Just took the GMAT this morning (13 Aug) and I could not be happier with my score. Honestly I think I'm still in shock. Thank you to everyone on this forum, I can't tell you how many times I came here for help and advice.
About me:
25 year old native english speaker
I work in the arts, but on the business side
My study plan:
I bought the OG and Kaplan in April 2010 but let them sit in the corner until May. In May I took the diagnostic tests in which I did great in verbal but not so great in math. Thus I started by reading the math reviews and doing practice problems. In June I had deadlines at work so I didn't have time to do much studying. I started to buckle down in July (a little late honestly) and finished almost all the math practice problems in both the OG and Kaplan. Generally speaking I liked the math review in Kaplan but didn't like their sample problems. As many people have said the OG is really the source to rely on. Given that I had scored so well on the verbal diagnostic I only spent 3 days reviewing verbal and doing practice problems, could have spent a little longer in hindsight. I spent 2 days on AWA. There are several posts on this forum that provide great outlines. For me the most important thing was to write full essays in my practice exams to get my stamina up. Between 25 July and 9 August I took 4 practice tests. I though the Kaplan practice tests were scaled way down (as you can see below), after taking the first one I was terrified. But the GMATprep ones went much better and I convinced myself they were more representative, and my score seems to suggest that. I will admit that I didn't study nearly as long as many people but I did complete almost every practice problem in the OG and I think that was the best prep available.
Practice Tests:
Kaplan 1-570
GMATprep 1-730
Kaplan 2-590
GMATprep 2-720
While taking the test I had no idea how I was doing, it really could have gone either way. I took the exam at 8am which was rather early, however, it did mean that I couldn't stress myself too much in the morning since I had to get going and it was nice to have the afternoon to decompress. I also only did about 30 minutes of review for the three days before the exam, there were things I didn't know but I didn't want to spend the last few days freaking out.
About me:
25 year old native english speaker
I work in the arts, but on the business side
My study plan:
I bought the OG and Kaplan in April 2010 but let them sit in the corner until May. In May I took the diagnostic tests in which I did great in verbal but not so great in math. Thus I started by reading the math reviews and doing practice problems. In June I had deadlines at work so I didn't have time to do much studying. I started to buckle down in July (a little late honestly) and finished almost all the math practice problems in both the OG and Kaplan. Generally speaking I liked the math review in Kaplan but didn't like their sample problems. As many people have said the OG is really the source to rely on. Given that I had scored so well on the verbal diagnostic I only spent 3 days reviewing verbal and doing practice problems, could have spent a little longer in hindsight. I spent 2 days on AWA. There are several posts on this forum that provide great outlines. For me the most important thing was to write full essays in my practice exams to get my stamina up. Between 25 July and 9 August I took 4 practice tests. I though the Kaplan practice tests were scaled way down (as you can see below), after taking the first one I was terrified. But the GMATprep ones went much better and I convinced myself they were more representative, and my score seems to suggest that. I will admit that I didn't study nearly as long as many people but I did complete almost every practice problem in the OG and I think that was the best prep available.
Practice Tests:
Kaplan 1-570
GMATprep 1-730
Kaplan 2-590
GMATprep 2-720
While taking the test I had no idea how I was doing, it really could have gone either way. I took the exam at 8am which was rather early, however, it did mean that I couldn't stress myself too much in the morning since I had to get going and it was nice to have the afternoon to decompress. I also only did about 30 minutes of review for the three days before the exam, there were things I didn't know but I didn't want to spend the last few days freaking out.
