Saturday, November 26, 2005

GMAT :- "Disaster" is the word

Finished my GMAT about an hour back and the results were not as per expectations....N'ways I already booked a date to write it again in a lil under 2 weeks......hopefully will try to improve my score then.....or it might be an end to this whole MBA dream......because very few schools would be interested in an Uncle like me.

Had been hoping for a score close to 650, well guys I admit I am not as smart as most of you here...so 650 was my decent expectation.....but the result was 610 (q-43, v-31), the verbal score was a big surprise all through the test the felling was that I have blown the quant and am doing well on the verbal.

Any suggestions or strategies from all you readers would be highly appreciated. My best wishes to all of you writting essays, filling out forms, interviewing or just waiting for that elusive call these days.....there is a seat waiting for all of us somewhere.

posted by Paa"ji" @ 11/26/2005 05:28:00 PM 

21 Comments:

Blogger sorebrek said...

P, I know how frustrating it can be when you're this close. Rather than a start-from-the-scratch strategy, my suggestion would be to do the following:
(1) Take a practise test that will let you analyze specific sections of the test - Kaplan and Princeton fit the bill.
(2) Focus on weak areas only.
(3) Take another test, 8 to 10 days before the test and see if you're scoring in your target range.
(4) If not, postpone by a couple of weeks and repeat. Silly and tedious as it may sound, your score is bound to improve.

Remember, the test is not about your smarts - I honestly believe this and know this to be true. It is about test-taking strategy and beating the machine. Don't let yourself be bogged down by the latest results. And get yourself a war song and play it when you're feeling down. Strauss' Emperor Waltz worked very well for me, but some report comparable results with Survivor's Eye of the Tiger :-)

Saturday, November 26, 2005 5:48:00 PM  
Blogger vatsa said...

P, I second sorebreks suggestions. Focus on what needs improving and write a practice test or two before you write the GMAT again. The GMAT is a beatable test, so don't lose heart about this performance and I'm sure you'll be able to put together a great package.

Saturday, November 26, 2005 8:03:00 PM  
Blogger PupStar78 said...

Not sure if this helps or not, but one thing I did with the verbal section was to literally max out my time allowance. During my first GMAT, I finished the V section with 18 minutes left. During my second GMAT, I finished V with 1 minute left. I spent a lot of tome on the RC and CR questions. This helped me to more accurately choose between two answers that both look correct, which I feel happens a lot in RC and CR. My improved V score contributed to 4/5 of the improvement in my total score.

Like Vatsa said, don't let the GMAT get you down, it is beatable and it is not a test of intelligence. It's a test of your sanity.

Sunday, November 27, 2005 11:44:00 AM  
Blogger Dinesh said...

Paaji,

I'm sure you'll break the 650 barrier when you take it again in 2 weeks.

If you haven't already, I would suggest taking a look at www.beatthegmat.com and www.urch.com/forums. I used to frequent both these websites during my preparation. Both contain excellent e-resources that can aid in your preparations. Good luck!

Monday, November 28, 2005 12:29:00 AM  
Blogger Mave said...

I can understand how frustrating that can be. Nevertheless, I'd recommend taking a day's break and starting off from where you left. With regards to verbal, I found Manhattan study material extremely helpful; esp the SC. I don't know which topic you wish to focus on, but MGMAT does a very good job explaining SC and CR concepts.

Feel free to send me an email if you want some study material. I've preserved mine in soft copy and would be glad to send them across.

Good luck!

Monday, November 28, 2005 4:33:00 AM  
Blogger Paa"ji" said...

@S, Thanks a lot buddy...I am trying to work on weak areas...and yes the song does help :)

@V, Thanks for the encouraging words....they do help a lot

@P, I had that prob on the earlier practise tests...but now use up almost all my time, thanks for dropping by

@D, Have been lurking at the forums for a while and downloaded the flash cards from "beatthegmat", does help a lot...thanks man

@M, Thanks buddy, I am about to email you in a moment

Tuesday, November 29, 2005 10:00:00 AM  
Blogger Ganja Turtle said...

Dear Paaji...
THot myself pretty smart until I took the KAP practice test...got 540.have been working on and on from then on...

Suggestions
1. Quickly get a rundown on weak areas with the KAP CD - really helpful in pinning down weak areas

2. Use the tool available at that dave comcast site (access file which details the category that each OG qn belongs to...find out the categories you are weak at amd quickly work on those...

3. Collect a load of prep material and close the list-dont go searching for any more(took me a long time to stop doing this;-)- pref KAP/Princeton CDs/ OG 10 & 11 and plan a schedule. Take atleast 1 FLT every week...more than the qns, its the stamina thats more impt...if ur bugged or down with fatigue u cant think right, and u start making careless mistakes.

4. Notw down all the qns where you go wrong and work them out again and again until u get the concepts right - you will realize that there are some specific types u get stuck on...mine is two elevators/planes/ cycles approaching each other at difft speeds and when do we say HI? - Those types...

