I'm posting this for the benefit of all who decided to take a second crack at the GMAT, and don't have much time. Due to my application deadline, I decided to take another attempt exactly 31 days days later.
First attempt: My approach was to use the official guide and quant supplement,and read through the theory in the Manhattan Quant guides. I also took two of the free tests (scoring 700, 740). Total time spent was about 2 months, averaging an hour per day.
Quant 45 (66%)
Verbal 37 (82%)
IR 6 (67%)
AWA 4.5 (43%)
Total 670 (83%)
Observations: I'd always prided myself on good verbal skills, so didn't spend much time practicing - was disappointed with my 82%. My quant Qs started really tough with number properties and ended super easy with equations. Though I ended with time to spare,I must have got many wrong initially,thus ending up with a sub-70 %. Was shocked by my AWA score, thought I'd used the standard approach, and blamed it on the computerized score! IR again was disappointing, and I couldn't finish the section (as in my mock tests).
Bottomline: I decided to give it another crack after reading INSEAD's explicit 70% cut-offs for both quant and verbal
https://mba.insead.edu/edm/generic/TheGMATChallenge.html
Second attempt: My approach was to re-read Manhattan quant guides and then re-attempt the official GMAT guide questions I got wrong initially. I also went through the official verbal supplement, to ensure I wasn't ignoring it this time around. Besides, I subscribed to the quant section of Magoosh, which has great video tutorials, and 350+ adaptive quant questions that can be taken in a test setting (37 questions, 75 minutes).
https://gmat.magoosh.com/?utm_source=mag ... n=homepage
I also took the free mock tests of Kaplan (680), Manhattan (630) and Veritas (710), besides buying the additional set of two GMAT tests (720, 700). I was still worried about IR, as I could never finish and invariably scored around 50%. I spent an average of 1.5 hours daily over the month.
Quant 47 (70%)
Verbal 40 (90%)
IR 8 (93%)
AWA 5.5(80%)
Total 710 (92%)
Observations: I couldn't finish quant (attempted only 36), and actually considered canceling my attempt!The fact that I still managed a 70% shows that there is no "severe penalty" for not finishing a section. I was happy with my 90% in verbal, and pleasantly surprised with 93% in IR (attempted 11 questions)! Was also relieved to improve my AWA score to a respectable 5.5.
Bottomline: I may not have killed it in my second attempt, but I now satisfy INSEAD's explicit qualifying scores criteria, and know that if I don't make it, at least it's not because of my GMAT score!
First attempt: My approach was to use the official guide and quant supplement,and read through the theory in the Manhattan Quant guides. I also took two of the free tests (scoring 700, 740). Total time spent was about 2 months, averaging an hour per day.
Quant 45 (66%)
Verbal 37 (82%)
IR 6 (67%)
AWA 4.5 (43%)
Total 670 (83%)
Observations: I'd always prided myself on good verbal skills, so didn't spend much time practicing - was disappointed with my 82%. My quant Qs started really tough with number properties and ended super easy with equations. Though I ended with time to spare,I must have got many wrong initially,thus ending up with a sub-70 %. Was shocked by my AWA score, thought I'd used the standard approach, and blamed it on the computerized score! IR again was disappointing, and I couldn't finish the section (as in my mock tests).
Bottomline: I decided to give it another crack after reading INSEAD's explicit 70% cut-offs for both quant and verbal
https://mba.insead.edu/edm/generic/TheGMATChallenge.html
Second attempt: My approach was to re-read Manhattan quant guides and then re-attempt the official GMAT guide questions I got wrong initially. I also went through the official verbal supplement, to ensure I wasn't ignoring it this time around. Besides, I subscribed to the quant section of Magoosh, which has great video tutorials, and 350+ adaptive quant questions that can be taken in a test setting (37 questions, 75 minutes).
https://gmat.magoosh.com/?utm_source=mag ... n=homepage
I also took the free mock tests of Kaplan (680), Manhattan (630) and Veritas (710), besides buying the additional set of two GMAT tests (720, 700). I was still worried about IR, as I could never finish and invariably scored around 50%. I spent an average of 1.5 hours daily over the month.
Quant 47 (70%)
Verbal 40 (90%)
IR 8 (93%)
AWA 5.5(80%)
Total 710 (92%)
Observations: I couldn't finish quant (attempted only 36), and actually considered canceling my attempt!The fact that I still managed a 70% shows that there is no "severe penalty" for not finishing a section. I was happy with my 90% in verbal, and pleasantly surprised with 93% in IR (attempted 11 questions)! Was also relieved to improve my AWA score to a respectable 5.5.
Bottomline: I may not have killed it in my second attempt, but I now satisfy INSEAD's explicit qualifying scores criteria, and know that if I don't make it, at least it's not because of my GMAT score!
