Dear All,
I managed to get 720 (V40, Q48) from 580. I gave my GMAT test last week and was very happy to see my score in magical 7....a post in this forum rightly said...people never fail they just give up...
Sorry for being a slacker..but i wanted to thank BTG forum and Manhattan Preparation Material for helping me achieve this score.
I gave one attempt in the beginning of this year with adequate preparation and was assuming that I will be able to get good score..however, i got 580 and was really really shattered....but after one month or so I started preparing it again. I followed this strategy:
1. Go thru each and every word of OG and OG review books. Look at the problem, the way OG looks at them. I was surprised to learn that GMAT doesn't test for so many concepts in Verbal and Maths, but OG covers all those concepts that are tested in real GMAT. Verbal was
2. Do not look into all the material that is available on this planet, but pick one more apart from OG. I choose Manhattan study material and looks like it went very well for me. Manhattan study guides (Class and books) are really good, especially for maths. For english, OG any day!!
3. Be discipline in the study hours. I decided that I was going to put 3-4 Hrs daily, no matter what as I believe consistency is really really important. I faced this issue that if i don't touch CR/RC/SC for some time, say a week or so...i started making same mistakes again...so working on all the concepts consistently was really imp for me.
4. Track your error...Every time i made a mistake, I used to make a note of it and was making sure that I am not repeating the same mistake by going thru the notes again and again.
5. Practice Practice and Practice. I was giving Tests at a very regular interval of time to keep a check, where my preparations are standing. Giving practice test is very imp to enhance the endurance as well...as it was a real challenge for me in the beginning of the preparation.
6. Last but not the least...Be positive...Having a positive attitude towards your preparation is really imp. There were times when i used to get really tired or disappointed with the low score or sth like that...but thanks to the articles in forum which kept me going....I remember, i used to hate RC...and feel like throwing up by looking at the passage...obviously I always used to score the lowest in RC....but one of the article suggested that look at the passage as if you are really really interested to know what the author is talking abt...just like a movie or story or sth...the suggestion did the wonder..[:)]...be very positive and relax specially on the day before exam.
Books referred:
1. Official Guide - Edition: 12, 11, 10
2. OG Review - 12th Edition
3. Manhattan Verbal and Quant Study Guide
4. CR Power Score Bible - Really good one for CR.
Mock Test Score:
GMAT Prep : 590 (July), 710 (For the First time, Aug), 730 (Aug/Sep), 710, 690, 720 (Sep/Oct)
Manhattan: 580 (July), 610 (Sep), 690, 700 (This boosted my confidence Tremendously)
PowerScore: 740, 760, 780 (Didnt rely much on them as all the questions were from OG)
I hope this brief would help you...All the best!
Regards,
monusangeeta
From 580 to 720 (V40, Q48)
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Congratuation for good score.
Would you please explain in detail about the difficulty level of RC and CR in real test?
Thanks.
Would you please explain in detail about the difficulty level of RC and CR in real test?
Thanks.
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Thanks...I guess verbal section difficulty level was same as OG and GMATPrep question,..In fact honestly speaking i personally found it easier then OG and gmatprep..in nut shell gmat real test doesn't go beyond OG and OG review...take the last 100 questions of OG..real test follows the same difficulty level in CR, RC and SC...
Surprisingly..gmat maths is more difficult then OG and gmatprep questions...Manhattan is great help there...
Hope this helps.
Surprisingly..gmat maths is more difficult then OG and gmatprep questions...Manhattan is great help there...
Hope this helps.
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Congrats... Can you suggest how you used to attempt verbal section... it was accuracy or time... as when i go for accuracy fall behind time.. and go for time.. fall behind accuracy... V35, V36, V37, V34 are my scores on Manhattan GMAT... not able to still get into V40... How was the strategy for RC as this one is too cheeky and can get all or none... depending on time devoted...
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Hey Monusangeeta...I got a 620 on my GMAT in July (41 Q, 35 V) and I was determined to retake it. I studied OG 12, Kaplan exams, and 3 Manhattan books (Quant) that related to topics I was weak at. I don't know why but I took the GMAT yesterday October 19, 2010 and I got a paltry 600......
