Kill'ed'GMAT ---- My score-770 Q-49 V-47

[KillGmat]

I took GMAT yesterday and scored
770 99%
Q -49
V -47 . I am waiting for my AWA score. I am confident that i will be getting no less than 5.5 on AWA.

A big thank you to TM and all the members.
I am busy for couple of days ,since i am shifting to a new place! I will write my debrief by this weekend!

Take care and good luck !

***

Hey All,
Here is my debrief.

Preparation time - 4 months
No. of attempts - 2

Test Experience -

Quant -

Difficulty level was very similar to that of GMATprep/OG 11(last 50 questions). Strangely, I did not get any questions on Permutation and Combination nor on probability. I did not get any range problems either.

I got many inequality problems. I committed few couple of mistakes in the 20-20 Qs range, which hurt my score. But in all, I was super alert on my test day. I was confident that I would get at least 49 in math section, since I had never got below that mark in any of my practice tests.

Verbal –

SCs were super clear without any ambiguity. You can easily identify the wrong answer. Usually, the correct answer is very concise and clear. Few options introduce new errors. You have to be alert to identify those. Few SCs were as big as 4-5 lines.

CRs(call them mini-passages) . I was stunned to see such huge CRs. But they are the ones that are very easy. No diagramming CRs,just long ones. The length of the passages can really intimidate you. The trick is not to panic and just be calm and patient .

RCs – 2 small ones and 2 HUGE RCs. But in all , they were pretty simple. If you have practiced a lot , you will get hold of such tricky questions.
Options are tricky since they are very close which consumes lot of time.

My preparation –

Math materials-

OG11 ,OG10
Princeton Review
Kaplan
OG Math Review
800 Score online material
CAT material
1000 PS
1000 DS
Misc (Notes by TBAY, BellCurve ,tough Questions from TM)

Verbal Materials-

OG10,OG-11
1000 SCs
1000 CRs
3000 RCs
Manhattan SCs
Brutal SCs
Stephen’s guide for fallacies(CR)
CR Powerscore bible

Game Plan-

I have seen few prodigies who have cracked GMAT with only 1 or 2 months of preparation. I definitely don’t belong to that Elite group. I gave GMAT prep just when I started my preparation to identify my weaknesses. I got 670 in my GMATprep . My strength was math and I lagged behind in verbal section.

I have given CAT(Common admission test) before for IIMs. But I missed it by 0.5 %. Maths in CAT is much more difficult than what we have in GMAT. So I was always confident about math section. Yet I made sure that I was in touch with math formulas/concepts/strategies all the time by practicing 50 math problems daily.

I would recommend 1000 series for starters. Though few people say that problems given in 1000 series are too basic to feature in real GMAT test, these problems can help you strengthen your concepts.

For advance mathematics, I used 800 score notes. Especially for Standard deviation. I found couple of useful pages on Google as well.
One can also find probability problems from TM. I remember a post dedicated only to permutation and combination. Those documents are more than sufficient. I had prepared my own notes from my CAT material for other important topics.

Actively participate in forum discussions. This really helps. For math sections, keep a track on all the threads posted by pros like Ankhost, krovvidy ,Bob, Kevinspain.
Post your answers with explanations, even if you know the answer. Give a detailed explanation and solve the problems till the end. This gives lot of confidence. Look at bob’s posts. He explains the answers beautifully. I have learnt a lot from him.

Best thing about Kevin spain’s explanation is that he offers so many shortcuts. At times it used go almost tangent to my head but later if you have concepts clear, these shortcuts save lot of time.

For those who have just started, I would advise them to follow all 800Bob’s posts , because his posts are simple and he offers many examples to support his explanations. At times you start feeling as if you are sitting in a classroom.

For SC:

Download 1000 SCs and start solving the problems right away. Almost all the problems have been discussed in this forum. So you don’t have to worry about “OAs”. But note that , even 1000 SCs wont help you if you don’t understand why you are discarding a particular option.

1) Understand what the SC is trying to test you on
2) Note why other options are wrong.
3) Also not what are the additional(new) errors which have been introduced in the options.
4) Know why a particular option is correct.
5) Gel the option with rest of the sentence and see if it holds good.

I always followed this method when I solved SC. It will take time initially, but once you have solved many problems, you will start solving much faster.

Few of the SCs in 1000 SC doc are ambiguous . Solve those problems as well. The problems in real GMAT are very clear and concise , since you have solved hopeless problems like these, you will find it very easy to solve the real GMAT problems.

CR-
If you have just started your preparation, then use PowerScore CR bible. That is the best book for CR. Apart from this I have couple of notes for CR. Practice 20 CRs daily. I would advise same strategy for CR as well. Know why you are discarding a particular option.
Actively participating in forum discussions will help you immensely in this regard. Devise your own strategy and follow it religiously for all the problems. Whether it is easy or tough, follow that strategy.

My strategy was –

1) Read the stimulus.
2) Read the question stem. Understand what the question is asking. Understand what the stimulus is saying.
3) Form your own answer.
3) Re-read both stimulus and question to avoid silly mistakes like in LEAST/MOST/STRENGTHEN/WEAKEN etc
4) Know why you are discarding a particular option.
5) Choose the answer

In doing this –
You can use the following method to save time

When you skim through the options , you might encounter few choices which are definitely wrong. Few which come close to the answer.
So mark
“-“ for definitely wrong.
“+” for answer
“?” doubtful .

You will have to solve many problems in order to master this strategy.

