Did i beat the GMAT ? 730 (Q49 V41 AWA 5.5)

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GMAT Score:730
Its about time. Yea ! Fellow Beaters of GMAT. . I have been lurking at the background so far, going through every piece of article i could get my claws onto! Finally, after getting done with GruesomeMAT i want to give back a little something to this amazingly awesome forum! ( cliche, but necessary). I am an ambitious guy and was not at all happy with my first attempt at GMAT when i scored 700. [ PS : I committed the biggest blunder one could do, I left my verbal INCOMPLETE. Yes you read it right.] I was on the last question with 58 seconds in hand. I thought i could pull it off, i got sucked into the question so much, that 58 secs went by in a jiffy. "Your test is incomplete". I felt like pulling my hair off.
I decided i could do better and with time on my side (i had just one year of experience then) , i booked my second appointment with GMAT soon after the first one. Decided i would leave nothing undone to reach my dream score of 750.
I worked hard on my verbal. I practiced as much as i can, making sure i solved at least 2-3 RCs everyday. I started my studies each day with 2-3 RCs and then followed up with CR and SC. The material i used was no other than the ones you hear on this section on almost every post. So not digging into that.
Slowly i started gaining confidence. CR was a weakness. One strategy that helped me was to tackle in a simple yet effective manner. I looked for the premise, the conclusion and finally the possible assumptions in a given question stem. No matter what type of (weaken/strengthen/bold faced) i found that i could easily solve them and know which answer was right and which wrong. Just a month left for the test, i started giving MGMAT tests :
MGMAT1 : 740
MGMAT2 : 720
GMATPrep : 740
MGMAT3 : 770 (Yea ! i didn't believe it too :D )
MGMAT4 :750
MGMAT5 : 760
MGMAT 6: 740
GMATPrep :730

Going by the scores on the practice tests, i hoped to touch, if not tear apart, the 750 mark. However, on the day of the exam i felt that I was not in the zone for verbal section. Usually i scored around 42-45 in verbal in the Manhattan tests, but that day it DID NOT CLICK.
My immediate reaction was disappointment, because I know I can do better. But, after thinking it through, I feel i should be happy with a 730 and focus on the other aspects of my application.
The point of all this ? I realized scoring high is not my goal, my goal is to get into a top school. If anyone out there feels dejected about their scores, this is for you : " If you know what you are worth, go out and get what you are worth". In Rocky Balboa's words: "Its not about how hard you can hit, its about how hard you can get hit AND keep moving forward."
Thank you BTG.

PS: I wrote this in a hurry, if you have any questions, i'd be glad to answer. Keep Rocking!
If you have a dream, you gotta protect it.
Source: — I just Beat The GMAT! |

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by smackmartine » Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:23 pm
Congrats!!! on your great score and all the best for your application.
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by sandeep1306 » Fri Jun 17, 2011 7:12 pm
Congratulations on a good score!!
...and yes you are right, the aim is not to have good scores but to get into a B school.
All the best for the apps....

Sometimes i wonder how spookily close can the GMATPREP scores be to the actual GMAT.

Thanks
Sandeep
Thanks,
Sandeep

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GMAT Score:730

by jmansharma » Sat Jun 18, 2011 12:44 am
Thanks smackmartine and sandeep1306 !
@sandeep1306 : yes, GMATPrep is spooky ! My last GMATPrep did not go well, but i hoped on the day of the test I would definitely do better. Turns out GMATPrep had the last laugh.
If you have a dream, you gotta protect it.

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by ikaplan » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:07 pm
IMO- you definitely beat the Beast! Great job! Time to focus on other parts of your application... Good luck!
"Commitment is more than just wishing for the right conditions. Commitment is working with what you have."