Played a tie 650 (:

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Played a tie 650 (:

by crazy4gmat » Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:41 am
I am 27/Male/Indian IT applicant from Bangalore who took the GMAT yesterday. I went to the test saying that if i score 700 or more i win, 640 or less GMAT wins and if i score 650-690 its a tie. I ended up playing a tie scoring 650(Q 46, V 34). I have nothing other my own nervousness to blame for my below par performance.I was super nervous right from the start of AWA till the end of verbal.

In Quants all the questions which appeared were GMATPrep type and of the type of questions discussed in the PS/DS forums. If one follows the problems discussed in the PS/DS forums religiously for a considerable amount of time Quants can be aced. I am hugely indebted to Cramya, Logitech,Mals24, DanaJ etc and all tutors here.I used to follow how these people approach the Quants problems and learnt quite a bit.

In verbal all questions appeared quite manageable to me.I got 3 Medium length RC and 1 very lengthy RC. All SC ,CR questions which appeared were OG type questions.2 CR questions which appeared in the test were the exactly the same as in OG. But their questions stems were different. Thank god i recognized that else i would have marked the answer blindly :lol: thinking i knew the answer already.

So overall i am not happy with my performance .I should have scored 700 if not for my nervousness(I simply do not know how to overcome this deficiency :cry: ) I did not time both the sections properly and had to randomly guess a few.

I wish all the future test takers the very best in their GMAT journey.
Source: — I just Beat The GMAT! |

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by logitech » Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:56 am
I am sure you can manage to get in any program with 650. If you can not make it to the 3rd round this year, you should get back to your GMAT studies in 2-3 months and score higher - which I believe you will , and apply for R1 - 2010.

Good luck my friend,
LGTCH
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by cramya » Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:06 pm
Congrats Crazy4GMAT. Wishing u the very best in getting in to a good school for your MBA.

I m sure too that - NERVOUSNESS would have got in the 700's.

650 is a good score and with a strong application I hope u get in to a good school




Regards,
Cramya

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by mals24 » Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:35 am
congrats crazy4gmat you made it to the finish line :). I'll just second cramya and logitech's opinions. 650 is a good enough score for any university.

650 + good applications = MBA. B-)

So just focus all your attention on the applications because ultimately its your entire profile that matters.

Good Luck with your applications and hope you get in to your desired business school.

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I am in the same boat my friend!!!

by babuk » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:46 am
Hello crazy4gmat,
First of all...Congrats on your 650.

By the way! I took my GMAT on 19-Jan-2009.
Got a 650 (Q48, V34).

Based on the responses from mals24, cramya and logitech, I kind of feel enthused and hopeful again...I am actually preparing to retake the test although it's been extremely difficult personally and professionally to dedicate time...I know all these are excuses...But if someone tells me that a 650 for a profile like mine doesn't need a retake...i would rather spend my time on applications...

I have 10+ years of work ex in IT from Bangalore/India.
Do you think I will be able to make it to the TOP 20 B schools in the world?

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Re: I am in the same boat my friend!!!

by logitech » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:46 am
babuk wrote:

By the way! I took my GMAT on 19-Jan-2009.
Got a 650 (Q48, V34).


I have 10+ years of work ex in IT from Bangalore/India.
Do you think I will be able to make it to the TOP 20 B schools in the world?
Try to put yourself in Adcom's shoes:

Why would they give you sit in their program ? Is this because you have a 650 and 10+ years of work ex in IT from Bangalore/India ?

I am sure they can find quite a few applicants fitting in this category. So why would they choose you ? - well how you will answer to this question will decide whether or not you will get in MBA.
LGTCH
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by benpack03 » Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:01 am
crazyforgmat,

I dont want to play the devil's advocate in any way, but I just want to get real with you ok? I have a 650 and 11 years experience as an American Civil Engineer. I also have 2 degrees from a top ten engineering school (2.8 GPA) and a professional engineer's license. I wasnt even close to the top 25 schools I applied to this year. I think in a normal year we would be golden, but this year has been very very competitive. I am studying again for it to make it over the 700 barrier and will apply again next year. I am hoping and do think it will be better next year - with all the Wall Street people who were fired either getting into programs this year or getting a job in other fields next year - (which pisses me off, I dont think business school should be an escape, they should find other jobs even in other fields, not knock the rest of us out who have gainful employment and more positive futures). It was tough, but the field will be easier next year and with a higher GMAT we may have better options.

Some books that are wonderful that I am studying:

MGMAT Sentence Correction (awesome for verbal)
MGMAT Number Properties
GMATClub tests (the best to bring up quant)
Powerprep LSAT Critical Reasoning (Logical Reasoning) Bible - will help with verbal greatly


From one engineer to another I hope this helps....and I only mean it to help you. One positive thing I have gained however is - most schools really like folks who are re-applicants.......

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by crazy4gmat » Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:59 am
Thanks pals for your kind words ... Btw my AWA score has arrived .Its a 5.No regrets for it as i hardly prepared for it...

Hi Babuk,

I feel i am not quite knowledgable to comment on your chances on top 20 universities. A lot of factors like ur extra curriculars ,community service, profile etc count towards the selection beside your GMAT score. So please see to that they are strong in case u decide against the retake.

Hi benpack03,

Your message was helpful and did not play devil's advocate in any way.I really feel what you said was quite helpful.



Regarding my retake what concerns me most is that its not about knowledge of concepts which is blocking me from a 700 but its about my mental state during the exam. I am not really sure whether i will be able to improve on that aspect.So i am pondering over a retake . I am targetting R1 2010 only and my score seems to be a ' CAT ON THE WALL' score for the institutes i am targetting at. So i am pondering over what should i do.

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by cramya » Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:26 pm
Regarding my retake what concerns me most is that its not about knowledge of concepts which is blocking me from a 700 but its about my mental state during the exam

Tune ur mind starting from today that u r going to get over this. U can program your mind to get over this by repeating this to yourself every day. It takes 20 days to make or break a habit is a comical saying and trust me this works almost always(20 may take 25 or 30 .. for some but it works).

If u r not struggling with the concepts(u r not from what i can tell from ur score) then what's making u nervous? I bet its what if I choose the wrong answer i.e atleast my guess. Try overcoming this in each and every exam u take in your retake prep.

Treat each question as the question that's going to get you the 700+score but at the same time not compromising on ur time management. This may sound silly but staying positive can do wonders. Even a problem that may appear complex or unsolvable will start making more sense when ur mind is free/uncluttered from other thoughts..

Just my 2 cents... Good luck; looking forward to your 700+ debrief in a few months time....

Regards,
CR

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by crazy4gmat » Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:47 pm
Thanks cramya for your encouragement..You guys are such wonderful people!