I just Beat The GMAT!

hey do not loose heart
u will find lot of inspirational stories on the forum
hope to see u the same from u too

Celestia007, Thanks for your encouraging words. Yes, being calm suring the test does pay off well. But, in my case I still don't know what went wrong because I was not hungry or tired or lacking stamina/concentration. Everything was ok with me. Still I bombed it . Also, sitting through 4 hours was easy for me because I had given lot of prep tests under times conditions. I guess my only mistake was I did not aim high - my aim fo just 550-580. May be ,if I give the second attempt, I"ll try to get a 700 and that wil lland me 600 . All the best to you too and I shall go through your blog as well.

Papgust, Nice to know that you remember me from my previous posts-thanks. I was really trying to beat the GMAT,like you say but not with a 700, just 580 or so. That's enough for my state schools and these schools are pretty recognized around my state too. I just need 60-70 points more. But, 600 should be a good score though.

Fitzgerald, I am still feeling like a failure. I hope that I come out of it. Yes, I need to adopt a different strategy this time especially for Verbal. It really knocked me off . I am not a native English speaker but still 20 on the verbal is hard for me to digest. I really hope I get through my schools of choice. I got a good TOEFL scoree too when I took it a couple of months bacl. If that happens - I won't give the GMAT again
I do have the MGMAT SC book but I feel it was a little overwhelming for me to digest. Although it is a good book, it did not work for me.

Beatthegmatinsept, Thanks for sharing your thoughts too. Yes, I was thinking of re-taking within a month to just cross the 550 barrier. But, on a second thought, I decided that I"ll take it in jan. Also, I have some personal commitments for the whole of nov that will not allow me to touch my books.

Outreach, there are sure a lot of inspirational stories and reading these stories was what made me confident with my test too and still look at my score !
Anyway,I'm going to re-take in Jan,
if need be.

My experience :

I have already written a part of my experience here for you to read. I just thought I"ll write down what seemed to go wrong too and more detailed. This way, I can have it on record and readers can benefit too.

My test was at 8 AM. I reached the centre at 7:40 AM. Blame it on me - I could not get myself to wake up,get ready and reach the centre by 7:30 AM. I woke up at 6 AM and still could not make it in time. Anyway, reached the building and I was told that the Pearson Testing centre is on the 32 floor. I have a phobia of closed surroundings and was scared when I had to go through the elevator 32 floors all alone. Moreover, I did not even have my cell phone. I left it at home as we were anyway not allowed. The lift took me forever to reach and then finally I was there. As I entered the room, there were 10 others already and the lady there was checking-in each one of us. It felt as though I am boarding a flight to travel outside NY. I was already little stressed because of all the factors that I have mentioned. Finally, my turn came too and my pic was taken and palm printing was done. Then, I took a token (Yes, there were tokens for restroom too) and went to the restroom. Then, my name was called and ID was checked. I was alloted a system too. The lady who was checking our ID and alloting our systems was friendly too. Finally, I started. First the usual instruction screens and then I had to pick my schools. I was applying to just 2 schools and so had 3 places left blank. Next screen was analysis of argument. It was an analysis of some business plan of a store. I did good. Then , the next essay. I did fine there too. I am expecting a 5 at the minimum. The essays are a good warm up. But, if we use too much tme and effort here, we will be burnt out.

Time for the break. I raised my hand and walked out of the room. Had one half of my chocolate bar. Some others were alreayd half way through their break. I went to the restroom and was back again. Started with Quant. Questions were ok. I was able to tackle many of them. Guessed through 3-4 of them. It felt as though most questions were on the same lines as the OG. I had one minute remaining at the end. Again, took this break too. Ate the other half of my chocolate bar and came back in. I was not exhausted or even tired out at this point. I was balnk about my quant performance and did not want to guess on that either.

Verbal started. First 2 quest were sentence correction. It was ok. I still don't know if I would have done them correctly. The na RC came up. It was unexpectedly long. 2 paragraphs had to be scrolled down to view. Total of 5 parapgraphs. I thought that I'm either doing well or this RC is experimental. Answered the questions(were ok) and moved on. CR I got weaken/strengthen only upto this point. Another RC. Same length. I remember reading somewhere on BTG that RC's are getting harder and shorted for high scoring test takers. I concluded that I was doing badly. But, did not let this affect me. Infact, I buckled up and concentrated more. Answered to my best. Only 1 RC was of usual length. Then CR quest were all the easy type such as complete the following or inference type. Finally, finished the verbal. I had one minute to spare here too. Completed the demographics screen. Then,the page appeared to report or cancel scores. I never thought of cancelling the scores so just clicked on report and went ahead. Then, the rest is history
My score appeared:
39Q
20V
Total 490.
I just walked out not knowing what to do. When I reached home I told my husband and he did not even believe when I said it is a 490. He thought I was pulling his leg.

My study experience:
I under estimated the VErbal section and thought I'd manage somehow.Unfortunately, does not work that way. I used the MGMAT SC a lot for SC but somehow I feel that it did not work for me although it is a great book overall. I also used Power score CR (2,3 chapters). I was scared of Quant but ultimately did fine there.

