I just Beat The GMAT!

I have been a silent spectator on this forum but i owe to BTG as it kept me going in difficult times.As i am done with my GMAT now,i thought i will add my bit to BTG.I was planning to take GMAT since a long time but got serious only by 1st week of september.To add that extra pressure,i scheduled my appointment (24th Nov.) on 10th sept. which gave me enough lead time to begin my preparation.


Quant

Being engineering graduate,quant was never an issue for me.What i needed was enough practice to avoid silly mistakes esp.in DS ques.I did not refer any particular material for Quant and practiced ques topic-wise from different books(available for different comp. exams) and forumslike BTG.Though my anxiety did make me order recently released Manhattan Advanced quant guide but in a day i realised this book was not meant for me and never looked at it again.Quant scores in Mock CATs were consistent(>=49,leaving one test where i lost concentration and could not complete the quant section and scored 47) throughout my preparation so this part did not bother me much.

Verbal

Material used :

Manhattan SC
Aristotle SC grail
RC-99
Sentence correction(700-800 level ques. pdf)
Critical reasoning(700-800 level ques. pdf)
Reading comprehension(700-800 level ques. pdf)

I recieved this pdf material for verbal part from a contact found on some other forum that contains 700-800 level questions with wonderful explanations(the most important thing).I must say i banked on this pdfs for the most part of my verbal practice.

The most dreadful part in the initial days, as most of you would agree,was SC.But during my preparation i found that it was also the most scoring part.If you know the key(rules involved) you could answer the ques. quickly,saving time for time-consuming RC ques.I covered Manhattan SC diligently while solving question from OG and pdf mentioned.After covering Manhattan SC, i referred SC grail which is something like a pocket-guide version of Manhattan SC,crisp and concise.It was very helpful in revising concepts of Manhattan SC.
I did not refer any book for CR and RC.I practiced CR questions from the pdf mentioned which had questions section-wise.I could relate to argument weakening,strengthening,assumption,bold-face type of questions and their nuances.I feel focus is the key to every CR question.
Being a voracious reader, i thought i would do well on RC questions.But as i attempted some RC question in my inital preparation days i was shocked to see my performance.I found it to be the toughest section in the entire GMAT exam.RC in GMAT requires concentration and patience.During preparation and exam,i never jumped to question before fully understanding the passage,even if it required reading the passage twice.Your heart will cry as the clock would be ticking but once you have understood the passage,most of the ques. would be a cakewalk.IMO, reading question before passage programs your mind to find answer to that question,hampering your concentration.Once passage is understood,all the questions can be easliy tackled.RC-99 is the best to check your standing in RC.It took my RC to a different level altogether.

Mock CATs :

I took only MGMATs and GMATPrep during the course of my preparation and found them quite adequate to guage performance.Also,i always wrote essays in my mock CATs to get a real feel of the G-Day.

GMATPrep1(before starting preparation) : 670

MGMAT 1 : 710(Q49,V37)
MGMAT 2 : 700(Q49,V36)
MGMAT 3 : 730(Q50,V40)
MGMAT 4 : 720(Q47,V42)
GMATPrep : 730
MGMAT 5 : 740(Q50,V41)
GMATPrep: 740
MGMAT 6 : 760(Q51,V42)



Exam Day :

I almost stopped studying 4 days before the exam,took last mock CAT 3days before the GMAT.I didn't take off from work before my GMAT and was working till 2 days before GMAT.I had planned my vacations post GMAT(which is a big reason i am sharing my experience only now).I started reading inspiring success stories on BTG and other forums to keep positive energy flowing.I reached home a day before the exam(I had scheduled exam at my hometown) and visited the exam centre.I went to bed early but could manage to sleep only for five hrs.I woke up early, which is quite unusual for me,and went for a stroll to pacify myself.I had light breakfast and left for the exam centre.I had planned on reaching the exam centre early so that i could solve a few maths questions just before GMAT to get into the calculative mode.AWA essays went fine though i thought i could have written analysis of an issue essay much better.I took the 1st optional break to forget AWA essays and get into exam mode.I started off quant on quite a fast pace.Questions were pretty simple barring a few and i rushed through them as i felt i would require time to deal the tougher ones ahead.I had completed almost half of the questions(17 ques.) with still 50 min(approx.) remaining.I then,slowed my pace and started re-checking my answers for every question.Even then,i managed to finish quant section with 6 mins to spare.I was pretty confident that i had managed ,a much craved, 51 on quant.
I took 2nd optional break,drank water and went out in the alley to take quant section off my mind.I started off verbal at a normal pace and increased my speed after 1st 5 questions.I had in my mind that the last RC passage is usually long so i spared some extra time.I guessed a few questions(3-4 ques.) in between to manage time but i took extra care not to guess two questions in a row.Last RC passage was even smaller than the earlier ones and simpler too.I cursed myself and gave extra time to the remaining questions.I again managed to finish the section with a couple of minutes to spare.I was happy with my performance in verbal and expected a score above 40.I clicked the report score card link with my fingers crossed.I must admit i was a bit disappointed when i saw 730 but then thought that it was still a very respectable score and scoring it on any other day would still be daunting.


