My GMAT experience [score 730(Q50, V39) AWA 5.5]

I am a bit late to write debrief on my GMAT experience. I appeared for my GMAT on 14th December 2010. My score is 730(Q50, V39) AWA 5.5. Although it's not a great score but I never expected this score as my preparation was really bad and unsystematic.

A little background:
Indian IT Male, 27 Years, 5.5 years work ex

I started my preparation in Aug 2010. Because of the busy schedule I was not able to study properly. But somehow I used to read for around 4 hours in week. I was never out of touch of the books. I was very weak in Verbal section especially in SC. I finished that book, and my accuracy in SC improved. Then in October I moved to my client location. As usual in client location we don't get time at all to study. But I knew that life is always going to be busy. If I don't write my exam now I won't be able to write it ever. So I booked my appointed in November for 14th Dec, and I had 1 month to study. Because of the busy schedule I decided that I will at least finish the verbal part of OG12 and OG verbal guide. I finished the verbal part of both books. I had written only one practice test in ideal condition and got 700 in that. It was a MANHATTAN test. In all others I never wrote the essays and sometimes took breaks. So I used to land at 730 or 740.

When I was appearing for the main exam I wasn't expecting any score. Basically my preparation was unsystematic. So I was pretty sure that I will be writing the exam again because of poor score. But I was very sure that I was going to give my best. So without thinking about the score I just took each question at a time and got the result.

A must do for GMAT:
Find a study partner. He will keep you alert and motivated

Quant: I have always been good in quant section and have always got 50 in GMAT in all tests. I tried to improve it. But I decided not to waste my time on it. But this quant score of mine because of the preparation I did for Indian MBA examinations. Those books had very difficult problems and I feel GMAT quant questions are much easier than those questions. So I would suggest preparing from a book which had difficult questions. I would definitely ask everyone to do all the questions from OG12. The questions will be exactly of the same standard. For DS the OG12 is the best book. I don't think we need any other book. We need to do each of the questions in the book. While appearing from the exam I was feeling that the quant questions were very easy, not even a single question was difficult. I ended 15 minutes before time. I am sure I had made lots of silly mistakes. If I would have taken my time I would have got a better score. So I would suggest not hurrying in any section and suggest utilizing the time properly.

Sentence Correct: Manhattan SC guide is a must buy. I have read this book thrice. This is the only book required for building the basics and formulas. Questions in the OG are very precious. Please don't waste the questions. Please read the OG book along with Manhattan SC guide. Whenever you have any doubt in any OG question, google it. You will definitely find some explanation in some forum.

Critical Reasoning: Again I would suggest the same like SC. Manahattan CR is book is also very good. So it can be used along with OG. I have heard that Powerscore CR is better. But I have never read that book so I can't advice on that.

Reading Comprehension: For RC we just need to watch the videos by Thursdays with Ron(Manhattan). They give the exact strategy to follow for RC). I have never got any better strategy from anywhere else. Only after watching the videos start working on the RCs of OGs. I bet the standard of RC will be exactly similar to OG questions.

AWA: Definitely prepare for AWA. Frame a template for analysis of argument. It will be very useful.

Apart from this please watch all the videos from Thursdays with Ron. They give you lots of concepts.
Don'ts:
"¢ Do not write any tests which are not at the level of OG. Prefer only Manhattan. Sometimes you don't get good score and feel de-motivated.
"¢ Don't ever plan to read all the books. You will never be able to finish all the books.
"¢ Don't ever think about the score while writing the exam and just think about the exam.
At the end I just want to say one thing to all the GMAT takers that GMAT is not the end of the life. There are lots of other things in life. The more you panic and the more you take it seriously you are going to be defeated by GMAT. So write it as one of your exams and give your best.
I want to thank only one person for my test. Venkat, my friend who was preparing with me and who appeared the exam before me helped me a lot. I got lots of tips from him. I can't thank him enough.
I don't know if my post will be useful at all. But if it becomes useful for even a single person then I will be more than happy. If anyone wants any guidance please contact. I will be very happy to help.
I am really sorry for such a long post, but I could not stop myself writing it all.

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