. Last 2 years, 3 attempts have been really really tough for me. Every time I set out for the GMAT I was challenged by many obstacles. Dengue, burglary at home, wife's pregnancy (definitely an awesome thing, but challenge because it needs my attention. Its definitely a very happy phase of my life) and many many more hurdles. In my third attempt I had started believing that God is signaling time and time again that I should not take this path. Even in the last one week I had challenges. I had booked 22nd Jan for the test. On 21st Jan my boss called for an important meeting the next day, so I had to cancel my booking on 21st and lost $250. Then I booked today's date (28th Jan) for the test. Yesterday evening my driver said he will not report to work on 28th , the store near my home, from where I had planned to pick up stuff to eat during the breaks, closed much before the usual closing time. I again started to get the feeling that the signs are not good.First attempt (640 - Q46, V32) : I had started the journey to beat the GMAT. I was a very good student in school and college and hence was over confident. I used only OG 12 (how foolish of me
).GMAT showed me my worth. GMAT beat me black and blue.Second attempt ( 660 - Q49, V32) : This time I again set out to beat the GMAT and teach it a lesson. I slogged, solved problems from various sources and cut myself from social life. GMAT taught me a lesson and told me that it was wrong way to prepare.
Third & Final attempt ( 710 -Q49, V39) : This time my aim was to befriend GMAT and by now I had started respecting the exam. This time GMAT became my friend.I will keep my description of third attempt longer because I feel this time I did the right things and hopefully these things would help you too.
Resources Used :
Quant : OG12 , OG10, OG quant supplement, Manhattan series.
Verbal : OG12, OG 10, OG Verbal supplement, Manhattan SC guide and Powerscore CR Bible.
IR : Only GMAT prep questions.
Preparation :
After my first two attempts I was clear that the only way I can cross the mark of 700 is if I score well in verbal. So this time I devoted more time for the verbal preparation. But this wasn't as easy as it sounds. If I prepared for SC, my accuracy in CR and RC dropped. To add to the trouble, my confidence in quants dipped. Same happened if I studied only CR and RC for long. Half way through my preparation I decided to devote 70% of my weekly study time to 2 of the 3 verbal areas and balance 30% to Quant. This change helped me in keeping the right balance. The plan and resources for each of the subsections are given below :
SC : You can make the biggest difference in your confidence level and obviously in your score if you improve SC. I would have read the MGMAT SC guide atleast 3 times, but even then I could not pick the answers confidently. Hence, in the last week of December I decided to buy the online course from e-gmat. There were no new rules I learned from e-gmat that were not covered in Manhattan guide, but the way they were presented helped me. The approach taken by e-gmat is very simple to understand. After doing those online tutorials I started feeling more confident in SC and my scores started improving.
RC : I feel I made the biggest improvement in this area. In my earlier attempts and also in the first half of my preparation this time, I relied on skimming technique. The accuracy levels were always under 60%. Then around mid December I decided to read each paragraph slowly and understand what each para stands for. After practicing this technique for few days I started seeing my RC accuracy go up. I remember in all the GMAT Prep mock tests I gave after that, I never got more than 1 incorrect in RC.
CR : Not sure how(or whether) I improved in CR. I read the powerscore bible thrice and after every reading I thought my scores will improve drastically. But it never happened. My scores improved only after understanding the pattern of right answers and even of wrong answers. CRs are more of logic questions with very few rules and atleast I depended only on logic to solve the problems.
PS and DS : Manhattan books are very good for making a strong foundation. Highly recommend those books. Lot of practice from official source helps.
IR : Did not prepare because I was getting decent scores on GMAT prep mocks.
Mock test Scores :
MGMAT : Average score 680. Highest 700. Attempted all 6 tests. Every time I attempted these tests I doubted my preparedness. So don't attempt these tests in the last leg of preparation. Always struggled with Quant timings.
GMAT prep : 710,740,700 (repeat),730 (repeat). The real test was absolutely like the mock tests. I always finished quant with atleast 15 mins to spare. But my repeat tests scores were lower than my first test scores. This perplexed me and seeded doubt. But then decided to ignore it.
Final GMAT Experience :
AWA : Nothing much to share. You can't prepare for it beyond understanding what structure to follow. Finished AWA with 15 mins to spare.
IR : I always got less than 3 in MGMAT tests and that always bothered me.But I always scored 5-7 in the GMATPREP tests. Hence I realized that I do not need to prepare specifically for the IR section because the final test will be closer to the GMAT Prep tests.
Quant : I had so many experiences of people struggling with first 2-3 questions in the real test. And yes, it happened with me too. I had a dramatic start to quant. First question was a simple looking co-ordinate geometry question asking for the intercept. Call it nerves or something else I took 4 mins to solve. Second question was on set of people (few experienced and few with long working hours) that required to find out % of people with experience and without long working hours. Another 4 minutes and couldn't solve. I decided to blindly click one of the options. 8 minutes passed , 2 questions gone and probably "0" score. I felt miserable because I knew how important are first few questions. But then I calmed myself and moved ahead. The rest of the quant was fine, barring 2-3 questions (including one on probability) which I couldn't solve and hence guessed. Finished with 1 min to spare.
I had a feeling that I had messed up quant because first 2-3 questions that looked difficult, I couldn't solve confidently. Rest of the questions looked simpler and yet I wasn't very confident on them. I said to myself "forget it and do well in verbal".
Verbal : First 6 questions on SC/CR and none that troubled me. I had read in so many posts that people who did well in verbal definitely saw a RC in the 7th question and a bold faced between before 20th. Seventh Question..... bang... RC , I suddenly felt good.......14th Question.....a bold faced......felt better
. I then breezed through without much difficulty. I finished verbal with 6 mins to spare. And then...........the last few seconds. If recorded and amplified, my heartbeats could have been used for a Rock concert
. BANG : 710 (Q-49, V-39). I was really really happy.DO's :
1. Build a strong foundation and later worry about difficult questions and timing.
2. Pay close attention to your weak areas.
3. Stick to official questions in last 2-3 weeks of your preparation.
4. Live a life : Don't start looking ill (with unkempt hair and beard), live a normal life. Meet friends, go shopping. Your mind and body need a break.
DON'T's :
1. Aim for 800. I did in my first 2 attempts and you know the result
.2. Mindlessly hunt for practice questions: Solve question from trusted companies during your first phase and only official question in your second half of the preparation.
3. Solve brutal, hardest, 800 level questions: Unless you know (and I'm sure each one of us really does, come on don't fool yourself
) that you are ready for a 740 score for sure, don't even try hardest questions.4. Don't study hard on the last day: If you can't resist the urge, then just revise the stuff, but no full tests /short tests etc.
Want to express my gratitude to:
Kasia@EconomistGMAT : For making my decision to postpone the test easier. And for helping me with things to do in last 1 month.
Ron Purewal @ Manhattan : I relied solely on his explanation for the SC doubts in official questions. He is awesome. Thanks Ron.
David@VeritasPrep : For boosting my moral in the last week of preparation. He had bet his money on a 730 for me. Sorry David I let you down, but I was close
.All the other experts : who helped me, directly or indirectly.
I will be glad if I can be of help to people who are still preparing for the test. I used to read "I just beat the GMAT " almost every day for inspiration. So thank you guys who have written before me.
My long journey of GMAT preparation, failure in earlier attempts and the period of self doubt has come to an end. I am happy that I could overcome the challenges. I could do this because my wife always supported me, even now when she is pregnant and needs me more she let me prepare. Now I am eagerly awaiting to welcome my baby in this world
.So guys.....go and befriend the GMAT, don't prepare to beat it !!