Cmon Paaji, for a man whos done the Himalayas, you cant give up so easily...crack it, man!

Tuesday, November 29, 2005 10:34:00 PM  
Blogger snax said...

Paaji,
I improved my verbal from 72% to 93% just by solving all the problems in OG. Also, if you can just concentrate well in quant, you should be able to crack 90%. Use process of elimination (in almost all questions....sounds silly?!).

Good luck!

Friday, December 02, 2005 10:33:00 AM  
Blogger Jerry Blank said...

Hey, Paa"ji."

As others have suggested, do not be concerned about your lower-than-anticipated score. As some here have pointed out, the GMAT isn't about how smart you are; it's about beating the machine. Part of that is developing a strategy that's effective for you.

I've never met you, but from your writing it's safe to say that you can get any score you want on the verbal.

Question, though. Isn't there a month-long mandated waiting period on re-taking the GMAT? There was when I went through it.

Saturday, December 03, 2005 12:47:00 AM  
Blogger LCPwarrior said...

Do the kaplan verbal workbook and rewrite the rules for sentence correction, and identify the type of Reading comp question before answering, (i.e. "global" "detail", etc.)

For the args just write out the conclusion and evidence and assumption for 50 or so til you get the hang of it. FYI: I got a 43,96% in verbal...

Saturday, December 03, 2005 7:17:00 PM  
Anonymous Dilliwalla said...

Paaji
My word of advise, it is probably not your knowledge of the material but how you tackle it that is getting you a low score. Personally, I bought the Manhattan GMAT guides (which is like a supplement to the OG) it helped me organize myself in a huge way. another thing, i read somewhere that it helps to read some intellectual magazines (to get a hang of reading stuff that makes no sense...atleast for me) So i read the New Yorker and the Scientific America (or somethign like that) honestly...it helped me to get a hang of trying to understand stuff i had no clue about.
Also be disciplined in taking notes. make outlines of essentials in sections, flag down questions/ types of questions you struggle with and review rules you see in Manhattan GMAT (its got quite a few neat tricks to use, particularly for the "guessing game" )
and do not forget AWA, my word of advice, not to be racist or non PC, think of who (other than the computer) is reading your essay. it is important to make your essay content stand out for content which would be considered under "brownie points" material (aka: the social responsibility/ morality role). I know it sounds stupid, but it does work. and follow a simple rule of Intro(with a last line stating your view) assesment of one aspect ( the side of the argument u agree with and why) then the negating argument, and why you think it doesnt work. conclusive statement restating the side you take. and follow a similar patern for the opinion based essay.
The GMAT can easily be mastered with structured studying otherwise it will kill you. as a reference point, i went from averaging between 560-620 on all my practice exams (high score of 640, once) to getting a 720 on the main one with a 6.0 on the AWA. Its do-able. Best of Luck, and id be glad to help you with more details if need be.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005 1:58:00 PM  
Blogger l'optimiste said...

The test is not about your smartness of your intelligence... it is just a measure on that one day, 3 hours in front of a PC! So don't let it bother you much.

And hey, GMAT is not the most imp criteria anyway... I know 10 persons with more than 750 with multiple rejections. And 10 persons with 700 and multiple acceptances!

All the best!

Thursday, December 08, 2005 12:49:00 AM  
Blogger Marina said...

Thank you!!!! Very exciting indeed :)

Saturday, December 17, 2005 7:14:00 PM  
Anonymous jeni said...

paaji - it's okay, you should try again! My friend told me that the best time to re-take your exam is the month immediately afterwards; this way you'd be able to retain the knowledge you've gained while studying for the previous one. I'm in the process of studying for mine; I've scheduled for January 17th. It's so tough studying during the holidays though!!!

I wish both of us luck.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005 2:39:00 PM  
Blogger SharkB8 said...

Good luck on your next test, paaji.

I'd suggest you memorize the question patterns in the Official Guide. The GMAT 800 from Kaplan was pretty valuable too.

Monday, January 16, 2006 12:29:00 AM  
Blogger Forrest Gump said...

hey paaji -

how are things ? no posts for a long time now ?

cheers,
f

Friday, February 03, 2006 4:41:00 AM  
Blogger Mave said...

thanks, paaji. I hope all's well your end. Long time, no news.

Good luck!

Monday, February 13, 2006 1:08:00 AM  
Blogger i_will_make_it said...

Good luck with all! Would love to hear how everything's coming along for you. Cheers!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 5:20:00 PM  
Blogger Mave said...

thanks for your wishes, Paaji.

Thursday, February 16, 2006 1:09:00 AM  
Blogger Marina said...

Merci for the birthday wishes. How have you been? Why no entries?? You're missed.

Friday, March 10, 2006 10:12:00 PM  
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Sunday, November 04, 2007 4:00:00 AM  

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