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abhidas
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
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- Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:10 am
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Its been a long journey. My GMAT trip began in my final year of varsity in 2009 (seems like a lifetime has passed since). During that year I used to refer to the trusty Joe Blogg based Princeton GMAT (its gathering dust somewhere)and a Kaplan GMAT premier. The last two weeks i really hunkered down and went through the GMAT prep tests otherwise it was mostly learning through osmosis. I had a relaxed approach to the test and was under no stress as I already had a job lined up and had got 710 and 700 on my two GMAT prep tests. Lo and behold the final score in Cape Town came out as:
700 Q45 V40 AWA 5.5
I had finished both Quant and verbal with half an hour each to spare and took pride (false) in the fact that I had finished the test in 2 hours 45 minutes flat.
I was quite happy with my score and moved from South Africa to India and worked away for the next three years at the consulting arm of a large accounting firm.
As luck would have it I got the the opportunity to move back to South Africa to work with a renewable energy firm. It was also time now to consider the MBA. The advice from all quarters was due to being from an over-represented demographic (Indian Male) I needed to push through the 700 barrier. I was now seriously out of touch with the GMAT. So i duly signed up with Manhattan, I made a point to attend all classes but was not very up to date with my homework. I was extremely rusty but had set a hard deadline in August 2013 for my test. The tests from Manhattan were not very encouraging
04/20/13 MGMAT - 670 Q44 v37
07/02/13 MGMAT - 670 Q45 v36 IR 2.4 2-3
08/11/13 MGMAT - 690 Q48 v36 IR 5.06 4-6
I have always been a voracious reader and just thought there was a bug in the system that was messing up my verbal. My approach to SC has always been instinctive and I generally get 100% of my RC right. CR remained a toss up. Anyways my test date was set and it was in a different city so there was no ways I was going to cancel the test. I also had constant doubts on whether I could punch through the 700 barrier but nevertheless test date approached and it was time to go. I had lined up the test for
12h30 in Johannesburg (I know nothing of Johannesburg). I was dropped off at the center at 08h30 and I coolly ran through some Quant (still not accepting Verbal was a problem) at a coffee shop before the test. Entered the room with some butterflies but plodded on for the shock of my life:
680 Q47 V36 AWA 6.0 IR 5
I had finished the Verbal with 35 minutes to spare. This time there was no pride in my speed.
The facts were there I had lost my command over the Verbal. I immediately booked an October date as I have to apply this year and the 680 wasn't going to cut it. For the 6.0 credit goes to
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/08/ ... -awa-essay
I lined up a consult with MGMAT and was given great advice by Tim Sanders. He asked me to to do the remaining tests over the following two months to assess where I went wrong and loose my instinctive approach to SC. Also while my speed was an advantage it was in my own interests to slow things down. Meanwhile I had also realised I work on confidence. So I plugged away at the content I had not covered over the first round and started looking through my old answers on the OG archer offered by MGMAT. With two weeks left it was time for some "confidence doping"
09/29/13 MGMAT - 780 Q51 V45 IR 3.1 2-4
On the doping let me explain. I wanted to break the psychological 700 barrier and paused the tests to Google answers ( they seemed to be easily available). Not my proudest moment but in retrospect this gave me a huge confidence boost. With this drugged bench-mark practice test under my belt I refused to give another practice test. I set about reviewing all my tests and reviewing weaknesses as I found them.
Finally d-day came on the 18th of October. This time I had lined up an 08h30 appointment because the last experience wasn't great. There were no butterflies and even a mix-up with names and date of birth ( the center was searching for an Indian by surname and name and my name is so common they found someone from born in Dhaka across the border; appointment number sorted it out) could not faze my confidence. With the new found confidence I got:
720 (94th Percentile) Q48 V40 IR 7.0 AWA 5.5.
This time I only finished with 5 minutes to spare.
That's it no more tests I had set 720 as my bare minimum before the test and achieved it. The IR was a pleasant surprise. Here are my takeaways:
1. Practice practice practice (can't stress this enough)
2. Review everything you practice to learn from the practice
3. Confidence counts but confidence should not be based on time or other external factors doesn't. If there is a mental block around a certain scores punch through it with some tactical googling
4. IR and AWA can be covered during the last few weeks or if you are really nervous through the practice tests.
5. Be familiar with the venue and don't take odd mid-day times unless thats when your brain peaks. For me lunch time tests are not an option as my brain takes a virtual siesta regardless of whether I am awake and working or not.
6. Don't ever give up keep trying for whatever your target is. I could still try for that 780 but that's not my target for now.
7. Do not create false strengths for yourself, sometimes the ego needs to take a hit.
8. Take your time there are no prizes for finishing early.
My Background.
