so here is a recap of the facts:
--started studying about 3 months ago on my own. bought OG 11 along with Kaplan 800, but just didn't have the discipline to practice rigorously enough so signed up for Princeton Review after a month on my own
--as many others have said, PR's course was very basic. i took the online version, which was obviously less involved than the classroom version would've been, but i still found it helpful as far as making me keep pace with homework assignments. the review of the basics isn't all bad either if you don't remember any of the basics (quadratic formula? gimme a break!). one good thing about PR, though, is they have a pretty extensive library of extra problems at varying difficulty levels that make it easy for you to continue honing your skills on your own
--after completing the month-long PR course, I was on my own again for ~2 wks to bring it all home. i practiced and practiced and practiced some more (using PR practice question banks, OG and Kaplan 800)
--day before the exam, i quit and tried my best to relax. would definitely advise doing this for everyone
day of the exam:
--had a 9am test time. woke up early, made myself eat breakfast, and packed a few granola bars to go, which worked out pretty well. dressing in layers was also a good piece of advice.
--one major thing to note is that if you are testing outside of your country of citizenship (i have been a resident in the US for years but am still canadian), YOU NEED TO BRING YOUR PASSPORT (driver's license is not enough). thankfully, i'd heard this from a friend who had learned the hard way a few days prior.
--i highly recommend taking all the optional breaks. it's tempting to try and plough all the way through and get it over with, but the 20 minutes you save isn't really worth it. you really need a break mentally in between sections.
major takeaways:
--don't freak out. some of you may have noticed the post i made in the strategy forum about overthinking. in the 2 weeks leading up to my exam, i noticed my diagnostic scores were actually decreasing. this, of course, led to more freaking out, which led to more decreasing diag scores--vicious cycle. i was obviously prepared but was stressing out so badly that it really started to hurt my performance.
--it is very key to realize that you will most likely feel like you're doing terrible while taking the exam. taking the GMATPrep diagnostic helps to prepare you for this a bit, but it's important to know that you can miss quite a few questions and still get a very good score. i actually ran out of time and didn't finish the last 2 questions, on top of having to guess on a few prior to that that i felt were just too hard and would've been too time-consuming.
--the flashcards on this forum are great! i didn't find out about this site until a week or so before my test, and i really wish i'd found it sooner. i highly recommend perusing the resource wiki. i had been having problems with my AWA as well, and reading the samples provided on the wiki helped a lot.
well, don't want to ramble on for TOO long, so i'll sign off here. happy to answer any other questions that anyone might have!
