I just Beat The GMAT!

akhpad wrote:It would be difficult to say that GMAC asks tougher questions in India than those in US until unless one has done a proper survey. It may or may not be true.

Those Indian origin students who did schooling in English environment get good GMAT score only after few months preparation. GMAT is just a matter of verbal.

Standard of maths in GMAT is same as that of 6th standard but same is not for verbal. So, this is one of the advantage of native English speaker.

Take an example of test CAT which IIM conducts, standard of maths in IIM CAT is much more tougher than that in GMAT but both were for the same purpose.

paes wrote:I have a very basic question here. Many logical analytical thoughts are put on this thread, so I am raising my concern.

All of us know that GMAC algorithm is adaptive, i.e. if you are doing well than you will get the tougher problems.
My concern is how a adaptive algorithm is better than a standard test pattern.
For me standard test pattern means : e.g out of 41 verbal questions, suppose
10 questions below 500 level
10 questions from 500-600 level
10 questions from 600-700 level
11 question from 700-800 level

So irrespective of the student dynamic performance, these question will appear in the test. (And these questions can be picked from a pool of questions, so test paper will not be same for any 2 students)

I see two main advantage with this pattern :
1. Every student will get a similar difficulty level test. [ one of the main objective of any test anywhere ]
2. It will be less Algorithm dependent.

I know there are many experts who work on GMAC algorithm.
But I am still unable to find how an adaptive algorithm is better than a standard test pattern.

adi_800 wrote:Warning: If you have your exam coming in a month or so....try to avoid this post.

I gave my GMAT on 25th Sept. 2010 @ Pune, India and scored a pathetic 590 (Q 47, V 25). I gave GMAT previously in Dec 2008 but that was nothing more than taking a feel of GMAT as I did not study much and was not aware how to study and what to study...
But now, with this score...I m literally in tears and donno what to do.. In fact, with this just one score, people are telling me to rethink of my MBA plans. N these kinda suggestions are just making me more nervous and sad..

I would like to put in my preparation and exam experience...

Preparation :

I started my actual prep in the first week of May after taking a date of 9th Sept 2010.

After my first attempt, I was confident of my SC (more surprises to come in my exam exp.) In 2009, when I read new version of Mgmat SC guide, I used to participate in Testmagic forums...At that time, I used to explain a lot for SC..This participation made my SC to improve...I used to get max 3 wrong out of 17 SC questions... I used to gauge the difficulty level of SC questions and was quite good at that...

I knew I had to work on my RC and CR. I started with RC from OGs and was having around 70% accuracy and was taking around 2 min. per question. I practiced 1000 RC and used to get 6 out of 8 right with descent pace...
For CR..I did Powerscore CR bible... I started practicing CR from OG. But most of the CRs were I had done in my first attempt and so was not of much help... So, went on to do OG12 CRs. I found I was doing descent job in CR but my timing was around 2 minutes.. Out of RC n CR, I was weak in CR and knew I would face difficulty with CR in coming months..

July was here and I thought of giving one GMAT Prep. In the first week of July, I gave GMAT Prep - 1 and scored 710 (Q 48 V 39). In this exam, I had no RC repeated and around 6 questions repeated (mostly in CR). I had 2 wrong in RC, 6 wrong in CR and 2/3 wrong in SC.. I was on a high on that day and thought that I was doing a good job...

Then I gave Kaplan CD test and scored 540... Now these tests are kinda difficult and one should add around 100 marks in this score. So, I was thinking my current level must be around 650...

Then it was the time to give mocks... As per Suman's advice, I bought Kaplan premier and got access to 5 tests..So, I had Mgmat n Kaplan tests...Below are my scores in Mgmat n Kaplan..

