something wrong, read the explanation and align yourself with the same reasoning. Understand the concept behind the reasoning. Also use elimination technique. When you narrow down to bottom two, read the question again and read your last answer choice again - word by word. Many a times i would jump word like 'not' and 'doesnot' - marking the wrong answer.

Sentence correction:
Again practice and every time you come across an idiom, tricky grammar rule note it down. I have my walls full of sticky notes of idioms. Memorize these idioms. Also read Sahil's grammar notes - quite a few tricks like being is always wrong can be useful in quick elimination.

Reading Comprehension:
Read the passage first and note down key words. Then read the question and eliminate the wrong choices. Then verify your answer. Quite a few times i would jump to the answer too soon. Also, many a times, a sentence somewhere may be contradicted or changed elsewhere in the passage - be careful.

mishti86 wrote:7th Oct 2009, Thursday 5pm :

My First attempt at Gmat. Everything went well. Except during the verbal section, renovation started in the next room. The workers were sawing and banging nails in the wall. I raised my hand and asked for assistance and the land gave me these headphones which were of no use at all. I kept thinking the noise will go away and i will be able to finish my verbal. But it dint. I got a score of 690(50Q,33V). Extremely disappointed but i decided to raise an issue. I thought the rest of the 20 guys will too stand up for themselves and raise an issue, strengthening the case. But no1 did.

11th Oct 2009 : GMAC gave a free retest.

12th Nov 2009: My second attempt at GMAT. No noise, no disturbance and a score of 750 (47Q 45V)

My Advice to everyone giving GMAT

1. Gmat is NOT easy. Whoever tells you that you can study CAT and score well in GMAT has probably never seen GMAT verbal. Please dont take this exam lightly. It is tough and nerve wrecking. Give it its due. And it will give you yours.

2. Gmat Quant is your basic math but the questions in OG are too easy. I found the real math on GMAT much tougher. The hard part is to do them fast and get them right. Get your concepts in place. Solve the OG but try tougher problems too. I found Kaplan 800 a book math book to refer.

3. Gmat Verbal is a killer. Especially for students who gave up grammar 8 years ago. There is no other way, you have to practice. The 8 common errors on SC u find on most books are the basic errors. Make your own list. Your own notebook of clues. This helps - trust me. The CRs need you to remain calm and reason stuff out in any situation. The RC can be confusing but only one answer is correct. Dont JUMP to the answer. Read and re read the passage till you get the other four crossed out.

4. Gmat is a test of nerves.Whatever you do - dont panic. Either before or during exam. practice till you drop. I did 3 OGs, Kaplan 800, Kaplan GMAT 2009, Princeton review and Barrons (horrible for verbal but math is good). It paid off.

5. Dream big. I dreamt of writing on this forum. Also dont panic reading about others. Make your timetable prepare and go for it.

6. If anything happens during Gmat which is not in your control like noise, computer crashes and renovations. Please raise an issue. Look where it got me. Dont walk out losing hope.

And BELIEVE you can do it. Say it to yourself that you deserve and want a 780. If you believe it, so will the GMAT

best of luck guys. I am open to questions and ready to help

Regards,
Mishti

Hey Mishti,

Many many congratulations for your success!!

Can you tell me where did you take your first test...I had faced the same problem of renovation noise in one of the test centers in Mumbai.
I had raised an issue with GMAC and just like you, I hoped others would raise a concern to GMAC but no one did and my request was declined on the grounds that no one else has registered a complaint in this regard. It was useless to raise my voice and i was left with nothing else but frustration.
I got a GMAT score of 630 (47q, 30v) when just two days before the G-Day my GMATPrep Test2 got me a score of 750(50q, 40v)

I have been preparing for a another attempt for about a month now but I am still struggling to get back that confidence.
I have been taking MGMAT mock tests and my scores are as follows:
04/10 610 - 30v 45q
29/10 670 - 34v 47q
05/11 640 - 31v 47q
12/11 680 - 36v 47q

As is evident, I am struggling to push my quants score above that godforsaken 47!!
Although I have noticed that in the last test, the questions that I got incorrect were all of 700-800 level and only two 600-700 level questions were incorrect. I am not sure whether this is an indicator of improvement, but I have used it as one

I am currently revising all my tests' quant section and noting down all the lessons learned. Hoping to improve on certain key areas such as Number Properties, Avgs. and Means, and combinotrics.

