tanksingh Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 took my GMAT yesterday. This was my second attempt and finally got a dream score. 780 http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/images/smilies/new_ukliam2.gif Q50 - 94 percentile http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_frown.gif V47 - 99 percentile http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/images/smilies/new_2gunsfiring_v1.gif I had scored 720 a month back. The break up of scores last time around was Q51 V36. The purpose of my opening a new thread is to enlighten fellow gmatters(now that i m the been there done that kinds ) with all the knowledge i have assimilated in my 4 month sojourn. Though, I will cover most of the aspects of my preparation and G-Day experience, the post will be most useful for people who are already hitting 700+ and want to reach 750+ kinda scores, and for people who could not perform as well on the Actual thing as they did on mocks and are contemplating retaking the exam. People who are in here for some general advice and tips, please pm me or post in ur message and I will be glad to help. I started preparing around may this year and booked a date for 29th July. I was on an onsite assignment in US and absolutely alone (no teammates) , so that was a motivation for me to study whenever I had nothin else to do(which happens all the time when u r living alone in the middle of nowhere). I did all the usual stuff: Princeton Review, Kaplan, OG 11 and OG Verbal Review. I was doing pretty well in the mocks. My test record was pretty good: Gmat prep - 720,730,760,780,790 Powerprep - 750,770 MGMAT online - 770 I returned to India in mid-july and was well prepared, hoping to get a good score, but ended up with a disappointing 720. The moment I saw the score, I knew I was retaking the test. Next up, I took a week's break to analyse what went wrong. I did not study during this time. And by 1st week of september I was back in US on another consulting assignment. I found a few major issues wrt the disconnect between my mock scores and the actual GMAT. The powerprep and GMATprep scores were heavily skewed as I was getting atleast 2-3 RCs that I had seen before and this was helping me to rush through them and have more time to work on the rest of the questions.This had a deleterious effect on my pacing as it made me complacent that no matter what I would finish verbal on time. Sadly on my first attempt I had majorly run out of time. I ended up doing last 12 qns in 15 mins.. semi-guessing on most of them. Another bad effect of repeated GMATpreps was that I thought I was good @ RC, but in reality, I was good only on RCs I had seen/read before and not on new ones. To add to my woes all the 4 RCs I got on my first attempt were science passages and 3 of them were really long. This time around I practised only on new RCs, mostly from the 1000 RC document. I also did a lot of LSAT RCs and LSAT CRs. LSAT RCs are extremely complicated and though they may not always touch topics that you are likely to see on GMAT they are a great way to prepare for GMAT. I would suggest making your own gameplan, the one that suits you best. I started by taking down notes, simple things like whether the author is taking a position(arguing) or simply explaining stuff. Does the second paragraph substantiate some sentence from the 1st para or simply takes the passage in a new direction. Though frankly, I rarely refered back to what I scribbled, it helped me be an active reader. And by the time I reached the questions I knew exactly "what" the author intended to say and "how" he said that. This increased my efficiency manifold. LSAT CRs may not be as helpful, but are good for practise esp. if u have exhausted all other "official" material. In the meanwhile, I was also able to improve on SC. Read MGMAT SC Guide as many times as you can, you will always find a new concept as you read tht doc. Use KAP 800 not only as a compilation of super tough probs, but also as a guide to improve ur SC error spotting skills. Read how an "800- test taker" thinks and internalize that. The other thing I did was, I registered for the 6 MGMATs. They are really good. And, I would say a better indicator of your performance than official test(esp if u have done OG). My scores in MGMAT were : MGMAT 1 - Q51 V 41 - 750 MGMAT 2 - Q51 V 40 - 740 MGMAT 3 - Q51 V 45 - 780 MGMAT 4 - Q51 V 42 - 760 MGMAT 5 - Q51 V 45 - 780 MGMAT 6 - Q51 V 45 - 780 Finally to the G-day experiences G-Day 1 - 29th July Delhi,India Had a decent AWA (scored 5.5) Quant was good till the 2nd last qn (a tough geometry qn), Whenever u see triangles, think pythagoras thm. whether u have to calculate area, calculate length of sides. its the most imp concept for all geometry probs that appear on GMAT. Even if u dont see a traingle, try drawing one by joining pts. I got this qn wrong but still ended with a Q51. Was totally out of sorts in verbal. Got some out of the world Sceince passages. my timing was badly put off. And ended up affecting my overall performance. Cud only manage a V36(lower than what I have ever got on ne mock). G-Day 2 - 2nd Sep Columbus, OH Had a decent AWA(didnt prepare this time around so was writing more freely). Quant went alright. I got a bad geometry DS on Q9. It took me 5 mins but cudnt be certain of the answer. I got couple of tough questions on standard deviation. ended up with 10 mins to spare. In hindsight i cud have used tht time on the 2-3 qns on which i semi-guessed and moved on. Lesson - if u r good @ maths , dont rush, take ur time.. u will mostly be able to catch up unless u run too out of time. Took a quick break (red-bull n all). I wrote down my pacing strategy on the noteboard (Q8 - 60 mins Q17- 45 mins Q26 - 30 mins Q34 - 15 mins). This time I was in cruise control. The first 7 qns were easy and I rushed thru them. Q8 was a tricky SC and I