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sandstorm
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Though i realize that i am quite late in posting this,nevertheless i thought my experiences might benefit some of the folks out there, waiting for their G-day.
I took the GMAT on 28th May 2012, and scored OA-710 (92%ile).
Background
I am engineering graduate from Who-cares Institute of technology,29yr old,Indian/IT/Male,having 6yrs of work experience.
I had my trysts with CAT,when i badly wanted to change the who-cares mark on my resume to something credible.But, as you realize, i could never go past the interviews and slowly i realized i had gotten too old for IIMs and 2year courses.
Lately, i had been feeling a necessity of an MBA degree for me to move ahead in my career.It's not that i am doing too bad at my work as compared to my peer group, but an MBA degree would certainly help me to move ahead in next league. Specifically, if seen from an Indian context, very few places offer a great technical career path( I may be wrong, but that's what 6 yrs of slogging has taught me) or even an opportunity to pursue that path.
GMAT And Preparation
It's not good to be incoherent and inconsistent:
I started preparing for GMAT in February'12and started familiarizing myself to GMAT pattern.Bought TMH book,wasn't of much help though, but it gave me a sense of type of questions asked and the sections in exam CR, RC, SC etc.Soon i realized that it's going to be all Verbal war for me.
After reading on forums and searching on net,i bought MGMAT SC book and OG-12.First finished the old quant materials for CAT and refreshed my memories.Started doing OG quant questions, but soon lost interest, as i was able to do most of the question.I hardly did 20 questions for quant from OG.Being complacent that i can tame the quant section, i moved to MGMAT SC. Found it very interesting and in the hindsight, i must say that it's one of those books that you just can't do without.
Started practicing with OG verbal section and pretty soon, pretty soon i realized that i was nowhere in terms of verbal preparation.Also, all this while my preparation wasn't coherent and consistent. I used to study whenever i felt so, without any proper planning of what to study, when to study.
I had never taken a coaching during CAT days but this time i thought i would take one.
I visited some of the coaching centers in my city,in hope that it would streamline my study pattern and provide me a momentum.But,a couple of sessions made me think that if i can't learn solving CR and RC questions on my own or after reading books, no amount of coaching could help me.Man, was i wrong!
Said goodbye to coaching idea.Learnt about Grockit around the same time and i enrolled for practicing.It helped for my verbal preparation, particularly in clearing the basic doubts.But as you go on, questions start to deviate from GMAT pattern, i would say it's good for practicing your basic stuff.
So, the preparation went on in haphazard manner with all the stress on Verbal.I hadn't finished OG yet.I did only SC section all the questions. NO CR, NO RC.
April first week,
GMAT prep Test-1: OA 660 (Q49,V32)
Manhattan GMAT Free Practice test: OA 640 (Q49,V30)
Phew...my couple of months in vain.
Not being coherent and consistent hadn't paid off.From my learning,I would recommend to plan your studies, specially if you are full time working.Target your weak areas, but with right material.There is no point in practicing 1000s of questions which are not of GMAT type, there would be little value gain. If you feel coaching can provide you with that and you can afford, go for it.Practice 10 questions only, but of GMAT standard. Questions on GMAT Prep and MGMAT test made me realize, where i was going wrong.
Don't be ignorant :
The result mock tests forced me to go back to OG.This time i did the entire CR and SC section.And i am glad i did.Went through the GMATPrep practice section questions.It's the best resource to gauge your abilities.Also, went through MGMAT forum discussions.Read each and every explanation provided by Ron, stacey and others on SC and CR questions.Simply said, awesome explanations.Un-learnt and re-learnt many concepts.Meanwhile continued to practice RCs from forums and OG. Started feeling a bit confident, so booked my slot for 28th may.
With all kind of material available on net it's hard to resist to spend time on them, but i would recommend to choose your prep material wisely, don't be ignorant.
April last week-
GMATprep2-OA 680
Kaplanfree test -OA 660
Started doing sectional test from now onwards from variuos sources, gmatclub, free tests etc. and i was doing rather well on sectional test with a verbal score invariably in late 30s,sometimes in 40s.
