640 (50Q, 28V) to 720 (51Q, 36V) - Self-belief is the key

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Hi all,

Though I am not a master in GMAT, I want to share with you all my GMAT experience. Today I gave my GMAT for the 2nd time and got a 720 (51Q, 36V). Finally, I have achieved my target score of 7XX and I feel elated to be finally over with my GMAT.

To give a context, my first attempt at GMAT was on 25th Sept 2010 and got only 640 (50Q, 28V). I was really disappointed and knew that I could cross the 7XX barrier if I give s bit extra effort. Circumstances changed, and I could not study for sometime and finally decided to give a second shot at GMAT around March. I started preparing from May-June 2012 with full swing. I badly needed to cross the barrier of 700 being an Indian and from an engineering background. I knew I could make it, I just needed to study diligently and give as many mock tests as possible. And now today, I feel, those efforts paid off. All's well that ends well. Thank you all at BTG! I have been a regular visitor here and I used to read all the "I just beat the GMAT stories" and tried to keep myself motivated. I wondered if I would ever get a chance to narrate my story also. God is great!!

Materials used for preparation:-

1. Official Guide - 12th edition - I had this book from my 1st attempt and didn't think it was worthy enough to buy the 13th edition. Anyways IR is not counted atleast now!!

2. Manhattan GMAT - SC guide - This is the BEST book one can have in SC. Its a MUST HAVE for all.

3. Manhattan GMAT - CR guide - Borrowed this book from a friend. Has some good pointers for approaching CR questions.

4. Princeton Review - Cracking the new GMAT 2013 - Good book with many practice problems. Especially the harder Math and English bins are really good practice materials. 4 Free CAT tests come with this book.

5. 1000 SC - The most comprehensive SC practice one can ever get. Somehow I managed to complete all 1000 questions. Answers with explanations are easily available over the internet in various blogs.

6. GMATClub Tests - A wonderful source with tons of sectional tests (both Quant and Verbal). A really good practice material. There's nothing better than timed practice.

Mock tests given and scores:-

1. Manhattan GMAT 1 - 640
2. Manhattan GMAT 2 - 590 - Was completely out of mind. Had to attend a lot of calls during the exam.
3. Princeton Review Free Test - 710
4. GMAT Prep Test 1 - 730
5. Manhattan GMAT 3 - 690
6. Manhattan GMAT 4 - 700
7. Manhattan GMAT 5 - 670
8. Manhattan GMAT 6 - 690
9. Princeton Review Test 7 - 610 - Didn't worry as Princeton scores are usually 100 pts lower
10.Princeton Review Test 8 - 640
11.Princeton Review Test 9 - 640
12.Manhattan GMAT 1A - 700
13.Manhattan GMAT 2A - 680
14.Manhattan GMAT 3A - 680
15.Manhattan GMAT 4A - 780 (Inflated probably because of some repeat questions)
16.GMAT Prep Test 2 - 710 (taken 2 days before the test!)

In all the tests my verbal scores varied between 32 - 39 and Quant scores varied between 45 - 50.

Very evidently GMATPrep Test scores (730,710) are the most accurate indicators of the actual GMAT score (720) :)

Lat few weeks before the exam, I took a lot of mock tests and repeats just to keep myself habituated in giving long tests. This is very helpful. I even took 2 tests in one single day to test my tenacity!!

Last day before exam:- No more tests. Just browsed through all the exercise books which I worked, the error logs and Manhattan SC guide. I kept reading the idioms and other SC rules. Made sure I slept a lot and kept myself fit for the D-day.

Test day experience:-

Exeprience was good. Nothing unexpected. Essay was easy. IR was okay. Though guessed a few because of lack of time. Took the entire 8 mins break and started the Quants. They looked very easy after all those Manhattan Quant questions. Manhattan Quants are really the toughest of the lot. Finished my Quants with 2 mins to spare. Took the 8 mins break, drank some water and started off with the most dreaded section of all. As usual, I had no clue, how I was performing and prayed to God after almost every question!! One of the RC's was really long and very tough! I guessed 2 out of the 4 questions there!! I took some more time in solving SC's than I took normally in the mock tests to make sure those were right. I really practised a LOT of SC's as I knew this is the section where accuracy can be increased dramatically!! It probably paid off. Towards the end I was bit slow and had 3 questions left in 1.5 mins. Made a random guess in the penultimate question as I didnt have time and you know its VERY important to finish the exam. Finally I came to the last question with 30 secs to spare. Forunately it was a simple SC. I got it with 5 secs to spare. And there you are I have finally finished the GMAT. Quickly browsed through the background questions and finally the score screen. I was so happy to see a 7 in the hundred's digit :) All's well that ends well.