I am quite discouraged and a 620 makes my dream of going to a big school look further away. I want a score from 660-690.....in term so quant and verbal what do you think I should do?
Thanks
I am quite discouraged and a 620 makes my dream of going to a big school look further away. I want a score from 660-690.....in term so quant and verbal what do you think I should do?
Thanks
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Hi,
Sorry to reply late, some how missed the notification. I hope I am not too late to reply.
Dangerous Dude, Yes I faced the same issue. I started with hitting accuracy. Once i was able to get 90% questions right in OG or Manhattan...I started hitting time..You get accuracy from prep materials but ul get timing in ur prep test...so get thru with the concepts really well..this will help u to manage time as u wont be spending much time to think thru the questions..U wont believe, SC questions should be used as time stealer for lengthy RC passage. Trust this help.
siddaggarwal, I am sorry to know about the score. I think u should throughly analyzed where did u make the mistake in the 2 attempts. How much u were scoring during practice tests. But most importantly dont loose hope. If MBA is very imp for you, fasten ur seat belts again and prepare one more time. Pople do give this exam multiple times. So dnt feel about the # of attempts.
redmark, do u mean the set up files of the mock test. I am not sure if the forum will allow uploading them as they are pretty huge in size.
Rest good,
monusangeeta
Sorry to reply late, some how missed the notification. I hope I am not too late to reply.
Dangerous Dude, Yes I faced the same issue. I started with hitting accuracy. Once i was able to get 90% questions right in OG or Manhattan...I started hitting time..You get accuracy from prep materials but ul get timing in ur prep test...so get thru with the concepts really well..this will help u to manage time as u wont be spending much time to think thru the questions..U wont believe, SC questions should be used as time stealer for lengthy RC passage. Trust this help.
siddaggarwal, I am sorry to know about the score. I think u should throughly analyzed where did u make the mistake in the 2 attempts. How much u were scoring during practice tests. But most importantly dont loose hope. If MBA is very imp for you, fasten ur seat belts again and prepare one more time. Pople do give this exam multiple times. So dnt feel about the # of attempts.
redmark, do u mean the set up files of the mock test. I am not sure if the forum will allow uploading them as they are pretty huge in size.
Rest good,
monusangeeta
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First of all,congrats for that major improvement.monusangeeta wrote:
redmark, do u mean the set up files of the mock test. I am not sure if the forum will allow uploading them as they are pretty huge in size.
Rest good,
monusangeeta
I guess redmark means your mock scores.Like you can post the scores and sectionals of each mock.
Best Of luck with the Applications.
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Hi, I have posted my mock test scores in the first thread...Thanks for the best wishes...
There u go again....
GMAT Prep : 590 (July), 710 (For the First time, Aug), 730 (Aug/Sep), 710, 690, 720 (Sep/Oct)
Manhattan: 580 (July), 610 (Sep), 690, 700 (This boosted my confidence Tremendously)
PowerScore: 740, 760, 780 (Didnt rely much on them as all the questions were from OG)
Regards,
monusangeeta
There u go again....
GMAT Prep : 590 (July), 710 (For the First time, Aug), 730 (Aug/Sep), 710, 690, 720 (Sep/Oct)
Manhattan: 580 (July), 610 (Sep), 690, 700 (This boosted my confidence Tremendously)
PowerScore: 740, 760, 780 (Didnt rely much on them as all the questions were from OG)
Regards,
monusangeeta
Hey.. congratulations for your score! Must say ud be a perfect inspiration for me.. since i flow in d same boat as u.. not a similar quant background thoh..monusangeeta wrote:Dear All,
I managed to get 720 (V40, Q48) from 580. I gave my GMAT test last week and was very happy to see my score in magical 7....a post in this forum rightly said...people never fail they just give up...
Regards,
monusangeeta
I gave my 1st attempt last month and scored the dismal 580.. bt I am determined to start my prep again. the only problem is.. I am not sure how to restart the prep.. My verbal was obv lower than my quant but since I dont really know which sections i messed up in my first attempt, I am a little lost in how to modify my preparation.. could u give me some tips as to how and what did you "restart" studying?
Some expert comments would also be appreciated.
