godot

Hi folks, I got my official GMAT score report a couple of days back(20 June, 2006), and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had scored 6.0 on the AWA section. I had not practiced for this a whole lot -- just attempted all the essays/issues for the practice tests I took in the last week or so -- hence I wasn't really sure how I would do on the real GMAT for this section. It probably doesn't matter either way, given that schools rarely look at the AWA scores, but it was nice to know that I did not do egregiously badly in this section. I am not sure if this post will have anything new to add to all the different things that have already been explained here, but here are the details anyway. For the analysis of argument section, I think the most useful approach for me was to treat the argument as a CR question and use the approach one would normally use when answering CR questions, namely: - Identify the assumptions made in the argument and point out the flaws in that argument (and there are almost always going to be flaws) - Determine if the reasoning used in the argument is valid or not (it's almost always going to be flawed, usually because the argument goes too far or generalizes too much or something similar) - Try to point to specific details in the argument which are incorrect and need to addressed before the argument can be considered valid, and mention how to resolve these problems. What details would you expect a good argument to have. - If the argument uses results from some sort of survey, you can almost always argue -- legitimately -- that the sample space for the survey is too small, and that there's no reason to believe that what holds for the group surveyed will be true in general. - It's also useful to point out that correlation is not the same as causality. I did not end up using this in my essays, but it's a useful argument to remember. - Finally, as has been pointed out in many places, leave the first and the last paragraphs for the end. The first paragraph should be an executive summary of what you are going to say, and the last paragraph should wrap things up nicely, providing a good framework for the whole essay. Both of these things are best done at the end. The analysis of issue question is far more open-ended, which is both good and bad. It's good because you can defend any point of view as long as you reason it out properly, but it often requires taking a more balanced approach, and might therefore require a little more time to organize your thoughts. Here's what worked for me: - The first thing I did was to write down any point, either for or against, which was relevant to the issue. You need about three good points on either side to be able to defend your stand. - Next, I evaluated which side of the issue made more sense to me, and started writing out the essay using the points I had compiled in step 1 which strengthened my argument. - After I had elaborated on all the points in favor of my argument, I tried to address everything that I felt could be used against my opinion. This is probably a good thing to do, since it shows that you have thought things through. Typically, the points against your argument make sense only under extreme conditions or assumptions, hence if those assumptions/conditions are listed explicitly, the opposing argument is likely to be weakened. - Finally, I wrote the first and the last paragraph, exactly as I did for the the analysis of argument question. I hope this is useful in some way for other people preparing for the test. I have only one thing to say about this section of the GMAT: don't sweat too much on this part of the test. It's relatively straightforward, and as long as you organize your thoughts properly, and write with as little ambiguity as possible, you will be just fine. Good luck for the GMAT! Cheers, Manu

Hi dbharti, My GMAT preparation spanned about three months, but given that I am working and don't have time to do anything useful during the week, I basically studied only on the weekends. Even out of that, the first month or so, I did not study seriously at all, and was just getting familiar with the kind of questions I could expect on the exam. I would say that the serious preparation was limited to about two days per week for about eight weeks, and I felt that was about right. If I had had more time, I would probably have been able to prepare for the exam in about a month and a half, and I think that's really all that this exam deserves. Anything less is probably not enough, and anything more than three months and you risk not being at your peak when you take the test. So my advice is to not spend too much time on the exam; study hard for about two months and then take the test. At least, that worked for me. I am afraid I don't have anything new to recommend for math references, other than what's already available online. I don't really think you need any, except maybe a brief tutorial on statistics, set theory, probability and permutations and combinations. The material is all available easily, and I doubt I could tell you anything you did not already know. You should, however, review all the questions in the practice tests, especially GMATPrep tests, thoroughly, since they are the kind of questions you can expect on the real exam. And make extra sure you understand the concepts behind each of those questions well. That's more than enough! Good luck for your GMAT! Cheers, Manu

