Don't believe the GMATPrep Hype! 640 - 740 (Q49,V42)

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Location: Charlotte, NC
GMAT Score:740
Many of these posts are like short novels :-), so I will try to keep this short & sweet....

About Me:
  • African-American/Black (non-immigrant/slave decendant)
    Female
    Mid-Twenties
    Engaged (yes, that makes a difference...my wedding is in 4 months...yikes!)
    BS from top 5 Engineering School
    Employed by top 5 Tech Company
GMAT History
  • Attempt 1: 5/1/2009 - 650
    Attempt 2: 12/19/2009 - 640 (Q35, V42, AWA 5.5)
    Attempt 3: 9/1/2010 - 740 (Q49, V42, AWA TBD)
Recent 2.5 Month Study Plan Practice Test History
GMATPrep 1 (first attempt): 640 (skipped AWA)
GMATPrep 1 (second attempt): 660 (skipped AWA)
Princeton Review CAT: 540 (skipped AWA)
Kaplan CAT: 590 (skipped AWA)
GMATPrep 2: 650 (skipped AWA--the day before the test!)

Test Day Strategies:
  • Took a 1 hour nap 1 hour before the test (of course I couldn't sleep, but simply closing my eyes, resting and clearing my mind left me getting up refreshed and rejuvinated)
    Took 2 Fish Oil Pills for Omega-3 Fatty Acids (brain food)
    Yogurt Parfait for breakfast
    Dressed to impress! (studies have shown test-takers dressed well perform better)
    Studied a few of my Beat The GMAT and custom flashcards to refresh on concepts I often forgot (like zero is a even integer that is neither postive nor negative--could not remember that to save my life!)
    Packed a power lunch/snack box to nibble on during breaks: Sun Drop soda, Kashi bar, Sun Flower Seeds (something about moving your mouth to crack seeds stimulates your brain--works everytime)
My Conclusion:
Don't believe the GMATPrep hype! In many cases your performance on the well-used, GMAC provided practice CAT is a very good indicator on how you will perform on test day, but remember we are not robots people! You are the master of your fate, the captain of your soul! Despite my previously dismal scores on both past GMAT tests and practice exams, I managed to outscore those "predictions" by more than 90 points. Why? Because when it mattered the most, I mustered up the stregnth and courage (and prayers) to do my absolute best. I learned from the mistakes I made in practice and as they say in football I "left it on the field" so that it did not negatively affect my confidence on game day. I'm not suggesting the same results will hapen for most people, but I did want it to be known that it is possible to do really poorly in practice and still Beat The GMAT!

FYI: Schools where I may apply
  • Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business - MBA, Full Time
    Georgetown University - The McDonough School of Business - MBA, Full Time
    Harvard University - Harvard Business School - MBA, Full Time
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - MIT Sloan School of Management - MBA, Full Time
    University of Chicago - Booth School of Business - MBA, Full Time
Last edited by TOTLPKG on Wed Sep 08, 2010 4:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by beatthegmat » Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:08 am
Beautiful debrief, and AMAZING score improvement! Thanks so much for sharing and congrats!
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by bmorgan » Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:29 pm
wow
I do not have superior intelligence or faultless looks. I do not captivate a room or run a mile under six minutes. I only succeeded because I was still working long after everyone else went to sleep.

-Greg Evans

Veritas CAT: 680
GMATPrep CAT: 680

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by The Jock » Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:20 pm
Congratulations, amazing score and best of luck for your applications.
Thanks and Regards,
Varun
https://mbayogi.wordpress.com/

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by uwhusky » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:19 pm
Congratulation, job well done!

The "hype" is true for me down to the last bit, I had always scored within the same range as my GMAT Prep test scores.
Yep.