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Dear sm1520,
When i started or rather "restarted" my preparation for GMAT, first thing was analyzing what went wrong in the last attempt as of course we made lots of mistakes in our first attempt hence we got less score...For ex, couple of mistakes that I made were 1.) not paying much attention on OG but start learning "english"...remember, GMAT verbal section is not "English" test, it tests u on only few concepts..2.) Reading too many books and not able to adopt one methodology...and as i said i didnt follow OG strategy to solve questions...my random techniques to answer the question left me with bad score 3.) not giving much practice tests...i somehow dreaded giving mock tests in first attempt...4 Hrs endurance was also an issue for me.. and so on....so u will have to come up with list of your own mistakes...
I would suggest you to talk to your frnds and people in forum what were the right things that they did and scored well...you will realize there are few common GMAT techniques for GMAT that everyone, who has scored well has followed...
Last but not the least...have self confidence and positive attitude...and you can nail it! ...Trust me, if i can do it..any one can!
Trust this helps.
Cheers,
monusangeeta
When i started or rather "restarted" my preparation for GMAT, first thing was analyzing what went wrong in the last attempt as of course we made lots of mistakes in our first attempt hence we got less score...For ex, couple of mistakes that I made were 1.) not paying much attention on OG but start learning "english"...remember, GMAT verbal section is not "English" test, it tests u on only few concepts..2.) Reading too many books and not able to adopt one methodology...and as i said i didnt follow OG strategy to solve questions...my random techniques to answer the question left me with bad score 3.) not giving much practice tests...i somehow dreaded giving mock tests in first attempt...4 Hrs endurance was also an issue for me.. and so on....so u will have to come up with list of your own mistakes...
I would suggest you to talk to your frnds and people in forum what were the right things that they did and scored well...you will realize there are few common GMAT techniques for GMAT that everyone, who has scored well has followed...
Last but not the least...have self confidence and positive attitude...and you can nail it! ...Trust me, if i can do it..any one can!
Trust this helps.
Cheers,
monusangeeta
thanks! Id try figurin this outmonusangeeta wrote:Dear sm1520,
When i started or rather "restarted" my preparation for GMAT, first thing was analyzing what went wrong in the last attempt as of course we made lots of mistakes in our first attempt hence we got less score.....so u will have to come up with list of your own mistakes...
Last but not the least...have self confidence and positive attitude...and you can nail it! ...Trust me, if i can do it..any one can!
Trust this helps.
Cheers,
monusangeeta
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Hi Redmark,
I dont remember the split....but most of the time I used to score 46-49 in maths and 28-42 in verbal...any thing below 46 in maths used to give me a minor heart attack.... :p...jokes apart...verbal was the only weak area for me....
about study hrs....well, it entirely depends...if you are able to get good results in 2-3 hrs studies then its cool....its ot about no. of hrs...its about results...moreover studying more then 4 hrs also doesnt work...specially if u r in job... studying with relaxed mind and planned approach are more imp for gmat.. then any thing else.
Regards,
monusangeeta
I dont remember the split....but most of the time I used to score 46-49 in maths and 28-42 in verbal...any thing below 46 in maths used to give me a minor heart attack.... :p...jokes apart...verbal was the only weak area for me....
about study hrs....well, it entirely depends...if you are able to get good results in 2-3 hrs studies then its cool....its ot about no. of hrs...its about results...moreover studying more then 4 hrs also doesnt work...specially if u r in job... studying with relaxed mind and planned approach are more imp for gmat.. then any thing else.
Regards,
monusangeeta
Hi monu/sangeeta,
First of all, I thank you for posting your experience and study plan which got you from 580 to 720. And secondly, I wanted you to comment on and suggest me the areas where I need to work on. I have found some of the issues I had but I really don't have an idea on how to work on it.
I gave my GMAT yesterday and scored a meagre 590 (Q44 and V28).
Preparation Time: 2 months. 6-7+ hrs/day.
Materials Used:
Quant: Nova MATH Bible + OG12
CR: Powerscore CR Bible
SC: Manhattan and OG << didn't really quite understand a thing about it. I am still clueless as to what my approach should have been.
