-
rajatnarang
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:50 am
- Followed by:1 members
Hey friends,
I took the GMAT last week and scored 760(QA-51, VA-41, AWA - 5.0). Needless to say, I am delighted with the result. I am thankful to so many people, especially the Beat the GMAT team/members whose fantastic blogs/posts provided me with all the information I ever needed to crack the exam.
I started thinking about the GMAT at the beginning of June this year. The first step was to gather as much data about the exam as possible. For this, I joined some GMAT forums, including the BTG forum. On my way, I read numerous blogs and both success and failure stories. Hard work and persistence were the most common traits I found in almost all success stories. Thus, I realized that without the right attitude, I would not be able to master the GMAT.
Once I had sufficient information, I tried to analyze the approximate preparation time for the exam. I targeted an end-of-July exam date. I downloaded the FREE GMAT Prep Tool and immediately wanted to test my level....took the GMAT Prep 1 exam and scored a dismal 670 (QA - 51, VA - 28). It was my first experience of any sort with the GMAT. I was terribly slow throughout the VA section and could not complete the last 4 questions. The score clearly reflected my incompetence in VA and I was hell-bent on improving my VA score.
However, not all things go according to plan. The entire month of July was consumed by office work of the most atrocious and exorbitant order. On an average, I spent around 65 hours a week(weekends included) in office for the entire month. My plans for a July-end GMAT appointment came crashing down. I wanted to meet the September 15 deadline set by ISB. Hence, I moved my target by about a month to the first week of September.
I kick-started my GMAT preparation in the first week of August. I purchased the Powerscore CR Bible. The book totally changed my way of looking at CR problems. The improvement was almost instantaneous. Also, I religiously followed the Manhattan SC guide. It's a really good book with lots of practice problems. I kept practicing questions from the OG amid all this. Things eventually began to fall in place. With sufficient preparation time, I showed tremendous improvement in VA. By September first week, I was hitting a 750+ consistently in all practice tests.
While my VA score had improved massively over those 4 weeks, I made a grave mistake by totally ignoring the AWA section. I am generally not bad at writing stuff, and had, hence, paid no attention whatsoever to the AWA section of the test. Just when I thought I was ready for the GMAT, I wrote a practice essay to ascertain myself of the belief I had held for so long. To my complete shock and horror, I wrote an extremely disappointing essay. Link -> https://www.beatthegmat.com/please-revie ... tml#402808
I decided to move my GMAT appointment date even further. I did not want to hasten into the ISB application process and hence decided to skip the ISB R1 deadline. I barely touched any GMAT-related stuff for the next one and a half months. I feared that I would live to rue this mistake. On 20th October, just like that, I took the GMAT Prep 1 test(4th attempt) and scored a good 770. Fortunately for me, my procrastination had not cost me much. On 25th October, I took GMAT Prep test 2(4th attempt) and scored 770 again. I booked a 31st October GMAT appointment the very next instant. And yes, I did not prepare for the AWA section
- Please don't follow this. Considerable time should be devoted to AWA.
Recommended books:
Powerscore CR - Fantastic book
Manhattan SC Guide - It's another great book.
GMAT Official Guide 12 - A must-have. I practiced all CR and SC questions in this book....TWICE!!!
I am from an engineering background, so I never quite lost touch with Maths. Hence, I decided to pay more attention to VA.
Mock Score Summary:
GMAT Prep 1 - 670 (QA-51, VA-28) - Attempt 1
GMAT Prep 2 - 690 (QA-50, VA-33) - Attempt 1
GMAT Prep 1 - 730 (QA-51, VA-38) - Attempt 2
GMAT Prep 2 - 730 (QA-51, VA-38) - Attempt 2
FREE Manhattan CAT - 750 (QA-51, VA-40)
FREE Kaplan CAT - 760 (QA-51, VA-41)
GMAT Prep 1 - 770 (QA-51, VA-42) - Attempt 3
GMAT Prep 2 - 770 (QA-51, VA-42) - Attempt 3
GMAT Prep 1 - 770 (QA-51, VA-42) - Attempt 4
GMAT Prep 2 - 770 (QA-51, VA-44) - Attempt 4
Actual GMAT - 760 (QA-51, VA-41), AWA-5.0
I took the GMAT last week and scored 760(QA-51, VA-41, AWA - 5.0). Needless to say, I am delighted with the result. I am thankful to so many people, especially the Beat the GMAT team/members whose fantastic blogs/posts provided me with all the information I ever needed to crack the exam.
