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ssang · 2008 March 25th, 04:53 PM

Dear all,

I just did my gmat today. I did alright - not super fantastic compared to the rest. I wouldn't say I'm very happy, but I definitely am very relieved in not seeing 580

This score should be good enough for the school that I'm applying for - hopefully its still not too late to apply that is!

I just have a couple of comments/ thoughts about the gmat experience and the studying process. I won't really comment on the studying method because I don't think my results are superior enough to do so.

The Experience
1. I didn't finish the 37th question of the math section and I was quite upset!

2. When I went back in for the verbal section, I realised that the so-called noteboard was a different from the math section. The math was the 5 noteboards mentioned in the mba website. But for the verbal, it was just a piece of noteboard! This noteboard was slightly bigger than the A4 size I received before. I was thrown away because I scheduled my timing by the no of questions I did on one page. Because of this, I quite screwed up my timing and worked too quickly passed the middle section. By the last 10 questions, I must have almost 30 mins left! :S I jst had to compensate by working slowly and correctly in the last 10...

I'm not sure if the different type of noteboards used are stated on gmat official website because I remembered specifically checking the number of pages on the website before I decided on the planning. So what a downer!

The studying
1. I spent 6 weeks studying full time, during which I went away for 10 days. - This is SO not good for your studying. I went away because my boyfriend was going out of town to work. So i thought I'd follow him there and stay home to study while he's at work. That didn't really work out well because I had to adjust to the timing difference and I fell ill in the process.

2. I primarily followed beatthegmat's method of studying (Beat The GMAT!). It seemed that I was on track but when I took the first gmat mock on PR, I scored a 500. I was deeply upset. The worse part was when it didn't improve through the weeks or only marginally. I was consistently scoring 500+ on pr and 500+ on kaplan. I think I probably only really "improved" when I started becoming more active on TM. I did the questions that were in the forums and posted questions I didn't know. And that was only in the last 2 weeks before the actual exam.

3. In the last week, I was still scoring results that made me worried. I scored 600 on the first gmat prep and 670 on the second gmat prep 4 days later - what a huge difference. I just figured I'll do my best and be as confident as I can.

I would probably have done better the next time round. But I'm not going to do so. So here goes the...

Things that I would have done differently
1. not go on a trip - so bad
2. start using TM earlier. I had only used it to look for inspirations - only in the last week I used them to practise questions. I think its a very good way to improve because the questions that people post are normally slightly more difficult. It'll give you good practice and expose you to different methods of solving more quickly.
3. Search more effectively on TM. If you know people who pose difficult questions or give fabulous explanations, search for them! I searched for 800Bob whose explanations helped me a lot in the verbal section. I would have spent more time searching but I didn't have a lot of time to do a lot of things!

Thanks
Lastly, I'd like to give thanks to 800Bob for being a god that he is!

and others who have helped me in my last ditch attempt by answering my questions like california.

Notes
I am also posting my Sentence Construction notes here.

My SC notes for GMAT

I don't have fantastic verbal grades but i do think the my notes will be beneficial anyone who would like to have a basic but comprehensive understanding on the topic. I have compiled this from ManhattanGmat SC book, PR, Kaplan, spidey's notes from TM, beatthegmat notes, Sahil's grammar notes which I found online and other random useful notes I read on TM and elsewhere. I must have spent more than 20 hours collating and understanding it! Its not perfect - so please feel free to improve on it! - its in a word doc to enable you to do so.

For the rest taking their exams sometime later, good luck!

Huggs!!

2008 March 25th, 04:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
ssang Eager! Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 39	500 to 640 - Q45/V34 + notes Dear all, I just did my gmat today. I did alright - not super fantastic compared to the rest. I wouldn't say I'm very happy, but I definitely am very relieved in not seeing 580 This score should be good enough for the school that I'm applying for - hopefully its still not too late to apply that is! I just have a couple of comments/ thoughts about the gmat experience and the studying process. I won't really comment on the studying method because I don't think my results are superior enough to do so. The Experience 1. I didn't finish the 37th question of the math section and I was quite upset! 2. When I went back in for the verbal section, I realised that the so-called noteboard was a different from the math section. The math was the 5 noteboards mentioned in the mba website. But for the verbal, it was just a piece of noteboard! This noteboard was slightly bigger than the A4 size I received before. I was thrown away because I scheduled my timing by the no of questions I did on one page. Because of this, I quite screwed up my timing and worked too quickly passed the middle section. By the last 10 questions, I must have almost 30 mins left! :S I jst had to compensate by working slowly and correctly in the last 10... I'm not sure if the different type of noteboards used are stated on gmat official website because I remembered specifically checking the number of pages on the website before I decided on the planning. So what a downer! The studying 1. I spent 6 weeks studying full time, during which I went away for 10 days. - This is SO not good for your studying. I went away because my boyfriend was going out of town to work. So i thought I'd follow him there and stay home to study while he's at work. That didn't really work out well because I had to adjust to the timing difference and I fell ill in the process. 2. I primarily followed beatthegmat's method of studying (Beat The GMAT!). It seemed that I was on track but when I took the first gmat mock on PR, I scored a 500. I was deeply upset. The worse part was when it didn't improve through the weeks or only marginally. I was consistently scoring 500+ on pr and 500+ on kaplan. I think I probably only really "improved" when I started becoming more active on TM. I did the questions that were in the forums and posted questions I didn't know. And that was only in the last 2 weeks before the actual exam. 3. In the last week, I was still scoring results that made me worried. I scored 600 on the first gmat prep and 670 on the second gmat prep 4 days later - what a huge difference. I just figured I'll do my best and be as confident as I can. I would probably have done better the next time round. But I'm not going to do so. So here goes the... Things that I would have done differently 1. not go on a trip - so bad 2. start using TM earlier. I had only used it to look for inspirations - only in the last week I used them to practise questions. I think its a very good way to improve because the questions that people post are normally slightly more difficult. It'll give you good practice and expose you to different methods of solving more quickly. 3. Search more effectively on TM. If you know people who pose difficult questions or give fabulous explanations, search for them! I searched for 800Bob whose explanations helped me a lot in the verbal section. I would have spent more time searching but I didn't have a lot of time to do a lot of things! Thanks Lastly, I'd like to give thanks to 800Bob for being a god that he is! and others who have helped me in my last ditch attempt by answering my questions like california. Notes I am also posting my Sentence Construction notes here. My SC notes for GMAT I don't have fantastic verbal grades but i do think the my notes will be beneficial anyone who would like to have a basic but comprehensive understanding on the topic. I have compiled this from ManhattanGmat SC book, PR, Kaplan, spidey's notes from TM, beatthegmat notes, Sahil's grammar notes which I found online and other random useful notes I read on TM and elsewhere. I must have spent more than 20 hours collating and understanding it! Its not perfect - so please feel free to improve on it! - its in a word doc to enable you to do so. For the rest taking their exams sometime later, good luck! Huggs!!