720 (49Q,38V, AWA 5.5) and I've had it with the snow !!

[stormier]

After two months of preparations, on the 30th of January, I decided that I had prepared enough and scheduled a test appointment for Feb 2 in Waltham, MA. Because a snowstorm was forecast for the 2nd, I thought I'd be the only one at the test center. At the end of an all-day meeting at our corporate headquarters in Boston on Feb 1, I received a voice message that my test would have to be rescheduled since the test center would remain closed due to inclement weather - 20" of snow. I called Pearson only to find that the next appointment at the Waltham center would be around the 15th. I wanted to get over with the test before the superbowl. I couldn't wait and I had them reschedule for Feb 3, today, at the Boston Back Bay center. Although there were quite a few test-takers, I had no trouble with noise, distractions or for that matter with the laminated workbook and pens. I just couldn't concentrate during the test, due not to any particular reason but anxiety. And I had to pay $32 for parking -- totally ridiculous.

I walked away with a 720. I am a bit disappointed in my quant score, but the GMAT score is only a part of the MBA application package. I guess I won't get dinged for my GMAT score. Its somewhat comforting to think that higher score would not have added much to the application, still, I feel I could have done better.

I think I did fine in the argument essay, but the issue topic was extremely boring and I had difficulty coming up with good points on either side. Nevertheless, I typed away about 450-500 words for each.

I skipped the break and dove right into the quant section. Some problems threw me off at the beginning of the section and I realized that I was running behind. I decided to guess and move on and finished the section with 4 minutes to spare. I should have spent some more time at the beginning of the section; instead, I panicked and plowed forward. I took the break at the end of Q section, and started working on the V section. I just had a tough time concentrating. There were moments when I closed my eyes and said to myself - its not the time to get distracted and let other thoughts in. I think I saw two passages on sociology and history related topics, only to make my concentration worse. I had 6 minutes for the last 4 questions and I finished them all without guessing.

What do takers like to see most in a debrief ? Practice scores. So here they are -

GMAT-crack free test 615 (Q49,V20) - Nov 30
Kaplan CD CAT1 570 (Q40,V28) - Dec 5
Kaplan CD CAT2 570 (Q39,V30) - Dec 5
GMATPrep CAT1 700 (Q49,V35) - Dec 17
PR CAT 1 660 (Q48, V34) - Dec 29
GMATPrep CAT2 690 (Q50, V31) - Dec 29
PR CAT 2 650 (Q50, V31) - Dec 30
PR CAT 3 680 (Q51, V33) - Dec 30 ----- same day
PR CAT 4 710 (Q50, V39) - Jan 9

MGMAT CAT 1 670 (Q47, V34)- Jan 22 <---- ran out of time - left 3 questions in Q unanswered
MGMAT CAT 2 740 (Q50, V41)- Jan 22 ---- same day
MGMAT CAT 3 730 (Q49, V41)- Jan 29
MGMAT CAT 4 750 (Q51, V41)- Jan 30

GMATPrep 1 retake 760 (Q50, V44) - Feb 2
GMATPrep 2 retake 730 (Q51, V37) - Feb 2 ---- same day

GMAT 720 (Q49, V38) - Feb 3 ---> (Q86, V83) total 94th percentile.

The posts in this forum inspired me a lot and especially those which included a detailed table of practice CAT scores. I think it helps one to assess where he/she stands. By the end of 4 MGMAT CATs I felt assured that I would score above 700.

I used the standard books, in the following order.

PR cracking the GMAT
McGraw Hill's verbal review
Manhattan SC guide
OG 12

I never really studied for quant. Not sure of the hours dedicated, but mostly studied on weekends. In fact, I think I spent a lot of time taking tests rather than studying.


CATs

I found the V questions in PR CAT to be more similar to the actual thing than those in MGMAT CAT. MGMAT Q can be tedious, but works wonders in improving speed. Make sure you take CATs only from GMATprep before the G-Day. I feel that MGMAT questions feel somewhat different from the official questions.

I would like to thank Ramesh Kanthilal on this forum. I found his posts, especially the responses to CR questions, very detailed. The clarity in his explanations is unparalleled. The advice that I picked up and that made the greatest difference in my V performance was - Read all answer choices! Even though I knew it, I wasn't applying it during my CATs. If I liked an answer choice, I would select it and move forward without even reading the remaining choices. In the verbal section, you mustn't discard an answer choice if you don't have a reason for doing so.

