MY JOURNEY 560 to 700: GMAT DEBRIEF

[VO]

Hi guys,

I thought it would be good idea to share my experience with everyone... I have finally hit the magic 700 mark on the GMAT. I have a unique background and I am sure my score is in the competitive range for most of the top tier B schools. I took the gmat 3 times. The first time I scored 560 (Q 44, V 23). I had no plans to enter B school 2 years ago and I simply gave the exam to give my wife company while she was preparing for her GMAT! I actually enjoyed the exam pattern a lot and decided to prepare a little bit more and attempt the exam a second time. The 2nd attempt was 650 (Q49, V 30, AWA 6). I was quite happy with the score. GMAC surveys have suggested an average improvement of 33 points on the final test score, however I had managed a whopping 90 points. I was getting in the GMAT range for most competitive B schools. I thought what the hell, lets give it another shot. So I took the MGMAT online tests and the 2 GMAT practice tests and attempted the exam a third time.
When I saw my final score of 700 (Q48, V37), I virtually fell off the chair! I managed to improve a further 50 points... and both my verbal and quant scores are in comparable ranges (its a big deal now a days to have good quant and verbal scores, eg a score of Q 51 V 30 will be around 700 but it wont be appreciated by the admissions team because the quant score is the key determinant in that final score).
It has been an amazing journey preparing for the exam. In the end its the final score that matters. I will talk you about the pre exam and exam experience.

I prepared extensively from the GMAT OG 13. I solved it and practically knew each and every question from that book. Guys this book is the bible for the exam. One can easily do well on the exam by simply going through this book 2-3 times. Finally it is the only official book released by GMAC. I took MGMAT 6 tests and the 2 GMAT official practice tests. I also purchased access to the GMAT 440 qs available through mba.com. I often read people post their practice exam scores on forums, however practice tests do not simulate the actual exam. Its not the quality of the question, but other factors that can affect your score in the final exam. At home you will give the practice tests on your macbooks etc and face distractions every once in while, however in the real exam the surroundings can be quite intimidating. So do not rely on the practice scores. I know people who boasted scores of 750s on all MGMATs but scored 640 on the final test. So the take away point is just practice to improve and not to prove a point to anyone.

I had booked an afternoon slot for the exam. The exam began... AWA was wonderful. No problems with that. The IR section was as annoying as always. Full screen questions and you dont have a clue as to whats going on. However be assured this section is still experimental and not many B scools have adequate data on accepting IR scores. Anyway, thereafter I began with the Quant section. To my disbelief this section was extremely difficult, or I was getting tough questions. I had questions which were so new that I had apply 3-4 concepts at a time to get the answer. I may have spent lot of time on some questions but I managed to get through on time. I guess the difficulty went increasing as I was answering correctly.
I was happy and shocked at the same time due to the quant section. However then I began with verbal. The verbal section began smoothly and it was a piece of cake for me. I finished the exam.... The FINAL VEDICT 700 (Q 48, V 37). Now a days they display scores before you can make the decision to accept or reject your score. I was elated and clicked 'accept score'. That is how it all began and that is how it all ended.

write on the forum if you have any qs about the exam. I will try to get back you as soon as possible. At the moment I am chilling out for a few days in touring Europe, after which I will begin my applications.
Godspeed!!

[priyankmajeji]

HI,

It was really a nice journey for 700, please help me clarifying the below points:

1) I am OK with quant, but Verbal is bit tough for me.
2) When I do OG, In RC I am able to solve 60%,In CR 50% and In SC its only 30%.
3) This is first time I have done with my OG, should I do it again for verbal section?

Regards
Priyank

[StaceyKoprince]

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing.

One can easily do well on the exam by simply going through this book 2-3 times.

I agree as long as the person is actually learning the underlying lessons about how to think your way through new problems. Too many people literally memorize those problems but don't learn what to do with different (though still similar in various ways) problems. The OG problems themselves won't be on your test, of course.

My guess is that you're the kind of analytically-minded person who generally tends to do well with these kinds of tasks because your natural mindset is to ask questions, pick things apart, analyze, understand how things work. Is that the case?

Priyank, if you'd like to get feedback from a teacher (me!), please post your own thread and let me know more details about your practice test scores, etc. I like to keep each "case" separate so that I don't mix up details / data.

If you do decide to post, first, read these two articles:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

Figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as what you think you should do based on that analysis. Then tell us all about it in your post; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)