I just Beat The GMAT!

My first post on BTG was Sep 28th 2010 When I scored 640 (46 Q and 31 V) . I spent the weekend browsing the BTG forum for success stories , reading material and techniques . Formulated my strategy and worked really hard for 40 days .

I was super excited to see 740 ( 50 Q and 40 V ) pop up on my screen today . Couldnot believe it for a few minutes..

Debreif comming soon .

First Attempt

Actual GMAT Score - 640 ( Q46 , V 31)

Prep Duration - 8 Weeks

Books Read

1. MGMAT 8 Books
2. OG

Practice Scores

1. MGMAT 1 - 580
2. MGMAT 2 - 480
3. MGAMT 3 - 600

GMAT Prep - 710 , 690 , 680

Always had problem completing the test , missed atleast 5 Questions both in verbal and Quant . Also did the same Mistake in real GMAT. Reading Comprehenshion on the real test day ate me alive.

Second Attempt

740 ( Q 50 , V 40)

Prep Duration - 8+4 Weeks

Practice Scores

Week - 3 MGMAT 4 - 600
Week - 2 MGMAT 5 - 650
Week - 1 MGMAT 6 - 680

( It is very important to take all 6 tests and spend one day each for reviewing and understanding both correct and incorrect answers , if you are familar with math concepts from Manhattan 5 books and revise the 6 tests 50 in Quant is def achievable)

Additional Prep

Math

1. Grockit for Math found it really useful solved close to 200 problems
2. Reread the MGMAT Math books all over again and solved all the practice questions again
3. Nova GMAT Bible really good practice questions - email me [email protected] if you nee a copy

Verbal
1. e-gmat course - Took it based on recommendation on BTG Forum really useful . Increased my accuracy to 90% saved a lot of time on actual exams . Anyone prepping for GMAT should def buy $40 SC course from e-GMAT
2. PoweScore Bible - My CR accuracy improved drastically . I read the book twice . The stratergies are fool proof to attack any touch CR Question
3. Veritas RC Book - Bought it based on BTG Book recommendation . I did not realize the value of this book until the test day where many passages were on related topics that were on Veritas Book . This tremendously helped my understanding and speed.
4. Read Manhattan SC twice again



Thank you BTG for all the Help !!

Happy GMATing

Cheers
Shiv

Conragulations Sundar !!!

Looking forward for the debrief.


Talk on Verbal and especially RC.

@sundarashiv,

1. Was there a specific manner in which you reviewed your tests. It would be great if you could share any template/spreadsheet.
2. Did egmat provide suffucient problems for SC.

thanks

Congrats dude.. great score! good to see other e-gmat users here..

@John Besore - I finished the course abt 2 months ago, and only used e-gmat for SC preparation and found the number of questions to be sufficient for a good practice.

My review was

1. Solved all the incorrect questions again without seeing the solution / answers and see if I made the same mistakes .
2. Goal is analyze how you ended in the wrong solution .

In Quant it could be a Calculation mistake , did not test with full set of data ( odd , even , postivite negative) , did not apply the similar triage rule etc...

In Verbal ..it could be
1. Chose an exterme answer in RC
2. Chose a answer that was outside the score in CR
3. Did not read all the answer choice
4. Did not apply the negation rule in assumption questions

I learned it the hard way ..for verbal you have to master the rules and apply it every single time else your score can deviate when the questions get tough ..

Cheers
Shiv

Can you share your final strategy in detail for RC please .

For RC I had to use a strategy that worked for me specifically

Though most GMAT Strategy asks you not to get into detail .Only way I was able to crack Medical essays was writing down various technical terms in relationship format.

e.g.
DNA -> Intenstine contians protiens -> carries it into blood cells..

Generic rules that was heplful was

1. Going back to the RC for specific question and reading before and after the specific sentence
2. Chosing exterme answers
3 Justify each word in asnwer choice

Many times you dont know the right answer ..make sure you dont pick an answer that contains error 2. , 3. Atleast the probability of getting a correct answer is higher


Reading 2-3 passages everyday is the must . Veritas RC is a very good start .

Also I never had time to do the 4th RC that was part of the last 8 questions. I preferred skipping it and doing the CR,SC questions

Cheers
Shiv

Congrats on the great score! And what an improvement in such a short span!

A question about the PowerScore CR bible...what was your accuracy like in CR before and after doing the book? My accuracy in OG12 CR questions is 81%, with weaken/strengthen and assumption type questions with below 80% accuracy...