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sam_08854 · 2006 November 3rd, 06:17 AM

Background: Indian with IT background

Started off in Sept by collecting information for a couple of weeks and getting general idea about the exam. Googled for “MBA prep” and found “Dave for MBA” blog. From there, I got the links to TestMagic and ScoreTop. Initially wanted to give the exam in 3 weeks but got a dose of reality when I got 10/37 and 13/41 wrong in first Maths and Verbal tests 2 weeks before the original date (first week of Oct). Pushed the date out by another 3 weeks (to Oct end). However, could not get down to real prep till 3 weeks before the actual exam. I used to spend 1 hr/day on the sites looking through the posted questions on the forums. I started by solving Kaplan 800 SC and Maths questions I did not manage my time well and was stressed out the last week since I had not gone through the OG and JJs yet. Concentrated only on these 2 things during the last week. Solved Oct JJs and covered my weak areas (SC, Geometry questions) from OG.

I will emphasize specific things that helped me.

Read through the great de-briefs on these sites. You will sometimes find conflicting opinions. Don’t get confused. Cherry-pick what works for you since everyone has different strengths and weaknesses.

Find your weaknesses. Focus on them. Its better to understand why you answered one question wrong than to get 10 questions right – emphasize quality over quantity. For me SC questions were the biggest pain. Also, I used to make mistakes on the Geometry questions.

On RCs, I read a tip somewhere on the forums that really helped me. While reading the reading comprehension, start talking to yourself (silently, of course) and say things like – this is ridiculous, this is funny, this is BS, aha! That is interesting, how can they conclude that, wow – I had no idea etc. This will really help you remember details.

Make sure you go through the Official Guide before you do anything else. While Kaplan 800 questions were good, the actual exam questions “felt” similar to the ones from OG11. OG is excellent for SC practice. I used OG and Kaplan 800 for SC practice.

Do not try to guess how your exam is proceeding. I thought my Math exam went much better than the Verbal but the percentile scores are reversed

DO NOT spend more than 3-3.5 minutes on any question. If you are not able to move on, just think about the possibility that it is an experimental question and you are wasting precious time. Its great if you can answer difficult questions but the best use of your time is to keep answering (and answering correctly) questions at your difficulty level, thereby racking up points. Think about it – would you rather stand away from the hoop, try to shoot 3-pointers and get 1/10 shots or attempt free throws and get 9/10 one pointers? (OK, I really need to unlearn SC – this last sentence made me squirm as I read it – but you get the point).

Test scores:
GMAT prep – 760 (7 days before exam)
PowerPrep – 730 (4 days before exam)
GMAT prep II – 760 (2 days before exam)

Day before exam

Did not do anything and just relaxed. Watched a movie, took a swig of Nyquil and went to sleep. Woke up after a great night’s sleep at 10:00 am. Make sure you take the slot when you are comfortable. I am not a morning person and so took the afternoon slot.

Actual Exam

Reached 45 minutes before and started 15 minutes earlier than my appt. If you are like me and get distracted by noise, use the earplugs – I think my score would have been 20-30 lower without the earplus. With the ear-plugs, I was totally “in the zone” and completely oblivious to everything around me. Used templates for AWA – went OK.

Took the break and had chocolate + OJ. Got back with 2 mins remaining and checked in quickly.

I saw a couple of MJJs. The benefit of JJs is that it gives you confidence when you see such questions. I was very careful about time mgmt since I would run short in practice tests.

Took the break and had a chocolate and some orange juice. (Interesting fact - Although it represents only 2% of the body's mass, the brain consumes about 20% of the energy used by the entire body at rest. That's over twice as much energy as the heart uses. No wonder I was starving after each section)

Returned with one minute remaining. The lady checking me in got nervous and kept entering the wrong password. Told her to calm down and she entered the right password. Lost 25 seconds!

Verbal went OK. I was starting to get tired and had to force myself to intelligently guess a few questions whereI was down to 2 options. Got really tired on a couple of RCs and had to really concentrate hard to get the answers.

Skipped through all the survey questions and enjoyed the high when I saw the score. Got home fast and went out for an awesome Thai dinner to celebrate.

I will be around for the next few days and will try to answer any posted questions.

skarya · 2006 November 3rd, 07:02 AM

congratulations!!!

45 in verbal ... great!

Good luck for phase 2...

regards,
skarya

BTW once again GMATPrep proves to be the accurate indicator of one's performance in the real exam.

GMATsept20 · 2006 November 3rd, 12:46 PM

Excellent Score!!!;I started my preparation around the sametime..but have not been able to spend anytime in the last 1 month.