RC-

This is the most infuriating section in verbal. I tried literally everything under the sun to conquer this section. But nothing helped. I read lots of notes /debriefings etc. But nothing seemed to help. I decided to start afresh. I downloaded 3000 RCs and started solving 4 passage daily. I used to keep a count on number of wrong answers. I later figured out that it was the mental fatigue (or say my laziness) which hurt my RC score. I used to get 1 or 2 wrong in first 2 passages, but later committed 4-5 mistakes in the other two. So the only solution was to face it head on and not to ignore those “boring” areas. Once you start getting answers correct, you will start enjoying solving RCs. You will notice that your score has gradually increased.

All you need is patience.
I never read any Newspaper journals to improve my reading, so I won’t recommend that. You can go through passages from LSAT , which are more tougher than real GMAT to improve your reading.

So what you need to do –

IF YOU ARE A STARTER

1)Get the materials I have mentioned above. You will get almost all the material online on esnips.
2)Download GMATprep and give GMATprep1. Identify your weak areas.
3)Understand each section properly. Few might not even know what CR is , so understand each section by referring these books.
4)Prepare formula list / Flash cards.
5)Form your own package plan according to your convenience – mine was
Verbal package –(20 SCs,20 CRs,4 RCs)
Math Package - (20 PS,20 DS)
Solve one package daily without fail.
6)Prepare your own Error list. And make sure you are not repeating the same mistakes( this will help you a lot in SC)
7)Regularly monitor your progress.

Never refer to others’ notes. It will never help you. Sahil notes / Spidey notes will never help you much since it was prepared according to their needs. Prepare your own notes, it will give you lot of confidence.

FOR OTHERS-

1)You have exhausted almost all your resources and have done everything, YET your score is not improving.
2)I was facing similar problem. I did everything in SC, yet my score always went down because of SC.
3)Solution – I changed my strategy. Instead of just selecting the “right” answer. I started questioning myself as to why other options are wrong. I used to note down any new concept being tested by GMAC.
4)Stopped posting silly IMOs and started actively participating in discussions.
5)Prepared my own notes by going through almost all the posts posted by Bob or by Erin.
6)Trust me , no book whether it is Kaplan/manhattan/PR can ever come close to Bob’s explanations. If I take printout of the all the bob’s posts , it is no less than “a Kaplan”.
7) In math, I was weak in SD, I found it very boring and this casual attitude of mine cost me heavily during my first test. So this time around I changed my approach. I decided to counter it rather than just ignore it and pray god that it doesn’t come in the real test.

Tests –

I took loads of tests. Solve as many tests as possible.

1) Kaplan

My opinion –
Good for practice. If you have bought Kaplan book then exhaust these tests in the mid-way of your preparation. If you are a starter it will hurt your confidence, because it is a low scoring exam. Since confidence is the key in GMAT, you might not want to see a low score at the end of your preparation. So give it when you still have 1-2 months left for the G-Day.
I took Kaplan tests at the end of my preparation and I started scoring in 680 range.

2)800 Score tests –
Old ones – Nothing great . The scoring system is wrong according to me. You can easily get 30-35 correct in math and end up with a scaled score of 44-45. Use it only for practice.

New ones – Math section is good. But verbal section is awful.

3)PR tests –

Math section is worth less. Not even close to the real GMAT
Use it for Verbal practice.

4)Old ETS tests(Powerprep test)

Good for starters. You can get a fair idea on what GMAT is all about. It wont help much for others.

5) Retired GMAT tests.
Since it comes from the GMAC , it is very helpful. Though I am not too sure whether the scoring mechanism is correct or not. Nevertheless, good for practice.

6)GMATprep –

THE BEST OF ALL. Solve as many times as possible. Get used to the interface as the real Test looks exactly the same.
To get new questions each time you give GMATprep –
Delete following files –(or take backup)

Go to
Program files >GMATprep>exams>practice test#.TXT
Program files >GMATprep>exams>practice test#.XACT

I am not sure whether it will work for you or not, but I got new set of questions next time when I gave the test.

For Scoretop members –

For those who have lost money because of Scoretop shutdown. Stop sulking and concentrate only on GMAT preparation. Even if I had got 790 by accessing GMAT material, I wouldn’t have experienced this feeling. Because you know yourself that you have cheated. Nothing can beat this feeling. This feeling of satisfaction.


Final words –

GMAT is nothing but test of perseverance. It will come hard at you if you approach it with a causal attitude. Never take anything for granted. Keep working on your weaknesses relentlessly.
And remember, hard work always pays. It takes time, but it surely does.

I have loads of study material. If you need something, then don’t hesitate to message me. My inbox is almost full, so just post whatever you want. I will see if I can help you out. I am just a click away.

Good luck
KillGmat

[prasdude]

You KILLed GMAT allright! Let me be the first to congratulate you.Awesome score....will wait for ur detailed debrief.

[Queen09]

Awesome score man.. I just read somewhere that geberally scores are low in July Aug ...seems true no more.
Tell us more !!

[GMATsept20]

Amzing Score!!!

[nazar]

Congratulations@@

Would you please advice us about the followings:
1. For math what materials have you followed?
2. What should be the techniques to crack math part?
3. For verbal part which materials have you studied?
4. For RC which approach have you applied?
5. In verbal part what have you felt? Is it similar to GMATPREP, very similar to GMATPREP, or less similar to GMATPREP?
6. Other advice, if any.
Thanks in advance.

[texas2904]

Rock on man. With the amount of prep you put in, you deserve it.

[FeverGMAT]

Congrats mate. Really great score.

[sgmat]

Congratulations!!!!

please do share your debrief in more details....also suggest some tips for the verbal part of the exam.....

Cheers!!
sgmat

[damsel02]

Hey dude!...congratulations!..waiting for your debrief...Thanks!!

[MCapri]

Awesome score KillGMAT!! Was waiting for your "Just Finished My GMAT" post from many days. Just knew you would crack GMAT big time. Verbal 47. Wow!!
Just gives some hope for the TM members like us

Congrats!!!