jayshah1982

Two months of mind-numbing hard work and utmost patience cumulated into a score of 730. Weird SC's that don't make sense, Roundabout CR's, Long convoluted RC's, DS's with (D) solutions that look impossible are a thing of the past. The Experience Took a break from work to study for GMAT. My initial thought about the GMAT was that it was this stupid exam and to score a 700 required no more than a month's preparation. It's turned out to be exactly the opposite. I set out with a target of 700 from the beginning as I knew anything less would mean that I probably would have to settle for a college not on my Wanted List. It took me some time to get into the groove of studying since I had been working for two years. I found it really hard to study for more than two hours a day but after quite a struggle the pace picked up slowly. I had initially taken a date of Aug 23rd but soon realized that getting a 700 score was not going to work out with the preparation the I had. Hence I postponed the date to the 21st of Sept. The key to a 700+ score is organization, organization and then some more. My initial effort was very disorganized with no sense of direction. I landed up doing Maths and English in a random manner, and realized that it was hardly helping my cause. Excel became my next best friend. It's a great tool to log in and organize your answers. The Effort For me GMAT boiled down to pure effort. I’m not the most brilliant guy around and I knew for a fact that there was no way I could correct SC’s effectively by learning all the concepts about English, let alone master it. The 1000 SC’s played a very important role. Although I think the approach rather than just solving the SC’s is more important. Even if you know the correct answer to a SC, debate over why the other choices are wrong in more than one way. Initially I used to just label them wordy and move on. Wrong approach! The Preparation A week prior to the exam 1. OG (11th Edition ) – Complete 2. Kaplan Premier – Complete 3. Kaplan 800 – Complete 4. 1000 SC’s – Around 550 5. Tons of PS and DS practice I think it’s very important to practice PS and DS even if you know the majority of all the concepts. The simple reason being it helps! images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif . For me after a point in time I realized that 90% of the questions were just slight variations and shifted my efforts to English. Since I was fairly confident in Math, the last five days were spent doing English. I was fortunate to be good at RC’s and did not need to practice it a lot. However CR’s and SC’s were a constant struggle. I had averaged around 80% in both towards the last week. I think what made the most difference to my English score was the fact that I did close to 350+ SC’s and around 400+ CR’s (from the 1000 CR document, although didn’t do any LSAT ones) in the last 5 days prior to the exam. In the end quantity rather quality made the big difference for me. The Scores GMATPrep 1 : 620 GMATPrep 2 : 670 GMATPrep 3 : 720 GMATPrep 4 : 730 After 4 GMATPrep’s, the software is only good practice and nothing more. Kaplan 620 , 600 , 610 , 580 – I say the same as everyone else, don’t read to much into the scores , but they have some really good and difficult SC’s along with GMAT level maths. The maths section however, according to me, doesn’t cover the entire syllabus. The IMS tests are extremely good for maths, but they are really bad for English. I gave around 11 tests with an average score of around 680. The Books 1.OG – Has to be completed first 2.Kaplan Premier & 800 – Although I think the 800 is much hyped 3.The 1000 series (SC, CR & DS) – These made all the difference 4.Forums – Very helpful in providing perspective, although they sometimes led me to believe wrong concepts. To know whose explanations are correct majority of the times is very important. I, myself have been guilty of stating a wrong concept on one occasion :eek:. Use the search function extensively! The fact of the matter is the moment you get complacent, it’s all over. It’s pays to be paranoid! Try not to adapt to someone else’s strategy, instead come out with your own. “Believe you me it makes a world of a difference”! Best of luck!

I would pick B, CDE all suggest that the rooms, and not structures, were connected by roads. In A if we remove the everything between the commas we get something like Anasazi settlements were built.... spectacular scale with 75 structures, were My only doubt , is it right to say scale with or scale of?

I tries searchind , but somehow my search doesnt work! Any idea why?

1. Art museums do not usually think of their collections as capital or consider the interest income that would be generated if a portion of the capital would have been invested in another form. (A) be generated if a portion of the capital would have been (B) have been generated if a portion of the capital would have been © be generated if a portion of the capital were (D) be generated if a portion of the capital was (E) be generated if a portion of the capital had been

1. An unusually strong cyclist can, it is hoped, provide enough power to set a new distance record for human-powered aircraft in MIT’s diaphanous construction of graphite fiber and plastic. (A) can, it is hoped, provide enough power to set (B) it is hoped, can provide enough power that will set © hopefully can provide enough power, this will set (D) is hopeful to set (E) hopes setting

Is the correct idiom acclaimed as or acclaimed to be?

