LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
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 RC, 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.
Bookmarks