Hi All,
I had taken gmat on 24th of this month and really got beaten up by the test. My score is 600 (48/26) in the 2nd attempt. The 1st attempt score was 590 (48/24). I had actually given up the idea of giving gmat again but saw few debriefs on the forums and realized that most of the people who took their tests during 20-26 June got beaten up. This is only my observation. I just read ykiim's debrief. I would like people to comment on debrief and comment on the strategy to improve on verbal where there is big scope.
Sources used:
1. OG 11 & 12
2. 1000 series for all
3. Manhattan guides (RC/CR/SC)
4. CR Powerscore guide
5. Sets
6. Gmat club tests
7. Gmat verbal guide (blue - 2nd edition)
8. Forum participation
9. Question series generally available on the forums
Practice test scores
1. 6 Manhattan tests (scores between 690-700, with average of 690, M48/V34-36, with repetitions of the Questions)
2. 4 GMAT preps (Scores between 690-730, M48/V36-39, with out repetition of Qs)
3. Gmat club tests (25 Maths, 3 verbal)
Prep strategy
"¢ Initially focused on the content and understanding which helped me improve my CR and RC. I felt SC is an ongoing process of improvement.
"¢ I used to solve 40 Qs of verbal thrice a week with alternate days for reviewing
"¢ Maths was generally a stronger side
Test day experience
AWA
Argument and issue went well because of the various templates available on the forums.
Maths
"¢ PS was comparable to OG but only with last few Qs and was solvable.
"¢ DS was ok and could complete well within time.
English
"¢ RC and CR were comparable to OG and Verbal guide and I think were manageable.
"¢ SC was terribly bad and felt that I am spending more than 2 minutes per SC Q. SC on the gmat prep were such that one could apply rules learned from Manhattan GMAT and crack them. But the SC's that I got were f***ng really bad. Couldn't understand head and tail of them and got really really screwed up in the test.
"¢ I felt because of this bad SC, I lost the test at around 20th Q. I wanted to cancel the score but still wanted to try my luck and hence accepted the score and got screwed up on 24th June 2010. I can see many like me, who got screwed up during the similar time period.
After reading through few debriefs got some courage to put down my thoughts and request all of you and experts to please comment on the verbal strategy to improve my scores to plus 40's. I am also thinking of putting my money into Knewton which gives a guarantee of +50 points. Please also provide some additional sources and strategy on verbal score.
I had taken gmat on 24th of this month and really got beaten up by the test. My score is 600 (48/26) in the 2nd attempt. The 1st attempt score was 590 (48/24). I had actually given up the idea of giving gmat again but saw few debriefs on the forums and realized that most of the people who took their tests during 20-26 June got beaten up. This is only my observation. I just read ykiim's debrief. I would like people to comment on debrief and comment on the strategy to improve on verbal where there is big scope.
Sources used:
1. OG 11 & 12
2. 1000 series for all
3. Manhattan guides (RC/CR/SC)
4. CR Powerscore guide
5. Sets
6. Gmat club tests
7. Gmat verbal guide (blue - 2nd edition)
8. Forum participation
9. Question series generally available on the forums
Practice test scores
1. 6 Manhattan tests (scores between 690-700, with average of 690, M48/V34-36, with repetitions of the Questions)
2. 4 GMAT preps (Scores between 690-730, M48/V36-39, with out repetition of Qs)
3. Gmat club tests (25 Maths, 3 verbal)
Prep strategy
"¢ Initially focused on the content and understanding which helped me improve my CR and RC. I felt SC is an ongoing process of improvement.
"¢ I used to solve 40 Qs of verbal thrice a week with alternate days for reviewing
"¢ Maths was generally a stronger side
Test day experience
AWA
Argument and issue went well because of the various templates available on the forums.
Maths
"¢ PS was comparable to OG but only with last few Qs and was solvable.
"¢ DS was ok and could complete well within time.
English
"¢ RC and CR were comparable to OG and Verbal guide and I think were manageable.
"¢ SC was terribly bad and felt that I am spending more than 2 minutes per SC Q. SC on the gmat prep were such that one could apply rules learned from Manhattan GMAT and crack them. But the SC's that I got were f***ng really bad. Couldn't understand head and tail of them and got really really screwed up in the test.
"¢ I felt because of this bad SC, I lost the test at around 20th Q. I wanted to cancel the score but still wanted to try my luck and hence accepted the score and got screwed up on 24th June 2010. I can see many like me, who got screwed up during the similar time period.
After reading through few debriefs got some courage to put down my thoughts and request all of you and experts to please comment on the verbal strategy to improve my scores to plus 40's. I am also thinking of putting my money into Knewton which gives a guarantee of +50 points. Please also provide some additional sources and strategy on verbal score.
