Hello Everyone,

On the 5th of April 2012 I gave my 1st GMAT and scored a 610 Q-45 V-29 AWA 5. I wasn't content with this score mainly for 2 reasons: my prep scores & my GMAT experience. I have been preparing for the test since December 2011.

GMAT materiel used:
Manhattan GMAT SC, GMAT CR & GMAT quant set
OG 12
GMAT Prep
Aristotle SC grail for Idioms and miscellaneous errors

Practice test scores:
MGMAT 1:- 540 Q-37 V-28
MGMAT 2:- 610 Q-46 V-29
MGMAT 3:- 640 Q-44 V-34
GMAT Prep: - 650 Q-49 V-29-----------Old version
MGMAT 4:- 640 Q-46 V-32
GMAT Prep: - 650 Q-47 V-34
GMAT Prep:- 670 Q-48 V35
All tests were strictly timed & with AWA.

The experience:-
AWA was a breeze, I wrote 5 paragraphs each with 5-6 sentences for both the essays.
Quant was good as usual, got 2 probability questions, 2-3 overlapping set questions etc. I'm not really sure where I lost it, but I did get a few nightmare geometry questions (3D cone etc) of which I had to guess 1. Overall it was ok and I expected around 47-49. My timing was spot on; I used the following strategy

Every 10 minutes I had to solve 5 questions

Verbal was better than I expected. Based on my practice test experience I was expecting a minimum of 34. The RC's went well and was sure of all the questions, On SC's I was able to split the answer choices and was sure on at least 10 questions and CR's were pretty decent. My timing was spot on again, I used the following strategy

75min - Start: 57min - 10 questions: 39min - 20 questions: 21min - 30 questions: 3min - 1 question

Irrespective of the above timing when I got an RC, 3 minutes for the passage and 1.5 minutes for each question.

Once I was done, I was confident of getting a 650. Although that is nearly the highest I have got in my practice test, after each test I reviewed my mistakes for almost a day and learnt a lot from them every time. When the score popped up, I was shocked to see 610 Q-45 V-29. Both Quant & Verbal were way below my expectation. There was nothing I could do at that moment, it was the past and I had to move on.



Retake

My re-take was on the 10th of May & I had worked on GC math tests and the GMAT practice set which I had bought for 24$. AWA was a breeze again, Quant was better than last time but I did not get the monster like questions which I did on my first attempt. Verbal was awkward, every question i got this feeling that i have come across this before... You might think its a good thing, but its not... cause the question was different and my mind was answering from my memory.

Based on my previous experience, I was expecting the quant to go to 42!!! And verbal a 34... but this is how GMAT rated my test
640 Q-47 V-31

I'm pretty much ok with this score, as I believe if I write the GMAT 10 times, my lowest would be a 610 & highest would be a 680. I wish I had more time, but this is how my GMAT stacks up and I'm not going in for another try.

I know my score is on the lower side and being an Indian IT category I don't stand a good chance, but I am not the typical IT software code writer. I work in a production environment, never been on bench , speak with customers directly and am pretty confident I can make my application stand out. Provided the schools take a look at what I write...

Keep Walking...

Regards,
JW