I just Beat The GMAT!

vikram4689 wrote: 8/8 on IR ... Amazing
How many question you think you did correct... ques in QG are so difficult and that score is too difficult to achieve ( any tips on IR )

hifunda wrote:Wow! An IR score of 8? I'm hiring you for my IR prep!! Congratulations on the awesome scores! Don't worry about AWA, even I got only a 5.5

hifunda wrote:So have you started your apps lately? All the best man!

newbee99 wrote:IR 8/8 -Congratulations on your great score! what were your practice scores in IR ?

thanks,

thulsy wrote:congratulations!
best of luck on your application~

penguinfoot wrote:Took the GMAT today, got a 730. I was expecting a 740 - missed by this much !
And yeah, folks - this is the Next Gen GMAT.

1.0 Preface :
I know that many people are gonna ask this question later on. (My buddies on this forum have quite often asked this questions) -> Why did you take the GMAT immediately after the format changed ?

I just did not get any other suitable time for the exam

1.1 GMAT Scores :
Here is my result and unofficial score card :

AWA -> 5.5 -> 77%
IR -> 8 -> 94%
Maths -> 50 -> 92%
Verbal -> 39 -> 87%
Total -> 730 -> 96%

* During my Test preparation - I got 730 once but i got 97% as the percentile score. Dont know why it is varied here.

1.2 Preparation Tips :
Please find below my methods for preparation. If you think it can help your preparation, you are more than welcome to follow it.

Preperation for AWA :
https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6- ... 7-140.html
End of story. The above template and word structuring were really helpful. I don't think I spent more than 2 days on AWA preparation. I practiced 2 essays typing in MS word. Stick to the template provided by ChineseBurned in the above link and you will be fine. Also, make sure you use a lot of transition words and connecting words. Make sure your thought flow is clearly supplemented by such words.

Preperation for IR :
IR was not one area where I had sufficient material; neither do i have enough knowledge to even logically attack it. OG 13 provides a 6 month free access to their online portal hosting 50 IR questions. These are the best. They are tough, stressful, irritating and just what you need to get a taste of the original GMATish IR.
The most crucial factor about IR is to forget about numbers and understand the synopsis/description/annotation about what this data means. Once you understand what values each numbers/graph bars stand for - IR questions will demystify and will be a cake walk.
Sounds easy right ? This is where GMAT shows its true colors. One ca easily mistake the meaning of a data while solving the question and land up at wrong calculation result. Oh yeah - GMAT will make sure the wrong answer is present in the answer choices.
If you can - give the Online IR provided by OG13 a try - they are really really tough !

Preperation for Quant :
Preparation for Quant was very straightforward. Practice, Practice, Practice - coupled with - Review, Review, Review. I don't remember the last time I looks at geometry formulas or statistic concepts. Maybe it was 2 months ago. Anyways, my point is - Once you fully understand the concepts tested by GMAT - All that is left to do is quality practice (Preferably Official Question - GMATPrep, OG12, OG13, Math Supplement, mba.com questions). What you need to understand is that GMAT only tests a finite set of concepts which are easy and quite basic. Get this over with at the early stages of your preparation.

Preperation for Verbal :
Oh Boy, this was a nightmare for me. Especially the sentence correction part of it. There seems to be many interlinked ways in which a "grammatically correct" answer can sound weird. Don't worry - a technique called "Detailed Documentation" worked for me. It is similar to Error log - but something which i have made for myself. The details of this method are in the end.

Sentence Correction is a pain in the ass. But one thing which drastically improved my performance is a simple technique. Whenever evaluating correct answers - make sure to look into non-underlined portion of the question for tips. Most of the case, you will find critical clues which will help you answer the question.

Reading Comprehension is an area which can drain you of energy and concentration. Most important thing to do for this section is to stay focused and connect with the passage. Sounds stupid - But trust me, it works ! You don't have to dream about dolphins for 5 min if the passage is about dolphins. You just need to like dolphins - seriously, love them - I myself hate dolphin but what choice do we have ?

Critical Reasoning is an area where you will definitely commit mistakes. Period. This is inevitable. Keep 1 or 2 questions buffer in CR and consider them as goners. I don't mean to suggest and outrageous thing such as leaving out a question or blindly guessing. But what is am saying is something that many people forget to adapt to on a CR question. Once you find the answer - Mark and move on. It is not a mere coincidence that many people who apply for competitive exam choose correct answer but review the answer choices again and again and end up choosing the wrong answer. This is exactly why I did not cross cut-off in IIT-JEE.

I am suggesting this from the bottom of my heart - with all the good will. This is applicable to Verbal questions in general but mostly to RC & CR. Never re-review your answer choices once you have correctly "zoned" in using elimination technique. It is waste of your time and energy.

1.3 G-Day and The Day before :
The Day before the GMAT - Do not read anything. Do not review anything. Do not take practice test.
Strickly - No VERBAL ! You can do a little of maths - but only those easy kind of problems. (Only if you are feeling too bored)
What i did was - Went to office but did little work, Listened to lots of music while at office, Went to movie with friends after office and took my girlfriend for a great Italian dinner. (She was actually more tensed than i was about my exam !)
If you can - visit the center. I knew where my center was - so did not do this activity.

G-Day(my slot was morning - 9:00 AM) - Have a heavy breakfast and tea/coffee/juice - whatever suits you. Just don't get dehydrated. That is the last thing you want on a GMAT. I took a red bull - now i know 1 was not enough. I should have taken some chocolate bars/energy bars. Manhattan GMAT has a set of techniques to get you relaxed. Practice these - will be helpful during Real Exam. Also - don't forget to ask the test administrator for Ear-Plugs. They work for noise cancellation and are very effective.

Detailed Documentation: Whenever I am done with a practice test - I open up spreadsheet and enter all the errors I have committed. With details and answer three headers related to the error:
Details on the Error, Reasons for the Error & To-Do Improvement.
In case anyone wants a template of this file, you can download it below:
(No copyrights applicable : Free document : Creative Commons of Penguinfoot)

Finally, Remember : You can practice 1001 questions, but if you don't review your errors - you are not gonna make any progress.

Do let me know in case i can be of any help to my fellow community members. I have a month before i start applying to colleges.

AbhiJ wrote:I am suggesting this from the bottom of my heart - with all the good will. This is applicable to Verbal questions in general but mostly to RC & CR. Never re-review your answer choices once you have correctly "zoned" in using elimination technique. It is waste of your time and energy.

Nice advice

brat_ritz wrote:Hi,Penguinfoot

I wanted to know what resources u followed for quant and IR.Books ,sites etc whatever u referred to while preparing for GMAT.Also,I would like to add that verbal section is my strength and i have already prepared for CAT and had a score of like 77-83 percentile in quant section of CAT.lukin forward to ur reply