may have got it wrong. Got my first RC on Q9.. things went great in the middle. I was keeping pace with my plan. Cracked all the RCs with the strategy I mentioned above. Got a few tricky SCs in the end, but atleast I had enuff time to think thru them. The last one was esp tuff(entire long sentence underlined and close options). Had 4 mins to do that, and I knew I had cracked the verbal section to get tht toughie on Q41. finished the test. clicked on report scores. saw 780 flash on the screen.. and i had kept my date with destiny http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/images/smilies/mgk.gif To end this looong debrief, let me quote the best advice I found while reading the gazillion debriefs on internet "When youre eliminating answer options, dont write (a), (b), © ... on the scratch pad and then sit striking them off. Eats ur time. Use your fingers instead. Let ur thumb be option (a) and the lil finger be option (e).. lucky the test has five options and you have five fingers! Hold your fist open. Wen u think the option is wrong, just close that finger in. The one left open is your answer. With a little practice, you get used to it. It actually reduced my silly mistakes. And it saves time. " Background: Integrated Masters in Mathematics and Computing from IIT Delhi,India (2006 passout) - Low acads 2+ yrs work-ex in analytics/consulting - Banking/FMCG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander75 Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 *AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lemme be the first to Congratulate U!! What was your strategy for Verbal from the beginning? How did you improve it so many notches? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitzi Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 GREAT!!! It is an incredible accomplishment!!! When you prepared for the 2nd test, what was your strategy? I like your quote too, It seems very efficient to save time. Thanks. Good luck to your application process!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buji Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 congrats !its simply awesome ! dude pls share some plan regarding verbal ..its really helpful...congrats once again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gettomanish Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Great Achievement!!!! Congratulations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finsisher Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Your post has motivated me to re-appear, Thanks a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planet_manish Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Great Score....:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandeep_chads Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Dude.... you made a difference here .... great score and good job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abhimax Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Gr8 score dude...congrates I've heard that rest time between 2 section is increased to 10 min...is it true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svetlana Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Awesome Dude. Good Job.:tup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseburst Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Congrats Tanksingh..... GoodShow.... Can u pls suggest me as to how shud RCs be practised??I mean as u said 1000 RC.They each have got around 7-9 questions per passage.Wont tht make it easy to average down time per question.(some questions r easy and some not).....I have around 30 days for my test.Which one is preferrable LSAT or 1000 for RC? And wht shud be practised for SC other than OG and Kaplan 800??Did u do 1000SC?? Wht do u mean when u say LSAT CR are not helpful?? Wht practice do u suggest for quant other than official guides??Were the questions of OG level?? Thanx in advance....Ur insights will be most appreciated.. Good luck for applications!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramiy Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Hi tanksingh ..... I wanna know about ur time break in English (Q8 - 60 mins Q17- 45 mins Q26 - 30 mins Q34 - 15 mins). Can you please elaborate . Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanksingh Posted September 4, 2008 Author Share Posted September 4, 2008 Congrats Tanksingh..... GoodShow.... Can u pls suggest me as to how shud RCs be practised??I mean as u said 1000 RC.They each have got around 7-9 questions per passage.Wont tht make it easy to average down time per question.(some questions r easy and some not).....I have around 30 days for my test.Which one is preferrable LSAT or 1000 for RC? And wht shud be practised for SC other than OG and Kaplan 800??Did u do 1000SC?? Wht do u mean when u say LSAT CR are not helpful?? Wht practice do u suggest for quant other than official guides??Were the questions of OG level?? Thanx in advance....Ur insights will be most appreciated.. Good luck for applications!! LSAT RCs appear at the end of the 1000 RC document. If u have enuff time, don't bother too much about timing. LSAT RCs suggest 35 mins for a 26 question test. Take 40 mins but work on getting every qn right. Even if u dont get every qn correct in one go, u shud try and figure out the reasoning for the correct answer once u see the key. The RCs in the first part of 1000RC are also good, but I didn't find the quality of questions or answer keys upto the mark. LSAT CR exposes u to variety of qns, some of them maybe pertinent to GMAT. But I found a lot of qns that dont stand a chance of coming on GMAT. Its better to exhaust the official resources for CR, do kap 800 for CR and probably the goto 1000CR. For quant OG is more like 550-650 level. So if u r targetting 49+ in quant u will be better served by taking gmatprep (quant only) several times. dont bother about repeats.. just take the exam as long as u r gettin new quant qns.. they r the closest to wht u will get on the real thing. Also if u r really confident... try the MGMAT CATs ... the quant level is awesome(though almost above GMAT level); it will definitely help you speed up in quant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_gmat Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Congratulations!