I have my GMAT planned in about ten days...could you please suggest what would be the best strategy to hit the 750 mark!!

Thanks,
Vivek

Hi Vivek,

As I see it you need more improvement on Verbal and not necessarily on Quant.. Q47 on MGMAT is a good score.
I have personally never scored more than a Q45 in MGMATs, yet I score Q48 in the actual GMAT..
Focus more on V buddy You have made good progress by getting up to a V36 .. so work more .. find weak areas on V to bring your score V40+ levels..

Hi Vivek,

I had to pause to complete the math on MGMAT so dont worry about math. I gave my test at the Andheri center...i am sure u were at the same center around 5th - 12 oct...Did you make a request for the Pearson Vue to check the audio - video? Or ask for assistance during the test? Tough luck buddy but dont lose hope. I too felt very depressed but it pays off to work hard and fight. Take it as a challenge to prove that given better circumstances, you couldve nailed the gmat last time too...

Work on the verbal...And if you are giving it second time, i am sure you are twice as prepared than last time so go rock it buddy

Hey Thanks Sreak

The thing with verbal is that I know where I have to work...and thats why I am not asking about it may be.
BTW i have completed the LSAT LR Bible and it is a big big help for GMAT CR...till now I have not worked on my RC and thats where I am losing marks...but having acquired a good enough improvement in CR, I hope to show some improvement in my verbal score once I am done with the OG10 RC (which is scheduled for day after tomorrow)

On the MGMAT tests, I am inevitably making at least 2 3 silly mistakes in the quants, which I hate so much
These silly mistakes are kind of attributable to the time pressure which is built on MGMAT maths section, for (I feel) its a bit lengthier than usual.

Any suggestions how I can touch the 50 on q and stay there, like forever

Cheers,
Vivek

mishti86 wrote:Hi Vivek,

I had to pause to complete the math on MGMAT so dont worry about math. I gave my test at the Andheri center...i am sure u were at the same center around 5th - 12 oct...Did you make a request for the Pearson Vue to check the audio - video? Or ask for assistance during the test? Tough luck buddy but dont lose hope. I too felt very depressed but it pays off to work hard and fight. Take it as a challenge to prove that given better circumstances, you couldve nailed the gmat last time too...

Work on the verbal...And if you are giving it second time, i am sure you are twice as prepared than last time so go rock it buddy

GAWD!! I took the test on 7th Sept and they had it up even till october!!!
I did reason with the pearson view about the audio video recording and lots of other stuff, and I had asked for the earplugs which, as you correctly said, were useless. But you know how it is...the exam pressure and everything makes you feel that you should somehow pull it through...and I complained a lot during the 8 mins break...this is crap!!

Anyways...do you seriously think I am well prepared on the quants and I shouldn't worry about it much?

Appreciate your response.

Thanks,
Vivek

mishti86 wrote:7th Oct 2009, Thursday 5pm :

My First attempt at Gmat. Everything went well. Except during the verbal section, renovation started in the next room. The workers were sawing and banging nails in the wall. I raised my hand and asked for assistance and the land gave me these headphones which were of no use at all. I kept thinking the noise will go away and i will be able to finish my verbal. But it dint. I got a score of 690(50Q,33V). Extremely disappointed but i decided to raise an issue. I thought the rest of the 20 guys will too stand up for themselves and raise an issue, strengthening the case. But no1 did.