Mgmat 1: 650 (46/33)
Mgmat 2 : 680 (44/38) - Did not complete quant in this one. So should have been 700.
Mgmat 3 : 660 (46/33) - Donno what happened in this one.
Mgmat 4 : 710 (48/38)
Mgmat 5 : 680 (48/35)
Kaplan 1 : 640
Kaplan 2 : 660
Kaplan 3 : 670
Kaplan 4 : 710
Kaplan 5 : 720
Kaplan 6 : 730
Princeton free: 650
Veritas Free: 680
Gmat Prep 1 : 710
Gmat Prep 2 : 690
Gmat Prep 1 (Retake) : 720
Gmat Prep 2 (Retake ) : 660
Most of these exams were with AWAs. For AWA, I had a book that has written answers to almost all Og11 topics. So, read that book n was having template for AWAs.

Now, I just don't understand where I went wrong...With the kinda scores I got in mocks...I knew I was always around the range 650-680 at least n that's what I was looking for when I gave the test.. I knew I am not someone like Hardiks or albatross. I knew my range of 660-680 and was always confident of getting that... But this exam has ruined my life with that bloody 590 score...

Test experience:
I had scheduled my exam on 9th Sept 9 30 AM ka slot. But when I started my exam on 9th, the computer gave some error at the start. We were told to wait for 15 min. These 15 min were converted into 2 hours n we were told at 11 AM to give options for rescheduling as the software had some problem...from the talk of Admin with tech people of Pearson...it seemed that some new questions were added and the current version was not compatible with accepting those new questions...So, I gave 25th as my option with Thursday being a Festival Holiday n I begged to my manager for Friday as a leave. Btw..I had taken 14 days of leave before 9th. Due to this, I was totally in an exam mode and felt confident...

But the exam was shifted to 25th. In between... Had to call Pearson so many times for rescheduling... On 14th, d day was fixed as 25th. Between 9th and 25th, I gave Mgmat cats again.. But there was no point in believing the scores as there were repeat questions...I gave Gmatprep too but in that repeat questions were present.

Actual Exam exp:
After this rescheduling thing.. I thought it is something blessing in disguise...
Exam was at 9: 30.. Started from home at 9 N was surprised to see my bike punctured. � Exam center was 5 minutes from my place so, wasn't much of an issue.

Started the exam at 9: 30 with AWAs... Both issue and argument were not from the topics that I read in OG11/12. But did good job and topics were easy and understandable..


Started with Quant...First problem was based on linear equations and had no problems in that...Second was a slope problem but had to guess on that..

After this, I constantly felt, the server throwing questions at me is a DS machine and it is supposed to throw only inequality problems continuously.. In quant itself I felt the quant has gone extremely TRICKY..It's not difficult..It is tricky. You will be required to be on your toes to notice the pit falls. The quant was not representative of OG12 or Gmat prep.. Had to read the problems with extreme care. Few problems were so large in length that it took me 1 min to read the problem itself. Had to change my options many times..There were at least 3 problems on Simple n compound interest. 2-3 on mean, mode, median...N many on number properties n worst was as usual Inequality + DS. Had geometry problem on a figure that had not been discussed in geometry guide of ANY prep company... But was easy one if you knew one formula...

I was not pressed for time in quant and after the end, I thought I did not do a good job in quant..Which in fact is reflecting in d scores..But was confident of at least 47... This score does not simply represent my abilities... I got 48 many times in Mgmat..So, was thinking that I will get around 49 in actual..But wasn't a case...Mgmat quant is tough in terms of difficulty and Gmat quant is tricky...That's what makes Gmat quant tough...

At the start of the verbal.. I had no effect of my poor quant performance... I made sure that that poor performance did not affect my verbal. I started verbal with 2 SCs.. The first was a little tough with obscured meaning..Got that right N den got another SC.. This one was surely tough..still remember, I was between A n C..Marked C and moved on..Then got one CR..Did dat right N den got one RC...I m right now 100% sure that I got all three questions right on that RC...Den came 2 SCs. Had tough time in SC..Now this is where I was not able to even understand what the hell the sentence is testing...Normally I can spot the error when I read the sentence but here I was simply not able to come to know the error...This is where I understood what btg member nikhil katira said when he wrote his second exp - "SCs were CONVOLUTED"... But I think I did those right and then was presented with one CR..I think that one was easy with option A being the right answer.....

