720 ( Q:49 V:40) on 4th Dec 2003 : My Story

[kuriang]

Hello everyone

I am pleased to report my GMAT score (Quant:49 Verbal:40 Total:720).

I had taken the exam earlier on 4th September 2003 (660 Quant:46 Verbal:34). So to all the TestMagicians who are upset with their scores,here is my message...'This test is beatable'.

 

My GMAT experience:

 

The essays were quite easy.I used a template for both the essays.I think that helped me to structure my thoughts quite soon.

 

Maths section started with an easy question, a comparison of fractions.

Then the next question was a Geometry one,relating to the sum of exterior angles of a triangle. Next one was about the intersecting points of a circle with a straight line.I had no problems with these questions.Then the questions started to get a bit tough, I got some tough standard deviation and number property datasufficiency questions.I think I got the first 10 questions right.Then the questions started to get progressively difficult.

For ex I got some maths number property questions where answer choices were like a) I b) I and II c)II and III d)I,II and III etc

These sort of questions consumed a lot of my time.As a result I had to do the math faster than I wanted.I had prepared my mental clock to give 2 mins per question,but these ETS questions were taking more than 3 mins and there were no easy sitters coming to make up for lost time ! I started to make up for lost time by resorting to short cuts. For ex there was a combination question ...it goes something like this

 

There are 7 people in room.Two of them won't go together.

How may ways to select a committe of 3 ??

 

With no restrictions we can select 3 people from 7 in 7C3 ie 35 ways.

There was only one answer less than 35,so I picked up that(30)without resorting to the calculations.But there are only so many tactics you can use against the relentless ETS barrage.:)

I think ETS finally catches your level by giving you tough questions one after the other like bullets and by making you run against the clock.So be prepared for tough questions in a row,if you are aiming for 700+ level.

 

By the time verbal started,I was almost dizzy. Those tough math questions took a lot of my mental energy ! Sentence correction and Critical reasoning were fairly easy.If you can comfortably solve most of the SC and CR questions in this forum, you will take the ETS attack comfortably. Boy! what suprised me in verbal was the Comprehension questions.The passages were really condensed and I was having trouble focussing ! I think the passages were of the LSAT level,and strongly advise fellow TestMagicians to be overprepared for reading comprehension.

 

Finally with all the courage I could muster, I voted yes for the score...I was quite pleased with the score :) !

 

I wish to thank all my fellow magicians who helped me achieve this score. Special thanks to Sujayath,BreezeThruGMAT,Hippo,Rajesh Talwani and HelloGMAT for the engaging questions and discussions we had.

Finally TONS of thanks to 'Da BOSS' of TestMagic. Erin,you have made this site Sine Qua Non for the GMAT aspirants. I strongly feel that you should write a GMAT SC book for students aiming at 700+.We definitely need more questions like the famous 'Rail Road Parallel Construction question'.

 

How to Prepare for 700+

 

I think I have gone through almost all the guides in the market.

I recommend following resources;

 

Official guide is the best resource for verbal and Maths(last 200 questions or so).

For additional practice I recommend the following guides ...

For Maths: Kaplan book.

For RC/CR: 10 more actual LSAT tests

For SC: Practical English Usage by Michael Swan.

Kaplan 800

 

If you have money and time to spend try the Kaplan Online course.

It is good for Maths and DataSufficiency practice.

But the online Kaplan Math tests are way too easy for the GMAT.

If you are aiming for 700+,Kaplan SC is not difficult enough to challenge you.Kaplan CR is good,but I would like more Bold face questions (I saw only two Bold face questions in the kaplan's course).But overall you can find lot of questions to practice on and hence my recommendation.

 

To get a top score in maths you need to think creatively. For ex

You might be able to answer this straightforward probability question;

 

'A die numbered one through six is rolled 5 times. What is the probability that on exactly 3 rolls the number of dots showing is no greater than 4 ?'

 

But how about this question ??

 

A player rolls a die and receives the same number of dollars as the number of dots on the face that turns up. What should the player pay for each roll if he wants to make a profit of one dollar per throw of the die in the long term ??