It's as much about abilities as about stamina:
with a month to go and not so good scores in mock CATs, it was tough to keep going.But,i had no other options
.
Stuck to basics and practicing i went on studying on an average 2 hrs a day in the last month.Basically, redoing OG, MGMAT Forums.Again a realization that GMAT is lot about testing your stamina.How you keep your calm in 4hrs.So, bought MGMAT Test series of 6 tests, two weeks prior to GMAT day.I took one test every alternate day.Here, are my scores:
MGMAT2: 660
MGMAT3: 660
MGMAt4: 680
MGMAT5: 690
GMATprep retake1: 740
GMATprep2 retake: 700
In all these tests, my Quant scores took a dip to 42-47, and i laughed on myself for being complacent.
Don't be complacent:
Unless you are doing exceptionally well in your mock CATs don't be complacent.GMAT has all the ways to trick you.The thing i realized,although quite late.
with only 3-4 days left, i practiced quant alongwith few verbal sectional tests, and suddenly i realized i hadn't prepared anything for AWA essays. So, 2 days before, started searching for AWA essays tips.Read the chineseburned's templates, practiced writing 3-4 essays.Had a look at platinum GMAT essays tips too
https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6- ... 64327.html
I feel we should declare the above template as holygrail for geeting a good AWA score.It's simply superb.
A day before GMAT, took the last MGMAT CAT test:
MGMAT test5 (27th May): OA 710 (Q49,V36)
Had a good sleep.
Actual GMAT 28th May:
OA 710, Q49,V36. Exactly the same as last MGMAT test score.
AWA 5.5
I feel if i would have avoided doing all the mistakes which i made during my preparation,it would have been much better score, nevertheless i am happy that i managed 700+. Don't intend to re-take, as it saps hell lot of energy out of you,especially if you are married and full time working.
Materials used for my preparation:
OG -- Must Read
MGMAT -- The best avialable resource, in my opinion.
Beatthegmat-- Very helpful im my preparation with all the discussions from different experts and lot many inspiring stories.
GMATCLUB.com-- Very helpful, specifically quant threads and AWA tips.
I hope this post helps.
I took the GMAT on 28th May 2012, and scored OA-710 (92%ile).
Background
I am engineering graduate from Who-cares Institute of technology,29yr old,Indian/IT/Male,having 6yrs of work experience.
I had my trysts with CAT,when i badly wanted to change the who-cares mark on my resume to something credible.But, as you realize, i could never go past the interviews and slowly i realized i had gotten too old for IIMs and 2year courses.
Lately, i had been feeling a necessity of an MBA degree for me to move ahead in my career.It's not that i am doing too bad at my work as compared to my peer group, but an MBA degree would certainly help me to move ahead in next league. Specifically, if seen from an Indian context, very few places offer a great technical career path( I may be wrong, but that's what 6 yrs of slogging has taught me) or even an opportunity to pursue that path.
GMAT And Preparation
It's not good to be incoherent and inconsistent:
I started preparing for GMAT in February'12and started familiarizing myself to GMAT pattern.Bought TMH book,wasn't of much help though, but it gave me a sense of type of questions asked and the sections in exam CR, RC, SC etc.Soon i realized that it's going to be all Verbal war for me.
After reading on forums and searching on net,i bought MGMAT SC book and OG-12.First finished the old quant materials for CAT and refreshed my memories.Started doing OG quant questions, but soon lost interest, as i was able to do most of the question.I hardly did 20 questions for quant from OG.Being complacent that i can tame the quant section, i moved to MGMAT SC. Found it very interesting and in the hindsight, i must say that it's one of those books that you just can't do without.
Started practicing with OG verbal section and pretty soon, pretty soon i realized that i was nowhere in terms of verbal preparation.Also, all this while my preparation wasn't coherent and consistent. I used to study whenever i felt so, without any proper planning of what to study, when to study.
I had never taken a coaching during CAT days but this time i thought i would take one.
I visited some of the coaching centers in my city,in hope that it would streamline my study pattern and provide me a momentum.But,a couple of sessions made me think that if i can't learn solving CR and RC questions on my own or after reading books, no amount of coaching could help me.Man, was i wrong!