1. Although it was expected that workers under forty would show hostility to the plan, the research report indicates that both younger and the older people approve of governmental appropriations for Social Security. (A) younger and the older people (B) younger people and the older © the younger and the older people (D) younger and older people (E) people who are younger and those who are older

1. Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary animals howling mournfully on the tops of distant hills, in reality these gregarious creatures live in stable groups that occupy the same territory for long periods. (A) films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary animals howling mournfully on the tops of distant hills (B) in films about the American West coyotes are depicted to be solitary animals that howl mournfully on the tops of distant hills © coyotes are depicted as solitary animals howling mournfully on the tops of distant hills in films about the American West (D) films about the American West depict coyotes as if they were solitary, mournfully howling animals on the tops of distant hills (E) films about the American West depict coyotes to be solitary and mournfully howling animals on the tops of distant hills My answer

sure, sorry.

I think A is wrong becasue "each" refers to a roof and a flat top dwelling which is not possible. i think it's E

I think they are trying to day , college was renegade becasue of X and Y Therefore shoudnt the it be B which uses "for" ( a substitute for becasue) ? C is wrong is wronf because it gives the impression of the college was founded for it's decision to accept!

I think it's A, the idiomatic expression is disproportionate to, and in D the word screen is used for a “disparate effect", whereas it should be screens

The only idiomatic expression is characteristic of, hence A for me!

I thinks it's either D or E. havent we heard , people speaking on the condition of anonymity on various channels. Out of D & E , I would go with E , becasue you cant have names in press reports but you can take names in press reports

I think it's A, B : Wether & If mismatch C: Same as above D: Wether or not is redundant E: Not only to, but also to is misssing

In B, the concerns were a past event so "have" should have been "had", but if the years were not mentioned I would go with B

1.A majority of the international journalists surveyed view nuclear power stations as unsafe at present but that they will, or could, be made sufficiently safe in the future. (A) that they will, or could, (B) that they would, or could, © they will be or could (D) think that they will be or could (E) think the power stations would or could OA : D 2.A new phenomena, which is visible at Managua’s major intersections, are waves of vendors and beggars, which include many children and mob cars at the stoplights. © A new phenomenon visible at Managua’s major intersections is waves of vendors and beggars, many of them children, who (E) A wave of vendors and beggars, many of whom are children, are visible at Managua’s major intersections, where they are a new phenomenon and OA: C 3.A recent study of ancient clay deposits has provided new evidence supporting the theory of global forest fires ignited by a meteorite impact that contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other creatures some 65 million years ago. (A) supporting the theory of global forest fires ignited by a meteorite impact that (B) supporting the theory that global forest fires ignited by a meteorite impact © that supports the theory of global forest fires that were ignited by a meteorite impact and that (D) in support of the theory that global forest fires were ignited by a meteorite impact and that (E) of support for the theory of a meteorite impact that ignited global forest fires and OA : B 4.A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass. (B) After passing through a red giant stage, depending on its mass, a star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole. (D) Mass determines whether a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole. OA: D 5.A substance derived from the Madagascar periwinkle, which has proved useful in decreasing mortality among young leukemia patients, is cultivated in China as part of a program to integrate traditional herbal medicine into a contemporary system of health care. © A Madagascar periwinkle derivative, which has proved useful in decreasing mortality among young leukemia patients, (E) The Madagascar periwinkle, a derivative of which has proved useful in decreasing mortality among young leukemia patients, OA : E 6.According to a study by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, companies in the United States are providing job training and general education for nearly eight million people, about equivalent to the enrollment of the nation’s four-year colleges and universities. (B) the equivalent of those enrolled in (E) as many as are enrolled in OA: E 7.According to some analysts, whatever its merits, the proposal to tax away all capital gains on short-term investments would, if enacted, have a disastrous effect on Wall Street trading and employment. (A) its merits, the proposal to tax (B) its merits may be, the proposal of taxing © its merits as a proposal, taxing (D) the proposal’s merits, to tax (E) the proposal’s merits are, taxing OA: A If you could explain the OA's, it would be great