Just gave the GMAT...740!!!! :D

[Confused_Lad]

Hi everyone,
I'm a silent observer on this site and just gave my GMAT today. I scored
740 (97%) (49Q, 41V)

I used the following materials for studying :
Official Guide (10th, 11th, and 12th editions)
Manhattan SC
Manhattan Number Properties
Manhattan Word Translation
Princeton Review
Critical Reasoning Bible

Here is how I targeted each sub section of the exam:
QUANT
-going through Manhattan Number Properties to brush up on basic concepts
-came into the exam with decent quant skills so wasn't requiring much work in this

VERBAL
Sentence Correction:
Manhattan SC Guide is the best source. Must go through more than once during preparation. SC was weakness going into exam and used the SC Guide to grasp grammatical correctness that is wanted by the GMAT. It is very important to make a note of all mistakes while doing SC problems and understanding why your incorrect answers are wrong or why the options you eliminated are wrong....reasons other than "it doesn't sound right"
Once you get into the habit of correctly identifying the grammatical flaw, you gain confidence in approaching new and tougher problems.

Critical Reasoning:
I would completely recommend the Critical Reasoning Bible to anyone who wants to do well in the critical reasoning section of the GMAT. The book covers each type of critical reasoning problem in great detail and teaches you to keep important notions regarding arguments in the back of your head while approaching problems. Invaluable resource for critical reasoning.

Reading Comprehension:
My strength in verbal coming into the exam. To improve reading comprehension, i would strongly recommend reading articles online from sites such as nytimes / ft.com/ wsj.com / the economist/ or scientific america. Practice reading topics which you personally find cumbersome(varies from person to person)

practice test scores:
PR1: 650 (Q49, V33)
PR2: 690 (Q50, V36)
PR3: 690 (Q48, V37)
PR4: 720 (Q50, V40)
PR5: 730 (Q50, V41)
MGMAT1: 670 (Q47, V34)
MGMAT2: 710 (Q46, V41)
MGMAT3: 730 (Q50, V39) (with 2,3 pauses in quant)
MGMAT4: 730 (Q50, V40) (with 1 pause in quant)
MGMAT5: 710 (Q47, V40)

GMATPREP1: 750 (Q49, V42)

GMATPREP2: 740 (Q49, V41)

Real Test : 740 (Q49,V41)

as you can see the offical mba.com tests were the most accurate indicators of GMAT readiness. Took both exams a day or two before the actual exam.

I'll be targeting the following schools/programs.....anyone else with similar applications?

LSE: MSc in Finance and MSc in Finance and Economics
Imperial : Msc in Finance
HEC Paris: Msc in Finance
Oxford: Masters in Financial Economics
IE Business School: Msc in Finance
St. Gallen University: MA in Banking and Finance

I'd like to hear from other applicats to these programs or people who'ev been admitted to any of them....i have an undergrad g.p.a of 3.67 and some internship experience in asset management

thanks to all posters on this forum!

[RHYME800]

Let me be the 1st one to Congratz u.

Your preparation was pretty focused.

[Hemakshi]

Hey!
Thats an awesome score! Congratulations

[ezekielekata]

So do you have any reading comprehension short term tip for those taking the exam so ?

[xperience]

Originally Posted by Confused_Lad

Hi everyone,
I'm a silent observer on this site and just gave my GMAT today. I scored
740 (97%) (49Q, 41V)

I used the following materials for studying :
Official Guide (10th, 11th, and 12th editions)
Manhattan SC
Manhattan Number Properties
Manhattan Word Translation
Princeton Review
Critical Reasoning Bible

Here is how I targeted each sub section of the exam:
QUANT
-going through Manhattan Number Properties to brush up on basic concepts
-came into the exam with decent quant skills so wasn't requiring much work in this

VERBAL
Sentence Correction:
Manhattan SC Guide is the best source. Must go through more than once during preparation. SC was weakness going into exam and used the SC Guide to grasp grammatical correctness that is wanted by the GMAT. It is very important to make a note of all mistakes while doing SC problems and understanding why your incorrect answers are wrong or why the options you eliminated are wrong....reasons other than "it doesn't sound right"
Once you get into the habit of correctly identifying the grammatical flaw, you gain confidence in approaching new and tougher problems.

Critical Reasoning:
I would completely recommend the Critical Reasoning Bible to anyone who wants to do well in the critical reasoning section of the GMAT. The book covers each type of critical reasoning problem in great detail and teaches you to keep important notions regarding arguments in the back of your head while approaching problems. Invaluable resource for critical reasoning.

