2 days to Go

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2 days to Go

by Tmoni26 » Sun Feb 01, 2015 2:28 pm
Hello,

So I will be taking the exam in Tuesday, 03 Feb in the beautiful city of Watford, UK.

I saved my test 2 until today and just finished it, and i got a score of 610 so I am sure I would have to retake the Gmat again (My target score is 680).

I understand it is too late to relearn anything new so I am just going for the experience..and to get a feel for the actual exam.

My main question today is asking for tips for starting to study again...What to do and what not to do

or is there anyone with a miracle 24hour wand that i can binge on...for tuesday..

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by akhilsuhag » Sun Feb 01, 2015 2:40 pm
Confidence.

My brother always says- "I don't care about practice tests. I will obviously do better in the real thing. I will be sharper"

And he did. Much better.

You seem to have given up before the fight even began. Go through your mistakes, try and see what are you getting wrong- find a why. Go thr and tell yourself this is going to be the best day ever.

Stay positive stay strong. If it still doesnt work who cares take it again- but till then keep telling yourself it will happen.

Auto suggestion n visualization of that success.

All the best!
Please press "thanks" if you think my post has helped you.. Cheers!!

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by Tmoni26 » Sun Feb 01, 2015 2:46 pm
akhilsuhag,

Thanks alot for the post below,

Yeah, I would obviously give it my best shot...

Anything above 670 is a win for me so who knows, I might also be saying "I just beat the GMAT"

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by manyaabroadtpr » Tue Feb 03, 2015 10:12 pm
Hi Tmoni26,

So how did your GMAT go.If you would like to share we would really like to know how you performed in your GMAT.

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by Tmoni26 » Sat Feb 07, 2015 5:46 am
Hello,
It did not go well. I got a score that was between 500 and 600. I have the first test jitters done and dusted so now it's time to slay the exam.

I would look for a personal tutor and hopefully retake the test in about a month. My target score has now been revised upwards.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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by [email protected] » Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:20 am
Hi Tmoni26,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as hoped.

Before you schedule your next Test Date, it's important to analyze your situation a bit, so that you can make the necessary adjustments to improve. To that end, I'm hoping that you can answer a few questions:

1) What was your Official GMAT score (including Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) When you say that your target score has been "revised upwards", what do you mean?
3) What resources did you use during this initial round of studies?
4) Are you on a deadline (could you spend more than another month studying?)?

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by Tmoni26 » Sun Feb 08, 2015 11:03 am
Hello Rich,

First of all, thank you for taking an interest in my case.

Responses to your questions are listed below:-

1. Official score 540 (Q38, V27)... I think my brain froze in the quant, there were some questions which i know how to solve but somehow i got brain freeze.
2. My target score is now 700 ( i believe to show a significant improvement)
3. I used mainly Gmatprepnow to cover all the topics, then dipped into Manhattan SC handbook and solved some of the questions in OG
4. Ideally, i would like to apply for INSEAD round 2 deadline which is on 22 April 2015, therefore i want to get the Gmat out of the way in March which then gives me a month to finalise my essays.

Please let me know if you have anymore questions because i am about to start studying again and i am a little amiss where to start from.

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by [email protected] » Sun Feb 08, 2015 3:28 pm
Hi Tmoni26,

I do have a few follow-up questions and some suggestions:

1) You mentioned taking your "test 2" on February 1st. Was that your second practice CAT overall?
2) From your posts, it looks like you've been studying for a few months, but how long would you say that you've been focused on your GMAT studies?
3) When you took your CATs, did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?

With your revised score goal, you'll have a lot of work to do in a short period of time. While improving 160 points in your timeframe is not impossible, it will be difficult. The further you can push back your next Test Date, the more study time you can put in (and the better the chances to hit your goal).

Since there are a variety of GMAT resources that you can use during your studies, it can be a challenge to find the right combination for you; right now, you have to decide if you want to invest in some new resources of stick with the ones that you already have. If you only took 2 CATs, then we don't have enough evidence to say whether you're on the right path to hit your score goal or not. Either way, you should invest in a set of practice CATs and plan to take 1 FULL CAT every 1-2 weeks.

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by Tmoni26 » Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:23 am
Hello Rich,

Thanks for the suggestions, please find responses to your questions below.

1. "Test 2" was the second GMAT CAT, I did other practice CATs, (Economist - 550, Veritas Prep -680).

2. Yes, I have been in and out GMAT preparation for a while. Constant study was probably (October to November 2014, and then January 2015). December was not as concentrated as the other months

3. No, I never took the full CAT, either Quant & Verb together and then AWA & IR differently. Probably the most foolish thing, not having a test run of the "whole 3.5hr" test in one seating.
As an aside, this is one of the reasons I feel my score should improve as I now have a "full CAT" under my belt



If I have to invest in other material, then so be it. I also know that I would require one-on-one interaction with a tutor.
At the end of the day, I want to get an MBA from INSEAD, in order to move my career to a different level.

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by [email protected] » Mon Feb 09, 2015 9:52 pm
Hi Tmoni26,

I've sent you a private message with some suggestions.

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by manyaabroadtpr » Tue Feb 10, 2015 8:16 pm
Tmoni26 wrote:Hello,
It did not go well. I got a score that was between 500 and 600. I have the first test jitters done and dusted so now it's time to slay the exam.

I would look for a personal tutor and hopefully retake the test in about a month. My target score has now been revised upwards.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Tmoni26,

We are sorry to hear that you could not score well in your GMAT.You mentioned that you froze while solving the quant section.This generally happens in two scenarios.One, you are not confident.Two, you panic.In your case, we feel that it was due to the second case.You have mentioned that you did not take full mock tests.This was a big mistake that you made.

You have just one month for your improvement.Here are some suggestions, which will definitely help pulling your scores up.

Focus all your energies on giving only full length practice tests.It is important that you take complete tests so that you get acclimatized to sitting for approx. 4 hrs. Now, understand that more than giving a practice test, it is critical how much time you spend on analyzing your performance in the same. Typically, if you spend 2 hours in taking a mock test, spend 4-5 hours in analyzing it. Go over each and every question and find out a better, smarter and a faster way to solve each question. Take a note of all the points and make sure you apply them in the next test.The key is to keep improving with every test.

Start reading articles, science journals , business tabloids and read them online and figure out for yourself if you can understand the language and the main idea present in the passage. This would improve your vocabulary on the GMAT.It will improve your understanding of the vocabulary used in GMAT CR and RC passages.

Lastly, it is essential to work on the pacing of the questions & how much time you spend on each question.Do leave enough time to attempt the last few question & don't rush through these.

Let us know if you require any further help regarding your GMAT preparation.Good Luck