This is my first post in this forum and I am extremely happy that it's a good news
Well I am posting it pretty late because I took my GMAT on September 20, 2012, but couldn't post about the score and prep details because of extreme workload and application process.
So finally I am here today to post about my experiences.
I will post the details later on but a brief information about my preparation:
a) First attempt at GMAT, b) Education: B.E - Computer Science & Engineering, c) 3 years work-ex in IT firm
1) 2 months of solid preparation - took out 1-2 hours daily during weekdays and 4-5 hours during weekends. Went on 10 days leave before the paper to focus entirely on GMAT
2) Study material - OG - 13th/12th edition (not much difference in 2 editions), Manhattan Strategy Guides, Kaplan Premier Online, Aristotle SC Grail.
3) Mocks - GMAT prep, Manhattan and Kaplan
4) Mock scores: GMAT Prep 1: 720, Kaplan 1: 690, Manhattan 1: 720, Kaplan 2: 670, Manhattan 2: 680, Kaplan 3: 710, Manhattan 3: 700, GMAT Prep 2: 760 (after this I was hoping for around 750 in actual test but still happy with 730
)Tips:
prepare a plan and stick to it (I studies almost daily with exception of few days even if got free from office at 9-10 p.m.)
2-3 months of prep is sufficient if your basics are clear
take mocks and lots of them - they help build stamina and focus
in my opinion you don't need to use any other books apart from the those listed above - in fact studying from too many books might result in negative results!!!
I believe the GMAT Prep mocks are closest to the actual paper but Manhattan and Kaplan mocks are really good for practice - Manhattan is slightly tougher for Quant and Kaplan slightly tougher for Verbal - the reports generated in Manhattan are really good and helps to identify the weak and strong areas.
Test day experience: slot 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
AWA: went fine, somehow I couldn't finish it on time to review the essay. Finished it just 30 seconds before time. (I hope that I didn't make any silly spelling or grammatical mistakes)
IR: was of medium level (compared to the questions given in OG online companion). Was able to attempt all questions on time
Quant: Finished 3-4 minutes before time. Was extremely confident while answering almost all the questions.
Verbal: felt the questions were slightly tougher specially the SC questions. The level really increased after around 20th questions. Was not able to manage my time properly and was left with only 5 minutes for last 4 questions. (This could have been the difference between 730 and 750-760!!)
All in all, extremely happy with my score. I wish that the applications go fine.
