I just Beat The GMAT!

After two months of preparations, on the 30th of January, I decided that I had prepared enough and scheduled a test appointment for Feb 2 in Waltham, MA. Because a snowstorm was forecast for the 2nd, I thought I'd be the only one at the test center. At the end of an all-day meeting at our corporate headquarters in Boston on Feb 1, I received a voice message that my test would have to be rescheduled since the test center would remain closed due to inclement weather - 20" of snow. I called Pearson only to find that the next appointment at the Waltham center would be around the 15th. I wanted to get over with the test before the superbowl. I couldn't wait and I had them reschedule for Feb 3, today, at the Boston Back Bay center. Although there were quite a few test-takers, I had no trouble with noise, distractions or for that matter with the laminated workbook and pens. I just couldn't concentrate during the test, due not to any particular reason but anxiety. And I had to pay $32 for parking -- totally ridiculous.

I walked away with a 720. I am a bit disappointed in my quant score, but the GMAT score is only a part of the MBA application package. I guess I won't get dinged for my GMAT score. Its somewhat comforting to think that higher score would not have added much to the application, still, I feel I could have done better.

I think I did fine in the argument essay, but the issue topic was extremely boring and I had difficulty coming up with good points on either side. Nevertheless, I typed away about 450-500 words for each.

I skipped the break and dove right into the quant section. Some problems threw me off at the beginning of the section and I realized that I was running behind. I decided to guess and move on and finished the section with 4 minutes to spare. I should have spent some more time at the beginning of the section; instead, I panicked and plowed forward. I took the break at the end of Q section, and started working on the V section. I just had a tough time concentrating. There were moments when I closed my eyes and said to myself - its not the time to get distracted and let other thoughts in. I think I saw two passages on sociology and history related topics, only to make my concentration worse. I had 6 minutes for the last 4 questions and I finished them all without guessing.

What do takers like to see most in a debrief ? Practice scores. So here they are -

GMAT-crack free test 615 (Q49,V20) - Nov 30
Kaplan CD CAT1 570 (Q40,V28) - Dec 5
Kaplan CD CAT2 570 (Q39,V30) - Dec 5
GMATPrep CAT1 700 (Q49,V35) - Dec 17
PR CAT 1 660 (Q48, V34) - Dec 29
GMATPrep CAT2 690 (Q50, V31) - Dec 29
PR CAT 2 650 (Q50, V31) - Dec 30
PR CAT 3 680 (Q51, V33) - Dec 30 ----- same day
PR CAT 4 710 (Q50, V39) - Jan 9

MGMAT CAT 1 670 (Q47, V34)- Jan 22 <---- ran out of time - left 3 questions in Q unanswered
MGMAT CAT 2 740 (Q50, V41)- Jan 22 ---- same day
MGMAT CAT 3 730 (Q49, V41)- Jan 29
MGMAT CAT 4 750 (Q51, V41)- Jan 30

GMATPrep 1 retake 760 (Q50, V44) - Feb 2
GMATPrep 2 retake 730 (Q51, V37) - Feb 2 ---- same day

GMAT 720 (Q49, V38) - Feb 3 ---> (Q86, V83) total 94th percentile.

The posts in this forum inspired me a lot and especially those which included a detailed table of practice CAT scores. I think it helps one to assess where he/she stands. By the end of 4 MGMAT CATs I felt assured that I would score above 700.

I used the standard books, in the following order.

PR cracking the GMAT
McGraw Hill's verbal review
Manhattan SC guide
OG 12

I never really studied for quant. Not sure of the hours dedicated, but mostly studied on weekends. In fact, I think I spent a lot of time taking tests rather than studying.


CATs

I found the V questions in PR CAT to be more similar to the actual thing than those in MGMAT CAT. MGMAT Q can be tedious, but works wonders in improving speed. Make sure you take CATs only from GMATprep before the G-Day. I feel that MGMAT questions feel somewhat different from the official questions.

I would like to thank Ramesh Kanthilal on this forum. I found his posts, especially the responses to CR questions, very detailed. The clarity in his explanations is unparalleled. The advice that I picked up and that made the greatest difference in my V performance was - Read all answer choices! Even though I knew it, I wasn't applying it during my CATs. If I liked an answer choice, I would select it and move forward without even reading the remaining choices. In the verbal section, you mustn't discard an answer choice if you don't have a reason for doing so.

Thanks to arora007, Pushkal, mundasingh and many others for keeping the forum alive and generating some nice discussions. Thanks to Anshu Mishra for the quant posts.

I had fun preparing for the test and learned quite a bit from this forum.

Profile

30 year old - Born and raised in India.
Undergrad - IIT Bombay, Chem Engg.
Grad - Phd, U Minnesota
5 years work-ex in a major chemical manufacturing company in Boston; traveled and worked in more than 10 countries.
Still toying with the idea of an MBA - and I'm not sure if and why I want one. I need to introspect - but hey, I have time.

Oh, and if someone's curious, I had parathas for breakfast!

I'd be happy to answer specific questions.