I started my prep a couple of months ago although the serious prep started only a month back. Even though I am not a native English speaker I pride myself on being very good with English(the British version)but some how I sucked at SC. *I…
I started my prep a couple of months ago although the serious prep started only a month back. Even though I am not a native English speaker I pride myself on being very good with English(the British version)but some how I sucked at SC.
Introduction:
I work in a telecom firm as an engineer. I have a total of just above 3 years of work-ex with most of it in the technical field and only recently I have gotten more of an executive responsibility. I would be primarily targeting Indian b-schools or more specifically ISB which is just a couple of blocks away from my home
. I also have sent my scores to NUS, NUT, Schulich(York) and University of Manchester. GMAT Preparation:
May-Booked the GMAT date for July-20.
I started my GMAT prep in May although I did not put in much effort until the last week of June. I had taken CAT(an Indian exam which I think is a lot tougher and definitely more erratic than GMAT) in 2010 but I bombed it because I was very weak in Quants. In May I mostly concentrated on solving chapters from my CAT prep Quants book because I consider the concepts presented more exhaustive and the problems more challenging. I took my Kaplan diagnostic and got a score of 620 at this point, I decided against taking any further exams until I had thoroughly understood the basics. I read through Manhattan SC.
June
Continuing from May my study plan was erratic and its execution even worse, I could hardly devote couple of hours a day what with my family get togethers, body building workouts and other such inane stuff. By mid-June tension started creeping up and I decided to get my act together. I created an ambitious plan in which I devoted 6 hours of study/day. Initially it was difficult but by the last week of June I was in full-swing. By this time I had finished Geometry(200 Qs), P & C(100+Qs) and Probability(100+ Qs).I took my second Kaplan CAT and scored a 730-I was euphoric. I had also finished my OG and bought Kaplan 800 to work on DS and VA questions.
July
The first week of July I took leave at office and spent long hours doing quants. I finished my Numbers lesson(concepts + 120 medium to difficult prac Qs). By this time I finished most of the math concepts, Kaplan premier and I had also worked through Kaplan-800. I took my KAP CAT 3 and I again scored a 730. I noticed that I was getting only a couple of Qs wrong in QA but my VA was taking a huge beating. I decided to take the free MGMAT to corroborate my Kap scores, I scored a 720 although I found MGMAT math trickier than Kap quant and the verbal way easier. Monsoon had crept up in India and suddenly I lost my drive to study, I felt sleepy throughout the day and this continued for a week. With only a couple of weeks remaining I decided to only focus on test taking strategies and VA lest I burn out and bomb my GMAT. Every alternate day I took an exam with scores ranging from 720 to 760. But I became so relaxed that when I took my GMAT prep-2 I scored a mere 690 although I have to admit I was bored and did not put in much effort. With 690 in GMAT prep I started doubting my abilities with only a week for the GMAT even though I knew that I hadn't given my best for the Gprep2. I cursed Kaplan for lulling me into false self-confidence in Quants with the high scores. I took another Kaplan CAT and scored 760 but that gave me no peace whatsoever since I did not have any other tests except Kaplan and there was no way to gauge my actual abilities. This self doubts led to some panic with GMAT just 3 days away. I desperately wanted to compare Kaplan scores with actual GMAT scores when I stumbled upon "beatthegmat". Although I did not find much help with the comparison, reading other's GMAT stories gave me some inspiration. I started solving the Quant questions from the site for the next couple of days and realised that I wasn't so bad in Quant afterall 😛 I promised myself that if I get a good score then I would write and contribute towards the experience.
D-DAY-20th July, 13:30 HOURS
The day before the test I decided I wouldn't study anymore, so I downloaded and watched the movie "True Grit" and whiled away the day. The self-doubts in Quant hadn't completely gone away but I decided to check my emotions lest I become anxious during the test- better said than done! I had a good night's sleep but morning was still fraught with tension so decided to sleep another hour at 9:30 AM. I started packing my kit at 10:30- 2-bananas, 2-Mars Bars, 1-Energy drink(Red Bull although I only wanted Gatorade but unfortunately couldn't source it from around my home), passport and the printout.
At the test center:
Processing was smooth and AWA went without a hitch. The quant questions were easy but due to my self-doubts I kept rechecking and lost precious time leading to a part guess on my 36th and complete guess on my 37th. I was devastated, I thought I had completely screwed quant.
I decided I would recoup my losses in Verbal which was fairly easy and was on track until the last couple of Qs which I had to rush due to my lax approach. The last Q was a SC and I somehow guessed the correct option by just skimming but I ran out of time before I could confirm-I thought I had 8 secs left. My heart started pounding as I knew that there was a heavy penalty for leaving out Qs and went through the 30 min reasoning section with full-focus just to keep my panic at bay for another 30 mins. I went through the other formalities and loitered for a full 1 min :30 secs on the "cancel your score" section before deciding to take my chance.
When I read 740 I gave a short prayer thanking god before reading further details. A nerve wracking but pleasant journey finally comes to a close.
740 Q50 V40, I think I was penalized heavily in VA for missing out on the last question, I could easily have scored 760 if it weren't for my poor confidence.
Reviews:
Kaplan- Kaplan has an excellent online system wherein you can practice your skills based on the difficulty.
