5/18/2016

MyGMATJourney

MyGMATJourney

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ByShibleeMironMonday,April27,2015at1:49pm

Strategicmistakes:lessonslearnedfromtakingGMAT
Totalscore:660,verbal:34,Quant:47,IR:5AWA:4
TestDate:21march2015

1)DonotStudyanyLocalMaterials
IstartedstudyingGMATnearlytwoyearsagowithS@ifur'sbookseries.
LikemanyGMATtesttakersinBD,IhadbeensuggestedthatofficialGMATbooksaretoo
hard,sooneshouldstartwithS@ifur'sbookandlookatofficialguideonlysevendays
beforetheactualGMATtestday!!!ThusImademyfirststrategicmistake,squandering
myvaluablestudytime(atleast400hours).FortunatelyIgotthelinkofthisgroupand
thebookletpreparedbyAsifvai.SoIbroughtallbookslistedinthebooklet.Afterstudying
officialguide,Iwasfortunatetoimmediatelycomprehendthedangerofsolvingunofficial
questionsatearlystageofpreparation.GMATisatestoflogicbutdoesnottestyourbrain
powerorcreativityoranyspecificknowledgeonanysubjectincludingmath!youjustneed
tobuildsenseoflogicbuttheselocalmaterialsemphasesonsomesortofmathand
languageskill.Ifpracticecontentsofthesebooks,youmayperformwellonproblem
solvingbutwillcertainlyfacedifficultiesinDatasufficiency.Manystudentswonderwhy
Datasufficiencyissohard.Butifweinvestigatethereasonofwhystudentsfeel
uncomfortablewithD.S?.INalmostallcases,onereasonwillberevealed,heorshe
solvedlocalmaterialsornovakaplan.Somestudentsarestillnotconvincedthatwethey
shouldfollowNova,Kaplan,S@ifur's,MentorsoranyIBAmaterials.Ifyouarestillnot
convincedofthedangersthatlowestqualitymaterialsmaypose,thenyoucankeep
solving!Barronisnotorious:correctanswersofmanyquestionsarenotevenrelevant,the
constructionofmostquestionsisflawed.Everyoneshouldalsobewarnedaboutmentor's.
Thesebookswilldestroyyourclarityofconceptandmakeyouconfusedwhilesolving
actualGMATquestions.

2)DonotfallinDespondencyforlowmocktestscore
Mocktests:1)ManhattanGMAT
Totalscore=580Quant43verbal27.Mocktestdate16
February2014.
2)GMATPrepOne.TotalScore=590Quant=47verbal=25.
Date=August2014[forgettheactualdate].Afterstudyingsixmonths,Ihadbeenable
toimproveonly10points!Atthismoment,Iwasgoingtogiveup.
3)GMATpreptwoscore=640Quant=47verbal=30.While
reviewingthetest,IfewweekslaterrealizedthatitwasnotGMATpreptwobutitwas
GMATprepone.Itookno.onetestinoldversionbuttookGMATprepno.2innewversion.
ThusIdidnotrealizethatIhadtakenthesameexamtwotimes,acomprehensionthat
shatteredmyconfidenceandthatmademebelievethatIshouldnottakeanymocktest.I
wasreallysacredoffmocktestandconcludedthatwhatwouldbeifIknowtheactualscore
!EvenFewweeksbeforetheactualexam,IfeltthatIshouldnottakeamockexambutI
suddenlychangedmymindwhilereadinganinterviewofAmazonCEOJeffBezoson
ForeignAffairsjournal.""ThesynopsisoftheJeffBezos'sviewexpressedinthearticle
wasthatanexperimentisassociatedwithfailure.Ifyoufearthefailure,youcannottake
theopportunitiesthatlifethrowsatyou.""soIdecidedtotakeamocktest!
4)Kaplanscore=730kaplandidnotprovideQuantandverbalsub
score.Testdate=12march2015.Aftergetting730,Ifeelconfidentbutdecidednotto
takeanytestbymakingareasoningthatIwouldlosemyconfidenceifItakeanothermock
testandgetalowscore.afoolishthinking!

3)Donotfollowanystrategyblindly.
chinseburnedtemplateiswidelyavailableoninternet.Itisthe
besttemplateandmoststudentuses.Ialsogotthetemplateoneweekbeforetheexam.it

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MyGMATJourney

tookme20/25minutestowritethetemplateduetoslowesttypingspeed.IrealizedthatI
havetoeitherwritethetemplateorwritemainconceptsofargument.Despiteknowingthe
dangerofnotusinganytemplate,Idecidedtowriteonlyanalysisofargumentand
borrowedthelanguageoftheopeningpartofeasyfromofficialguide.Attheend,Ihad
beenabletowriteashorteasyandgotonly4.Iamstillhappywith4becausethisscoreis
adequate.IfIfollowedthetemplateaseverytesttakersdoes,Iwouldendupscoringa
2/3inAWAbutacorrectdecisionhassavedmefromdisaster.Thusyouneedtoevaluate
eachstrategybeforeadoptinginyourstudy.Onestrategymayworkwellevenfor
everyonebutthesamestrategymayruinyourpotential.