What schools are you applying ?;Parttime or Fulltime ?

chatru · 2006 November 3rd, 03:45 PM

Wow! Excellent Score!!! Chase your dream !!!

dyoh · 2006 November 3rd, 06:26 PM

Great debriefing! Posts like yours are very encouraging.
How did you improve your SC score?
Where are you applying?
Good luck with your apps!

jay711 · 2006 November 3rd, 06:56 PM

congrats! I notice that most of the higher scorers are Indian? How come?

Jay
PS: I'm not Indian.

sam_08854 · 2006 November 3rd, 10:39 PM

GmatSpet 20

Thinking of part-time/executive MBA and looking only at the top schools.

Dyoh

OG guide and the explanations really helped me the most - it was almost like a Aha! moment 2 days before the actual exam. Read through and understand why the other options are wrong - typically, most of the questions will have 2-4 mistakes - as long as you catch even one, your chances of getting the right answer are pretty high. Also, read through the forums.

Jay -

being Indian is only advatageous because of the tough school/college curriculum we have. If you set the bar high enough, it automatically encourages students to work harder.

The fact that we have a $1 billion+ population doesn't hurt either. Statistically, there are bound to be people with strong verbal/math/arts etc skills :-)

Got a PM on Verbal prep
Gave some tips on reading comprehension - For SC, memorize the question types listed in OG11. For analytical, I did not do much since that was a strong area for me.

Mani Jagathesan · 2006 November 4th, 01:27 AM

Sam,

I have finished the OG questions. Would you suggest I do questions from 1000CR and 1000SC or redo the OG qtns? I thought redoing the qtns may not be the best way to practise. OG 11 explanations are very good.

Thanks

sam_08854 · 2006 November 4th, 03:05 AM

Mani

repeat only the ones that you got wrong....and give yourself a couple of weeks before you re-try.....

if you have time, definitely do the 1000 SCs...I could not since I had a total of 3 weeks

sam_08854 · 2006 November 4th, 07:22 AM

Update - got my official scores/AWA today. AWA is 5.5

Thanks everyone and my best wishes to everyone here.

Used the templates and it really helped. Again, I would point to OG. Look at the examples there (different kind of essays - @ 6, 4, 2 score level - for the same topic). Will really help you understand what is needed. Examples are very important.

2006 November 3rd, 06:17 AM	#1 (permalink)
sam_08854 Eager! Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 48	770 GMAT (Q 50, V 45) - 99 percentile Background: Indian with IT background Started off in Sept by collecting information for a couple of weeks and getting general idea about the exam. Googled for “MBA prep” and found “Dave for MBA” blog. From there, I got the links to TestMagic and ScoreTop. Initially wanted to give the exam in 3 weeks but got a dose of reality when I got 10/37 and 13/41 wrong in first Maths and Verbal tests 2 weeks before the original date (first week of Oct). Pushed the date out by another 3 weeks (to Oct end). However, could not get down to real prep till 3 weeks before the actual exam. I used to spend 1 hr/day on the sites looking through the posted questions on the forums. I started by solving Kaplan 800 SC and Maths questions I did not manage my time well and was stressed out the last week since I had not gone through the OG and JJs yet. Concentrated only on these 2 things during the last week. Solved Oct JJs and covered my weak areas (SC, Geometry questions) from OG. I will emphasize specific things that helped me. Read through the great de-briefs on these sites. You will sometimes find conflicting opinions. Don’t get confused. Cherry-pick what works for you since everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Find your weaknesses. Focus on them. Its better to understand why you answered one question wrong than to get 10 questions right – emphasize quality over quantity. For me SC questions were the biggest pain. Also, I used to make mistakes on the Geometry questions. On RCs, I read a tip somewhere on the forums that really helped me. While reading the reading comprehension, start talking to yourself (silently, of course) and say things like – this is ridiculous, this is funny, this is BS, aha! That is interesting, how can they conclude that, wow – I had no idea etc. This will really help you remember details. Make sure you go through the Official Guide before you do anything else. While Kaplan 800 questions were good, the actual exam questions “felt” similar to the ones from OG11. OG is excellent for SC practice. I used OG and Kaplan 800 for SC practice. Do not try to guess how your exam is proceeding. I thought my Math exam went much better than the Verbal but the percentile scores are reversed DO NOT spend more than 3-3.5 minutes on any question. If you are not able to move on, just think about the possibility that it is an experimental question and you are wasting precious time. Its great if you can answer difficult questions but the best use of your time is to keep answering (and answering correctly) questions at your difficulty level, thereby racking up points. Think about it – would you rather stand away from the hoop, try to shoot 3-pointers and get 1/10 shots or attempt free throws and get 9/10 one pointers? (OK, I really need to unlearn SC – this last sentence made me squirm as I read it – but you get the point). Test scores: GMAT prep – 760 (7 days before exam) PowerPrep – 730 (4 days before exam) GMAT prep II – 760 (2 days before exam) Day before exam Did not do anything and just relaxed. Watched a movie, took a swig of Nyquil and went to sleep. Woke up after a great night’s sleep at 10:00 am. Make sure you take the slot when you are comfortable. I am not a morning person and so took the afternoon slot. Actual Exam Reached 45 minutes before and started 15 minutes earlier than my appt. If you are like me and get distracted by noise, use the earplugs – I think my score would have been 20-30 lower without the earplus. With the ear-plugs, I was totally “in the zone” and completely oblivious to everything around me. Used templates for AWA – went OK. Took the break and had chocolate + OJ. Got back with 2 mins remaining and checked in quickly. I saw a couple of MJJs. The benefit of JJs is that it gives you confidence when you see such questions. I was very careful about time mgmt since I would run short in practice tests. Took the break and had a chocolate and some orange juice. (Interesting fact - Although it represents only 2% of the body's mass, the brain consumes about 20% of the energy used by the entire body at rest. That's over twice as much energy as the heart uses. No wonder I was starving after each section) Returned with one minute remaining. The lady checking me in got nervous and kept entering the wrong password. Told her to calm down and she entered the right password. Lost 25 seconds! Verbal went OK. I was starting to get tired and had to force myself to intelligently guess a few questions whereI was down to 2 options. Got really tired on a couple of RCs and had to really concentrate hard to get the answers. Skipped through all the survey questions and enjoyed the high when I saw the score. Got home fast and went out for an awesome Thai dinner to celebrate. I will be around for the next few days and will try to answer any posted questions.

