Anyways, a quick rundown first...
Here's how I prepped--
I'm still a senior in college (undergrad) graduating in May of this year but wanted to get the test out of the way while I'm still in the "school" mode. I started studying in February and pretty much spent all of my free time devoted to the GMAT (6 weeks, ~ 2 hours a day). I took a practice test every weekend (GMATPrep and MGMAT exams) and would review my wrong answers the day after (I went through every question and looked at the explanations, for the MGMAT exams at least).
The books I used--
OG 12 <-- must have for practice questions!
Manhattan SC <-- awesome book
Manhattan RC
Manhattan CR
Manhattan Number Properties <-- awesome book
(If you can't tell, verbal is my weak point)
Starting off, I went through the entire Manhattan verbal books listed above, and was able to finish about one every week or week and a half. I did all the corresponding OG questions and then once I finished the Manhattan books, I started pounding through the OG questions. I tried to do ~40-50 questions a night and would switch up the question types every night (one night would be RC, another DS, another PS, etc).
My practice tests--
GMATPrep 1 (2/7/10) -- 610 (don't remember the split) <-- before I started studying
MGMAT 1 (2/13/10) -- 640 (45Q, 33V)
MGMAT 2 (2/20/10) -- 700 (47Q, 39V)
MGMAT 3 (2/27/10) -- 710 (46Q, 41V)
GMATPrep 2 (3/7/10) -- 710 (48Q, 40V) <-- taken at the library, at 8:00am.. trying to mimic testing conditions
Actual test (3/14/10) -- 700 (48Q, 37V)
I'm a little disappointed with the 37V because my practice tests were a little higher than that, but my quant score was pretty much in line with how I've been doing.
ON TEST DAY--
My exam was at 8:00am at a testing site around 25 minutes away from my house. I just got home for spring break the night before but I was still able to get a decent 7 hours of sleep the night before. I woke up around 6:30am, ate my normal breakfast, and left the house around 7:10. I got to the testing site around 7:40 and was actually able to start almost immediately. They took my picture, palm print, and I locked up my stuff in a locker. I had a quick drink of water, went to the bathroom, and was off. There were 4 other people there, all taking the GMAT, and the testing center was really quiet.
I actually almost ran out of time on the first AWA (I finished with ~7 seconds left!) but was determined not to let it throw me off. The 2nd AWA went more smoothly and I finished with a few minutes to spare.
I took a five minute break, stretched my legs, went to the bathroom, drank some water, and went back for quant.
I actually thought the quant was harder than I expected. The Manhattan GMAT practice exams' quant sections definitely are harder than the actual test, but the scores are pretty spot on. Going through this section, there were quite a few questions where I had it narrowed it down to 2 answer choices and ended up guessing. I finished with ~1:30 left and actually felt like I did worse than I did in the practice exams. Nevertheless, I was determined to put it behind me and took advantage of the break.
After I got back from my break, I moved onto verbal... I was determined to make up for my lackluster quant section. I moved pretty efficiently through the first few questions, and actually thought I was doing well. The questions didn't seem as hard as the practice tests, and I thought I was doing better than I had done in practice. With ~15 questions left, I looked up at the clock and saw that I had 50 minutes left!! I started slowing down drastically, double and triple checking my answers, and still finished with ~10 minutes left. I was actually pretty confident with my verbal section and was hoping for just a 700+.
The questions after the exam were over were literally the most nerve wracking few minutes of my life. I clicked through all the survey questions as quickly as I could and when the score finally showed up I was so happy! The entire time I was hoping for the first number just to be a '7' and I actually couldn't believe it was finally here and happening. My verbal score wasn't nearly as high as I had hoped but I definitely can't complain.
My question for you guys is now.. should I consider retaking it? I know I'm only a senior in college right now but I don't want to put it off for so long that I forget everything I've learned this time around. I'm definitely going to take at least a couple months off (finish school, have fun, graduate) but was wondering if I should consider retaking it in June/July.
Right now I'm considering schools like Stanford, Haas, Wharton, Columbia, and Fuqua. I know my GMAT score is on the lower end of their range, but my undergrad GPA is a 3.9 from a top 15 school (non-Ivy though) and I'm starting in July as an investment banking analyst at a BB bank. I'm hoping my GPA/experience/extracurriculars will make up for my lower than average GMAT score.
Thoughts?
Thank you ALL for helping out readers like me! Please let me know if you have ANY questions at all about my GMAT experience and I'd be GLAD to answer them!! I'm off to enjoy my spring break