Now was the time for one MONSTER RC....Normally in Gmatprep you get one long RC for which you have to scroll to see at max 3-4 lines..But over here, I had to scroll entire last paragraph n dat last paragraph was also big one... Entire passage was tough and had to spend lot of time reading this one..In fact, I never encountered this big passage in my mocks...This one was tough...This had one question which was 4 lines long with so much of data put in that it took me a lot of time to understand the question..then read the options d den eliminate... last question on this passage was what is the organizatn of the passage question but this was very difficult... Each option was 3 lines with details such as first para does this, second does this, third does so n so..Had to read 15 lines for this one question...I was pressed for time...This one took around 10 min at least...

Then was presented with SCs and CRs at random..I always found SC as my strength..But over here, I was made to feel that SC is TOUGH..it was out of this planet... For a score of 590, normally you would get easy questions but this was not the case...they were CONVOLUTED...

Then came a surprise....One more Monster RC Passage at around 22nd question... In Gmatprep you get 1 Long n 3 short passages..But here I got 2 short and 2 long passages...This one too was lengthy... Had 4 paragraphs with scrolling required for entire last paragraph...n four questions on it...

Did that and was finding tough to maintain timing..Grasping of the language dropped when I was reading fast...One more RC came at 31st question and had around 15 minutes for last 10 questions... I think got 2 right out of three..

Due to timing, had to guess few questions (CRs) in the end and when the last question came, I knew I had screwed it big time..Last SC question was a simple comparison..

Only part that I felt representative was CR...CR was somewhat same as OG12... But I can not comment much on CR as I was weak in it..
I wanted to report the score as I wanted to know where I stand..Not sure whether canceling would have been a good option..
In verbal, I did feel kinda stressed due to the timing and had small headache...
Few important things that I have noticed after giving Gmat...

THIS EXAM HAS CHANGED AND HAS EVOLVED LIKE ANYTHING.....Gone are the days when you will be required to eliminate options containing considered as/considered to be. Gone are the days when options will contain the reason is because..Gone are the days where you will be required to weaken/strengthen a causal argument... These kinda questions you will get when you are scoring 300-400..

Gmat quant has changed..It has got tricky...It is by no means difficult... But you will be given penalty for not understanding the traps...

I think my mock scores were descent enough but I m confused as to why Mgmat scores were not reflected in my actual stuff.. One reason I can think of is Mgmat still has 'the reason is because' and 'considered to be' questions which are not gonna appear on Gmat...These questions in Mgmat are 700-800 level when they are clearly not...these exams were written in 2006 and GMAC knows people read Ron's explanations and Mgmat SC guide..So, SC and the EXAM had to evolve...and IT HAS...Also, scoring 650 in Mgmat is not a big deal as it allows you to get around 18 questions wrong in verbal..

Kaplan internet based tests are very easy as compared to what you get over there...

Knewton and Veritas are the best when changing the subject and verb of the Official question and present to you as a new question...They simply copy and paste d questions...

I think..GMAT is tough in India with many people scoring 700 in the past..This statement is relative and depends from person to person...But the thing is..There are still many who are scoring 700..May be.. I am not upto that mark.. �

GMAT Prep is only reflective in terms of Software but not in terms of Difficulty level..

Now the next part...Seeking advice...�

What's next? I m still blanked in terms GMAT...GMAT thrice is making my body to shiver n with these skills im not confident of a good score..atleast as of now.. There are people who have given 4 attempts for GMAT n have finally got 710...But not sure as to what should be done...

