RB Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 Hi All, Just did the test this morning. Scores are as mentioned above. This is going to be a long one because I am going to write everything I have done and been through for this Crazy test, hehe. This is the second time I hhave taken this thing. Attempt 1: 660 (49 Quant, 31 Verbal, AWA 5) Attempt 2: 710 (49 Quant, 36 Verbal (Not 35 Oops !!)) My Background: I am Mechanical Engineer from New Zealand. I graduated 3 years ago and am presently working as a consultant for one of the local firms. I am a non-native English speaker. So that kina contributed to my awesome (NOT) grasp of the language, hehe. Naturally because I am an engineer, my maths was strong and english was pathertic. Because I am so used to writing reports this post will be in that kina format, its now a habit almost, hehe. Happy reading !!! : ) Attempt 1: Target to cross 700 (no idea to start with) Time spent for preparation = 3 weeks Material used: [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], PR book and PR CD, PowerPrep Attempt 2: Target to cross 700 (like everyone else but personally by improving on Verbal) Time spent for preparation = 5 weeks Material used: same as for attempt 1 + Kaplan book and CD + PR Verbal workout. This was my only chance to improve. Mainly because the only centre in this country that does the test, is closing down. After this I would have had to go to Sydney, Ausie. Even now to sit the test both the times, I have had to go to another state to do it. Drawbacks of that, its 1.5 hr flight, I don't sleep in my own bed I sleep in a motel, I don't get home cooked meal, I don't know anyone here, and its freezing (its closer to the South Pole, I think the this centre probably is the southernmost centre in the world). So forget about relaxing the day before, cause I was way out of my comfort zone. Could not sleep the whole night (both times). The reason I am writing all this detail is to help anyone who is remotely close to my situation. The exam is a test of endurance and psychological frame of mind more than anything thing. But I know if, I can do it, ANYBODY can do it, trust me. Now I prepared all by myself, no extra help from ANYBODY or from anywhere (i.e. one-one classes or anything). I did not know anyone who had done it before and no body to help me with my english. Spoke to a few lecturers at Engineering School, but they had no answers (I did not expect miracles from them, they are also engineers afterall). So the only way I could have improved my english was to practice and try to analyse my own mistakes. I took leave without pay from work to do this. It ended up costing me a lot more that some other. I think for the two tests I must have paid (incl looses in salary) about $US 1500. So a lot was riding on this one last chance. That added to the pressure a little bit. I found this site 3 weeks before the test. I posted some notes, and I will leave them in there. Mainly because it will help some of you who may go through the same emotions as me at the time. As you can see I had a lot invested in it and was quite frankely freaking out, due to reasons mentioned below. Unfortunately not a lot of people replied to my post easrly enough to help me out here. That's cool. Reason for my unrest was KAPLAN. As I said I took KAPLAN as a extra source for my preparation. I worked with it all throughout this second time (BIG MISTAKE). Kaplan is brilliant for Quant, but depressed the heck out of me in Verbal. I got 570, 600, 610 and 580 in Kaplan. Always getting 50 in Quant and 30 in Verbal. So it confused me a great deal. I was worried that I would end up doing worse than my first attempt. Therefore I opted to not look at Kaplan for its overall score which is exactly what Erin suggested (but just a tad too late, no worries though). Thanks anyway Erin, I appreciate your help. My Advice: OG= Official Guide: DA BOMB!! Nothing to beat it. It is just brilliant. Specially verbal. Quant was a ok for me, but then that's me. Its still quite good in that section as well. PR: Good practice, reasonable workout, but its an "OG made electronic" to some extent. But good practice anyway. My scores in PR 650, 680, 710, 730. Kaplan: I would recommend that anyone who is as weak in english as me, please do not look at kaplan scores 1-2 weeks before your test. Please note this is my advice, you don't have to follow it if you thinks its a bit too harsh. I used kaplan in the beginning to practice as it has got good Quant and a bit tooo tough Verbal section (for me anyway). It blew my confidence right out the window. I had no idea 8 days before my test as to how I was going to fare. That is why I stopped looking at it 7 days before the test and used its quant for my practice. If you do choose to look at the overall scores, its human natutre to do so, just look at my example and that of several other, its underestimates your score by on an average of 100 points. Downdowndown.net: I got that 6 days before the big day. Thanks to this site and Erin's efforts. I found it pretty good for practice purposes. It did help me rebuild a little bit of confidence after the Kaplan aftermath. Have a go at it, its reasonably good and lots of practice questions, yummy!! Finally I need to thank Erin who has made this site and helped so may guys out there, including myself. Erin, dude, congratulations, I think this is a brilliant site. Althugh I could not make a better use of it. I am sure people in the future will continue to do so, no doubt about it. You keep this site going Erin, there are lots of guys like me out there who are going to through the same thing and this site helps a lot. And for all you guys out there, please respond to people when you read thier posts. Even if you don't have anything to contruibute specific to the subject, just a word of confidence or sharing the same concern might do a wrold of good to the other person. Trust me, I know... I had over 100 people read my