The GMAT Experience

Hi Everyone,
Am finally done with GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test). My exam was on 15th May 2008. I know all of you are pretty interested in knowing my score. I did not do very well, just scored 600/800. My score in Maths and Verbal section were 44 and 28 respectively. Well after 4 months of on and off preparation, this is all i could achieve. I worked very hard and would say that i finished all books and softwares (Princeton, Kaplan, Manhattan etc). In my exams, i made improvement in my scores after going online on scorechase.com. My highest score before visiting this site was 580 and after 1.5 months on scorechase i was getting 650. Honestly, i have to admit that i am not very disappointed because i never scored more than 650 in practice exams. In Manhattan i scored 650, in Kaplan i scored 630, in GMAT prep i scored 620 and 560. I was confident that i would get above 600. My SC improved drastically along with DS but my CR always sucked. I just couldn't do it because i always would land up with 2 options to chose. I completed 10 pages from DS and SC, 7 pages from CR and 2 pages from PS in scorechase. I completed ALL books for maths, verbal etc. I cant answer why my score never went to 700 in practice exams, may be this was it.

Each one of us aims to get more than 700 to get into the top 10 business schools. These exams are so well made that they can actually test your "real-life" potential. I was kind of frustrated and jaded studying for GMAT after 4 months. It starts showing into you and thats when i decided to take my date on 15th, a day before my commencement at USC (University of Southern California). I just completed my masters in Computer Science. I remember Guardian told me that people can wait upto 6 months to get the score they want to achieve and the school they want to get in. GMAT will definitely give you an assessment of yourself. I used to on average spend 5-6 hrs everyday but still couldn't pass through 700. I think i was mentally prepared that i am not going to get a good one because i am among those 2% population who still thinks can make it to Stanford with 600. This is the ONLY college i want to apply and even if it takes me 10 attempts, i will continue to do so. I observed that people like L.Doit who have joined in Jan 2007 recently gave their GMAT scoring 760. People like him certainly have lot of patience, perseverance and confidence. I personally do not think that GMAT is the most significant criteria for gaining admission in top business schools. Schools like Stanford do not think so and hence even accept GRE score. I had much better score in GRE (1350/1600). I will apply with this score first.

I was expecting to score higher on the GMAT. I felt my exam was going good but there certainly are lot of factors which can or may affect your score but not drastically. I wish i could know my detailed section scores. What is important is how much you score on the "D-day". First of all, i could not sleep even for an hour the night before my exam due to anxiety and high fever. My exam was at 8 pm in Gardena, California. In India i gave my GRE in Delhi at 9 am, over here in US when the day starts an hour early it was 8. I chose this time as then you would have the whole day either to weep or enjoy. As i was a college student, i used to sleep late in the morning. A day before D day i was not in routine and in the morning it was terrible for me. Even my neck was stiff and hard when i woke up. I could not look up and down repeatedly. It was hard to concentrate looking at the screen and then writing on paper solving maths q's. I was panicking in the morning as the route we took was closed due to construction. As i never had driven a lot in US, it was very tough for me to find alternate routes and reach the centre. I somehow managed it but was nervous. At the test center, i mostly saw aged people with gloomy faces unlike youngsters. Who would want to get up at 6 in the morning, very few. The test itself soaks you for 4 hrs. I finished at 11.30 and i was DONE !!!! I was constantly praying i get a good score but i was taken aback with 600. Now whatever happened has happened and i am surely not going to repeat GMAT. Its a fun score which is low but i gave my best shot. I tried guys.

The following would be my profile:
BTech (Computer Science) in India
3 yrs IT work experience in India
MS (Computer Science) from USC, LA
Am moving to Goldman Sachs in NY , will work there for 4-5 yrs and apply till i get through.


Last but not least, i will have to thank first of all to my brother who recommended me scorechase website. He used it for his GMAT preparation. All other users of ScoreChase - Hagrid, Guardian, L.Doit, Zing, thank you so much. People whose comments i read but never interacted with them - Sneha, manish, mavericksailor, whoishemu, T-bag, ChetanChanna, NickNish, Shivaqif, Gopi, recordbreaker, Dr MBA - Thank you so much. People whose names i am forgetting even though i checked scorechase website, all those people who come in my 10 page forum list - my apologies for not remembering your names but Thank you very much.

You guys provided me lot of support, cooperation, self-confidence and motive to do better and better with immense guidance. I dedicate this to you guys, sadly even though itslow.

That was from me guys. See you all and Good luck to others giving GMAT soon. Its just a test, Fight on.....

Signing off,

Rgds,
Sidharth Kumar