Thanks to arora007, Pushkal, mundasingh and many others for keeping the forum alive and generating some nice discussions. Thanks to Anshu Mishra for the quant posts.

I had fun preparing for the test and learned quite a bit from this forum.

Profile

30 year old - Born and raised in India.
Undergrad - IIT Bombay, Chem Engg.
Grad - Phd, U Minnesota
5 years work-ex in a major chemical manufacturing company in Boston; traveled and worked in more than 10 countries.
Still toying with the idea of an MBA - and I'm not sure if and why I want one. I need to introspect - but hey, I have time.

Oh, and if someone's curious, I had parathas for breakfast!

I'd be happy to answer specific questions.

[jaxis]

Congrats stormier.

[stormier]

Congrats stormier.

Jaxis - Thanks. Just two days have gone by, and I'm having second thoughts on whether to retake the test.


Some more comments on MGMAT CATs or for that matter any other CATs.

Quant

I was totally caught by surprise in the first MGMAT CAT, since the questions were somewhat different from other CATs and questions that I had seen on the forums. Not the individual questions, but the section as a whole was a bit surprising. That being said, I was able to do well on MGMAT CATs 2, 3 and 4 since the surprise factor was gone and I kind of knew what I was going to face. I was confident that I would hit a 50 on the GMAT, if not 51.

However, on the actual test I was surprised again by a somewhat different feel of the questions. That threw my timing off in the middle of the section - I lagged behind, but I finished the section with 4 minutes to spare. I think, I should not have guessed on a couple of questions. One should prepare to handle an element of surprise during the exam.

Verbal

I felt that the MGMAT and some other CATs have quite a few "trick" questions, especially in the RC. In the GMAT, or the GMAT prep I do not think the RCs try to trick you or trap you into making a wrong selection by subtle use of words.

Same is true for CR as well. Most of my mistakes in the MGMAT CATs occurred in the CR questions - 4 or 5 per exam. However, the GMAT CRs are more straightforward.

SC I think is one section that none of the CATs except for GMATPrep emulate well. Although the MGMAT CATs SCs can feel daunting at times, the errors are easy to catch. The GMAT and the GMATPrep SCs have quite a different feel (for lack of better description) to them.

Finally, I think the MGMAT CATs do overestimate V scores. Not by much, but at least somewhat.

This may not be true for someone who is already performing in the 44-46 range, but for someone who is in mid 30s and trying to go over that 40 hump.

[bblast]

Great work stormier.
I was looking forward to your performance and u did well. 94th percentile should be enough with your profile.

Anyways this should be your last attempt in near future if you are targeting 2011 fall admissions. There is always a next time post 3-4 months for 2012.

Really amazing the way you took 2 cat's in a day and did well on both. Superb stamina. I think all of us should try this once or twice in out prep. This will probably build up that extra stamina needed for the test day.

BTW. What laptop do you use ? My Dell XPS gives me sore eyes after a single cat spanning 4 hours

Ur views on the PR cat's ?

[stormier]

Great work stormier.
I was looking forward to your performance and u did well. 94th percentile should be enough with your profile.

Anyways this should be your last attempt in near future if you are targeting 2011 fall admissions. There is always a next time post 3-4 months for 2012.

Really amazing the way you took 2 cat's in a day and did well on both. Superb stamina. I think all of us should try this once or twice in out prep. This will probably build up that extra stamina needed for the test day.

BTW. What laptop do you use ? My Dell XPS gives me sore eyes after a single cat spanning 4 hours

Ur views on the PR cat's ?

Thanks Pushkal.

The thought of retaking did cross my mind, but I do not think its worth it. I also spoke with a few of my MBA friends today, and was suggested not to retake. If I do finally make up my mind for an MBA, it will be for Fall 2012.

I fail to mention in my original post, but I did not do the essays on any of the CATs. And since I did 2 CATs on the same day (on 3 different occasions), I knew stamina would not be an issue. Besides, I hardly had time on weekdays - so tried to make the most of my weekend.

