My GMAT experience (780, q-51, v-47)

MBA CAT 2024
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Hi, this is my first post in pagalguy. And I would like to thank PG for the valuable resources it provided me with. Specially the QQAD which I feel will be quite valuable for my CAT too. I would like to share my experiences in GMAT preparatio…

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Hi,

this is my first post in pagalguy. And I would like to thank PG for the valuable resources it provided me with. Specially the QQAD which I feel will be quite valuable for my CAT too. I would like to share my experiences in GMAT preparation and hope that the same would be helpful to some of the other aspirants.

Books referred :-
a) Kaplan
b) Official Guide(OG)
c) Official Guide Verbal
d) Manhattan RC/SC/Critical Reasoning
e) Kaplan - 800
f) Princeton Review

I will rate them as following :-

a) Official Guide and Official Guide Verbal - Absolute must, they are like bibles for GMAT prep. Most of the questions in actual GMAT are more or less like the ones in OG.

b) Manhattan series - Very good books for concepts building specially in Sentence Correction and Critical Reasoning. If you are struggling in basic concepts in VA, then these are a must. They dont really have enough questions for practice for which you will have to rely on other books.

c) Kaplan - Good for practice. After you have gone through OG and Manhattan, these will not necessarily introduce a new concept, but will just provide you with more questions to practice with.

d) Princeton review :- This one has mostly concepts and a few questions. If you have manhattan series then you can skip it, else it's a good read for concepts.

e) Kaplan 800 - This is a very good compilation of some really tough questions. So if you are done with your basics and looking for some questions to really challenge your basics then this the book to go for. I would say for 750+, this book is a must.

Mocks that I wrote :-
a) GMAT prep : 730,750
b) Manhattan - 690,710,750
c) Princeton - 680,720

I would say GMATprep is the easiest of the three and perhpas the closest to real GMAT too. Manhattan has got some really tough Maths. Princeton lies somewhere in between with easy Maths and standard verbal.

Some general tips :-
a) Get aquainted with different types of critical reasoning questions really well(assumption, weakening,out of scope etc), it saves a lot of time in arriving at the right answer.

b) Sentence correction - read as much as you can from books and online sources. If you get a question based on a grammar rule which you are not aware of then its difficult to crack(specially the idiom questions).

c) Dont worry too much about low scores in Mocks, some of them are really tough and when you will sit in the actual GMAT it may seem like a cakewalk then.

I think these suggestions will be applicable to people who are confortable in quant, and are struggling only in VA. People who need help in QA also may refer OG, kaplan for basics. For quant my preparation was limited to writing the MOCKs and thus, I dont know of any good books in quant.

Hope, some of these points will be helpful to many :).

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Congratulations 😃

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Congratulations for the gr888 score.. and thanks a lot for the tips. Plz put some light on your profile as well and keep posting about next steps also.. about applications, calls, procedures.. your exp. in applying to universities ..

thanks once again!

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hii,congrats for the gr8 score!!!I am in search of the manhatten mock test (simulator).can u suggest from where do i get it?
thanks in advance

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Thanks a lot. You can get manhattan mocks at https://www.manhattangmat.com/, but you will need one of the manhattan series book's serial number to create an account. I am not sure if they have a software available for mocks.

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Many Congratulations for the gr888 score. I am looking forward to start prepairing for GMAT and plan to give the test by end of year. To be honest, I have only done research on gmat so far and not actually started studying.

If possible can you please answer my queries.
1) Which book should I start first ?
2)How much time does it take to prepare for GMAT. I am a IT professional and works with Accenture so I can spare 1.5-2 hrs daily.Will that suffice to prepare in 3 months.
3) I am planning to do self study and not join any coaching center. Will that be ok or you think coaching center is a must for a good score.

Looking for a response. Do reply !!!

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Thanks.

1) If you have prepared for GMAT/CAT before and have good grasp of the fundamentals, then I guess you can start practising with Official Guide. Otherwise you can start with Manhattan series for concepts and then pick up OG.

2) In my opinion 1.5-2 hours daily should be enough(assuming that you are able to donate more time on weekends)

3) I am not sure how much helpful will coaching be. I myself never enrolled for GMAT coaching (although I did join coaching for CAT). If you are disciplined enough to have regular sitting then maybe you can do it without coaching. I feel it's not a must but can be helpful in boosting your score.

All The Best!!

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Congratulations Buddy,
Thats a great score .Cool man..:)
Between im curious to know what you would be doing now :)
Meaning which college will u be applying to and when as i see ur age..can u share us your profile too.. and are you appearing for one more exam going to be held after 80+ days..
Thanks ,
Abhishek..

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Thanks man!! I am still in the process of shortlisting the colleges but will surely be applying in ISB and INSEAD. Will update once I have that final list ready.

As per my profile, I am a B Tech ,2006 passout from IIT Kanpur. Currently working in Yahoo! Have avg. academics, so lets see how it goes.

Yes, I will be keenly looking forward to the exam going to be held after 80 days :). I sat for CAT'07 got 99.25 (2 calls - I and K , converted both but did'nt join). I lost basically in QA (30 marks , 94.xx %cile) which is actualy my forte. So, this time I am quite eager to do well there. But then again CAT is really arbit, so keeping my fingers crossed.

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hey man,Congrats for ur score.... lemme know if u followed any LSAT books/ 1000 series on SC,RC,CR ???

Thanks man!! I am still in the process of shortlisting the colleges but will surely be applying in ISB and INSEAD. Will update once I have that final list ready.

As per my profile, I am a B Tech ,2006 passout from IIT Kanpur. Currently working in Yahoo! Have avg. academics, so lets see how it goes.

Yes, I will be keenly looking forward to the exam going to be held after 80 days :). I sat for CAT'07 got 99.25 (2 calls - I and K , converted both but did'nt join). I lost basically in QA (30 marks , 94.xx %cile) which is actualy my forte. So, this time I am quite eager to do well there. But then again CAT is really arbit, so keeping my fingers crossed.
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Congrats yaaa!!
Really encouragin reading your versions...
Man.. i'm real scared.. not been studying much for the last sometime.. and gmat happens in liek 9 days!
Congrats again to you!.. which institutesa re you targeting?

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No Man, I did not look at any of these books, and dont have much idea about them. I referred the only the books mentioned in my first post(for GMAT).

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Thanks for replying Deepanshu !! I must say you seem to be brilliant in your academics... IIT-Kanpur and Yahoo ! sounds cool.... Best of Luck !!