Hi Atlantis, Thanks for all the encouragement. As far as using other material for math is concerned, I think it really depends on how comfortable you are with the basic concepts. I enjoy math (my background is in CS), and I felt that at least as far as concepts go, I had no problems. It was all tenth grade math or lower (by Indian standards anyway:)). But the questions can be tricky, and you have to watch out for corner cases, exceptions etc. They can also be time-consuming if you don't figure out a way to do them quickly (and there almost always is a quicker way). I found this to be especially true of the DS questions, so I would recommend practicing and getting comfortable with that category of questions as much as possible. For the most part, though, if you focus on the topics I mentioned in my original post, you should be just fine. Also, I did not get the sense that the SCs were longer than usual, at least not in my case. Sure, there were a few long ones, but that's normal. Other people may have a different experience depending on specifically what they got. My advice to you would be to not worry about length. If anything, it's the shorter SCs that are usually trickier. Just focus on the sentence structure, and keep an eye out for anything that seems unusual. The OG and Kaplan books cover SC quite well, and I found them to be more than adequate for my needs. Hope that helps. Good luck for your test! Cheers, Manu

Hi Aaragorn, Good to know somebody actually found what I had written useful!:) My plans are still uncertain. I am a software developer in a large networking company, and I enjoy my work, so believe it or not, I am still debating if an MBA is worth the trouble. I haven't decided on any schools either, though the European schools sound interesting, if only for the shorter duration of their programs:). I will let you know when I figure it out! And oh, YMMV is short for Your Mileage May Vary. It's a fairly common phrase on Internet postings, though like you, I was stumped the first time I read it as well. Cheers, Manu

Hi folks, I finished with my GMAT today -- the date of Satan, 06/06/06:). Here's a break up of my scores: Quantitative: 50 (95 percentile) Verbal: 40 (90 percentile) Overall: 740 (98 percentile) On the whole, I am satisfied with my performance, though I think I could have done somewhat better in the verbal section. Also, I was aiming for 750, so I am just a wee bit disappointed at not making that number (so near, and yet so far!). Still, it could be a lot worse, and I am glad it is over. I am posting this right now in the hope that others might find some of this information useful, though it's unlikely I will have anything really new to add to what you already have. I have been reading the forum for a while now(though as a non registered user), and found it to be quite interesting and helpful. I had not taken a Computer Adaptive Test before, so I was somewhat apprehensive when I first started preparing, and reading the posts here certainly helped allay some of those fears (of course, it got a lot better once I started practicing). I also found the sentence correction notes and pointers to set theory, permuations, combinations etc useful. I got three or four questions in the quantitative section dealing with set theory and one question on permutations, so these topics are certainly being tested on the GMAT now. The test itself was fairly typical. My impression, though this might be wrong, was that the quantitative section was a little easier than the GMAT Prep tests -- I had run out of time in the quantitative sections of both tests and had to guess on the last three questions. Maybe it was just that I timed myself better on the actual test, but I did get the sense that it was just a little bit easier. There were a couple of questions on statistics which were tricky, and I think that anybody planning on taking the GMAT should consider working on the following topics seriously: - Inequalities (a LOT of the DS questions were based on this) - Statistics - Basic Number Theory (primes, composites, factors etc) - Basic Geometry (especially circles -- there was a question in which I had to really guess even though I had plenty of time, and that doesn't happen often, given my background) I guess this is not news to most people here, but I felt that the quantitative sections in the PowerPrep tests were a lot easier than the ones in GMAT Prep, and I would seriously recommend paying more attention to the Quantitative preparation, even if you have a strong math background. It's not a piece of cake that it once used to be... Also, while you don't need to know any extra math to do well on the quantitative section, I think it really helps if you are familiar with some trignometry and co-ordinate geometry. I had a question which could be solved using geometry as well as trigonometry, and to me anyway, the latter was far easier than applyng geometry. Of course, YMMV... The verbal section was fairly typical as well, and I felt that both the GMAT Prep tests and PowerPrep tests simulated the actual difficulty level pretty accurately for the verbal section. There were a few CR questions in which parts of an argument were in bold and you had to decide on the relationship of these parts, and at least one CR in which you had to complete the concluding sentence, but nothing new or unusual. A lot of questions were in the "which would weaken the argument most?" category. The SC questions seemed easier to me than those in some of the practice tests, but SC has been one of my relative strengths, so again, I am not sure if that's strictly