750-- Know your Exam Well!!

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750-- Know your Exam Well!!

by sneha800 » Wed Dec 26, 2012 3:39 pm
I gave my exam this week end (22nd December,2012) and scored a 750(51,40).I had many questions during my preperation i will try to answer some of them in the following few lines (Most of them learnt from these forums ofcourse!)

Time Required for preperation :

This depends on factors like how long it has been that you had prepared for a similar competetive test , your qaunt and verbal basics etc.; Having said that ,it would ideally take 2 months if u still feel comfortable with quant and verbal reasoning and upto 3-4 months if u really need to start from the scratch.(If you study for ateast 2 hrs a day )

First Steps :

1.Know what the exam tests.(It basically tests reasoning,analytical ability ,comprehension and application of some basic qaunt and verbal concepts.)
2.Know your resources.Read through the forums and finalize on what books you will follow for the next couple of months,Choosing right material could greatly reduce the time wasted.The more it is GMAT like the better.
3.Plan your Study. My plan was to cover each topic and do some practice problems from each topic simultaneously in the first month.Mocks ,analysys of mocks and additional practise in the second month.
4.Stick to your plan :P
5. You are good to Go.

Some Take Aways :

1.Resources :
Picking right resources can save a lot of time and can give you right direction.
Below were really useful in my prep
Quant: Number Properties 4m Manhattan.
SC : Manhattan SC correction if you have time for exhaustive prep or you can go with aristotle SC which takes far less time .
CR : Power Score CR bible - very good book.
ANd ofcourse OG.
2.Timing @ your Check points.
-Some articles about time management by Stacey Koprince are really helpful.your ability to reduce your time at the check points(probs too hard for u to solve in 2 mins) decides your score.
It is like this .. If your current level of preperation is at 700 and u spend too much time on a 750 level problem(or a prob 4m ur weak area) u could end up landing with much less than 700. And if u think u are a 750 taker and u spend too much time on a couple of 800 probs u can end up scoring 700 or less.(becoz of rushing thru easier probs.),Pacing is importatnt.
- The better u prepare fewer the check points and lesser the timing problem.
3.Analyse your tests. Analyse every single problem. Understand the rule , the concept tested,the traps and be sure that you wouldnt get a similar problem wrong again before you move to the next one.
4.Know the traps : those dug by GMAT and by yourselves.Know the GMAT question traps and also know the patterns of your careless errors. Trust me, careless errors do have a pattern.write them down and remember not to repeat those errors.For,example I had this habit of not noticing the word "different"/Positive" etc infront of the word "integers" ,or more than/less than infront of values ;Noting our patterns and making a concsious effort to minimize them helps.
5.Mocks:
POwerprep (from OFficial GMAT gives the closest estimate)
Manhattan - Quant is definetly more time consuming than the original GMAT.No question on GMAT usually takes more than 2 mins to solve once u understand the trick.However these mocks are helpfull in analysing your weakness,in learning concepts and having a rough estimate of your level of prep.Use the tests but dont read too much into the scores.

My Gmatprep 1 : 760
Gmatprep 2 : 730 (had timing issue on verbal)
Gmat rerun : 780(few repeats )
MCATS : ranged btw (670-750) didnt take the last few exams as the bank ran out of 700+questions.

The Exam Day :

1. You have 2 breaks of 8 mins each - u can exchange your scrap books during breaks.Do take cereal bars or wtever wrks for u to have during breaks .
2.Stay calm and focussed till the end. I did loose focus at the end of verbal section and i still think i could have done better on the verbal part.

Anyways.. Good Luck !! :)







2.

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by AbhiJ » Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:04 am
Awesome score. GMAT Prep 1 760, did you prepare for CAT ?

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by sneha800 » Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:05 am
@Abhij
Thanks :)
No ..I dint prepare for CAT . I took both the Powerpreps after doing all the basic reading ,practising and few MCATs- so the 760. I did get few scores in the upper 600's in the intial mocks before i corrected my timing issue and careless mistakes.