RC: Manhattan GMAT
I spent about 15-20 days for preparing for Quants. Just as you, I confide and take pride of my quantitative skills. The rest 40 odd days I spent on RC, CR and SC equally or I could say a tad bit less on SC. I took the 3 mock tests in the 2 days prior to the exam. I scored 610 (Q47,V28) - 650 (Q48,V33) & a 610 (Q47,V28).
I was not shocked to see a 590 the following day considering the tiredness from staying awake the night before, anxiety because of the late start of the test, allocation of an unlucky numbered locker and panic in the AWA section. Here, I will also like to mention that I never prepared for AWA because I was hoping the essays I was writing for the university will serve me as a practice for the AWA.
So what happened during the test?
1. I guess I missed the first essay question. I was engrossed in typing that I didn't know when it hit the next screen. I just kept on typing and putting my thoughts down and suddenly it was time-up for that section. This would not have affected me if I knew what happens now? I still don't know. So, if you or any others can answer that in case you do not hit "next" in the AWA and were just typing... then does the typed essay get submitted or do I miss the question completely?
2. This eventually affected my second essay question where I must have not typed more than 100-200 questions. I was totally upset with that fact.
3. I finish the AWA section. I think for a moment and I say to myself... "eff it man!" Just go on with the test. I was infuriated with myself. I didn't take a break.
4. For some reason, I fall short of time on Quants too. Throughout the mock tests I have always been at ease with the timing. I never had that issue, but in the Quants section I missed out on 2 questions.
5. After the Quants, I let sanity prevail and took a deserved 8minutes break. And, then came back with a not-so great attitude but only a motive to kill the Verbal. Well, I have never "killed" any language subject till date and it was not gonna happen on that day either.
Then on the next screen... the 590 was like > Dude, you deserved only this much! You want more then do more.
So, what do I need to do more? Help me out!
First of all, I thank you for posting your experience and study plan which got you from 580 to 720. And secondly, I wanted you to comment on and suggest me the areas where I need to work on. I have found some of the issues I had but I really don't have an idea on how to work on it.
I gave my GMAT yesterday and scored a meagre 590 (Q44 and V28).
Preparation Time: 2 months. 6-7+ hrs/day.
Materials Used:
Quant: Nova MATH Bible + OG12
CR: Powerscore CR Bible
SC: Manhattan and OG << didn't really quite understand a thing about it. I am still clueless as to what my approach should have been.
RC: Manhattan GMAT
I spent about 15-20 days for preparing for Quants. Just as you, I confide and take pride of my quantitative skills. The rest 40 odd days I spent on RC, CR and SC equally or I could say a tad bit less on SC. I took the 3 mock tests in the 2 days prior to the exam. I scored 610 (Q47,V28) - 650 (Q48,V33) & a 610 (Q47,V28).
I was not shocked to see a 590 the following day considering the tiredness from staying awake the night before, anxiety because of the late start of the test, allocation of an unlucky numbered locker and panic in the AWA section. Here, I will also like to mention that I never prepared for AWA because I was hoping the essays I was writing for the university will serve me as a practice for the AWA.
So what happened during the test?
1. I guess I missed the first essay question. I was engrossed in typing that I didn't know when it hit the next screen. I just kept on typing and putting my thoughts down and suddenly it was time-up for that section. This would not have affected me if I knew what happens now? I still don't know. So, if you or any others can answer that in case you do not hit "next" in the AWA and were just typing... then does the typed essay get submitted or do I miss the question completely?
2. This eventually affected my second essay question where I must have not typed more than 100-200 questions. I was totally upset with that fact.
3. I finish the AWA section. I think for a moment and I say to myself... "eff it man!" Just go on with the test. I was infuriated with myself. I didn't take a break.
4. For some reason, I fall short of time on Quants too. Throughout the mock tests I have always been at ease with the timing. I never had that issue, but in the Quants section I missed out on 2 questions.
5. After the Quants, I let sanity prevail and took a deserved 8minutes break. And, then came back with a not-so great attitude but only a motive to kill the Verbal. Well, I have never "killed" any language subject till date and it was not gonna happen on that day either.
Then on the next screen... the 590 was like > Dude, you deserved only this much! You want more then do more.
So, what do I need to do more? Help me out!