Got a 710... done with the first hurdle

[debmalya_dutta]

Hi Everyone ,

I took the GMAT last Sunday and got a 710 (Q 49 and V 38) . Wasn't exactly excited but was pleased to have crossed the 700 barrier.. There is a motley of advices and strategies to prepare for GMAT and here's my bit to the community.

I think most who have already taken the GMAT would partially agree that GMAT, the exam , by itself is not that difficult . What makes it more difficult is really a lack of composure during the exam and the expectations that one assocaites with the results . At the end of the day , the GMAT score is an assessment just to make the Business School's task easier by helping them to apply a consistent segmentation criteria . So my first advice is to always keep reminding yourself leading into the exam and during the exam is that -
1. Its after all an exam . It , by itself, absolutely doesnt decide whether you can be a great strategist /leader / Entrepreneur . Its just an aid for the business schools to make their jobs easier . It doesnt reflect you as an individual which is more important for business education . Its just an unimportant aspect of you which everyone forgets once you get yourself into a business school . Your future is defined by your work at the school and beyond..
2. Unlike the highly competitive exams back in India say the CAT etc which are also much, much tougher , the GMAT can be taken multiple times with just a 1 month gap in any given year (not advicing that you take it multiple times). So its not the end of the world if you do not get your target score the first time . You have your next chance as early as 1 month away.

So, maintain your composure during your preparation and during the exam .

Here are some alternative learning tips that you may choose to apply . I , for sure found them helpful during my preparation -

Critical Reasoning -

The greatest available source for CR stimulii are the "Analysis of Argument" topics provided by the GMAC . It contains a wealth of resource and the type of argments structures that get presented in GMAT - whether there is a correlation is being misunderstood as a cause and effect vs . whether the sampling/survey methodology is flawed , whether the survey sample by itself is flawed etc etc ... A great way to learn from these arguments is to adopt the same kind of approach that you would adopt while writing Analysis of Argument passage . you can ask questions like - what are the gaps ? or how can I strengthen this ? or how the author makes a foolish argument ? or how can I make this weak argument into a strong one ? or Are there any contradictory assumptions / conslusions that the argument is providing .

Always remember that its not the structure of arguments that GMAC keeps inventing every year but its the fluff around the argument that they change... So as long as you review & understand these standard argument structures , you can easily spot whether the GMAC has left out the important premise vs. whether it is flawed logic etc ...

I would absolutely recommend Veritas CR prep Book. It has great arguments and provides a lot of practice . I think its the best book in the market . I have seen people referring to the Powerscore CR Bible . Its good but i would like to caution you that the book tends to make your though processes a bit mechanical which is what you want to avoid . Its very theoritical , if I may say so. Its good to go through the the first few chapters which introduce the type of question stimulus..lays out the foundation like what is a premise , what is a conclusion , what are the assumptions in an argument etc ..
The SWIMMER method that Veritas pescribes is just great ... As opposed to books like Powerscore and Manhattan GMAT CR which segment the CR types based on the keywords in question stems, Veritas SWIMMER method is a much easier and sensible classification to look at CR stems ... Again , to re-emplasize , if you intend on buying a CR book , it has to be the Veritas CR prep book for applying the CR principlesand then the Powerscore for the learning the principles.

Sentence Correction -
I would strongly recommend the e-gmat course on Sentence correction. The way the content is delivered is great and it contains the right level of detail . We are not here to be the experts on the complete English Grammar. What GMAT expects is that we are aware of standard English usage protocols i.e not as such know know the definition of "Subject" & Predicate but to know that every sentence contains something /someone which is the primary actor(subject) and contains what the primay actor is doing / conveying etc .... Like e-gmat consitently stresses on , it is the meaning & the context of the sentence that needs to be understood before tackling any sentence correction question.. Once you undeerstand the question , the rules are standard i.e antecedent missing or incorrect comparison etc etc .. The rules that get tested as pretty limited .

The great think about e-gmat is that it is a "Voice Over" presentation course. Surely , the Content Design science supports the fact that Voice Over presentations/ courses works better wonders than reading a book all by yourself . My argument is not whether Manhattan SC book is good (surely it works wonderfully for few people) but that the way in which e-gmat delivers the content via a Voice Over presentation is a far effective way of learning for the average individual .

I would strongly recommend non native and native speakers of English to try it out . My vote for e-gmat Sentence correction course . Moreover , Payal and Rajat are very prompt in responding to your queries.

If the above principles of learning works for anyone , he or she may also try out the Critical reasoning sessions offered by e-gmat . It is pretty effective.

Thanks to Payal and Rajat

Quant - If anyone needs me to elaborate on Quant , do let me know .

I will be targetting the Round 2 of the 2 colleges in Chicago and 2 colleges in Europe . Would like to move out of this area Let's see where my apps take me.

The members of the BTG community has been great in having collaborative discussions on Quant and Verbal questions . So I would like to thank everyone that I have engaged with via various forums.

David and Brian from Veritas have been great with explanations and sharing some very interesting questions on this forum. Thank you

[aslan]

hey thx for the debrief....how was the quant like, similar experience to MGMAT, Kaplan or Veritas?