accurate. For me, being relaxed during the test was crucial, and fortunately, I was able to pace myself well enough throughout that there was no reason to panic. I also felt that going in with a confident attitude makes a huge difference. I went in with the attitude of "This is a piece of cake" and the mindset that even if I do badly, it is not the end of the world. I felt that really helped, as I was not nervous at all during my test. In this respect, I must thank Ursula for her debriefing, for it was there that I first read about how important this was for doing well, and I must say I am inclined to agree. Also, it's imperative that you maintain your focus throughout the duration of the test. I noticed a swing of 30-50 points in my practice tests depending on how well I was able to concentrate, and I think it really makes a difference if you can block out everything else and just engage all your attention on the task at hand. I thought I was able to do this on the day of the test and that definitely helped me get a good score. I also worked on some CR, SC and DS questions in the morning before taking the test, just to get my brain jumpstarted. That seemed to help, and I recommend doing it. As far as preparing for the GMAT is concerned, my strategy was somewhat different from most people's. I used Kaplan and the Kaplan 800 books for doing most of the basic work. The latter in particular was quite helpful. I realized pretty early on that I did not need to study too much on the quantitative section and that I was doing alright with RC, but SC and CR needed work, so I focused on those parts. I had also been told that I should not use the OG in the beginning, as a lot of the test questions were from the OG, so I stayed away from that completely. In retrospect, that may not have been the smartest thing to do, but I felt that the Kaplan material was adequate, and looking back, I think it was. I did focus on the quantitative section, especially DS, when I started doing the tests, when I realized that I needed more accuracy, but that was about it. I tried to follow the recommended strategy of trying to track all mistakes in my tests, and examining them afterwards to see if they resulted from careless mistakes or conceptual errors, and that definitely helped, though I was nowhere near as systematic about it as some of the people here have been. It's very important that you try to avoid mistakes that you have made before, and this really helps you do that. I highly recommend doing that; that's the only sure way to improve your score. Finally, just for reference, here are my scores for the various tests (in the order in which I took them): Kaplan Diagnostic: 650 Kaplan CAT 1,2,3: 660-700 (don't remember the exact numbers) Kaplan CAT 4: Did not take it PowerPrep1: 770 PowerPrep2: 730 GMATPrep1: 750 GMATPrep2: 720 Also, on the day before the GMAT, I took one of the GMATPrep tests again as I had heard that the questions can be fairly different from the first time around. That was indeed the case; I think only 10-20% of the questions were common. I scored a 760 on that test. At this time, I felt reasonably confident I could tackle anything the GMAT guys threw my way. Finally, I don't think it matters what you do the day before, so long as you are relaxed and confident on the day of the test. I was at work till late afternoon on the day before, and came home, studied, took a full length test, studied some more and went off to sleep at 2 am (my test was at 12:30 pm the next day), and I was fine. YMMV.... That's it; I can't think of anything else. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to these forums. Great job! Keep it up! Cheers, Manu PS: If you haven't guessed it from my handle, I am a big theater fan:).

Hi folks, I finished with my GMAT today -- the date of Satan, 06/06/06:). Here's a break up of my scores: Quantitative: 50 (95 percentile) Verbal: 40 (90 percentile) Overall: 740 (98 percentile) On the whole, I am satisfied with my performance, though I think I could have done somewhat better in the verbal section. Also, I was aiming for 750, so I am just a wee bit disappointed at not making that number (so near, and yet so far!). Still, it could be a lot worse, and I am glad it is over. I am posting this right now in the hope that others might find some of this information useful, though it's unlikely I will have anything really new to add to what you already have. I have been reading the forum for a while now(though as a non registered user), and found it to be quite interesting and helpful. I had not taken a Computer Adaptive Test before, so I was somewhat apprehensive when I first started preparing, and reading the posts here certainly helped allay some of those fears (of course, it got a lot better once I started practicing). I also found the sentence correction notes and pointers to set theory, permuations, combinations etc useful. I got three or four questions in the quantitative section dealing with set theory and one question on permutations, so these topics are certainly being tested on the GMAT now. The test itself was fairly typical. My impression, though this might be wrong, was that the quantitative section was a little easier than the GMAT Prep tests -- I had run out of time in the quantitative sections of both tests and had to guess on the last three questions. Maybe it was just that I timed myself better on the actual test, but I did get the sense that it was just a little bit easier. There were a couple of questions on statistics which were