 

If you can solve such strategic thinking questions within 2 minutes of time, you are well on the way to score 50 or above in maths.

 

 

For verbal, you need to have thorough understanding of Relative clauses,Parallel constructions,reduced relative clauses,instances where subject needs to agree with object of the prepositional phrases etc.

For ex you know relative clauses well if you can judge whether this sentence is correct .

 

'Sales of US goods to developing countries rose to $160billion in 1992, which is 14 percent more than the previous year and largely offsets weak demand from Europe and Japan'.

 

Do read the explanations of the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] well.Remember if you can understand [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] grammatical jargon, you are well on course !

 

Finally, don't give up. Self pity is the most useless emotion in this world.

It makes you thoroughly useless to yourself and others.

We have only one life to dream.So never stop building your dreams with sweat and blood. Let the Lady Luck smile on Magicians. :)

 

 

 

 

 

[sujayath]

Time for dancing bananas ... [banana][banana][banana]

 

You did it Man ... You have given me the confidence that scoring 700+ is definitely achievable....

[hellogmat]

Hi Kuriang,

Congratulations for a successful GMAT! Here is my approach for solving your questions.

 

There are 7 people in room.Two of them won't go together.

How may ways to select a committe of 3 ??

 

An easier way of solving the question above --

Answer = Total number of ways - number of ways they will go together

 

Total number of ways = 7C3

Number of ways they will go together (2 seats are taken. So, out of the remaining 5, any one can be on the third seat) = 5

7C3 - 5 = 7x6x5/6 -5 = 35 - 5 = 30.

 

'A die numbered one through six is rolled 5 times. What is the probability that on exactly 3 rolls the number of dots showing is no greater than 4 ?'

This question can not appear on GMAT because it is beyond the syllabus of simple probability. Anyway, the way I would solve the question is ---

All faces have equal chances of coming on top. Therefore, if you roll the die x number of times, each one of the number would have appeared on top x/6 number of times. (I wrote these two sentences to prove that all faces have equal chance). Now, you sum up the total of 6 different rolls = 1+2+3+4+5+6 = 21. If I have to make profit of 1 dollar on each roll, I am willing to pay 21 - 6 = 15 for 6 rolls. So, the cost of per roll paid should be 15/6 = $2.5

 

[thaiva]

Wow,

 

:)Congradt's on your GMAT score, wicked.

 

What uni's you planning to apply to?

 

Good Luck and Best Wishes to you,

 

Tim

[kuriang]

Hi hellogmat

You are absolutely right with the probability question !

No wonder you got 50 in Maths !!:)

 

I agree that this question is a bit tough to appear on an actual GMAT.

But solving these sort of questions develop the lateral thinking capacity,which is crucial to crack the 50 level in Maths.

 

 

 

 

[kuriang]

Hi thaiva

I am still researching the schools. I am looking for stong finance schools that could launch my asset management career. I am not very keen to apply to the schools which are the hotbeds of 'efficient market theory, or which are fanatics of 'Modern portfolio theory'.My problem is that many top schools such as Chicago are proponents of these theories.For ex prof Eugene Fama,who coined the term 'efficient market',still teaches finance classes at Chicago and so are some other Nobel prize winners who are strong proponents of these theories.Similar is the case with Wharton,where the finance professor Jeremy siegel,the author of 'stocks for the long run',teaches the virtues of 'buy and hold' method of investing,a method which has spectacularly failed since the Nasdaq bubble popped in 2000.

 

I have fundamental disagreements with these arguments and so don't want to learn all these 'ivory tower theories' and then unlearn all these in the marketplace. I am more likely to study with a school that teaches about exploiting the inefficiencies in the market place.A likely school could be Yale,where the prof Robert shiller, the author of 'irrational exuberance'

teaches about the importance of valuations and about the irrational behaviour in the marketplace.

 

That said, I have no background in Finance.I am an Indian software Engineer with around 6yrs experience and with work experience in India,UK and US.But so are hundreds of 'Desi Developers'. So it may take a while and some more success in the market place to convince the Bschools that I am a strong candidate ! So my search continues !

