I have thought about what I would write in a debrief multiple times, even today morning as I took the shower before going to the test center.
First thoughts on seeing a 710 was, Phew!! I wanted to get more 730 and such, but the past two weeks were so harrowing at work, GMAT took a back seat. And my performance which peaked sometime ned of August started going down. In GMATPrep1 I scored 730 and in GMATPrep2 which I took three weeks later scored a 680. Anyway, I wil continue with my debrief.
The day before the exam. I took off from work.
I took the GMATPrep2 for the third time, I concentrated on the concepts, and the kind of problems being tested and tried to find easy ways to arrive at solutions. I went over Manhattan SC book. And went over my error log.
I slept early. Was woken up in the middle by something and had a hard time going back to sleep, but I guess I did eventually, becos my alarm woke me up at 5:30. I didnt have time to study anything, I just emailed some of my error logs to my gmail id, hoping to go over them on my iphone while at the test center. The test center was 35 mins from my place. I reached with 50mins to spare. I studied some prayed some
I wrote more and better than I thought I would in the AWA. I enjoyed writing those two sections, which kind of eased me into the exam. I went to the restroom, ate almonds and drank some water during the first break and went right back in.
Quants was not so bad. In fact I thought I was doing all questions very well, although I got some really easy questions in the second half of the exam. I was a little worried, but I pushed it aside. I did have difficulty concentrating as my back had started hurting.
I went over my 8min break by 30 secs for verbal although I did jsut the same things as I did in my previous break. I stretched a little, to help my back.
Verbal was okay, I wouldnt say I got very tough questions. I was concerned with RC passages but thankfully, there were not so dry or mind boggling as the ones I did from LSAT papers. I was rooting for science passages instead of boring economy/history passages and I gotthem.
My heart started beating faster, I could hear it my ears muffs on, as I filled out the background info and reported the scores.
710 was not bad at all. I was happy. I crossed the 700 barrier.
Split -
Q - 49 pretty much what I got in GMATPrep1 and 2
V - 37 pretty much what I expected.
Study material -
Whatever has been mentioned in this forum and beatthegmat forum. Same stuff. I didnt use Kaplan much. MGMAT tests and SC is awesome. OG11 and GMAC Verbal Review. The tips in this forum for Q and V are very good. Used several fro Quants like probability, mixtures etc which unfortunately i got none of. I got one combination question an easy one, thats it. GMATClub tests were very very good! I scored an average 26-28 in the tests. I wanted to get a 50 in Q but couldnt. But I am fine with what I got.
Here are my practice test scores.
Crack the gmat - 630
MGMAT 1 - 590 i left 1 q unanswered each in Q and V
MGMAT 2 - 680 beginners luck I guess
GMATPrep1 - 730 49/42 - I was so surprised. This must be bcos I unknowingly has solved someof the questions in these forums.
MGMAT 3 - 640 was dejected after 730 ;--)
MGMAT 4 - 660
MGMAT 5 - 680
MGMAT 6 - 710
GMATPrep2 - 680 49/34 was devastated. This was when crazy work started.
Advice -
What I have is similar to what I have read in these forums.
Speeding up solving SC questions is easy once you know what is being tested. 1000CR, SC and RC helped. I did some brutal RC passages a week before the test which helped me boost my endurance. 1000 SCs are very nice when you just want to do 20 at a time. After a while timing for SC was not a problem for me at all. 1000CRs are also good, the LSAT ones as so dry, they test your concentration.
Lastly, GMAT is just one part of the application, so its not worth losign sleep over it. :--) 680s have been admitted to Wharton and 800s have been rejected by Stanford.
Good luck to everyone taking the exam! Hope this debrief helps someone atleast.
And no, no break for me I have to address the pile of work I neglected this week.
First thoughts on seeing a 710 was, Phew!! I wanted to get more 730 and such, but the past two weeks were so harrowing at work, GMAT took a back seat. And my performance which peaked sometime ned of August started going down. In GMATPrep1 I scored 730 and in GMATPrep2 which I took three weeks later scored a 680. Anyway, I wil continue with my debrief.
The day before the exam. I took off from work.
I took the GMATPrep2 for the third time, I concentrated on the concepts, and the kind of problems being tested and tried to find easy ways to arrive at solutions. I went over Manhattan SC book. And went over my error log.
I slept early. Was woken up in the middle by something and had a hard time going back to sleep, but I guess I did eventually, becos my alarm woke me up at 5:30. I didnt have time to study anything, I just emailed some of my error logs to my gmail id, hoping to go over them on my iphone while at the test center. The test center was 35 mins from my place. I reached with 50mins to spare. I studied some prayed some
I wrote more and better than I thought I would in the AWA. I enjoyed writing those two sections, which kind of eased me into the exam. I went to the restroom, ate almonds and drank some water during the first break and went right back in.
Quants was not so bad. In fact I thought I was doing all questions very well, although I got some really easy questions in the second half of the exam. I was a little worried, but I pushed it aside. I did have difficulty concentrating as my back had started hurting.
I went over my 8min break by 30 secs for verbal although I did jsut the same things as I did in my previous break. I stretched a little, to help my back.
Verbal was okay, I wouldnt say I got very tough questions. I was concerned with RC passages but thankfully, there were not so dry or mind boggling as the ones I did from LSAT papers. I was rooting for science passages instead of boring economy/history passages and I gotthem.
My heart started beating faster, I could hear it my ears muffs on, as I filled out the background info and reported the scores.
710 was not bad at all. I was happy. I crossed the 700 barrier.
Split -
Q - 49 pretty much what I got in GMATPrep1 and 2
V - 37 pretty much what I expected.
Study material -
Whatever has been mentioned in this forum and beatthegmat forum. Same stuff. I didnt use Kaplan much. MGMAT tests and SC is awesome. OG11 and GMAC Verbal Review. The tips in this forum for Q and V are very good. Used several fro Quants like probability, mixtures etc which unfortunately i got none of. I got one combination question an easy one, thats it. GMATClub tests were very very good! I scored an average 26-28 in the tests. I wanted to get a 50 in Q but couldnt. But I am fine with what I got.
Here are my practice test scores.
Crack the gmat - 630
MGMAT 1 - 590 i left 1 q unanswered each in Q and V
MGMAT 2 - 680 beginners luck I guess
GMATPrep1 - 730 49/42 - I was so surprised. This must be bcos I unknowingly has solved someof the questions in these forums.
MGMAT 3 - 640 was dejected after 730 ;--)
MGMAT 4 - 660
MGMAT 5 - 680
MGMAT 6 - 710
GMATPrep2 - 680 49/34 was devastated. This was when crazy work started.
Advice -
What I have is similar to what I have read in these forums.
Speeding up solving SC questions is easy once you know what is being tested. 1000CR, SC and RC helped. I did some brutal RC passages a week before the test which helped me boost my endurance. 1000 SCs are very nice when you just want to do 20 at a time. After a while timing for SC was not a problem for me at all. 1000CRs are also good, the LSAT ones as so dry, they test your concentration.
Lastly, GMAT is just one part of the application, so its not worth losign sleep over it. :--) 680s have been admitted to Wharton and 800s have been rejected by Stanford.
Good luck to everyone taking the exam! Hope this debrief helps someone atleast.
And no, no break for me I have to address the pile of work I neglected this week.