note, but only 4 replied. So if you see a plea for help or specific question, try to type a couple of words it will be good for everyone. Even though I am not going to be using this site for preparatory purposes, I will still keep checking this place. I am far from good in Verbal, so I don't think you guys want my advice in that area. I used some maths principles to do Verbal, can you believe it. But in the Quant section, I am ok. I will be glad to help anyone who needs advise about what to use and how to interpret some of the scores or just cry their hearts out. Anyways, I think your pot of coffee must have finished by now and you must be feeling sleepy, and also its time for me to catch my flight back home. I thank you all once again for contributing to such a site and please continue to do so. Good luck in your preparation and hope you all kick some GMAT butt and cross the 700 mark in one go!! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimnya Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 Congratulation !!! Thank you for sharing your experience. You love to write and I love to read but sometimes i reply though because i'm not good at Eng that's why :) For me, I have to improve a lot in verbal part but for quan. part I 'm ok with that. I have to keep practise, practise otherwise i 'll forget because i'm in bus field so i'm not good at math like engineer guys. I'm also not native english so i'm so sad with verbal part. Just keep practise, right? If you have any tip for quan part or verbal part, you can post then we'll learn and use it well. Thank again :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davvy Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 Your post appeared to be honest.:) congrats for ur score. But i was really wondering if u wrote ur scaled scores correctly. With 49 in quant and 35 in verbal, u shud have got 690 or max 700. I got 36 in verbal and 48 in quant and ended up with 690:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdog3490 Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 Hmmm....I got exactly the same score, a 49Q and 35V, and only ended up with 700. Interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB Posted June 7, 2003 Author Share Posted June 7, 2003 Hey Guys!! Sorry my Bad it was 36 in Verbal not 35. I will change that in the heading as well. But would that 1 point still account for the 710 Vs 700? On the princetonreview.com forum, I read that it is possible for two people to have the same individual scores but different combined score if one of them had done one or two more questions right. They cited the list Kaplan scoring guide at the end of the Kaplan book. It might be a whole lot of crap but, that is the only reason I could think off. Can you guys think of a reason?? Also please note that these are my raw scores. Is it possible that the confirmed scores could be different? Let me know guys. Cause it is kina worrying, could the scores we were given at the test centre change?? I sincerely hope not... Thanks RB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go2venkat Posted July 11, 2003 Share Posted July 11, 2003 Cool Score RB..Any tips on improving the RC and the SC ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk Posted July 14, 2003 Share Posted July 14, 2003 Congrats!!! All the best for the application process. The best part is your 'attitude' - you worked hard and achieved what you aimed - it gives a lot inspiration for many people (including me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kp Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 Hi, Congrats!! Iam an software engineer from India.Iam having my GMAT on 27th of August'03.I read [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] twice and kaplan(without CD).Now I would like to take CA practice tests.But I don't have idea which CAT tests are best. And also I haven't taken tests in [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] as Iam bit scared about taking test. I know that Iam weak in verbal skills so could you please provide with tips to improve my verbal ability?I hope that Iam good in quant.(God knows!!!) Thanks Priya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB Posted August 4, 2003 Author Share Posted August 4, 2003 Hi Priya, If you are an engineer then your Quant should be fine. Don't worry about it. For Verbal I think its practice, practice and more practice. I was ok in grammar so I focused quite a bit on my SC section to get that right. As far as RC is concerned, I got 70-110 line passages, so its a luck thing. But for this section if you are an avid reader then u will be sweet. CR is more logic based and again with this you need a lot of practice questions. Sorry I don't know what excatly to tell you about Verbal. I focused on my strong point and practiced a lot on my weaker ones. Hope this helps. CAT CD's: I think Kaplan is the best for Quant but a bit harder on the verbal side (for me anyway). So for quant I would recommed Kaplan. PR CD is good too. Its not as tough as the real deal in terms of Quant but is just a little bit more closer in the Verbal section to the real thing. Powerprep is very good if you want to familiarise yourself with the how exactly the GMAT screen would look like. The questions are essentially from [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] so not a major gain there. But again its a great practice toold for your eyes and concentration. I don't know what CA practice tests are. I only did the above 3. I did the books and CAT in tandem and toward the end focused on CAT's just to train my eyes. But just keep in mind that all practice is good for your preparation. No matter how hard or easy you may find it. It still is good practice for the big day. You have to get used to looking at a screen for 3.5 hours and still maintain your concentration. So get as many CD's as you can. Hope all of the above makes some sense and is of some help to you. Regards