From 650 to 710....

[matanga]

Just finished my second attempt at the GMAT, and I'm thrilled to have broken the 700 barrier. Q47 (79) and V40 (89), which is a bit surprising given the fact that I felt much better after Q than after V. I thought I nailed Q because I was getting tough probability questions in the end and thought I did OK. Did not get a single boldface CR question, but had 2 tough RC passages instead.

I went from a 44Q and 35V (650 total) to a 47Q and 40V (710 total). I scored a 49Q and 40V (730 total) on the GMATPrep test two days before the exam, so those results should give you an idea of real performance.

I'd like to ask the experts if they consider a 47Q/40V score balanced enough for top 5 schools. They represent 79% and 89% respectively ... Had heard Wharton, for example, likes to see both in the 80 percentile....


Thanks to all for your tips and explanations!!!!!!

[aj5105]

Well done Matanga. Congratulations

[hk]

Thats an Amazing improvement. I'm also working towards such an improvement.

Congratulations!!!

[matanga]

Thanks !!!

A quick overview of what I saw:


Didn't think the AWA questions were tough, but I thought the ones I got my first time around were easier. Spent probably 10 mins writing the analysis portion and 15 writing the essay.

I knew I was doing OK on Q as soon as I started getting tough probability questions towards the end of the Q portion. I think 5 or 6 out of the last 10 were of that kind, and I might have split those.

As I mentioned, I did not get any boldface CR questions on the V part. Got a lot of SC questions and CR. I had 4 RC passages: the first one was relatively easy, but the two that followed were tough because of the wording they used. The last one was very straightforward. IMO, the toughest part about the tough CR questions was the wording, not the questions themselves. I am not a native English speaker, so this might serve as a word of caution for those whose second (or third?) language is English. I think you'll be OK if you genuinely understand the questions and answers posted on the SC forum, although I'd expect everybody to see an unfamiliar idiom or some weird construction. I was nervous about the V section because I had heard the GMAT likes to spread the correct choices among A,B,C,D, and E, and that was not the case with me. Maybe it is a myth .......

Overall, I think the info provided in these forums is very valuable, which is why I stopped by t post and thank all of those who helped me achieve my goal through your clear explanations and rationale for answer choices. I followed the tips some of you have shared over here and those worked, so my suggestion is to glimpse through those.

Good luck to all of you and remember: if I can do it, so can you !!!

[hemanth28]

Thanks !!!

A quick overview of what I saw:


Didn't think the AWA questions were tough, but I thought the ones I got my first time around were easier. Spent probably 10 mins writing the analysis portion and 15 writing the essay.

I knew I was doing OK on Q as soon as I started getting tough probability questions towards the end of the Q portion. I think 5 or 6 out of the last 10 were of that kind, and I might have split those.

As I mentioned, I did not get any boldface CR questions on the V part. Got a lot of SC questions and CR. I had 4 RC passages: the first one was relatively easy, but the two that followed were tough because of the wording they used. The last one was very straightforward. IMO, the toughest part about the tough CR questions was the wording, not the questions themselves. I am not a native English speaker, so this might serve as a word of caution for those whose second (or third?) language is English. I think you'll be OK if you genuinely understand the questions and answers posted on the SC forum, although I'd expect everybody to see an unfamiliar idiom or some weird construction. I was nervous about the V section because I had heard the GMAT likes to spread the correct choices among A,B,C,D, and E, and that was not the case with me. Maybe it is a myth .......

Overall, I think the info provided in these forums is very valuable, which is why I stopped by t post and thank all of those who helped me achieve my goal through your clear explanations and rationale for answer choices. I followed the tips some of you have shared over here and those worked, so my suggestion is to glimpse through those.

Good luck to all of you and remember: if I can do it, so can you !!!

Great going... Thanks for the post. I scored 680 in my first attempt. I am planning to retake the test. I am looking at score close to 730.

I realized that the verbal wordings was quite confusing in my first attempt as well. I have heard that questions have become tougher. Is that really true ??

I took a sample GMAT prep which I downloaded recently and I felt that the questions are lot tougher but managed to score 700.

[matanga]

Thanks !!!

A quick overview of what I saw:


Didn't think the AWA questions were tough, but I thought the ones I got my first time around were easier. Spent probably 10 mins writing the analysis portion and 15 writing the essay.

I knew I was doing OK on Q as soon as I started getting tough probability questions towards the end of the Q portion. I think 5 or 6 out of the last 10 were of that kind, and I might have split those.

As I mentioned, I did not get any boldface CR questions on the V part. Got a lot of SC questions and CR. I had 4 RC passages: the first one was relatively easy, but the two that followed were tough because of the wording they used. The last one was very straightforward. IMO, the toughest part about the tough CR questions was the wording, not the questions themselves. I am not a native English speaker, so this might serve as a word of caution for those whose second (or third?) language is English. I think you'll be OK if you genuinely understand the questions and answers posted on the SC forum, although I'd expect everybody to see an unfamiliar idiom or some weird construction. I was nervous about the V section because I had heard the GMAT likes to spread the correct choices among A,B,C,D, and E, and that was not the case with me. Maybe it is a myth .......

Overall, I think the info provided in these forums is very valuable, which is why I stopped by t post and thank all of those who helped me achieve my goal through your clear explanations and rationale for answer choices. I followed the tips some of you have shared over here and those worked, so my suggestion is to glimpse through those.

Good luck to all of you and remember: if I can do it, so can you !!!

Great going... Thanks for the post. I scored 680 in my first attempt. I am planning to retake the test. I am looking at score close to 730.

I realized that the verbal wordings was quite confusing in my first attempt as well. I have heard that questions have become tougher. Is that really true ??

I took a sample GMAT prep which I downloaded recently and I felt that the questions are lot tougher but managed to score 700.

hemanth:

I think the easy questions are as easy as the easy ones on the OG, but the tough ones are definitely tougher (both on Q and V). Perhaps the RC passages are about the same as the ones you'd see in the OG, but the CRs, and especially the SCs are definitely harder. However, I'd check out the SC and CR forums for tough questions. If you genuinely understand why the answers are what they are, then you should be OK.

Good luck!