Reading Comprehension:
My strength in verbal coming into the exam. To improve reading comprehension, i would strongly recommend reading articles online from sites such as nytimes / ft.com/ wsj.com / the economist/ or scientific america. Practice reading topics which you personally find cumbersome(varies from person to person)

practice test scores:
PR1: 650 (Q49, V33)
PR2: 690 (Q50, V36)
PR3: 690 (Q48, V37)
PR4: 720 (Q50, V40)
PR5: 730 (Q50, V41)
MGMAT1: 670 (Q47, V34)
MGMAT2: 710 (Q46, V41)
MGMAT3: 730 (Q50, V39) (with 2,3 pauses in quant)
MGMAT4: 730 (Q50, V40) (with 1 pause in quant)
MGMAT5: 710 (Q47, V40)

GMATPREP1: 750 (Q49, V42)

GMATPREP2: 740 (Q49, V41)

Real Test : 740 (Q49,V41)

as you can see the offical mba.com tests were the most accurate indicators of GMAT readiness. Took both exams a day or two before the actual exam.

I'll be targeting the following schools/programs.....anyone else with similar applications?

LSE: MSc in Finance and MSc in Finance and Economics
Imperial : Msc in Finance
HEC Paris: Msc in Finance
Oxford: Masters in Financial Economics
IE Business School: Msc in Finance
St. Gallen University: MA in Banking and Finance

I'd like to hear from other applicats to these programs or people who'ev been admitted to any of them....i have an undergrad g.p.a of 3.67 and some internship experience in asset management

thanks to all posters on this forum!

fabtastic score... Maybe you would be the right person to whom I can post this question:
My accuracy in SC, reading comprehension and critical reasoning is hovering around 75% which is not good enough as I am scoring around 35-36 in Verbal section. I know that reading comprehension cannot be improved overnight but SC and critical reasoning can be done. I have exhausted the Manhattan SC guide but I guess I do make some mistakes here and there evn though I can identofy what exactly is the problem in the sentence.

Can you guide me as to how I should approach this so that I can imporve upon the Verbal section and touch a 40-41 in it? I have around 13-15 days for the G-day.

Any inputs will be highly appreciated.

Regards,
Anubhav

[kirtikant]

congratulations

[abhishek_mumbai]

congratulations..

[Confused_Lad]

Originally Posted by xperience

fabtastic score... Maybe you would be the right person to whom I can post this question:
My accuracy in SC, reading comprehension and critical reasoning is hovering around 75% which is not good enough as I am scoring around 35-36 in Verbal section. I know that reading comprehension cannot be improved overnight but SC and critical reasoning can be done. I have exhausted the Manhattan SC guide but I guess I do make some mistakes here and there evn though I can identofy what exactly is the problem in the sentence.

Can you guide me as to how I should approach this so that I can imporve upon the Verbal section and touch a 40-41 in it? I have around 13-15 days for the G-day.

Any inputs will be highly appreciated.

Regards,
Anubhav

Hi Anubhav,
I was also hovering around the low 30's in the early part of my prep and had to come over SC. I would recommend going over ALL SC problems from the OG and reading explanations for each option. Know exactly WHY an option is wrong. Actively attacking an SC problem is how I did the section. After the OG, go over the verbal review supplement. Since you have two weeks, the quality of what you do for SC will count for a lot. Even if you can't do a 1000 problems, make sure you go over the ones you do in great detail.
For critical reasoning, read through the chapters in the critical reasoning Bible for the topics which you have trouble with. I personally found the chapter on evaluate the argument to be helpful ( quite a few evalute problems on my real GMAT).

Hope that helps
Cheers

[Confused_Lad]

Originally Posted by ezekielekata

So do you have any reading comprehension short term tip for those taking the exam so ?

Its tough to do reading comprehension in the short term, but getting comfortable with reading dense passages on the computer screen is very important. If you're apprehensive of science passages, you might want to start reading articles from scientific america. Depends on the individual. But in the short term, gaining a comfort level with dense passages on the computer screen is vital. Its tough advise someone on reading comprehension as everyone approaches it in their own way. Some people find writing notes while reading the passage helpful. Hope this helps.

[xperience]

Originally Posted by Confused_Lad

Hi Anubhav,
I was also hovering around the low 30's in the early part of my prep and had to come over SC. I would recommend going over ALL SC problems from the OG and reading explanations for each option. Know exactly WHY an option is wrong. Actively attacking an SC problem is how I did the section. After the OG, go over the verbal review supplement. Since you have two weeks, the quality of what you do for SC will count for a lot. Even if you can't do a 1000 problems, make sure you go over the ones you do in great detail.
For critical reasoning, read through the chapters in the critical reasoning Bible for the topics which you have trouble with. I personally found the chapter on evaluate the argument to be helpful ( quite a few evalute problems on my real GMAT).

Hope that helps
Cheers

Thanks for your reply. I actually have done the SC questions from OG 12 and from the verbal review. Same goes for critical reasoning as well. But I guess I make mistakes in the difficult questions in both of them.
As per your advice, i have started to go through the critical reasoning Bible, let's see what becomes of it.
Do you recommend me to go through all SC questions in OG 12 and OG 11 again ?