Rohit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kp Posted August 6, 2003 Share Posted August 6, 2003 Hi Rohit, Thanks very much for sharing your experience.Iam planning take latest release of GMAC paper based tests.what would be your idea about this? Thanks Priya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB Posted August 6, 2003 Author Share Posted August 6, 2003 Hi Priya, I never used the GMAC paper based tests. As I mentioned, I only used [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], PP, Kaplan and PR. I did not have time to get more stuff. Sorry can't help you with this. But there are quite a few people who have writen about it in this forum and also in the "Start Preparation for your GMAT" forum. I suggest you check those topics out. There is some very valuable advice over there. Hope u find the info you are after If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them :- ) Rohit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaunguyen Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Hi, I must say that I was interested by your post. This is the first time I log in this forum and it seems that no one answer my post. Hope that you will spend sometime answering my following questions (Sorry that I will ask a lot because this is the first time I have taken the GMAT test and I expect that you will answer them all for me) I also have three weeks of preparation before the test ( I will take the test in 28Jan2005) Up to now I have done the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] four times and find that the verbal section is very difficult to me. Please advise me your experience on how to do it better, even by using math. Regarding the harsh and tough of the test, how to endure 4 hours long test. I know it is not easy. So please share your experience. The last question is on the analytical writing. Please let me know more about it. On the GMAT website, I see a lot of examples, are they useful for me. Any suggestions on how to pass this section! Thanks a lot for your time. Congratulation on your results. Wish you a prosperous and happy new year! Best regards, Chau Nguyen Hi All, Just did the test this morning. Scores are as mentioned above. This is going to be a long one because I am going to write everything I have done and been through for this Crazy test, hehe. This is the second time I hhave taken this thing. Attempt 1: 660 (49 Quant, 31 Verbal, AWA 5) Attempt 2: 710 (49 Quant, 36 Verbal (Not 35 Oops !!)) My Background: I am Mechanical Engineer from New Zealand. I graduated 3 years ago and am presently working as a consultant for one of the local firms. I am a non-native English speaker. So that kina contributed to my awesome (NOT) grasp of the language, hehe. Naturally because I am an engineer, my maths was strong and english was pathertic. Because I am so used to writing reports this post will be in that kina format, its now a habit almost, hehe. Happy reading !!! : ) Attempt 1: Target to cross 700 (no idea to start with) Time spent for preparation = 3 weeks Material used: [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], PR book and PR CD, PowerPrep Attempt 2: Target to cross 700 (like everyone else but personally by improving on Verbal) Time spent for preparation = 5 weeks Material used: same as for attempt 1 + Kaplan book and CD + PR Verbal workout. This was my only chance to improve. Mainly because the only centre in this country that does the test, is closing down. After this I would have had to go to Sydney, Ausie. Even now to sit the test both the times, I have had to go to another state to do it. Drawbacks of that, its 1.5 hr flight, I don't sleep in my own bed I sleep in a motel, I don't get home cooked meal, I don't know anyone here, and its freezing (its closer to the South Pole, I think the this centre probably is the southernmost centre in the world). So forget about relaxing the day before, cause I was way out of my comfort zone. Could not sleep the whole night (both times). The reason I am writing all this detail is to help anyone who is remotely close to my situation. The exam is a test of endurance and psychological frame of mind more than anything thing. But I know if, I can do it, ANYBODY can do it, trust me. Now I prepared all by myself, no extra help from ANYBODY or from anywhere (i.e. one-one classes or anything). I did not know anyone who had done it before and no body to help me with my english. Spoke to a few lecturers at Engineering School, but they had no answers (I did not expect miracles from them, they are also engineers afterall). So the only way I could have improved my english was to practice and try to analyse my own mistakes. I took leave without pay from work to do this. It ended up costing me a lot more that some other. I think for the two tests I must have paid (incl looses in salary) about $US 1500. So a lot was riding on this one last chance. That added to the pressure a little bit. I found this site 3 weeks before the test. I posted some notes, and I will leave them in there. Mainly because it will help some of you who may go through the same emotions as me at the time. As you can see I had a lot invested in it and was quite frankely freaking out, due to reasons mentioned below. Unfortunately not a lot of people replied to my post easrly enough to help me out here. That's cool. Reason for my unrest was KAPLAN. As I said I took KAPLAN as a extra source for my preparation. I worked with it all throughout this second time (BIG MISTAKE). Kaplan is brilliant for Quant, but depressed the heck out of me in Verbal. I got 570, 600, 610 and 580 in Kaplan. Always getting 50 in Quant and 30 in Verbal. So it confused me a great deal. I was worried that I would end up doing worse than my first attempt. Therefore I opted to not look at Kaplan for its overall score which is exactly what Erin suggested (but just a tad too late, no worries though). Thanks anyway Erin, I appreciate your help. My Advice: OG= Official Guide: