690, 90th percentile - 49Q, 34V

wagoboy · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:55 am Post subject: 690, 90th percentile - 49Q, 34V

And I am very happy! I don't think I studied nearly as hard as most people who post around here, and was aiming anything above 650, so I am very satisfied with the result.

I studied mostly off OG11, this site, and 2 unofficial guides borrowed from the library. The Unofficials guides were a good starting point, as it explained all the math theories that are tested on the GMAT and things to look out for in SC/CT.

Like many others, I thought I didn't do too well on the Quantitative, and felt comfortable with the Verbal... oh how I wish I took more time with the Verbal, I still had a good 9 minutes left when I finished the last section.

My Q score was a very pleasant surprise. I hated math, I never took it again in University, and I've been out of school for a good 3+ years. When I first started studying for the GMAT I couldn't even remember what FOIL is! And I didn't pace myself as well as I should have during the test, and was left with 3 mins for my last 3 questions! But somehow, I pulled off a decent score.

Anyway here's some of my advice for approaching the quantitative section:
- For DC questions, read the question, and before looking at a) and b) think about what information you need to solve the problem. For example, if the question is asking if 3(a^2)(B^3) is even, you only need to know whether B is odd or even!
- Look out for answers that seem almost too obvious. Some DC questions make it seem that C is the likely answer (esp. with percentage questions), but the answer is actually E, as some information is missing for you to solve the questions being asked.
- Become comfortable with maniputlating numbers (ie. sq. rt. 20 = 2*sq rt.5, 4^-1/2 = 1/2, etc.)

I think my poor Verbal score was mainly due to my mistakes in the SC section. DON'T go with just what sounds right. Read all the sentences carefully, try to spot the mistakes with each sentence, and through process of elimination pick the one that's right. I think I messed up mainly from confusion between "to be" and "as", and kinda got lost reading the very long sentences. Doing more practice questions would've definitely helped.

Anyway, that's the end of GMAT for me, time to move on to applications! Best of luck to everyone still needing to write the GMAT!!

beatthegmat · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:46 pm Post subject:

Congrats! Thanks for sharing your story with us, and best of luck!

gmat765 · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 6:46 pm Post subject:

thank you, wagoboy and congratulations