Vishal 760 [M - 49, V - 42]
Here is my experience from taking the GMAT:
I started my GMAT prep sometime in April, though I did not do too much for the first two months - spent some weekends reading and doing the practice questions in the OG, and other books (Princeton Review & Barrons – FYI, Barrons, is really bad). I then realized that I was not spending enough time on studying and also that my focus was not settling in any place – I would travel through the Internet over the weekdays, save stuff, and then try an look over it during the weekends!! This is when I decided to start looking for a training place, so that
(1) I could put in daily efforts into my prep, and
(2) Get some focus and direction.
I had seen CSquare Learnings, during one of my visits to Mast Kalandar, and it interested me – so I went inside and I spoke with Vinayak. I then visited the Princeton center in Indiranagar (was not very impressed with what I saw) – AND the next day I enrolled at CSquare.
I started going to CSquare sometime in early June. I took my first GMAT prep during the first weekend, and I scored 650 – this was pretty encouraging as I was targeting a pretty high score (I had said 800 when Kalyan asked!!). I analyzed the results and found my weak areas, and then started working on them along with the regular stuff being covered.
Like Kalyan and his team mention, there is absolutely no need for going outside the material provided in the 10th and 11th OG. Although, I did not get any questions directly from any of the OGs (though, I cannot say for sure in Verbal, since I did not complete OG 10), but the pattern was relatively the same and you can expect the same thought process involved. In my opinion if you have done the two OGs and have been able to analyze the results for what you got wrong, and also what you got right (both equally important) you will be able to do quiet well.
So, now coming to exam day:
I scheduled my exam in Chennai – no dates in Bangalore and I wanted to get it over as soon as possible. I had a peaceful night before the exam and then on the morning (my exam was to start at 5:30PM) I got up a little late, and then started looking through my notes from class. Once that was done, I solved some questions, about 20, from the OG (which I had earlier gotten incorrect) –
Note here:
Please do NOT look at the answers for the questions you are doing – I got ¾ incorrect and that left me unhappy and nervous for quiet a while. Anyway, after this it was time to leave, and I went to the exam center, got there by about 4:15PM, and the folks there got me started on my test at 4:30PM itself since no one else was there – it was actually really good that the test started off immediately otherwise sitting there for an hour would have been torture!!
Quant:
This went well – I knew I got two incorrect for sure, but I did not let that bother me. As Kalyan says keep moving don’t stop… Surprisingly, I did not get any probability questions!! I took the break, ate some chocolate and then went right back in.
Verbal:
This is where I was a little nervous – anyway went at it – applied the techniques from Csquare for all – including the RCs. Worked out really well. The only thing was I had only 1 minute left for the last two questions, but they were SCs and I was able to complete the section with about 5secs to spare.
So, that’s it about my experience. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