I started thinking about the GMAT at the beginning of June this year. The first step was to gather as much data about the exam as possible. For this, I joined some GMAT forums, including the BTG forum. On my way, I read numerous blogs and both success and failure stories. Hard work and persistence were the most common traits I found in almost all success stories. Thus, I realized that without the right attitude, I would not be able to master the GMAT.
Once I had sufficient information, I tried to analyze the approximate preparation time for the exam. I targeted an end-of-July exam date. I downloaded the FREE GMAT Prep Tool and immediately wanted to test my level....took the GMAT Prep 1 exam and scored a dismal 670 (QA - 51, VA - 28). It was my first experience of any sort with the GMAT. I was terribly slow throughout the VA section and could not complete the last 4 questions. The score clearly reflected my incompetence in VA and I was hell-bent on improving my VA score.
However, not all things go according to plan. The entire month of July was consumed by office work of the most atrocious and exorbitant order. On an average, I spent around 65 hours a week(weekends included) in office for the entire month. My plans for a July-end GMAT appointment came crashing down. I wanted to meet the September 15 deadline set by ISB. Hence, I moved my target by about a month to the first week of September.
I kick-started my GMAT preparation in the first week of August. I purchased the Powerscore CR Bible. The book totally changed my way of looking at CR problems. The improvement was almost instantaneous. Also, I religiously followed the Manhattan SC guide. It's a really good book with lots of practice problems. I kept practicing questions from the OG amid all this. Things eventually began to fall in place. With sufficient preparation time, I showed tremendous improvement in VA. By September first week, I was hitting a 750+ consistently in all practice tests.
While my VA score had improved massively over those 4 weeks, I made a grave mistake by totally ignoring the AWA section. I am generally not bad at writing stuff, and had, hence, paid no attention whatsoever to the AWA section of the test. Just when I thought I was ready for the GMAT, I wrote a practice essay to ascertain myself of the belief I had held for so long. To my complete shock and horror, I wrote an extremely disappointing essay. Link -> https://www.beatthegmat.com/please-revie ... tml#402808
I decided to move my GMAT appointment date even further. I did not want to hasten into the ISB application process and hence decided to skip the ISB R1 deadline. I barely touched any GMAT-related stuff for the next one and a half months. I feared that I would live to rue this mistake. On 20th October, just like that, I took the GMAT Prep 1 test(4th attempt) and scored a good 770. Fortunately for me, my procrastination had not cost me much. On 25th October, I took GMAT Prep test 2(4th attempt) and scored 770 again. I booked a 31st October GMAT appointment the very next instant. And yes, I did not prepare for the AWA section
- Please don't follow this. Considerable time should be devoted to AWA.Recommended books:
Powerscore CR - Fantastic book
Manhattan SC Guide - It's another great book.
GMAT Official Guide 12 - A must-have. I practiced all CR and SC questions in this book....TWICE!!!
I am from an engineering background, so I never quite lost touch with Maths. Hence, I decided to pay more attention to VA.
Mock Score Summary:
GMAT Prep 1 - 670 (QA-51, VA-28) - Attempt 1
GMAT Prep 2 - 690 (QA-50, VA-33) - Attempt 1
GMAT Prep 1 - 730 (QA-51, VA-38) - Attempt 2
GMAT Prep 2 - 730 (QA-51, VA-38) - Attempt 2
FREE Manhattan CAT - 750 (QA-51, VA-40)
FREE Kaplan CAT - 760 (QA-51, VA-41)
GMAT Prep 1 - 770 (QA-51, VA-42) - Attempt 3
GMAT Prep 2 - 770 (QA-51, VA-42) - Attempt 3
GMAT Prep 1 - 770 (QA-51, VA-42) - Attempt 4
GMAT Prep 2 - 770 (QA-51, VA-44) - Attempt 4
Actual GMAT - 760 (QA-51, VA-41), AWA-5.0
Last edited by rajatnarang on Sun Nov 06, 2011 12:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