I m literally tired with the prep. I simply did nothing but this GMAT for last six months or so.. I did many many sacrifices...But I think those sacrifices were worth of only 590... I just cannot start the prep next 2 months at least n that means I have very little chances of making it to 2011 admission rounds...

So, here I am!! Seeking advice as to what is to be done next...Many have suggested me to think of Indian B schools and CATs n d likes.. But many people give GMAT as they have not been able to crack CAT..N here im where I have not been able to crack this GMAT...
Pls suggest!!

With Tears,
Aditya

papgust wrote:@ struggler_gmat:

I can sense the frustration and anxiety in your post. It is quite natural for anyone getting baffled after an unexpected performance in the test. I had the same experience too. But one needs to understand that GMAT is a globally administered computer adaptive exam that is crucial in all business schools and the GMAC will be in jeopardy if the score is biased with specific geographical areas. Rather than blaming the scoring method, we should whole-heartedly accept our mistakes and should work towards how we could avoid those mistakes - a pragmatic approach. It is only the waste of time and money in trying to contact GMAC and question their scoring algorithm. In my opinion, absolute waste.

papgust wrote:@ struggler_gmat:

I can sense the frustration and anxiety in your post. It is quite natural for anyone getting baffled after an unexpected performance in the test. I had the same experience too. But one needs to understand that GMAT is a globally administered computer adaptive exam that is crucial in all business schools and the GMAC will be in jeopardy if the score is biased with specific geographical areas. Rather than blaming the scoring method, we should whole-heartedly accept our mistakes and should work towards how we could avoid those mistakes - a pragmatic approach. It is only the waste of time and money in trying to contact GMAC and question their scoring algorithm. In my opinion, absolute waste.

struggler_gmat wrote:

papgust wrote:@ struggler_gmat:

I can sense the frustration and anxiety in your post. It is quite natural for anyone getting baffled after an unexpected performance in the test. I had the same experience too. But one needs to understand that GMAT is a globally administered computer adaptive exam that is crucial in all business schools and the GMAC will be in jeopardy if the score is biased with specific geographical areas. Rather than blaming the scoring method, we should whole-heartedly accept our mistakes and should work towards how we could avoid those mistakes - a pragmatic approach. It is only the waste of time and money in trying to contact GMAC and question their scoring algorithm. In my opinion, absolute waste.

@papgust

Sir I would like to agree with you regarding GMAC algorithm and I wish to whole-heartedly accept all my mistakes. But please let me know what mistakes I have done. Isn't it hard to know where you are going wrong when you have no feedback except your great verbal score. I can only avoid mistakes when I know those mistakes. For me when I was attempting verbal section, I was so confident that this time I have done really well.

ashwinlobo wrote:Hi Aditya,
I did the GMAT on 25th Oct...exactly one month after you. From your score break up, I see you bombed verbal. This is my 2cents...but I beleive that GMAC gives a lot more weightage to the verbal score than they did earlier. I got Q 47 i.e. 77%(like you) and V 41 i.e. 92%....my overall score was 710 i.e. 92% (totally reflected in my verbal score). I think GMAC has finally realised that too many of us Indians are totally relying on quants to Piggy-back to a 700+ score with a shabby verbal score in tow

akhpad wrote:

ashwinlobo wrote:Hi Aditya,
I did the GMAT on 25th Oct...exactly one month after you. From your score break up, I see you bombed verbal. This is my 2cents...but I beleive that GMAC gives a lot more weightage to the verbal score than they did earlier. I got Q 47 i.e. 77%(like you) and V 41 i.e. 92%....my overall score was 710 i.e. 92% (totally reflected in my verbal score). I think GMAC has finally realised that too many of us Indians are totally relying on quants to Piggy-back to a 700+ score with a shabby verbal score in tow

Yes, I too agree that GMAT gives more weight-age on Verbal. No matter how good you are in quant but for getting a good score one has to perform well on Verbal. One can perform well or average on Quant easily.


Is verbal in real GMAT is harder than that in GMAT Prep?