2006 November 3rd, 06:26 PM	#5 (permalink)
dyoh Within my grasp! Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: MA Posts: 171	Great debriefing! Posts like yours are very encouraging. How did you improve your SC score? Where are you applying? Good luck with your apps! _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ Aiming for 750+

2006 November 3rd, 06:56 PM	#6 (permalink)
jay711 Within my grasp! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: New York Posts: 253	congrats! I notice that most of the higher scorers are Indian? How come? Jay PS: I'm not Indian. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _

2006 November 4th, 07:22 AM	#10 (permalink)
sam_08854 Eager! Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 48	Awa 5.5 Update - got my official scores/AWA today. AWA is 5.5 Thanks everyone and my best wishes to everyone here. Used the templates and it really helped. Again, I would point to OG. Look at the examples there (different kind of essays - @ 6, 4, 2 score level - for the same topic). Will really help you understand what is needed. Examples are very important.

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2006 November 3rd, 07:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
skarya TestMagic Guru Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 1,332	congratulations!!! 45 in verbal ... great! Good luck for phase 2... regards, skarya BTW once again GMATPrep proves to be the accurate indicator of one's performance in the real exam.

2006 November 3rd, 12:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
GMATsept20 Within my grasp! Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 100	Excellent Score!!!;I started my preparation around the sametime..but have not been able to spend anytime in the last 1 month. What schools are you applying ?;Parttime or Fulltime ?

2006 November 3rd, 03:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
chatru TestMagic Guru Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,783	Wow! Excellent Score!!! Chase your dream !!!

2006 November 3rd, 10:39 PM	#7 (permalink)
sam_08854 Eager! Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 48	GmatSpet 20 Thinking of part-time/executive MBA and looking only at the top schools. Dyoh OG guide and the explanations really helped me the most - it was almost like a Aha! moment 2 days before the actual exam. Read through and understand why the other options are wrong - typically, most of the questions will have 2-4 mistakes - as long as you catch even one, your chances of getting the right answer are pretty high. Also, read through the forums. Jay - being Indian is only advatageous because of the tough school/college curriculum we have. If you set the bar high enough, it automatically encourages students to work harder. The fact that we have a $1 billion+ population doesn't hurt either. Statistically, there are bound to be people with strong verbal/math/arts etc skills :-) Got a PM on Verbal prep Gave some tips on reading comprehension - For SC, memorize the question types listed in OG11. For analytical, I did not do much since that was a strong area for me.

2006 November 4th, 01:27 AM	#8 (permalink)
Mani Jagathesan Eager! Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Atlanta Posts: 73	Sam, I have finished the OG questions. Would you suggest I do questions from 1000CR and 1000SC or redo the OG qtns? I thought redoing the qtns may not be the best way to practise. OG 11 explanations are very good. Thanks

2006 November 4th, 03:05 AM	#9 (permalink)
sam_08854 Eager! Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 48	Mani repeat only the ones that you got wrong....and give yourself a couple of weeks before you re-try..... if you have time, definitely do the 1000 SCs...I could not since I had a total of 3 weeks

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