Hey guys, I got a 730 !!! finally !!!!!
First of all i really want to thank this website and all the people contributing to this website for all the insightful articles and experiences of people that helped me from making the repeated common mistakes in GMAT. There was no part of the test i wasn't prepared for. After reading experiences of so many people, i was cautious of the break times, using ear plugs, keeping two markers, planning bathroom breaks etc........
And even with a severe cold, i managed to get the score fairly close to what i wanted. This is the second time i am giving GMAT. The first time was about 6 months ago when i scored 700. I was confused with the 700 score since it was right at the edge of below the average score for most of the top business programs. After a long break in vegas followed by moving to a new city and starting on a new project i finally re-opened by books about 2 months ago. And here comes the first lesson learned from me..... If u want to retake the GMAT, start immediately !!! The longer you wait, the worst the situation get. You don't need a long break before starting again...coz trust me, the longer u wait, the more u have to study again......With GMAT, if u r not gaining, u r loosing...... U loose practise, u forget to apply principles, u forget to manage time.....
Anyways, so i started studying again and my study routine was kinda haphazard. It took me a while to make peace with the fact that i have to study the same principles which i mastered 4 months ago. Important thing was to bring GMAT back into priority....U really need to think about GMAT all the time.....Even when i was working, i would try to wrap up my stuff faster to read few more articles on GMAT.........
You guys already have a lot of articles on study plans, routines, etc so i won't add to it. But one of the key things i did which was a little different than what i've been reading, is to figure out a way to apply my knowledge to the questions. We learn so many concepts that it is hard to remember them when u r trying to solve 1 question per minute. You read about steps to read the RC passages, steps to solve critical reasoning questions, all the highly complicated sentence correction concepts but when we start solving questions, we don't have time to go back and think of the steps to solve the questions or how to read a passage.So what we need to do is read those steps and concepts so many times that they become part of your subconscious mind.... You should be able to apply these principles without thinking. The problem is these principles are so detailed and long that it is very time consuming to read them again and again. So i decided to make a summary of these ideas which can be made handy and since i had already read the detailed version before, the summary was good enough for me to recall the entire thing. I recommend this method to anyone who is having difficulty applying the concepts he/ she is learning. if it worked for me, i'm sure it can work for u too...the key is to customize it to suit your learning style. If u just pick up a summary made by someone else online or in a book, its not the same thing.
Thanks again guys for all the valuable info. And good luck to the future GMAT takers
Cheers
First of all i really want to thank this website and all the people contributing to this website for all the insightful articles and experiences of people that helped me from making the repeated common mistakes in GMAT. There was no part of the test i wasn't prepared for. After reading experiences of so many people, i was cautious of the break times, using ear plugs, keeping two markers, planning bathroom breaks etc........
And even with a severe cold, i managed to get the score fairly close to what i wanted. This is the second time i am giving GMAT. The first time was about 6 months ago when i scored 700. I was confused with the 700 score since it was right at the edge of below the average score for most of the top business programs. After a long break in vegas followed by moving to a new city and starting on a new project i finally re-opened by books about 2 months ago. And here comes the first lesson learned from me..... If u want to retake the GMAT, start immediately !!! The longer you wait, the worst the situation get. You don't need a long break before starting again...coz trust me, the longer u wait, the more u have to study again......With GMAT, if u r not gaining, u r loosing...... U loose practise, u forget to apply principles, u forget to manage time.....
Anyways, so i started studying again and my study routine was kinda haphazard. It took me a while to make peace with the fact that i have to study the same principles which i mastered 4 months ago. Important thing was to bring GMAT back into priority....U really need to think about GMAT all the time.....Even when i was working, i would try to wrap up my stuff faster to read few more articles on GMAT.........
You guys already have a lot of articles on study plans, routines, etc so i won't add to it. But one of the key things i did which was a little different than what i've been reading, is to figure out a way to apply my knowledge to the questions. We learn so many concepts that it is hard to remember them when u r trying to solve 1 question per minute. You read about steps to read the RC passages, steps to solve critical reasoning questions, all the highly complicated sentence correction concepts but when we start solving questions, we don't have time to go back and think of the steps to solve the questions or how to read a passage.So what we need to do is read those steps and concepts so many times that they become part of your subconscious mind.... You should be able to apply these principles without thinking. The problem is these principles are so detailed and long that it is very time consuming to read them again and again. So i decided to make a summary of these ideas which can be made handy and since i had already read the detailed version before, the summary was good enough for me to recall the entire thing. I recommend this method to anyone who is having difficulty applying the concepts he/ she is learning. if it worked for me, i'm sure it can work for u too...the key is to customize it to suit your learning style. If u just pick up a summary made by someone else online or in a book, its not the same thing.
Thanks again guys for all the valuable info. And good luck to the future GMAT takers
Cheers