[GoBlue]

How did you find BTG Practice Questions ?

[deb.dutta]

Hi Aslan,
I think and I am very sure that if you practice QUANT using the various ManhattanGMAT's strategy guides , you will be well above GMAT level concept wise . So if you are one of those individuals who feels that it is always better to over prepared than under prepared , then I would strongly suggest that you prepare with MGMAT Quant books .

Frankly, since I am for India , I did not find the GMAT Quant challenging..not being obstinate here.. (pretty much just like anyone from the Eastern Hemisphere). Its the pretty much the GMATPrep standard . For additional practice for Math , you can try the tests provided by GMATFocus( which consists of questions from past GMAT tests).

[debmalya_dutta]

How did you find BTG Practice Questions ?

Hi GoBlue,

Hmmm... BTG Questions...

The following is purely my opinion - BTG founding members may or may not appreciate the feedback .

Go for it if you need Quant Practice ....

Verbal -
RC passage stems are lengthy and non representative of GMAT. So will not recommend it . What worked for me - I am a decent reader - reading items like the atlanticmonthly.com, foreignaffairs.com, newscientist.com,scientificamerican.com, nytimes.com, nyrbooks.com, non fiction books, wikipedia.com (do a string search like American Civil War , or Women Emancipation etc ). Sometimes GMAT topics can be very North & South America specific which by itself can pose challenges because the underlying perspectives on issues may be very different in the whole American continent (South and North) . Not being judgemental here ... But these passages (I have never seen) never ever talk about "population explosion in India as an economic asset" or say " British influence in women emancipation in colonies" or say "what has resulted in the difference in the economies of Eastern Europe vs. Western Europe" which per me have more historical significance in the evolution of the distribution of resources . The point that I am trying to make is that if you are a non-native speaker or a native speaker from a non American country , its absolutely important to view things through the American perspective and the sites I mentioned above will help you develop that perspective (or atleast will help you form the illusion of understanding). So , read a lot from American journals, websites etc .

Experts suggest 2-3 minutes to read the passage. The way the afore mentioned site articles have helped me is by providing exposure to varied topics . I always found reading business and economy related articles very interesting. I don't think that there is a problem if you take 5 minutes instead of 3 as long as you have reduced your need for referring back to the passage . Its pure math which may vary from person to person. You might take 3 minutes to read the passage and 1.2 minutes each to answer the 4 questions . I might take 4.5 minutes and take just 0.4 minutes each to answer the 4 questions. At the end of the day , both of us may be taking the same time . Just experiment a bit and evaluate what works better for you .

For Sentence correction practice , it is a good source but I would strongly suggest that you first build your foundation using something like e-gmat ( 5/5 rating)...You first learn standing on your feet and then think about sprinting . So don't jump into it right away . Do the e-gmat course . Build your foundation and then move to the practice stuff on BTG

For CR , I will not recommend it because it is more LSAT oriented . On GMAT , you will not find abstract concepts like in LSAT . So many questions in BTG practice are based on Abstract concepts . Rather I would suggest you take a subscription to something like Grockit.com. And then in the last week or 2 if you think that you have exhausted the questions from your OG , Veritas Prep and Grockit.com, then go for the CR bit on BTG practice questions .

But all said, you obviously cannot purchase the BTG questions as a Quant only or a CR only package . You get the complete deal . So , exhaust your primary sources - OG , Veritas CR and Grockit and then move onto BTG Practice questions. And btw... I did solve the BTG questions .

[aslan]

thanks deb:...hmm...I'm not sure about the Indian thing fitting exactly here for everyone (many indian engineers are also not getting good quant scores sometimes

But def MGMAT is overkill with passage like quants ... compared to the 'succinct' variety on GMAT. How did you find the verbal section compared to MGMAT CAT ones?

Ill def look for grockit as it referred to by most test takers nowadays.

Aslan

[debmalya_dutta]

How did you find the verbal section compared to MGMAT CAT ones?
Aslan

Hi Aslan ,
Was never a vociferous proponent of MGMAT for verbal.. So did not use it extensively for Verbal. I had started with the SC Guide... Good book for reading .. Not sure how much it really helps you with the application bit of whatever you have read.. Maybe its just me ... So , like the wise men of GMAT say , GMAT SC is a good book if you can absorb the content and apply it ..But the Verbal sections of the tests are not that great . Surely , the MGMAT guides for CR and RC are no where close to the fundamentals provided by combination of the Veritas guide and the Powerscore CR Bible.

[aslan]

yep...I personally find the answers to the MGMAT CR to be really 'strange'...there reasoning sometimes baffles me..like in one CR it had something to do with the sea waves striking the coastal lines and MGMAThad picked up the answer choice which sated the inference that 'if in the upcoming future scientists develop some resource to control the sea waves from striking the coastal limits' ... (?!?!?)

The RC's in MGMAT are also filled with the weaken the argument and lots of inference with lengths of 80 lines!

[debmalya_dutta]

The RC's in MGMAT are also filled with the weaken the argument and lots of inference with lengths of 80 lines!

Hi Aslan,
I think the question types of 'undermine' the conclusion/argument or 'infer' are standard question stems even within RC.
So that's ok...