Hello Everyone, First of all sorry for the long post! Hope my experiences will be helpful in your MBA journey. I wanted to write this post from almost a couple of years as I have started my GMAT journey then in 2011. But, I am happy that my journey, though little longer, has reached a point that is better than what I expected.
During my regular job of interacting clients on technical training sessions, I understood that I am interested and would be more successful in such interactions in terms of business viewpoint. So, my journey started at that time.
First LAP: I started preparing for GMAT during March of 2011 and thought that 3 months would be sufficient to get a decent score. I prepared for 3 months and booked date on 25th August. I did OG-11 & OG -12 and felt comfortable with the exam as I was getting 60-70 % accuracy in Verbal and 90% in Quant. I took official Prep tests and scored around 640. I thought that I could do better in the actual tested, but the actual test bombed me with mere 610. I took a break of 2 months.
Second LAP: I took few weeks to introspect myself regarding my level of understanding the GMAT exam and made a semi-solid plan. I realized that I still lack some of the basics in verbal and quant. So, I took up Verbal Material: Manhattan SC for Sentence Correction, Power Score for Critical Reasoning and Aristotle RC for reading comprehension. Quant Material: 5 Manhattan guides of Quant.
Finally, I did OG # 12, 11 and some of preparatory mock tests from Manhattan and official GMAT. After all the preparation of 5 months, I was scoring around 660. I gave my exam on 12th March 2012 and scored disappointing 640. I was little demotivated as I did good amount preparation covering extensive content and material. I took a long break this time as I was relocating back to India.
Third LAP: This time I had decided to try different for my own preparation. I took it seriously as I was very much confused of what to improve and wanted to change from the normal preparation. I searched for GMAT classes available in Bangalore. After much brain storming and research, I chose to go with crack verbal. That decision helped me a lot for my further journey. Their strategies for RC are unique. Their approach for CR and SC are interesting and easily reachable. Along with the regular coaching and OG 12 & 13, the set of advanced questions that I got from crack verbal gave me enough real time practice. Then I gave couple of mock tests to see myself scoring around 700. This time I felt confident and went ahead with the exam and gave it on28th March scoring a decent 680.
Suggestions on Exam: I realized that it is compulsory to understand the exam, to learn the concepts clearly and importantly to fine tune the skills what are being tested on exam. Understanding and getting tuned with exam viewpoint is very important. Keep a track of general mistakes, frequent mistakes and rare mistakes. This would definitely help you identify your weak areas and better your preparation.
Fourth Lap: I wanted to stay back and study MBA in India. So, I decided to apply for IIM's and ISB. With 7+ yrs of experience, I knew that I could apply for 1-year programs at IIM's and ISB. Again, I went back to Crack Verbal for admission services and mock interviews. With their support, I could submit applications to IIMA, IIMB, IIMC and ISB with-in deadlines. It actually took barely 1 month to finish this process.
Final Lap: I got interview calls from IIM A, B, and C. I prepared well on my resume, trends in the working industry and current affairs. This is pretty much what is required for Interview. I felt little nervous for the 1st interview at IIMB, but it was quite an interactive session. Similarly, the interview with IIMA was also cool leaving me with a fist of confidence.
Results: Bingo. I didn't attend IIMC interview as I got admission offers from IIMA and IIMB. I am choosing to go with IIMB starting from April 2014. I am very much thankful to beatthegmat, gmatclub and pagalguy forums for being a great resource for GMAT preparation and MBA admissions. Also, I did this feat with ease because of the wonderful support from Crack Verbal Team.
During my regular job of interacting clients on technical training sessions, I understood that I am interested and would be more successful in such interactions in terms of business viewpoint. So, my journey started at that time.
First LAP: I started preparing for GMAT during March of 2011 and thought that 3 months would be sufficient to get a decent score. I prepared for 3 months and booked date on 25th August. I did OG-11 & OG -12 and felt comfortable with the exam as I was getting 60-70 % accuracy in Verbal and 90% in Quant. I took official Prep tests and scored around 640. I thought that I could do better in the actual tested, but the actual test bombed me with mere 610. I took a break of 2 months.
Second LAP: I took few weeks to introspect myself regarding my level of understanding the GMAT exam and made a semi-solid plan. I realized that I still lack some of the basics in verbal and quant. So, I took up Verbal Material: Manhattan SC for Sentence Correction, Power Score for Critical Reasoning and Aristotle RC for reading comprehension. Quant Material: 5 Manhattan guides of Quant.
Finally, I did OG # 12, 11 and some of preparatory mock tests from Manhattan and official GMAT. After all the preparation of 5 months, I was scoring around 660. I gave my exam on 12th March 2012 and scored disappointing 640. I was little demotivated as I did good amount preparation covering extensive content and material. I took a long break this time as I was relocating back to India.
Third LAP: This time I had decided to try different for my own preparation. I took it seriously as I was very much confused of what to improve and wanted to change from the normal preparation. I searched for GMAT classes available in Bangalore. After much brain storming and research, I chose to go with crack verbal. That decision helped me a lot for my further journey. Their strategies for RC are unique. Their approach for CR and SC are interesting and easily reachable. Along with the regular coaching and OG 12 & 13, the set of advanced questions that I got from crack verbal gave me enough real time practice. Then I gave couple of mock tests to see myself scoring around 700. This time I felt confident and went ahead with the exam and gave it on28th March scoring a decent 680.
Suggestions on Exam: I realized that it is compulsory to understand the exam, to learn the concepts clearly and importantly to fine tune the skills what are being tested on exam. Understanding and getting tuned with exam viewpoint is very important. Keep a track of general mistakes, frequent mistakes and rare mistakes. This would definitely help you identify your weak areas and better your preparation.
Fourth Lap: I wanted to stay back and study MBA in India. So, I decided to apply for IIM's and ISB. With 7+ yrs of experience, I knew that I could apply for 1-year programs at IIM's and ISB. Again, I went back to Crack Verbal for admission services and mock interviews. With their support, I could submit applications to IIMA, IIMB, IIMC and ISB with-in deadlines. It actually took barely 1 month to finish this process.
Final Lap: I got interview calls from IIM A, B, and C. I prepared well on my resume, trends in the working industry and current affairs. This is pretty much what is required for Interview. I felt little nervous for the 1st interview at IIMB, but it was quite an interactive session. Similarly, the interview with IIMA was also cool leaving me with a fist of confidence.
Results: Bingo
. I didn't attend IIMC interview as I got admission offers from IIMA and IIMB. I am choosing to go with IIMB starting from April 2014. I am very much thankful to beatthegmat, gmatclub and pagalguy forums for being a great resource for GMAT preparation and MBA admissions. Also, I did this feat with ease because of the wonderful support from Crack Verbal Team.Hi...