I am an Indian who has been educated in South Africa and worked in both India and South Africa. Because of my initial schooling in India mental maths has never been a problem. I majored in accounting and economics hence numbers kept getting reinforced. In spite of knowing this I still though Quant was a problem and I had verbal licked because of my reading habits. I couldn't have been more wrong.
700 Q45 V40 AWA 5.5
I had finished both Quant and verbal with half an hour each to spare and took pride (false) in the fact that I had finished the test in 2 hours 45 minutes flat.
I was quite happy with my score and moved from South Africa to India and worked away for the next three years at the consulting arm of a large accounting firm.
As luck would have it I got the the opportunity to move back to South Africa to work with a renewable energy firm. It was also time now to consider the MBA. The advice from all quarters was due to being from an over-represented demographic (Indian Male) I needed to push through the 700 barrier. I was now seriously out of touch with the GMAT. So i duly signed up with Manhattan, I made a point to attend all classes but was not very up to date with my homework. I was extremely rusty but had set a hard deadline in August 2013 for my test. The tests from Manhattan were not very encouraging
04/20/13 MGMAT - 670 Q44 v37
07/02/13 MGMAT - 670 Q45 v36 IR 2.4 2-3
08/11/13 MGMAT - 690 Q48 v36 IR 5.06 4-6
I have always been a voracious reader and just thought there was a bug in the system that was messing up my verbal. My approach to SC has always been instinctive and I generally get 100% of my RC right. CR remained a toss up. Anyways my test date was set and it was in a different city so there was no ways I was going to cancel the test. I also had constant doubts on whether I could punch through the 700 barrier but nevertheless test date approached and it was time to go. I had lined up the test for
12h30 in Johannesburg (I know nothing of Johannesburg). I was dropped off at the center at 08h30 and I coolly ran through some Quant (still not accepting Verbal was a problem) at a coffee shop before the test. Entered the room with some butterflies but plodded on for the shock of my life:
680 Q47 V36 AWA 6.0 IR 5
I had finished the Verbal with 35 minutes to spare. This time there was no pride in my speed.
The facts were there I had lost my command over the Verbal. I immediately booked an October date as I have to apply this year and the 680 wasn't going to cut it. For the 6.0 credit goes to
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/08/ ... -awa-essay
I lined up a consult with MGMAT and was given great advice by Tim Sanders. He asked me to to do the remaining tests over the following two months to assess where I went wrong and loose my instinctive approach to SC. Also while my speed was an advantage it was in my own interests to slow things down. Meanwhile I had also realised I work on confidence. So I plugged away at the content I had not covered over the first round and started looking through my old answers on the OG archer offered by MGMAT. With two weeks left it was time for some "confidence doping"
09/29/13 MGMAT - 780 Q51 V45 IR 3.1 2-4
On the doping let me explain. I wanted to break the psychological 700 barrier and paused the tests to Google answers ( they seemed to be easily available). Not my proudest moment but in retrospect this gave me a huge confidence boost. With this drugged bench-mark practice test under my belt I refused to give another practice test. I set about reviewing all my tests and reviewing weaknesses as I found them.
Finally d-day came on the 18th of October. This time I had lined up an 08h30 appointment because the last experience wasn't great. There were no butterflies and even a mix-up with names and date of birth ( the center was searching for an Indian by surname and name and my name is so common they found someone from born in Dhaka across the border; appointment number sorted it out) could not faze my confidence. With the new found confidence I got:
720 (94th Percentile) Q48 V40 IR 7.0 AWA 5.5.
This time I only finished with 5 minutes to spare.
That's it no more tests I had set 720 as my bare minimum before the test and achieved it. The IR was a pleasant surprise. Here are my takeaways:
1. Practice practice practice (can't stress this enough)
2. Review everything you practice to learn from the practice
3. Confidence counts but confidence should not be based on time or other external factors doesn't. If there is a mental block around a certain scores punch through it with some tactical googling
4. IR and AWA can be covered during the last few weeks or if you are really nervous through the practice tests.
5. Be familiar with the venue and don't take odd mid-day times unless thats when your brain peaks. For me lunch time tests are not an option as my brain takes a virtual siesta regardless of whether I am awake and working or not.
6. Don't ever give up keep trying for whatever your target is. I could still try for that 780 but that's not my target for now.
7. Do not create false strengths for yourself, sometimes the ego needs to take a hit.
8. Take your time there are no prizes for finishing early.
My Background.
I am an Indian who has been educated in South Africa and worked in both India and South Africa. Because of my initial schooling in India mental maths has never been a problem. I majored in accounting and economics hence numbers kept getting reinforced. In spite of knowing this I still though Quant was a problem and I had verbal licked because of my reading habits. I couldn't have been more wrong.
