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From 610 to 720.....complete irony

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From 610 to 720.....complete irony

by singhag » Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:28 am
I am an average Indian who has ignored his basics during schooling. My foundation was weak and I always know that but still able to make my way up the career in which basics is not required...I realized the importance of basics when I started preparing for GMAT...initially it was the disgusting feeling of not knowing the simple grammar rule or a elementary maths formula. I always piety myself as I am competing against the people whose basics are rock solid...but during that time things kept me going is with the hard work everything is possible...if I dont know something I will learn and whenever I go low I read the line "People don't fail they Quit" and I will not quit...

I started my preparation during April 09 and took my first attempt on Aug 09...dont know why I was so confident to score high when my Gmat prep score was around 610...and reality bites I scored 610 (M-49 and V-27) in actual GMAT. I was devastated, I had studied for 3 months but my score was rock bottom...did not realize that actually it improved from 480 in first GMAT prep 3 months back. One of friend told it become more tough to increase the score as you go up... I was up against the challenge.

I always want to see the score of 700+ but was not confident due to my overall performance...after my first encounter I started again concentrating on what went wrong more specifically two things one I always concentrated on quantity rather than quality. Secondly I love solving questions because they challenge me but does not bother to understand them. This is what took me most time to correct.

I have planned many time to take the exam from august onwards but did not have enough courage to take the same delayed it for long...but one good thing is I never stopped studying it was long 6 months but I relentlessly continued giving at least 2 hours a day...

Finally took my date that is today 11th march...did lot of practice exam, revised OG number of time, all concentration on Verbal
but have not ignored my maths section during my all practice exams I was above 49 including manhattan and was confident about it.

Today reached on-time started with AWA learnt few template style and written it quite confidently...started with Maths I was confident and started in a flash till 23 third question I was good but after that difficulty level increased or may be my concentration has gone off...I could not comprehend the questions and spent lot of time...and finally end up marking last 7 question randomly...I did pathetically bad... I know that but as in the last time I was feeling the same and scored 49...I convinced myself to forgot it and concentrate on verbal it is my weakest area...I took a break drank a red bull and went straight back...started the test...verbal section seems to be fairly simple dont know why...in the middle of test I have calculated my pace and realized I was doing good, I slowed down a bit in RC to make sure I understand them fully...then at the moment to click report the score I was paranoid and then when the final result came 720 :-) I could not control my happiness....but the score was ironical 46 M and 44 V...the break up which I have not scored in any of my mock exam... I am happy though being human have a feeling could do better in maths...but no happy to part of 700 league it is better than I expected for myself.

Only thing I want to say please believe on hard work it always pay...there can be many deterrent but hard work can overcome any one of them...based on aptitude and background some may take less and some may take more time...it is a wonderful feeling to crack GMAT

Thanks for all the explanation and guidance...This forum rocks.
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by iamcste » Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:07 am
17 point increase in verbal is terrific, would you mind sharing more details on verbal prep?
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by b.n.s.b » Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:27 am
First of all congratulations. I am really motivated after reading your post.
I am from the same background(from India), even I have neglected my basics when I was a kid.
My question is on Verbal, I have postponed my test by 20 days and have 20 full days for prep and I am performing badly in verbal. In my three MGMAT's my score was 29,34,30 in Verbal and I need to improve my score by 8-10 points to be safely over 700. Your inputs would really help.
As the previous person asked please give more details on verbal. I have done OG12 and Manhattan SC. Please suggest how to improve in verbal and what books do you recommend.
Once again congratulations on the 44 it is an awesome score.
iamcste wrote:17 point increase in verbal is terrific, would you mind sharing more details on verbal prep?
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by singhag » Thu Mar 11, 2010 5:49 am
I did the same material both the time that is ManhattanSC guide,OG12, OG11, OG10 and verbal guide (many overlapping questions) but what really made the difference is revising only OG12 and verbal guide more than once for every correct and wrong answer...each time I revised two things I realized I learn something new or refresh what I have forgotten...

As only 20 days left I recommend you to retake the OG12 questions and then look into each answer explanation...for the question you get wrong or you are not able to eliminate answer choice read the explanation thoroughly and still in doubt google them or post in this forum...u will get the answer...it should only take you 2 to 3 days. Again 4 or 5 days before your exam solve all the questions again...it will help but remember to think for a moment before answering as the answers will be fresh just do not tick eliminate all other choices...

I really believe in verbal section SC the best strategy is to learn to eliminate...in the SC question in one glance if you find out 2-3 split than half battle is won and then it will be just close reading and concepts to answer the question...in my entire test and practice I quickly find 2-3 split then spend my energy to get right answer among them...divide and rule.