I thank BTG that kept me motivated whenever i felt low.I am sharing my experience because i gained immensely by reading various debriefs and devised my own strategy.Please let me know if i could be of any help,i'll be glad to do so.

And yeah wish me luck as the real deal starts here!!!

yes, i think you did beat the gmat!
congratulations on your score!

thanks hoji...

That's a great score and you surely beat it.

Can you provide the 700-800 level questions pdf's you have mentioned.

thanks man....please pm me your mail id.

adamz wrote:That's a great score and you surely beat it.

Can you provide the 700-800 level questions pdf's you have mentioned.

ok

Dear Hoji

Please restain yourself from posting your mail-id in posts.
It doesn't goes down well with the ethical code of the forum.

Guys, please refrain from asking for material on the forum and do not post your email addresses here. All this discussion should take place on PM,if necessary.

del@btg
Congrats on the great score. You certainly rocked the exam!

thanks rishi....

@Del
Thank you for the debrief. You surely beat the GMAT.
I'd like to hear from you about your opinion about the difficulty level of actual GMAT Verbal section. I have heard that the questions in SC have become lengthier and RCs have become really difficult. Would like to know your feedback.

neodante wrote:@Del
Thank you for the debrief. You surely beat the GMAT.
I'd like to hear from you about your opinion about the difficulty level of actual GMAT Verbal section. I have heard that the questions in SC have become lengthier and RCs have become really difficult. Would like to know your feedback.

Well,I didn't find SC questions lengthier though i would have liked them to be because lengthier the question greater the no. of rules checked which helps in ruling out the wrong choices.As far as RC is concerned, the level of passages was comparable to low difficulty passages of RC-99.The critical part was the tricky questions and all the more tricky options.You really have to understand the passage well to steer clear of the luring wrong choices.

del@btg wrote:You really have to understand the passage well to steer clear of the luring wrong choices.

So is skimming through the passages the right way or understanding them well is important even if takes time ?I'm confused which approach should I take ?

@neodante : IMO,understanding the text is most important as skimming can lead you to wrong answers.GMAT gives choices that sets the trap if you do not comprehend the text well.Questions like 'What author is most likely to agree with' cannot be answered w/o understanding passage.After reading passage you must be able to define author's position and his contention.Having said that,not everything mentioned in the passage is important as far as it doesn't affects your understanding of the central theme of the passage.These parts of passage can be later refered to if any question demands it.There is another point i would like to add.It sometimes happen that while reading the passage,in the middle of it,you feel like you are nowhere near understanding the passage or author's tone.My 2 cents would be, do not lose faith and keep on reading.You will surely have some idea after completing the passage.Its like jigsaw puzzle where everything connects at the end.

Hi,

Many congratulations.

regards,
Patanjali

del@btg wrote:@neodante : IMO,understanding the text is most important as skimming can lead you to wrong answers.GMAT gives choices that sets the trap if you do not comprehend the text well.Questions like 'What author is most likely to agree with' cannot be answered w/o understanding passage.After reading passage you must be able to define author's position and his contention.Having said that,not everything mentioned in the passage is important as far as it doesn't affects your understanding of the central theme of the passage.These parts of passage can be later refered to if any question demands it.There is another point i would like to add.It sometimes happen that while reading the passage,in the middle of it,you feel like you are nowhere near understanding the passage or author's tone.My 2 cents would be, do not lose faith and keep on reading.You will surely have some idea after completing the passage.Its like jigsaw puzzle where everything connects at the end.

Those were really helpful tips! Thanks for those. I think that you were already good at cracking the GMAT since you got a 670 on the diagnostic test itself. Did you take any classroom coaching ?