-
abhi84v
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 7:56 pm
- Location: Sydney, Australia
- Thanked: 7 times
- GMAT Score:770
Hi Guys,
Just gave my GMAT today. I am extremely satisfied with the score. Now just waiting for the official reports and AWA scores. My profile is 26 years, Indian male working for last three years in the Australian Mining Industry. I did my Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from the top technological school in India graduating in 2007 with a GPA of 3.3.
I would like to extend my thanks to the BeatThe GMAT forum, its moderators and those who posted actively providing me with extremely difficult and rare questions thus honing my skills.
Now for the debrief:
This is a more than a bit long so sorry if you are bored by the end of it!
Coming from a very mathematical background that formed part of my undergraduate curriculum I did not have to work on the Quantitative side at all. I however did have to brush up a bit on Combinatorics (i.e. probability, no of ways of choosing etc) and the Statistics. Make sure that you have got your means, medians etc sorted out on the day. If you want to know where you stand I suggest starting with the Diagnostic Test from OG12. This gives you a very good starting point.
Being a non-native speaker of English however, I had to work on the Verbal side of things. All three areas needed attention and I set myself to task. I started seriously preparing in July. I used to do SC based on playing it by ear and more often than not got it wrong. Manhattan SC however proved to be the absolute bible in this regard. It gave me a set of rules which meant that at the very least I could always narrow down my options to two in this regard. Feeling a bit confident, I started with the Kaplan Primer Tests attached on the CD.
Not having gone the traditional route starting with OG12 meant that I ended with a dismal score. I will post the scores of all tests below in one hit. I found that CR needed a bit of brushing up as well. So I started with the OG on Critical Reasoning and also got the Manhattan CR book. After reviewing base concepts on it my scores improved but that was more due to getting SCs right. The Critical Reasoning was proving a tough nut to crack. Suggested by many in this forum, I then got the Powerscore CR Bible. This was an immense help as well but the scores were still not up to scratch. At this point I almost resigned myself to the fate that a 700 would be possible if I rode my luck on D-Day. Also the intial seriousness of preparation slacked off. At RC I was faring no better.
At this point of time, I decided to go for the Manhattan Tests. Although the quantitative part on them was way harder than on the actual GMAT this was not my sore point. I found the Manhattan scoring system to be less skewed than Kaplan's scoring algorithm and started to feel a little better as my score started to inch past the 700s. However I had a target of about 750 and moreover wanted a good verbal score so I could show a near even-split. RCs were proving to be my bugbear now with SC and CR more or less covered. I do not want to sound like a Manhattan agent and no they are not paying me to write this! But I decided to order their RC book based on the strength of their other two books. This proved to be the right move as my RC scores improved slightly. At this point I had given 4 MGMAT tests and left two up my sleeve along with the GMAT tests. This was about mid-August. At this point I decided to take a Test date and yet leave myself a month's time. I took 17th Sep as my test date.
Now I gave the Veritas free test and scored a 730 on it. This was the first time I had gone past 710. In the meanwhile I was always on the lookout for new verbal questions on the forum. I gave MGMAT5 and pleasantly surprised myself. At this point I downloaded the GMAT Prep and gave the two tests on it and also MGMAT6.
I only started attempting the AWA section from MGMAT 4 onwards in order to build up test preparation. I would always take a break after the Analytical Section and the Quant Section to regather my thoughts and recharge the mental batteries.
Today I reached the Test Center about 8.30 for my test at 9.00. Everything went smoothly. I have not received my AWA scores yet but I reckon the essays went well. I finished the Argument with 5 minutes to spare and Issue with about 2 minutes. My advice is get into the topics real quick as the time you have in the practice tests somehow disappear on D-day. At this stage I took a break and attempted Quant. Went like a breeze with about 15 minutes to spare. The big one though was yet to come. With Verbal the first 7-8 questions I was really decisive. However at this stage I started to get stuck a bit. I could narrow everything down to two options but then picking the right one was taking a fair bit of time. With about 12 questions to go I had about 15 minutes left but luckily I was done with my RCs by then. Brushed through the remaining SC and CR and then finished with about 2 minutes to spare.
Closed my eyes, prayed to the Almighty and opened my eyes to find a pleasant 770. Tried to control my excitement as I did not want to disturb the fellow examinees but did a massive fist-pump as soon as I was out!
Now have to work on my essays real hard. Trying to make Round 1 for the Top B-schools but it is going to be hard I reckon as my essays need to be worked upon.
In sum, Manhattan Reference Materials were awesome. OG 11 and OG12 told me what to expect on D-day. Kaplan was a big let-down for me. The only positive I reckon is that it makes you work harder.
Materials Used
OG11
OG12
Kaplan Premier Program
Manhattan SC
Manhattan CR
Manhattan RC
Powerscore CR Bible
Practice Test Scores
Kaplan CAT1 -> 580 (Q34 V29)
Kaplan CAT2 -> 640 (Q50 V35)
Kaplan CAT3 -> 660 (Q50 V36)
MGMAT CAT1 -> 640 (Q44 V37)
MGMAT CAT2 -> 710 (Q51 V36)
MGMAT CAT3 -> 710 (Q51 V36)
MGMAT CAT4 -> 710 (Q49 V38)
At this point I took a date and prepared hard. Had a bit of break before the next few tests.
Veritas Free Test -> 730 (Q51 V42)
MGMAT CAT5 -> 780 (Q51 V45)
GMATPrep Test 1 -> 780
MGMAT CAT6 -> 750 (Q51 V41)
GMAT PrepTest2 -> 750
Sorry if it is a bit long. If you have any questions let me know and I will be more than happy to help if I can. Special thanks also goes to myohmy for his superb AWA template.