tricky, and I think that anybody planning on taking the GMAT should consider working on the following topics seriously: - Inequalities (a LOT of the DS questions were based on this) - Statistics - Basic Number Theory (primes, composites, factors etc) - Basic Geometry (especially circles -- there was a question in which I had to really guess even though I had plenty of time, and that doesn't happen often, given my background) I guess this is not news to most people here, but I felt that the quantitative sections in the PowerPrep tests were a lot easier than the ones in GMAT Prep, and I would seriously recommend paying more attention to the Quantitative preparation, even if you have a strong math background. It's not a piece of cake that it once used to be... Also, while you don't need to know any extra math to do well on the quantitative section, I think it really helps if you are familiar with some trignometry and co-ordinate geometry. I had a question which could be solved using geometry as well as trigonometry, and to me anyway, the latter was far easier than applyng geometry. Of course, YMMV... The verbal section was fairly typical as well, and I felt that both the GMAT Prep tests and PowerPrep tests simulated the actual difficulty level pretty accurately for the verbal section. There were a few CR questions in which parts of an argument were in bold and you had to decide on the relationship of these parts, and at least one CR in which you had to complete the concluding sentence, but nothing new or unusual. A lot of questions were in the "which would weaken the argument most?" category. The SC questions seemed easier to me than those in some of the practice tests, but SC has been one of my relative strengths, so again, I am not sure if that's strictly accurate. For me, being relaxed during the test was crucial, and fortunately, I was able to pace myself well enough throughout that there was no reason to panic. I also felt that going in with a confident attitude makes a huge difference. I went in with the attitude of "This is a piece of cake" and the mindset that even if I do badly, it is not the end of the world. I felt that really helped, as I was not nervous at all during my test. In this respect, I must thank Ursula for her debriefing, for it was there that I first read about how important this was for doing well, and I must say I am inclined to agree. Also, it's imperative that you maintain your focus throughout the duration of the test. I noticed a swing of 30-50 points in my practice tests depending on how well I was able to concentrate, and I think it really makes a difference if you can block out everything else and just engage all your attention on the task at hand. I thought I was able to do this on the day of the test and that definitely helped me get a good score. I also worked on some CR, SC and DS questions in the morning before taking the test, just to get my brain jumpstarted. That seemed to help, and I recommend doing it. As far as preparing for the GMAT is concerned, my strategy was somewhat different from most people's. I used Kaplan and the Kaplan 800 books for doing most of the basic work. The latter in particular was quite helpful. I realized pretty early on that I did not need to study too much on the quantitative section and that I was doing alright with RC, but SC and CR needed work, so I focused on those parts. I had also been told that I should not use the OG in the beginning, as a lot of the test questions were from the OG, so I stayed away from that completely. In retrospect, that may not have been the smartest thing to do, but I felt that the Kaplan material was adequate, and looking back, I think it was. I did focus on the quantitative section, especially DS, when I started doing the tests, when I realized that I needed more accuracy, but that was about it. I tried to follow the recommended strategy of trying to track all mistakes in my tests, and examining them afterwards to see if they resulted from careless mistakes or conceptual errors, and that definitely helped, though I was nowhere near as systematic about it as some of the people here have been. It's very important that you try to avoid mistakes that you have made before, and this really helps you do that. I highly recommend doing that; that's the only sure way to improve your score. Finally, just for reference, here are my scores for the various tests (in the order in which I took them): Kaplan Diagnostic: 650 Kaplan CAT 1,2,3: 660-700 (don't remember the exact numbers) Kaplan CAT 4: Did not take it PowerPrep1: 770 PowerPrep2: 730 GMATPrep1: 750 GMATPrep2: 720 Also, on the day before the GMAT, I took one of the GMATPrep tests again as I had heard that the questions can be fairly different from the first time around. That was indeed the case; I think only 10-20% of the questions were common. I scored a 760 on that test. At this time, I felt reasonably confident I could tackle anything the GMAT guys threw my way. Finally, I don't think it matters what you do the day before, so long as you are relaxed and confident on the day of the test. I was at work till late afternoon on the day before, and came home, studied, took a full length test, studied some more and went off to sleep at 2 am (my test was at 12:30 pm the next day), and I was fine. YMMV.... That's it; I can't think of anything else. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to these forums. Great job! Keep it up! Cheers, Manu PS: If you haven't guessed it from my handle, I am a big theater fan:).