11th Oct 2009 : GMAC gave a free retest.

12th Nov 2009: My second attempt at GMAT. No noise, no disturbance and a score of 750 (47Q 45V)

My Advice to everyone giving GMAT

1. Gmat is NOT easy. Whoever tells you that you can study CAT and score well in GMAT has probably never seen GMAT verbal. Please dont take this exam lightly. It is tough and nerve wrecking. Give it its due. And it will give you yours.

2. Gmat Quant is your basic math but the questions in OG are too easy. I found the real math on GMAT much tougher. The hard part is to do them fast and get them right. Get your concepts in place. Solve the OG but try tougher problems too. I found Kaplan 800 a book math book to refer.

3. Gmat Verbal is a killer. Especially for students who gave up grammar 8 years ago. There is no other way, you have to practice. The 8 common errors on SC u find on most books are the basic errors. Make your own list. Your own notebook of clues. This helps - trust me. The CRs need you to remain calm and reason stuff out in any situation. The RC can be confusing but only one answer is correct. Dont JUMP to the answer. Read and re read the passage till you get the other four crossed out.

4. Gmat is a test of nerves.Whatever you do - dont panic. Either before or during exam. practice till you drop. I did 3 OGs, Kaplan 800, Kaplan GMAT 2009, Princeton review and Barrons (horrible for verbal but math is good). It paid off.

5. Dream big. I dreamt of writing on this forum. Also dont panic reading about others. Make your timetable prepare and go for it.

6. If anything happens during Gmat which is not in your control like noise, computer crashes and renovations. Please raise an issue. Look where it got me. Dont walk out losing hope.

And BELIEVE you can do it. Say it to yourself that you deserve and want a 780. If you believe it, so will the GMAT

best of luck guys. I am open to questions and ready to help

Regards,
Mishti

Dear Mishti,

I would like to raise an issue too. Could you pl advise me how to go about it.

Many thanks

Hi obsessed GMAT,

You should have already raised an issue when your test got over or even during your test since that is more reliable. But still dont lose hope - call GMAC Customer Care number and launch an issue - they will need the slot information etc. Also ask them to verify the audio-video specifically.


Best of luk,
Mishti

Hello mate!

I have quite similar story as yours.

I've given a gmat first on 28 dec. and got 650! ( I was scoring 720-750 in practice tests) the reason was an ongoing class just behind the wall. I did not raise a claim that time and decided to prepare for the 2nd shot.

I was much better prepared for the 2nd try, was scoring around 740-760... AND...

I Have scheduled exam at 11:00 AM , and arrived at test center at 10:30 . but the exam administrator did not arrive untill 11:20! In addition to that , i was promised that the class will not be held during my GMAT , but the class was there! and was quite loud.

I have raised a claim regarding this issue! cause i got only 690! and that's absolutely unacceptable score for me.

What can you advise , how to approach GMAC? I have raised a claim on 13 th of feb , right after my test , but I have not received any response yet!



best regards,
Gio

mishti86 wrote:Hi obsessed GMAT,

You should have already raised an issue when your test got over or even during your test since that is more reliable. But still dont lose hope - call GMAC Customer Care number and launch an issue - they will need the slot information etc. Also ask them to verify the audio-video specifically.


Best of luk,
Mishti

Thanks Mishti.

I spoke to the test co-ordinator right after the test. She acknowledged the problem. She asked me to write to GMAC. There was this girl sitting next to me with whooping cough or something. She was coughing up a storm. It was constant and annoying. My score has dropped since I last took the test (700). This time I scored a 650!! I knew before I clicked the report score button that my score would be low. I have been consistently scoring high on my practise tests.

This is VERY depressing for me. Since I am working, I dont think I can give the GMAT in the next 6 months. Just rotten luck today.

Thank you for your kind reply.

Is there a certain time when the testing center is the least crowded? I think I may want to schedule my exam for that time, so that I don't run into similar problems.