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by Jim@StratusPrep » Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:55 am
Very nice recap.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:09 am
sneha800 wrote: 3.Analyse your tests. Analyse every single problem. Understand the rule , the concept tested,the traps and be sure that you wouldnt get a similar problem wrong again before you move to the next one.
Great tip, sneha800!
In my opinion, students typically don't heed this advice often enough.

Cheers and congratulations,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by abuc0112 » Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:44 am
Congrats!!! Good debrief!!!

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by Javoni » Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:30 am
I wish I had such score))). You rocked it my man, great job! Wish you luck with applications.
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by sneha800 » Fri Jan 11, 2013 10:58 am
Thanks everyone ! :)

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by Dan@VinciaPrep » Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:27 am
Great job!
Your focus problem on the verbal section is a common one. One thing many students should keep in mind (but hopefully you did) is that they should do the WHOLE test when they take their practice tests. That is, it's important to not skip the writing/IR section.
If my post helped you- let me know by pushing the thanks button ;)

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by bpolley00 » Fri Jan 18, 2013 9:00 am
I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this. The first time I took the gmat I drank a monster before math and died during the verbal. This was obviously not the right approach and I believe my second round of studying has gone much better. In regards to losing focus at the end of verbal, do you recommend taking a caffeinated drink during your second break? Has anyone tried this or does anyone have any feelings either way about this? Thanks!

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by sneha800 » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:32 pm
I think u need to practice doing the whole test in the specified time as stated by the experts above.
Some snack bars between the breaks is a good idea.

I skipped the IR section on most practice tests and I also had the habit of rushing through the last 3-5 questions on the verbal part due to my timing problem . On the actual exam though I actually had sufficient time I kind of lost focus probably as my brain was trained to get anxious at that point.

I recommend you to practice finishing the practice tests exactly the way you would want it to be on the test day.

I dint try coffee..I think it varies from person to person ..You may try on one of your practice tests ..
Good Luck!

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by nbboss » Mon Jan 21, 2013 4:11 pm
Hi sneha,

Well done :) Many congrats!

Could you please put some light on IR section. Did you find the new version of GMAT easier than the old one.
I started preparing for gmat in 2011 when there was no IR section. But had a break in b/w. Now started preparing again, so li'l bit anxious abt IR section.

Thanks!

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by sneha800 » Mon Jan 21, 2013 5:43 pm
@nbboss

No .I don't think Newer version is easier but I do think It is quite manageable if your CR ,Qaunt and data-interpretation skills are good.

I dint practice IR at all except for the few questions that came along with the gmatprep test.Since Iwas using the old OG-12 ..I dint have access to the 50 IR questions that come with OG-13. My lack of practice even during most mocks gave me a hit on my IR score(6 of 8)-ran out of time. I recommend you to do atleast those 50 probs that come with OG-13 and to take full length tests during mocks.

It is not tough. I feel the above practice would be good enough

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by vishruti » Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:37 am
Hey Sneha,
thats a great score. COngrats!
I was just wondering if you could help me with the mock tests. Rather the sources for the mock tests (apart from the Powerpreps).

Thanks & goodluck with the applications.

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by sneha800 » Tue Jan 22, 2013 7:30 pm
Thanks.. I have tried a couple of Kaplan and MCATs . I think the scoring in manhattan is better than most other cats but the qaunt is more time consuming. So you may get lower qaunt scores and hence lower over all score if you fail to manage time on the qaunt section and get more number of questions wrong in the end. Managing time on power preps and the real gmat qaunt was never tough for me.

Nevertheless the tests are useful in evaluating your preparation. So do remember your actual scores might be in the +/-30 range. With this said I feel MCATS are good.

Kaplan verbal logic is a little different compared to the GMAT's w.r.t few questions.

I haven't tried other mocks ..So cant give any feedback.