 

[rajkhurana]

Hello kuriang

your post is really informative. I was wondering that what did you do for reaching 40 from initial 34. Did you really studied a lot after your first test, or you feel that first time you were unlucky?

You wrote that for SC one should read some grammar book recommened by u. From what I understand, most of the people who get 40+ dont do that. They practice mostly from [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] and go by their instincts. I feel that since GMAT sc tests on few fundamental errors, reading whole grammar rules might confuse you unnecessarily. May be a good reading habit and focussing more on Og type of questions help more.

Regarding maths, do you know of any online source from where one can practice some tuf math questions and also learn some tricks of solving fast.

Thanks

[kuriang]

I was wondering that what did you do for reaching 40 from initial 34. Did you really studied a lot after your first test, or you feel that first time you were unlucky?

You wrote that for SC one should read some grammar book recommened by u. From what I understand, most of the people who get 40+ dont do that. They practice mostly from [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] and go by their instincts.

 

Hi RajKhurana

Most people have got an assumption that to score well in SC they only need to finish [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] 2-3 times.I used to believe that till I got burned the first time I took GMAT. As Benjamin Frankin says, The things that hurt instruct . Believe me, to crack SC you need to have strong grammar foundation atleast in the areas usually covered by GMAT.

My major mistake in preparing first time, was to rely too much on instinct and practising hundreds of questions without bothering to find the grammatical underpinnings of the correct answers.

ETS can eat you for lunch with their tricky questions,if you solely rely on your instincts.

For ex if you are not strong on relative clauses ETS can easily fool you with questions such as these...

 

 

She is one of the few women who have/hasclimbed Mount Everest.

Which one is correct ?? have/has.

 

You will know the answer if you have the understanding of how relative clauses work. These are the sort of subtleties which could bring you top points.So in short, what really matters is not how many times you do the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], but how well you understand the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] answers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pimnya]

Congratulation[dance][dance][dance]

[clone]

 

She is one of the few women who have/hasclimbed Mount Everest.

Which one is correct ?? have/has.

 

 

Is the answer is "have"?

[thaiva]

I think that the answer is "Have" also clone.

 

It's just thats similar to what some of the prep material in the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] is like.

 

Anyway if you put it into prespective it clearly makes more sense , as

 

She is one of the few women who has climbed Mount Everest. just doesn't quite work it makes more sense using "Have"

 

Tim.

 

[gmatfordays]

Kuriang-- I could not agree with you more on how to approach the GMAT SC. I too just burned through question after question on SC and CR, but was still getting some wrong. This is the best piece of advise for anyone who is native or non-native to the english language. Understanding SC in like understanding how the pure logic of critical reasoning is. You can easily rely on your own intuition and think you are correct, however that is exactly where ETS trips you up. So know the logic and know the foundation of the english language (logic). you can nail it.

[tobe]

Congrats Kuriang. I agree nothing but blood and sweat is the way to roses.

 

For me the Probability question

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

'A die numbered one through six is rolled 5 times. What is the probability that on exactly 3 rolls the number of dots showing is no greater than 4 ?'

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

is not as straight forward as the next one you posted.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A player rolls a die and receives the same number of dollars as the number of dots on the face that turns up. What should the player pay for each roll if he wants to make a profit of one dollar per throw of the die in the long term ??

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I am solving the first question like this

 

probability = ((4 * 4 * 4) (4C2 + 3C2 + 2C2))/6^5.

Is this right?

 

 

Akshay

 

[kuriang]

I am solving the first question like this

 

probability = ((4 * 4 * 4) (4C2 + 3C2 + 2C2))/6^5.

 

Hi Tobe

The answer is (2/3*2/3*2/3*1/3*1/3)*5C3 = 80/243.

[rajkhurana]

 

 

Thanks for your answer kuriang. . See, the point is I do more than 95% correct in practice SC questions.. but I dont know what happens when I go in real exam. Instead of doing a grammar book, is it helpful if one goes through some of the grammar links given by TestMagicians( for ex http://webster.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/index.html )?

if you really feel that after reading the book you made significant improvement in SC, then I will go for it. Can you suggest, what exactly should one read in that book. the whole book or some parts???? Where can I get that book?