I will be more than happy to answer if anyone has any questions. Seriously, this 80 point jump is not something out of the world. As I mentioned, self-belief is the key, and the willingness to work towards your goal is all that matters!! Cheers and all the best to all of you who are giving the GMAT in the coming days!!! :)
Last edited by avijitchak on Fri Sep 21, 2012 7:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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by vinni.k » Fri Sep 21, 2012 10:34 am
avijitchak, congratulations on this achievement. What practice material you used for CR ?

Regards
Vinni

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by avijitchak » Fri Sep 21, 2012 10:38 am
Hi, for CR I practised from OG and GMATClub Tests. And also Manhattan GMAT CR guide.

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by vinni.k » Fri Sep 21, 2012 11:06 am
avijitchak wrote:Hi, for CR I practised from OG and GMATClub Tests. And also Manhattan GMAT CR guide.
Are you talking about those 10 problem set questions that are at the end of each chapter in MGMAT.

Vinni

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by Saunak » Fri Sep 21, 2012 11:38 am
Very nice debrief avijitchak. Kudos :)

You mentioned that you took "Princeton Review" mock tests. Could you please specify the source of the tests ? Do they come with "Cracking the New GMAT, 2013 Edition" book ?

Thanks

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by avijitchak » Fri Sep 21, 2012 7:04 pm
vinni.k wrote:
avijitchak wrote:Hi, for CR I practised from OG and GMATClub Tests. And also Manhattan GMAT CR guide.
Are you talking about those 10 problem set questions that are at the end of each chapter in MGMAT.

Vinni

Yes Vinni, those problem set with explanations are really good. They should give a clear understanding on how to tackle each type of problem. Apart from that GMATClub Tests also really helped a lot. Also you can practice from 1000 CR if you have time. I couldn't complete it though.

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by avijitchak » Fri Sep 21, 2012 7:06 pm
Saunak wrote:Very nice debrief avijitchak. Kudos :)

You mentioned that you took "Princeton Review" mock tests. Could you please specify the source of the tests ? Do they come with "Cracking the New GMAT, 2013 Edition" book ?

Thanks

Thanks Saunak! :) Yes with "Cracking the new GMAT, 2013 Edition", there are 4 free online CAT tests. You can register by using the ISBN number of the book.

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by patanjali.purpose » Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:38 am
Hi,

Great news. Many congratulations on your achievement.

It's came as a great news and will surely act as a motivator for all of us.

Wish you all the best.

regards,
Patanjali

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by sverma22 » Tue Sep 25, 2012 10:23 pm
Hi,

Many Many congratulations for your score!!
I am starter here, will be starting my preps soon.
Please Guide me for the books resources from where should i start as a beginner.

Note: My Q&V are not so strong, i have to brush up my concepts. Please Guide on this.
Thanks.

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by yashikk9 » Tue Sep 25, 2012 10:35 pm
@avijitchak - First of all congratulations for your much deserved success. You surely had an exhaustive study plan to include all these materials.

I am sailing in the same boat with pretty good quant but horrible verbal score. I am also preparing for my not second but 3rd :( attempt to hit the 7xx mark.

It will be really helpful if you could share your study plan. How long did you spend covering all these materials? and what sequence you followed while covering these materials.Did u re-take same tests?

For a while I have been thinking of taking up some verbal coaching but not sure how much will it help. As my second test was screwed up all thanks to my low confidence by the time i had reached verbal section.

Confidence is something no one else can help you with. So very skeptical about coaching also.

Thanks!

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by santosrin » Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:25 pm
Congrats..Would like to know what exactly u meant by Manhattan Quant(is it the 5 book series) or advanced manhattan quant..kindly clarify.

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by amneetpadda » Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:31 pm
Congrats!!!

Could you share with us the strategy you used to improve your Verbal Score because somehow my score in verbal is stagnant and not improving much....!!!

Thanks!!!

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by avijitchak » Wed Sep 26, 2012 9:35 pm
patanjali.purpose wrote:Hi,

Great news. Many congratulations on your achievement.

It's came as a great news and will surely act as a motivator for all of us.

Wish you all the best.

regards,
Patanjali

Thanks!! :)

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by avijitchak » Wed Sep 26, 2012 9:37 pm
sverma22 wrote:Hi,

Many Many congratulations for your score!!
I am starter here, will be starting my preps soon.
Please Guide me for the books resources from where should i start as a beginner.

Note: My Q&V are not so strong, i have to brush up my concepts. Please Guide on this.
Thanks.
Hi there!! As a starting point you can start with OG/Kaplan. Brush up your basic maths and english skills and take a diagnostic test to measure your abilities. Then accordingly start preparing. All the best!!

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by avijitchak » Wed Sep 26, 2012 9:47 pm
santosrin wrote:Congrats..Would like to know what exactly u meant by Manhattan Quant(is it the 5 book series) or advanced manhattan quant..kindly clarify.
By Mahattan Quant I meant the Manhattan GMAT Tests only. I didnt have any books from Manhattan Quant.