Just gave my GMAT today. I am extremely satisfied with the score. Now just waiting for the official reports and AWA scores. My profile is 26 years, Indian male working for last three years in the Australian Mining Industry. I did my Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from the top technological school in India graduating in 2007 with a GPA of 3.3.
I would like to extend my thanks to the BeatThe GMAT forum, its moderators and those who posted actively providing me with extremely difficult and rare questions thus honing my skills.
Now for the debrief:
This is a more than a bit long so sorry if you are bored by the end of it!
Coming from a very mathematical background that formed part of my undergraduate curriculum I did not have to work on the Quantitative side at all. I however did have to brush up a bit on Combinatorics (i.e. probability, no of ways of choosing etc) and the Statistics. Make sure that you have got your means, medians etc sorted out on the day. If you want to know where you stand I suggest starting with the Diagnostic Test from OG12. This gives you a very good starting point.
Being a non-native speaker of English however, I had to work on the Verbal side of things. All three areas needed attention and I set myself to task. I started seriously preparing in July. I used to do SC based on playing it by ear and more often than not got it wrong. Manhattan SC however proved to be the absolute bible in this regard. It gave me a set of rules which meant that at the very least I could always narrow down my options to two in this regard. Feeling a bit confident, I started with the Kaplan Primer Tests attached on the CD.
Not having gone the traditional route starting with OG12 meant that I ended with a dismal score. I will post the scores of all tests below in one hit. I found that CR needed a bit of brushing up as well. So I started with the OG on Critical Reasoning and also got the Manhattan CR book. After reviewing base concepts on it my scores improved but that was more due to getting SCs right. The Critical Reasoning was proving a tough nut to crack. Suggested by many in this forum, I then got the Powerscore CR Bible. This was an immense help as well but the scores were still not up to scratch. At this point I almost resigned myself to the fate that a 700 would be possible if I rode my luck on D-Day. Also the intial seriousness of preparation slacked off. At RC I was faring no better.
At this point of time, I decided to go for the Manhattan Tests. Although the quantitative part on them was way harder than on the actual GMAT this was not my sore point. I found the Manhattan scoring system to be less skewed than Kaplan's scoring algorithm and started to feel a little better as my score started to inch past the 700s. However I had a target of about 750 and moreover wanted a good verbal score so I could show a near even-split. RCs were proving to be my bugbear now with SC and CR more or less covered. I do not want to sound like a Manhattan agent and no they are not paying me to write this! But I decided to order their RC book based on the strength of their other two books. This proved to be the right move as my RC scores improved slightly. At this point I had given 4 MGMAT tests and left two up my sleeve along with the GMAT tests. This was about mid-August. At this point I decided to take a Test date and yet leave myself a month's time. I took 17th Sep as my test date.
Now I gave the Veritas free test and scored a 730 on it. This was the first time I had gone past 710. In the meanwhile I was always on the lookout for new verbal questions on the forum. I gave MGMAT5 and pleasantly surprised myself. At this point I downloaded the GMAT Prep and gave the two tests on it and also MGMAT6.
I only started attempting the AWA section from MGMAT 4 onwards in order to build up test preparation. I would always take a break after the Analytical Section and the Quant Section to regather my thoughts and recharge the mental batteries.
Today I reached the Test Center about 8.30 for my test at 9.00. Everything went smoothly. I have not received my AWA scores yet but I reckon the essays went well. I finished the Argument with 5 minutes to spare and Issue with about 2 minutes. My advice is get into the topics real quick as the time you have in the practice tests somehow disappear on D-day. At this stage I took a break and attempted Quant. Went like a breeze with about 15 minutes to spare. The big one though was yet to come. With Verbal the first 7-8 questions I was really decisive. However at this stage I started to get stuck a bit. I could narrow everything down to two options but then picking the right one was taking a fair bit of time. With about 12 questions to go I had about 15 minutes left but luckily I was done with my RCs by then. Brushed through the remaining SC and CR and then finished with about 2 minutes to spare.
Closed my eyes, prayed to the Almighty and opened my eyes to find a pleasant 770. Tried to control my excitement as I did not want to disturb the fellow examinees but did a massive fist-pump as soon as I was out!
Now have to work on my essays real hard. Trying to make Round 1 for the Top B-schools but it is going to be hard I reckon as my essays need to be worked upon.
In sum, Manhattan Reference Materials were awesome. OG 11 and OG12 told me what to expect on D-day. Kaplan was a big let-down for me. The only positive I reckon is that it makes you work harder.
Materials Used
OG11
OG12
Kaplan Premier Program
Manhattan SC
Manhattan CR
Manhattan RC
Powerscore CR Bible
Practice Test Scores
Kaplan CAT1 -> 580 (Q34 V29)
Kaplan CAT2 -> 640 (Q50 V35)
Kaplan CAT3 -> 660 (Q50 V36)
MGMAT CAT1 -> 640 (Q44 V37)
MGMAT CAT2 -> 710 (Q51 V36)
MGMAT CAT3 -> 710 (Q51 V36)
MGMAT CAT4 -> 710 (Q49 V38)
At this point I took a date and prepared hard. Had a bit of break before the next few tests.
Veritas Free Test -> 730 (Q51 V42)
MGMAT CAT5 -> 780 (Q51 V45)
GMATPrep Test 1 -> 780
MGMAT CAT6 -> 750 (Q51 V41)
GMAT PrepTest2 -> 750
Sorry if it is a bit long. If you have any questions let me know and I will be more than happy to help if I can. Special thanks also goes to myohmy for his superb AWA template.
Last edited by abhi84v on Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