Said goodbye to coaching idea.Learnt about Grockit around the same time and i enrolled for practicing.It helped for my verbal preparation, particularly in clearing the basic doubts.But as you go on, questions start to deviate from GMAT pattern, i would say it's good for practicing your basic stuff.
So, the preparation went on in haphazard manner with all the stress on Verbal.I hadn't finished OG yet.I did only SC section all the questions. NO CR, NO RC.
April first week,
GMAT prep Test-1: OA 660 (Q49,V32)
Manhattan GMAT Free Practice test: OA 640 (Q49,V30)
Phew...my couple of months in vain.
Not being coherent and consistent hadn't paid off.From my learning,I would recommend to plan your studies, specially if you are full time working.Target your weak areas, but with right material.There is no point in practicing 1000s of questions which are not of GMAT type, there would be little value gain. If you feel coaching can provide you with that and you can afford, go for it.Practice 10 questions only, but of GMAT standard. Questions on GMAT Prep and MGMAT test made me realize, where i was going wrong.
Don't be ignorant :
The result mock tests forced me to go back to OG.This time i did the entire CR and SC section.And i am glad i did.Went through the GMATPrep practice section questions.It's the best resource to gauge your abilities.Also, went through MGMAT forum discussions.Read each and every explanation provided by Ron, stacey and others on SC and CR questions.Simply said, awesome explanations.Un-learnt and re-learnt many concepts.Meanwhile continued to practice RCs from forums and OG. Started feeling a bit confident, so booked my slot for 28th may.
With all kind of material available on net it's hard to resist to spend time on them, but i would recommend to choose your prep material wisely, don't be ignorant.
April last week-
GMATprep2-OA 680
Kaplanfree test -OA 660
Started doing sectional test from now onwards from variuos sources, gmatclub, free tests etc. and i was doing rather well on sectional test with a verbal score invariably in late 30s,sometimes in 40s.
It's as much about abilities as about stamina:
with a month to go and not so good scores in mock CATs, it was tough to keep going.But,i had no other options
.Stuck to basics and practicing i went on studying on an average 2 hrs a day in the last month.Basically, redoing OG, MGMAT Forums.Again a realization that GMAT is lot about testing your stamina.How you keep your calm in 4hrs.So, bought MGMAT Test series of 6 tests, two weeks prior to GMAT day.I took one test every alternate day.Here, are my scores:
MGMAT2: 660
MGMAT3: 660
MGMAt4: 680
MGMAT5: 690
GMATprep retake1: 740
GMATprep2 retake: 700
In all these tests, my Quant scores took a dip to 42-47, and i laughed on myself for being complacent.
Don't be complacent:
Unless you are doing exceptionally well in your mock CATs don't be complacent.GMAT has all the ways to trick you.The thing i realized,although quite late.
with only 3-4 days left, i practiced quant alongwith few verbal sectional tests, and suddenly i realized i hadn't prepared anything for AWA essays. So, 2 days before, started searching for AWA essays tips.Read the chineseburned's templates, practiced writing 3-4 essays.Had a look at platinum GMAT essays tips too
https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6- ... 64327.html
I feel we should declare the above template as holygrail for geeting a good AWA score.It's simply superb.
A day before GMAT, took the last MGMAT CAT test:
MGMAT test5 (27th May): OA 710 (Q49,V36)
Had a good sleep.
Actual GMAT 28th May:
OA 710, Q49,V36. Exactly the same as last MGMAT test score.
AWA 5.5
I feel if i would have avoided doing all the mistakes which i made during my preparation,it would have been much better score, nevertheless i am happy that i managed 700+. Don't intend to re-take, as it saps hell lot of energy out of you,especially if you are married and full time working.
Materials used for my preparation:
OG -- Must Read
MGMAT -- The best avialable resource, in my opinion.
Beatthegmat-- Very helpful im my preparation with all the discussions from different experts and lot many inspiring stories.
GMATCLUB.com-- Very helpful, specifically quant threads and AWA tips.
I hope this post helps.