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanksingh Posted September 4, 2008 Author Share Posted September 4, 2008 Hi tanksingh ..... I wanna know about ur time break in English (Q8 - 60 mins Q17- 45 mins Q26 - 30 mins Q34 - 15 mins). Can you please elaborate . Thanks Simple... just make a plan tht suits u. my plan was to be done with q8 when the time left is 60 mins.. q17 when time left is 45 mins.. and so on and so forth.. my reasoning for the nos. - i can be reasonably fast in the beginning.. i have to be faster in the middle.. where i fumbled in my first attempt... . and u r in ur best state of mind.. the initial nerves are gone.. nd u r not too worried abt finishing the exam... i kept most time for the last few qns.. coz i tire out in the last 15 mins... and the clock psyches me too... thankfully i had enough time to get thru the last few verbal qns this time around ( and they definitely deserved the extra minutes).. hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseburst Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Thanx so much for the prompt reply Tanksingh. Will be following ur tips.Wht shud be practiced for SCs??Other than OG??Did u do 1000SC?? Thanx again. Cheers.LSAT RCs appear at the end of the 1000 RC document. If u have enuff time, don't bother too much about timing. LSAT RCs suggest 35 mins for a 26 question test. Take 40 mins but work on getting every qn right. Even if u dont get every qn correct in one go, u shud try and figure out the reasoning for the correct answer once u see the key. The RCs in the first part of 1000RC are also good, but I didn't find the quality of questions or answer keys upto the mark. LSAT CR exposes u to variety of qns, some of them maybe pertinent to GMAT. But I found a lot of qns that dont stand a chance of coming on GMAT. Its better to exhaust the official resources for CR, do kap 800 for CR and probably the goto 1000CR. For quant OG is more like 550-650 level. So if u r targetting 49+ in quant u will be better served by taking gmatprep (quant only) several times. dont bother about repeats.. just take the exam as long as u r gettin new quant qns.. they r the closest to wht u will get on the real thing. Also if u r really confident... try the MGMAT CATs ... the quant level is awesome(though almost above GMAT level); it will definitely help you speed up in quant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanksingh Posted September 4, 2008 Author Share Posted September 4, 2008 Thanx so much for the prompt reply Tanksingh. Will be following ur tips.Wht shud be practiced for SCs??Other than OG??Did u do 1000SC?? Thanx again. Cheers. no i didn't work on 1000 sc as such.. i did work on OG 10/11 GMAT paper tests and sets .. and they pretty much make up the 1000 sc doc. I will recommend working on ur "unsure areas". find out wht is troubling you.. do u fail to spot the right verb in the sentence.. do u have problems with modifiers... read abt them.. keep workin on sc qns tht are posted on this forum. and even the old contentious ones.. see if u can answer them with a convincing logic.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hina_0611 Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 :tup: you are great!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienBeing Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 Congrtas!!!! You have really gone all the way...:tup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannabee Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 Congrats!!! Would you mind share your pacing strategy for Quant? I take too much time in solving quant and mostly end up guessing for the last 5-6 questions as I usually run out of time.. Thanks.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanksingh Posted September 12, 2008 Author Share Posted September 12, 2008 Congrats!!! Would you mind share your pacing strategy for Quant? I take too much time in solving quant and mostly end up guessing for the last 5-6 questions as I usually run out of time.. Thanks.. Hey ! i am not the best person to talk abt pacing in quant.. the only thing tht i did was to make sure i m at qn 12 by 25 mins... qn 24 by 50 mins ..and thts it. i forced myself to guess on atleast 2 questions after spending 4 mins each(realised after comin bak home tht both wre wrong guesses), where i cud have done the qns.. if i had spent a couple of mins extra.... in the end i had 15 mins left for the last 2 qns.. which were extremely easy.. Lesson- if ur in Quant 90%ile + region - no strategy is fool-proof, u may get easy questions at any stage of the test, so while it is worth spending 4-5 mins on 3-4 qns if u r targetting Q51, u can afford to take upto 4-5 educated guesses for a 50, as long as u r gettin other qns right. just keep a broad pacing strategy.. so tht u dont end up completely running out of time.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
may0101 Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Amazing score !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrchvr Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 wow :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhiraj84mehta Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 gr8 score Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorge Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 GMAT Master[clap]:tup:[clap]:tup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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