Kaplan Mocks- As mentioned earlier Kap Quant is slightly easier than actual Quant, I had finished most of my CAT quant sections with more than 15 mins to spare and one CAT with even 30 mins to spare.
Kap Verbal though is a completely different ball game- its Qs are more challenging than any of those I had faced in any of the other exams.
Kaplan 800- An excellent strategy book although the math isn't as challenging as you would like but then the strategies will put you in a different league altogether.
Manhattan SC-The most structured, efficient, pithy way to improve your SC.
I hope my story contributes towards your GMAT experience, believe in yourself and all the best.
The link to my mock scores:
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/gmat-and-related-discussions/65472-gmat-mocks-final-scores-repositary-3.html#post2829949
Thats a good Synopsis. Thanks. Good Luck ahead.
Hello Sarka003 congrats !! , and Nice post - Now i need some advice from you , apprciate if you can help .
I am starting to prepare for GMAT from tonight. My Quant has not been encouraging . That said, i need to focus more and more on my quant to get hold of the basic ( in a very short time frame, ofcourse) .
The only guide i 've at this point is OG ( 12th edision ). I can devote 45 days and then in between book a ticket to GMAT. Mainly planning to write it during Oct 1st week.
OG has been helpful ( i have solved few question from it earlier ) , no doubt , but i need to get a grasp on the basics of the GMAT Quant. Which is the right book to invest for in Quant ( 1 - to get the basics right for the GAMT pattern, 2- to learn the few problems) .
Also, I would like to focus on SC ,CR , RC- as well .
Sarka 003 orJust any one - please suggest .
I started my prep a couple of months ago although the serious prep started only a month back. Even though I am not a native English speaker I pride myself on being very good with English(the British version)but some how I sucked at SC.
...
Thanks !!
Hello Sarka003 congrats !! , and Nice post - Now i need some advice from you , apprciate if you can help .
I am starting to prepare for GMAT from tonight. My Quant has not been encouraging . That said, i need to focus more and more on my quant to get hold of the basic ( in a very short time frame, ofcourse) .
The only guide i 've at this point is OG ( 12th edision ). I can devote 45 days and then in between book a ticket to GMAT. Mainly planning to write it during Oct 1st week.
OG has been helpful ( i have solved few question from it earlier ) , no doubt , but i need to get a grasp on the basics of the GMAT Quant. Which is the right book to invest for in Quant ( 1 - to get the basics right for the GAMT pattern, 2- to learn the few problems) .
Also, I would like to focus on SC ,CR , RC- as well .
Sarka 003 orJust any one - please suggest .
Thanks !!
45 days is adequate time provided you put in at least 4-5 hours a day.
For quant the best way is to get hold of TIME or IMS quant books, I personally used TIME. Start with easy topics such as Simple Eqns, Quad Equations then move onto Geometry, P & C, Probability and Numbers-I followed this order. Make sure you read and memorize every fact or factoid presented, solve all the problems from the concept questions, examples, actual exercises. As soon as you finish a topic practice problems related to that topic in OG or other GMAT Quant books.
I am sure you will be able to cover ground in 45 days, be dedicated, focus and make sure nothing wavers you from your goal. Also, Quant can easily deflate confidence when you are not in the right mindset, try to split your study time across the day even when you are working, this will ensure you have adequate mental energy for the brainstorming required.
Don't miss out on English though and book your GMAT date before you start prep-a goal in sight will motivate you more than the one you can keep postponing.
Thanks for the advice , sarka003 . I have 3 year old IMS material which i believe will help me get a good grasp. However, i would like to know the exact pattern for the quant , what needs to be grilled and grilled well;the book which has plethora of questions to give me a feeling of GMAT..
Can you suggest me 2 books which is a must in cracking Quant.
Thanks !
Thanks for the advice , sarka003 . I have 3 year old IMS material which i believe will help me get a good grasp. However, i would like to know the exact pattern for the quant , what needs to be grilled and grilled well;the book which has plethora of questions to give me a feeling of GMAT..
Can you suggest me 2 books which is a must in cracking Quant.
Thanks !
I personally used OG and Kaplan Premier, if you want higher difficulty GMAT quant then use Manhattan Quant book.
Hi, Congrats on a good score.
I am also doing kaplan tests.
I scored 700 Q55 V30, 740 Q55 V 38, 700 Q52 V33, 690 Q50 V36
I did all the tests timed with AWA.
How close is kaplan tests.
I scored 700 Q55 V30, 740 Q55 V 38, 700 Q52 V33, 690 Q50 V36
I did all the tests timed with AWA.
How close is kaplan verbal to actual verbal ?
I find kaplan verbal to actual verbal ?
I find kaplan RCs tougher and my majority of mistakes are in RC only. The other issue is timing. It is very difficult for me to finish the kaplan RCs tougher and my majority of mistakes are in RC only. The other issue is timing. It is very difficult for me to finish the kaplan verbal in 75 minutes. SCs and CRs are fine with me. I usually make few errors in these.
Your response is highly appreciated !!!
Hi Everyone..I want to start my preparation for gmat.But before that I need few suggestions and tips, like the study material which i should follow, and how much time I should spend on each of the sections. I am very new to this so I would need all the basic information. Would really appreciate if you guys can help me.