I just Beat The GMAT!

I am super happy about my score. I had studied for the past 8 months - more so in the spring and summer than in the fall (I watch a lot of football, and my Saturdays and Sundays are spent watching college ball and the NFL respectively).

I took the test this morning, and was really surprised and really (yes, a lot of reallys) happy about my score. I received a 730 (49 Q 40V) this morning. This my 2nd attempt - I had obtained a 620 (43Q and 31V) during my first attempt in August

I had utilized the OG, the verbal and quant supplements, LSAT CRs, GMAT Prep and MGMAT CATs. I won't go in the details about my study techniques (different ppl will need different techniques/strategies.... besides there are lot of people who had already posted their techniques/strategies), but I will briefly explain what I did differently after obtaining the 620. I was pretty devastated after obtaining the 620, and took a month off before continuing my GMAT studies (football season certainly didn't help although I am psyched that Eagles are in the playoffs - anyone rooting for the Eagles here?). During that 3 mths, I redid the MGMAT CATs, redid the GMAT Prep, and did a lot of LSAT CR questions and also rereviewed SC principles (through the use of the new MGMAT SC guide). The latter two really helped my verbal - the MGMAT SC is superb in every sense and the LSAT CRs are a great practice. I find that CR guides from most publishers are useless as CR is mainly about understanding the stimulus, and answering the questions smartly - in my opinion, the best way to master CR is through practice. Granted, some of the guides will definately help you understand the different forms of CR questions, but there is no good way to apply their principles (as proposed by the publishers) as the key to success in CR is through proper understanding of the stimulus and of the question stem.

These are my practice scores:
MGMAT CATS - I started with a 590, and the later ones range from 650-740, with a lot of 700s in between.
GMAT prep - first one was 580, the 2nd one was 680, and the two retakes was 700 and 710.
PRINCETON REVIEW CAT (this is free and available online) - 670

Besides studying hard (albeit inconsistently), I reliazed that, like anything else in life, there are certain things that you don't control, and with that said I truly thank the Lord for allowing me to achieve my desired score. The GMAT was a great monkey on my back, and I think I may have finally gotten that monkey off me. I am gonna now focus on the part time programs that I am interested in...good luck to all.

Also, it is important to note that you must not give up. All of us aim to attend the best of schools, and I have to admit that there are times that I felt that I wouldn't be able to obtain a 650 (to me a 650 is the minimum that one would need to get in order to be considered by a top 15 school). The GMAT is by no means an easy test (I am not smart enough to get a good score without studying) - it is tough because it is a self selecting standardized test, but rest assured that with hard work, you'll be able to get the score that you want.