For CR though I know it is not easy but for most of GMAT CR today it is easy to form the answer before looking into options...Then just pick the right answer...this strategy might not always work but most of the time it work...refer to OG 12 and if time permits CR1000 series...it has lot of LRSAT question for practice...Again make sure you understand each of the answer explanation it takes time but worth it...

For RC I did OG12 and OG11.

Remember in manhattan forum there is a discussion thread for all the GMAT prep question maths and verbal both....go through them try solving them before reading the explanation...You may not encounter all during your prep you will find them in the Manhattan forum...retake GMAT prep as much as possible at leisure...but do not depend on the score after couple of time..it will be inflated score :)
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by b.n.s.b » Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:08 am
Thank you so much for your prompt response. This forum rocks ! Period.

I have not tried OG 10, OG 11 that should be something to look into.
This is my tentative plan, If you don't mind please give your thoughts. I would love to finish )OG10, 11 verbal and then start the 1000 series. One big lesson that I have learnt from your experience is the importance of review and its is not quantity by quality that matters. I have 3 more MGMAT's left I will take them once in 3 days. Then I will take the GMAT Prep, I think I can take it couple of times more.
Whenever I didnt write AWA my scores were a little better (40 point difference) so I need to practice to sit for full length tests.

Thanks a ton for the inputs.

Regards
Bharat
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by singhag » Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:57 am
Bharath,

I will recommend you to learn few templates for AWA...try two or three test with it and rest without it...it will provide you little more time for analysis...But it completely depend on your concentration level and please do it as per your comfort level. I will recommend you to take paper set test of GMAT rather than SC 1000 series.
Rest of your plan looks good to me...I have took continuous test for last 12 days paper test + GMAT prep...to build my stamina and concentration for 2.5 hours.
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by b.n.s.b » Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:28 am
By Paper sets I hope you are referring to the ETS sets that are available. (1-30 sets) . Please correct me if I am wrong.
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by singhag » Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:29 am
Yes...you are correct
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by neoreaves » Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:31 am
Wow congrats on the score ...however, isnt the 44 Q score a bit low for applications ...because what i know is that the schools usually look at both the quant and verbal sections ...and if you are coming from an engineering background a strong Quant section always helps ....so im wondering what repercussions will be there because of reduction in your Quantitative score .....will they look at your earlier score of 49 in Q or the new one with a higher GMAT score ?
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by tonybasu » Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:43 am
Hi Singhag,
Can you tell me " Whether you took notes while reading RC Long Passage and Short Passages." Currently it takes me almost 16-17 mins (RC Long passage 4 questions). Do you think with practice I should be able to reduce this time to 8-10 mins. I hear that one should spend no more than 3 mins for notes and reading. Can you shed some light on this matter?


It looks like Reviewing and Redoing Official Guide Verbal problems really helps.

Thanks,
Surya
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by singhag » Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:45 am
@Neoreaves

Hey u said it right...even I thought about it....first it is not 44 it is 46 which is not that bad as it is 76 percentile..yes it should be above 80 percentile for some of the college...but considering my past score in quant ...I think i can cover for the same in additional essay or during interview...on an average this is not an ideal Indian break up...but definitely quite common in West :) I hope it should work.
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by singhag » Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:33 am
tonybasu wrote:Hi Singhag,
Can you tell me " Whether you took notes while reading RC Long Passage and Short Passages." Currently it takes me almost 16-17 mins (RC Long passage 4 questions). Do you think with practice I should be able to reduce this time to 8-10 mins. I hear that one should spend no more than 3 mins for notes and reading. Can you shed some light on this matter?


It looks like Reviewing and Redoing Official Guide Verbal problems really helps.

Thanks,
Surya
Hi based on my experience I found a very simple technique I read every paragraph starting slowly once I understand what it is talking about skim through the entire paragraph....If require come back to it during answering the question...I have not took notes...continuously refer to paragraph whenever required...

I am sure you can reduce your time significantly by skimming through a passage rather than understanding each and every line...3 minutes according to me is not realistic even I take around 7 to 8 min but with 4 question it average out and the passages in GMAT are actually short except one or two very long ones..
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by deepak4mba » Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:25 pm
I am also in a similar boat. Last time I gave my GMAT, I scored a 620 with pathetic verbal score. I am giving it another try in another 2 months.
Congrats for your remarkable performance and thanks for the encouragement and optimism you passed through your post.
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by vivecan2005 » Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:48 pm
super duper congrats!!! Greaaaatttt! You just proved that in order to pass 700+ one doesn't have to be a Class monitor, Class leader, Super genuis, oil - haired student sitting in front bench of class. You proved that hard working back bencher can also pass 700 bar in GMAT. Good luck with rest of your application.
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by LunaticAnagha » Sun Mar 14, 2010 10:40 pm
Thanks a lot for the overview...
I am retaking in May, with similar past experience as yours...
Thanks for letting us know the changed approach and material...
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