5)Quantsection
Familiarizeyourselfwithgmat'staste.QuantsectioninactualGMATexam
stunnedmeandIwasreallysurprisedtoseequestionsbeingthrownatme.Quant
questionswerecompletelydifferentfromwhatIhadsolved.Aftercompletingofficialguide
13theditioninAprill2014,IdidnotlookbackatOGandconcentratedonharderquestion
ingmatclubquestionbankinstead,thuslosingthetasteofactualGMATmathandscaring
othertesttakersbypostingunnecessaryhardquestioninthisgroup!Thereisnothing
wrongwithsolvingsomehardquestionbecausethesehardquestionscontinuouslyhityour
basicandtestyourimaginationpower.Buttheproblemwiththesehardquestionson
GMATclubisthatthesearenotofficialquestionsandthusdonothavetheflavorofGMAT.
SoItisbettertocomebacktoofficialGMATQuant[GMATprepOG]atleastonemonth
beforeyouractualtestday.OtherwiseyouwillfeelthatQuantsectionistestingsomething
thatyoudidnotknow.Iwasobservingthedifficultylevelofmathatthelaststageofthe
exam.IhadasneakyfeelingthatIamnotdoingasIexpectedatleast49.Iguessedthat
I'mgoingtogeta47inQuantbecausethefeelingofmathwasthesameasfeelingofQ47
inmocktest.

6)Formulateastrategytotackleanysituation.
Asenseoflosingmomentumhadstruckmeduringthebreakandcame
backtomycomputerdeskbutIwas51secondslate.Ihadstruggledwithtimeinall4
mocktestsandnowIwasoneminutelate,asituationthatposedextremestressbut
somehowIcontrolledmyselfbythereasoningthatIcouldcopewiththearisingsituationifI
remainaggressive.IfIevadedthethinkingofhowIperformedinQuant,Iwouldnotcome
lateandperformbetterinverbal.Youmayconfrontwithsuchcircumstancethatmayforce
youtotakewrongdecision.Youhavepreplannedstrategytofacesuchsituation,youwill
bebetterabletohandlethedifficulties..Attestcentre,youfaceoneproblem,nowyou
knowwhattodo,justdoit.Itisbettertodecidebeforetheexamwhatyouwilldoifthis
happensorifthathappens.

7)verbalsection
Criticalreasoning:thereisnoalternativetopowerscorecriticalreasoning
bible.IhaveusedthisbooktolearnwhatisCRbutmostofrulesdidnotworkforme.
SomerulesIborrowedfromLSATforum,someIgotwhileobservinghowmystudypartner
solveaCR,someIformulatedbymyown.Thisisthebestattitudetolearnanycontent.
Allrulesinonebookwillnotworkforyou.Youhavetodecidewhichworksandwhichdoes
notworkforyou.
Readingcomprehension##IdonothaveanyparticularstrategyforRC
.ScientificAmerican,sciencedailyandnewYorkTimesarebestresourcestobuildreading
skill.

GMATTakers'Group
(Bangladesh)

DocsinGMATTakers'Group(Bangladesh)

RECENTCHANGES

ShibleeMir
Updatedoverayearago
ShibleeMir
Updatedoverayearago

Sentencecorrection##LikeQuant,SCsectioninactualtestalso
ShibleeMir
stunnedme.IsolvedManhattan,Veritas,andgmatclubSCquestions.Itseemedtome
Createdoverayearago
thatIambeingtestedcompletelydifferentmatterinSC.Iwouldliketosuggesteveryoneto
useofficialquestion[OG10thOG13thGMATPrepsoftwarequestion].Ifyouarerunning
PEOPLEYOUMAYKNOW
outofSCmaterials,youcanlearnfromnonunderlinedportionofascquestion.Welearn
fromunderlinedpartofascquestionbutGMATSCtestshowanideaisexpressedinclear
SumitSaha
andconcisemanner.Soyoucanobservestructureofallsentencedwritteninofficialguide
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8)Lessonslearnedfromtakingthetest