Foll are the books that I used
OG 11 and 12 - great book
OG purple book - great book
Kaplan MAth and verbal workbook -good books
MGMAT SC - did not work for me
Powerscore CR - was ok
PR - not really helpful but worth one reading

Mistakes:
>I think I studied from too many books and concentrated on quantity rather than quality.
>Too little prep time. I needed more time. There are many who study in 3 weeks and score 600 and there are other who study for 3 months and score 600. I tried to study in 5-6 weeks and could not manage. I learn that prep time is very subjective.Moreover, too much was happening to me on my personal front too. Came to know that I am pregnant just 2 weeks before the test. Anyway, none of these excuses allows a 490!!
>I was doing the application process simultanoeusly - BIGGEST mistake. I should have concentrated on GMAT alone. Now, my recomemndations, transcripts etc are all sent to the schools and I have bombed the GMAT. I am so ashamed to even mention my score to my recommenders. I only need to do the essay.
>I should have discovered BTG earlier. I found it immensely helpful. I used Eric's flashacards and even papgust's. I had my own set too. Basically, I used all three.
>Do not study for more than 3 hours a day. It just does not get cemented. I used to study for 3-4 hours and feel happy about the quality. My score reflects it now . I think even 1 hour of strategic study/directional study daily is a LOT.
> My quant score in prep tests used to be 40-42. Always stable. But, verbal used to be 22-32. I should have taken the cue that my verbal is fluctuating. Instead, I thought I"ll land a 30 on the test. Again,was wrong here.
As I realize more of my mistakes, I shall add it here.

I am looking for suggestions on this:
In the meanwhile,I'm thinking if I should get any more books or a prep course. Also, I don't know when to take the test again. I wanted to take it next month as need just 50 points(even 30 points will do) more for my target schools and I"ll be in. Any suggestions will be useful.

All the best to all of you. Thank you for all your support. A special thanks to Eric, our founder - BTG rocks.

First off, congratulations on the good news you found out before the test! That's definitely the most important thing. As you can tell by reading this article by Eric, the GMAT is not that important in the grand scheme of things.

I'm sure you can find it in you to get the score increase you need! Don't get discouraged!

I have to add only one thing. Not just you, but many others have indicated that they used powerscore guide but red only a few chapters or didnt really know how to apply it to the test. Well, I have went over that guide and made sure to memorize all the major components of what it taught, as well as, take my time and solve CR and RC problems using the methods outlined in the book. I have not taken actual GMAT yet, but my verbal score in practice tests (MGMAT and GMATprep) went from despirate 45th percentile to 75th percentile. Quite honestly, it seems like its just SC that pushing me down; because according to MGMAT cats score breakdown, im in and around 90th percentile for RC and CR. So my advice to you, go over that book and treated like you supposed to treat it (A BIBLE!). Believe me, powerscore really knows what they are doing with CR and RC!

Dana,
Thanks for your post. Yes, I am going to use all the motivation I can and crack it this time. Although, I am applying to schools, I am still going to retake it.
Sch,
thanks for your post. Powerscore was very good for CR but I went through only the first 5 chapters. This time, I"ll buy the SC Powerscore book too. I'm hearing a lot of good things about it.

I got my AWA score and I have scored 6. If only I would have done a little better on the Verbal section os the test, sigh !!

nehs wrote: This time, I"ll buy the SC Powerscore book too. I'm hearing a lot of good things about it.

Sorry to hear about your score but seeing your detailed post gives me the feeling that you are well determined to BANG GMAT in your next attempt and that's very encouraging. Letting the forum know about a low score itself is a sign of courageous attitude and i'm sure you are gonna make it big..Congrats for 6.0 on AWA

I wrote this only to mention that there is nothing much in SC Powerscore book. I already have the book and I don't see it worth after going through MGMAT SC. May be you can look at e-gmat course that is doing Buzzz these days. I don't have any personal experience with this site but it seems many old users in BTG have good comments for its quality..do your R&D.

I can only recommend you Grockit...Use it for free and you will like it.

sumanr84 wrote:Sorry to hear about your score but seeing your detailed post gives me the feeling that you are well determined to BANG GMAT in your next attempt and that's very encouraging. Letting the forum know about a low score itself is a sign of courageous attitude and i'm sure you are gonna make it big..Congrats for 6.0 on AWA

Sumanr84, thanks for your kind words. You made my day
I am determined to do better in my next attempt....You mentioned the grockit questions..I did not find any material in the grockit website...is it a different link? About e-gmat, even I have heard that it is good...I actually found MGMAT SC very confusing,especially more since I am non-native English speaker.

You need to Signup @ https://grockit.com/signup ( no fee )

Once through, start participating in forums. They are in timed mode and each question has to be finished in 2 mins and then few mins for discussion. They give you opportunity to do more questions and make best use of time. Question are replica of OG question but in a transformed format. You will get the feeling once you are into it. If you are attempting in Jan,11 I would rather suggest you to go with Grockit GMAT Standard Membership(80$) since free-one has limitations.

I am also a non-native speaker and struggled with Verbal in my last attempt. I got the feedback that e-gmat is more practical and scientific approach to build SC skills, and I will definitely give a try when I'll start. I am not in a hurry and concentrating more on job for now, but I always hang around with 'I just Beat the Gmat' and keep track of test-taker's experience and also collect useful links/resources. Trying to make it a habit of reading 2-3 articles everyday on different topics.

My test exp : https://www.beatthegmat.com/failed-badly ... 63211.html

Thanks sumanr. That helped. I've signed up for Grockit