DA BOMB!! Nothing to beat it. It is just brilliant. Specially verbal. Quant was a ok for me, but then that's me. Its still quite good in that section as well. PR: Good practice, reasonable workout, but its an "OG made electronic" to some extent. But good practice anyway. My scores in PR 650, 680, 710, 730. Kaplan: I would recommend that anyone who is as weak in english as me, please do not look at kaplan scores 1-2 weeks before your test. Please note this is my advice, you don't have to follow it if you thinks its a bit too harsh. I used kaplan in the beginning to practice as it has got good Quant and a bit tooo tough Verbal section (for me anyway). It blew my confidence right out the window. I had no idea 8 days before my test as to how I was going to fare. That is why I stopped looking at it 7 days before the test and used its quant for my practice. If you do choose to look at the overall scores, its human natutre to do so, just look at my example and that of several other, its underestimates your score by on an average of 100 points. Downdowndown.net: I got that 6 days before the big day. Thanks to this site and Erin's efforts. I found it pretty good for practice purposes. It did help me rebuild a little bit of confidence after the Kaplan aftermath. Have a go at it, its reasonably good and lots of practice questions, yummy!! Finally I need to thank Erin who has made this site and helped so may guys out there, including myself. Erin, dude, congratulations, I think this is a brilliant site. Althugh I could not make a better use of it. I am sure people in the future will continue to do so, no doubt about it. You keep this site going Erin, there are lots of guys like me out there who are going to through the same thing and this site helps a lot. And for all you guys out there, please respond to people when you read thier posts. Even if you don't have anything to contruibute specific to the subject, just a word of confidence or sharing the same concern might do a wrold of good to the other person. Trust me, I know... I had over 100 people read my note, but only 4 replied. So if you see a plea for help or specific question, try to type a couple of words it will be good for everyone. Even though I am not going to be using this site for preparatory purposes, I will still keep checking this place. I am far from good in Verbal, so I don't think you guys want my advice in that area. I used some maths principles to do Verbal, can you believe it. But in the Quant section, I am ok. I will be glad to help anyone who needs advise about what to use and how to interpret some of the scores or just cry their hearts out. Anyways, I think your pot of coffee must have finished by now and you must be feeling sleepy, and also its time for me to catch my flight back home. I thank you all once again for contributing to such a site and please continue to do so. Good luck in your preparation and hope you all kick some GMAT butt and cross the 700 mark in one go!! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoot Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Congrats!!!! Good to see your achievement... could you share some online resources for math study material, if you know any. All the best!!!! Hem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skulker Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 lol, the thread was started a year and a half ago. rb would have nearly completed his mba by now :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merryman Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Hi Chau Nguyen, Wish you also a happy new year. Although I haven’t taken the GMAT myself yet and planning to take it in Feb, I think for improving your verbal which is also my weak area, you should go thru some of the post in this forum for improving the reading etc which is helping me .Notes of Stephen Bolton posted by one of our mates here is quite good for RC. You still have more than 3 weeks and you can definitely improve your scores. You must have already identified your weak areas in the verbal. ie SC,CR, or RC passages and specifically identified the problems you find in each of them . Work on it with reasoning why you are doing a particular mistake… Understand your mistakes and learn from it. I think it should definitely help This link should help http://www.http://www.testmagic.com.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12306 keep posted and keep your spirits high. You can definitely do it. Remember.‘You are never given a wish without also being the power to make it come true. Yo may have to work for it” Merryman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammu Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Hi guys, poor me made the most bad start, I got up one day on the "Right " Side of the bed and told my DAD I am going to do my MBA all over again,( I have already done MBA in HR fron ICFAI Business School Hyderabad, What now, I Took up my Brothers comp and took Poer prep CAT 2, Got a score of 600 with Quant 89 and 32 verbal, My main concern is taht by the time I reach vaerbal I feel "GOD is it ever going to end" and lose concentration, also I do Verbal LOGICALLY, sounds stupid, but seems there is no other way, the kind of explanation that are given seem more logic based than rule based, HELP ME I want to find a trick in handling VERBAL specila SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kool Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 hi congrats! You did it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramya chandrasekar Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 hi i want to know how to recall the words i read.i wish to get tips to remember the words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finn050 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 I received a 49Q 36V and my total is 700 not 710. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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