NahianAlHossain
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1)thereisahugegapbetweensolvingaproblematyourhomeandsolvingaproblemat
actualGMATexam.Youmaysolveaquestioneasilybutyoumaynotbeabletosolvethat
questionattestcentre.Toreducethisgap,Youshouldtakeatleasttenmocktestsbefore

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Mazumderlikes
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MyGMATJourney
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takingactualGMATexam

MasoodNizamSyed

.2)OnGMATtest,thereissomethingcalledpattern.GMACmaytestyourbasicinbillion
waysbuttheyhavelimitedoptionsinproducingnewpatterns.Letmeinterpretwhatdoes
patternmean.Forexample,aquantproblemdealingwithafigure"asquareisinscribedin
acircle".Thepatterninsuchquestionisthatyouhavetoworkwithdiagonalofsquareand
Diameterofcircle.ifyouthisinformation,youwillbeabletofindoutthemeasureofeach
partofthefigure.NowletGMATproducesbillionquestionsusingthisfigurebutyoucan
answerallquestionsrelatedtothisquestionbecauseyouknowwhattodowiththis.Itisa
simpleexampleofpattern.Thisiswhyitisimportanttoscrutinizeofficialquestions
becauseactualquestioninrealGMATtestwillfollowthesamepatternofofficialguide,not
ManhattanorVeritas.Observingstructure,patternandlogicusedinproducingaquestion
dependsonyourpersonalskill.Anothertesttakermayformulateanapproachcompletely
differentfromwhatIstatedhere.

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post.
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AshikSayemlikesShah
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SyedKawsarZelanilikes
SaifNomanKhan'spost.

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3)QualityvsQuantityIwanttosharetwosuggestions.FirstoneIgotfrommyfriend
.QualityismoreimportantthanQuantity.somepeoplemisinterpretthisstatement
,assumingthatweshouldpracticeafewnumberofquestions.Youhavetobalancethe
combinationofQualityvsQuantity.Onefriendofmine,whosenameIamnotallowedto
writehereandwhosemocktestscoreishoveringaround780,toldmethatshehadsolved
nearly2500CRquestions,1500quantproblems,300Rcpassages,and1200SC
questions.ButdonotforgetthatQualityisofcourseimportantthanquantity.Donottryto
solvemanyquestionsquickly.

SharminBintaRah 19m
MohammadMushfiq 3h

4)DonotletForumfoolyou:anotherimportantadviceIgotfromGMATninja.Everyone
alsoreadalotofGMATsuccessstoriesandthinkthatwhyI'mnotcrackingGMATeasilyas
everyoneisdoing.Everyoneissufferingjustasyouare.
5)youcanraiseyourscore60+pointswithoutstudyingasinglewordifyoudonotfret
verbalandRCandcanstaycalmattestcenter.Fearplaystowroles.Firstfearcompels
youtotakeawrongdecisionevenifyouknowallinformation.Secondtheimpactof
Anxietyandfearworksuponyourselfevenifyoufeelrelaxedattestcenter,weakening
yournerveandpreventingyoufromdeliveringyourbestperformance.Incaseof
Bangladeshitesttakers,wearescaredoffRCsection,somosttesttakersevendonotlook
atRCbutsheorhehasalreadyspentthreemonthsstudyingGMAT.Fearplaysabigrole
inforcingustotakesuchludicrousdecision.

AfrinaSultana

3m

J.m.AminurRahim

2h

FarzanaSultana
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Thesefriendscan'tsee
youonchat.Edit

6)Trustyourself.IthinkthatIcouldhavegot700+butstupidmistakespreventedmefrom
beingamemberof700club.IalsothinkthatIamnotarrogant.amIwrongaboutmyclaim
?maybeYESbutwhatIbelieveisthatsuchhighambitionwillhelptogain700+ninfuture.
sodonotlosehope.

IstilldonotregretofblundersImadeandoftimeIsquanderedbecauseIhavegainedso
manythingsthatarenotwrittenonmyGMATreportandthatareasimportantasGMAT
score!GMATscoreisnoteverythinginyourlife.soDonotallowGMATtoletyoudown.

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Comment

AbdullahIshakKhanand80others
81
RubelIbrahiminformative
April27,2015at6:29pmLike

ArsadAurkoHellovaiacanyoupleasepostorsharethelinkherethebookletthatyou
mentionedabove,icouldn'tfindthat.Thanksinadvance
August21,2015at1:14pmEditedLike

ArsadAurkoiguessIhavefoundit itstheonethatsayssomecommonquestionsabout
GMATinfilesection.thanksalotforyourwonderfulwork.
August21,2015at1:25pmLike

SuzukaMalihaAlamSuzuka
August24,2015at4:29pmLike
ShawonKayumkudostoyou
December24,2015at1:20amLike

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