GMAT 670 to 710 in just 15 days ![:)]( "Smile")
And that is how the promotional posts go![;)]( "Wink")
First things first, this is not a promotion for sure. I self-prepared i.e. no online course (well, almost !) for the test and if there is anything that contributed to my score and deserves thanks, it is this forum. This is just my small attempt to repay GMAT club for all the resources and inspiration it provided during the journey.
My score is humble, but my learning is immense and valuable. Call it over confidence or faith, I had written this debrief on 30 September 2019, even before I enrolled for GMAT. I appeared for GMAT on 09 Nov 2019 and scored 670 (V36, Q46, IR6, AWA 5.0). Of course, that was not a score for which I had written my debrief in advance. One look at the ESR (attached), and I knew that I had screwed CR and that this is certainly not the score I should settle for. I enrolled again for 28 Nov and focused on CR only in the mean time out of the 150 odd questions I solved from OGs, barely 5-7 were incorrect. I could not understand what went wrong on test day if I am conceptually ok with CR. I took the test again today, and although I have improved my score by 40 points, to my shock and disbelief, majority of it came from Quant with Verbal still hovering at 37. (I am still double minded about doing a postmortem by ordering ESR again![:roll:]( "Rolling Eyes")
)
For anyone wanting to avoid reading my entire story, here are the quick take-aways:
1.Verbal is the tougher part of test. It is the TOUGHEST part of test. No matter how good you think you are at it. There is a reason that people who score 51 in Quant struggle to get 40 in Verbal. So focus on V from Day 1.
2.There is no one plan fits all approach for GMAT. Please take the pain of drafting your own study plan rather than downloading someone elses. You know best how much time you need for which topic.
3.While you are preparing, have a clear vision of your goal and preparation levels in your head. Be consciously aware of various phases of study getting to know the test well, understanding all concepts, subsequent practice, identifying areas that are still weak, error log analysis and final refinement. In between study, take a day or two off to introspect see what is working what isnt. Trust me, it pays.
4.Almost every debrief tells you about the importance of maintaining error log. Well guess what, they are all right It is an inevitable tool. And again, have your own format and capture mistakes in your own style. For me, my error logs told me I had issues with past perfect tense and comparisons. I was actually totally unaware that those were my weak areas and that I was repeatedly doing the same mistakes until I started maintaining error log.
5.GMAT is a game of nerves. Study hard but make sure you stay cheerful and relaxed during preparation. Those memories stick to your mind and your mind behaves exactly in same fashion on test day.
My debrief is actually not very brief![:blushing]( "Blushing")
I shall be writing a separate post elaborating on these points linking them with my experience and listing the resources I used. I shall be using the same colour scheme to convey each point.
Cheers
Rachna![]()
And that is how the promotional posts go
First things first, this is not a promotion for sure. I self-prepared i.e. no online course (well, almost !) for the test and if there is anything that contributed to my score and deserves thanks, it is this forum. This is just my small attempt to repay GMAT club for all the resources and inspiration it provided during the journey.
My score is humble, but my learning is immense and valuable. Call it over confidence or faith, I had written this debrief on 30 September 2019, even before I enrolled for GMAT. I appeared for GMAT on 09 Nov 2019 and scored 670 (V36, Q46, IR6, AWA 5.0). Of course, that was not a score for which I had written my debrief in advance. One look at the ESR (attached), and I knew that I had screwed CR and that this is certainly not the score I should settle for. I enrolled again for 28 Nov and focused on CR only in the mean time out of the 150 odd questions I solved from OGs, barely 5-7 were incorrect. I could not understand what went wrong on test day if I am conceptually ok with CR. I took the test again today, and although I have improved my score by 40 points, to my shock and disbelief, majority of it came from Quant with Verbal still hovering at 37. (I am still double minded about doing a postmortem by ordering ESR again
)For anyone wanting to avoid reading my entire story, here are the quick take-aways:
1.Verbal is the tougher part of test. It is the TOUGHEST part of test. No matter how good you think you are at it. There is a reason that people who score 51 in Quant struggle to get 40 in Verbal. So focus on V from Day 1.
2.There is no one plan fits all approach for GMAT. Please take the pain of drafting your own study plan rather than downloading someone elses. You know best how much time you need for which topic.
3.While you are preparing, have a clear vision of your goal and preparation levels in your head. Be consciously aware of various phases of study getting to know the test well, understanding all concepts, subsequent practice, identifying areas that are still weak, error log analysis and final refinement. In between study, take a day or two off to introspect see what is working what isnt. Trust me, it pays.
4.Almost every debrief tells you about the importance of maintaining error log. Well guess what, they are all right It is an inevitable tool. And again, have your own format and capture mistakes in your own style. For me, my error logs told me I had issues with past perfect tense and comparisons. I was actually totally unaware that those were my weak areas and that I was repeatedly doing the same mistakes until I started maintaining error log.
5.GMAT is a game of nerves. Study hard but make sure you stay cheerful and relaxed during preparation. Those memories stick to your mind and your mind behaves exactly in same fashion on test day.
My debrief is actually not very brief
I shall be writing a separate post elaborating on these points linking them with my experience and listing the resources I used. I shall be using the same colour scheme to convey each point. Cheers
Rachna