I do recommend the PR CATs. The Quant questions are easy, but their scores are representative. They really ding you for the number of mistakes. More than 5 errors = score less than 49. It will teach you to avoid silly mistakes.

Their verbal is better than MGMAT's I think.

1. PR V has 12 to 13 CRs like the actual thing and unlike MGMAT which has 14.
2. MGMAT SCs are long tedious sentences, but the mistakes are easy to spot. PRs SC questions are better, I think.
3. The V scores are similar to GMAT Prep's. The PR CATs do tend to weigh the first few questions slightly more than the later questions, but so does the GMAT Prep, I think. Also just as in GMATPrep, you can never score a 40 V with 10 or more errors in PR CAT.

Since you are already planning on a retake, I'd recommend including the PR CATs in your study plan - you will need new CATs right!

[cyrwr1]

By Fall 2012, they will have the integrated reasoning added. Anyways, I would like to ask where is the best place for me to take practice exams as I have not had anything besides the Gmat Prep from the website. Thanks.

[bblast]

Exactly, IF I DO plan a retake post 3 months I will include PR cat's. Especially for the verbal. Even I personally did not like MGMAT CR questions, they are too mathematical. RC's are good but the SC's sometimes test fundamentals like who/whom, if/whether which is definitely not one expects in gmat. Good for practice but once you are looking to be challenged and score over 700-720 u need better questions. I did a little R&D on knewtons. People say the cat's adaptive algorithm is flawed.
800 score has a poor verbal collection.
Kaplan has vague marking system. dunno where to go.

[AIM GMAT]

Congrats stormier for the 7 series score . Good luck with apps !!!

[stormier]

Thanks AIM_GMAT, good luck with your test.

Another idea that I picked up on the forum was creating tests from the OG Verbal Review. I would do a 75 minute V practice by randomly selecting

15 questions from SC
12 questions from CR
3 RCs - roughly 20 questions.

You could also try the McGrawHill's verbal review. It has 3 practice tests, which I think are pretty representative of the questions on the actual GMAT. Its not the greatest book for learning concepts, but the 3 practice tests are good.

[bblast]

Thanks AIM_GMAT, good luck with your test.

Another idea that I picked up on the forum was creating tests from the OG Verbal Review. I would do a 75 minute V practice by randomly selecting

15 questions from SC
12 questions from CR
3 RCs - roughly 20 questions.

.

I deserve a copyright for this. :mrgreen:

[stormier]

Thanks AIM_GMAT, good luck with your test.

Another idea that I picked up on the forum was creating tests from the OG Verbal Review. I would do a 75 minute V practice by randomly selecting

15 questions from SC
12 questions from CR
3 RCs - roughly 20 questions.

.

I deserve a copyright for this. :mrgreen:

If you did invent it, you really do. Its just another way to generate more practice tests w/ authentic questions. The supplemental OG verbal review questions are somewhat easier than those of the OG.

Applying to one school in R3 - wish me luck!

[bblast]

i am not sure I invented it but i dod suggest this to someone on BTG. I came up with this idea on my own. So I think m the one who u r looking for .

y only 1 with 720 ???

m targeting more than 1 with 650 .

buy richard montauk if u r not done with essays,,awesome book,,,

[sinhaanubhav]

Hi

If anyone in malaysia want 750+ GMAT material with alsmost 20 super Ebooks including OG 12 ed plaease contact

[email protected]

[gmatmachoman]

Exactly, IF I DO plan a retake post 3 months I will include PR cat's. Especially for the verbal. Even I personally did not like MGMAT CR questions, they are too mathematical. RC's are good but the SC's sometimes test fundamentals like who/whom, if/whether which is definitely not one expects in gmat. Good for practice but once you are looking to be challenged and score over 700-720 u need better questions. I did a little R&D on knewtons. People say the cat's adaptive algorithm is flawed.
800 score has a poor verbal collection.
Kaplan has vague marking system. dunno where to go.

pushkal,

My 2 cents here..

What i did was took 21 tests( u can get te source from Hardik's template). Then find the standard deviation of the score along with it mean & median.

Then consult some qualified instructor , say Ron or Stacey or some guys who have scored 750+.. Then they may pinpoint what may be ur "probable score".

This is just my way of doing..try that!!

[GMATMadeEasy]

to get PR cats, one can buy cats or has to buy their book ?