Any suggestions for practicing maths questions.

[tobe]

Thanks Kuriang,

 

I should multiply the formula I showed with 2*2 to account for the remaining two needing to turn values of 5 or 6 each. Then my formula matches yours.

 

Thanks for correcting.

 

 

Akshay

[confused]

Congratulations! No more GMAT for you!!

 

Kuriang,

can you tell me what you mean by:

"reduced relative clauses,instances where subject needs to agree with object of the prepositional phrases etc".

Can you point me to some examples on [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip].. Thanks!

[dig12us]

Kurang

 

Congragulations!!!

 

How did you get the answer for the die. can you please explain your logic

[schakrap]

Dig12US,

 

Prob of getting no greater than 4 in exactly 3 rolls is

 

4/6 X 4/6 X 4/6

 

Prob of getting greater than 4 on the other 2 rolls is

 

2/6 X 2/6

 

Since the 3 rolls of no greater than 4 can happen anytime in the course of 5 rolls the no of combinations = 5c3

 

i.e 4/6 x 4/6 x 4/6 x 2/6 x 2/6 x 5C3 = 80/243

[Erin]

Dude/Dudette, you rock!! Congrats! Beautiful post, too! :D [bounce]

 

Originally posted by kuriang

 

She is one of the few women who have/has climbed Mount Everest.

Which one is correct ?? have/has.

 

Just for the record, you can find the answer/explanation to this grammar point here:

 

one of the people who is/are

 

Again, congrats!! [goodjob]

[mbadetroit]

Erin,

 

I recently gave GMAT and scored 660. I used books available at any local bookstore to prepare for this exam. I am considering to retake it. Is the class room coaching like the one given by veritas or kaplan any good? If yes, please share your views.

[dig12us]

For Dice Probability questions like this I find the Bionomial formula really really helpful.

 

Here n=5, x=3 p=2/3

 

5C3 * (2/3)^3 * (1-2/3)^ 5-3

[ddalal]

I had a hard time buying the solution posed so I worked it out in a way I could understand it (brute force, that is, counted required and divided by all possible).

 

The solution offered here can easily be reduced to your, much more elegant, solution, but this might help those who are wondering why you can simply 'place' the dice using 5C3 and then start multiplying by 4/6 or 2/6.

 

Total number of possible rolls = 6^5 = 7776

Total number of rolls where we have exactly 3 dice showing 1,2,3, or 4 (in other words 4 or less) =

 

5C3 ways of picking the die that show 1,2,3, or 4

There are 4 * 4 * 4 possible combinations of face values for these for 3 die = 64

For each of these combinations, there remain 2 spots we havn't counted, and these spots represent 2 * 2 more combinations (must land 5 or 6 face up) = 4

So, the total desired combinations are: 5C3 * 64 * 4 = 2560

 

2560 / 7776 = 80/243 (the same answer everyone else arrived to)

 

This equals the proposed solutions in the following way:

Note the equation I created is: 5C3 * ( 4 * 4 * 4 * 2 * 2 ) / (6 * 6 * 6 * 6 * 6 )

Which is really: 5C3 * 4/6 * 4/6 * 4/6 * 2/6 * 2/6

 

Cheers,

 

Danny

 

[pmane786]

Congratulations on your score.I appeared for GMAT on Dec 30th and scored 630 (Q-47 and V-30)

 

As you can make out my dismal score in verbal contributed to such a low overall score.I can see from your scores that you really improved in the verbal section.

I will really appreciate if you can point to some good resources which can help me improve my verbal score.

Also any specific strategy you followed that you think would be useful.

 

I believe that I can do much better than this..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sambazone]

kuriang! Congrats to you! You are my hero! I scored 650 first time and am hoping to retake it in a month to get a better score. I am also interested in Finance and I absolutely agree with your views on Investment. I'd rather study market inefficiencies than good old buy/hold strategies. I love George Sores, his book Alchemy of Finance is very good for anybody trying to understand market inefficiences.

Have you come up with some good schools that part ways with traditional thinking? Or do we have to do the rites of passage to get into the biz?