Hi all, this is to share my long GMAT experience over the last 7 months. Working full-time and being international biz trip once per month on average, I had difficulty in focusing on my study at all. It was one of the hardest year in my life. Anyway, about 1 months ago, I found this site and got very good help. Actually the last 1 month was the best among the last 7. I owe a big one to this site so I'm writing now. 
Today I took the test and got 720 (M 49/ V 40). As my first language isn't English, it was hard to expect to get more than 35 for Verbal, so I was really surprised with my Verbal score. For Math, actually I expected more than that, so I was a little disappointed.
These are what I studied
- Official Guide 11th / Official Guide for Verbal & Math
- PowerPrep on mba.com
- Some previous questions in paper forms
- Some GMAT CAT Prep Test on Kaplan/Manhattan GMAT/Princeton Review
- Questions & Answers on online forums
What I really want to recommend strongly is to do the PowerPrep like a day or two days before the test. It REALLY helped me A LOT. You can download them from mba.com and see and feel the actual layout of the test on computer. Since you'll mostly work on paper-based texts and references, you sometimes get lost and cannot calm down easily on actual test. Thus I'd say it's really important to get the feel of actual test and to get used to it.
I did not review the other books like Kaplan or Princeton Review, but I don't think you'll need another theory book once you went through Official Guide as thoroughly as possible. What you need next is to practice over and over, especially on COMPUTER, not on PAPER.
For AWA, I think it's worth to give it a shot to read sample topics on OG. However, don't look for any pattern or forms you need to follow for AWA. Rather, it's far better to get to know social issues and anecdotes to support your writing.
OK. This is all. Again, thanks a lot to you and the founder of this site. Now I got one obstacle off from my road to MBA!!
Thanks for reading this long-long article. Hope this helps anybody.
Today I took the test and got 720 (M 49/ V 40). As my first language isn't English, it was hard to expect to get more than 35 for Verbal, so I was really surprised with my Verbal score. For Math, actually I expected more than that, so I was a little disappointed.
These are what I studied
- Official Guide 11th / Official Guide for Verbal & Math
- PowerPrep on mba.com
- Some previous questions in paper forms
- Some GMAT CAT Prep Test on Kaplan/Manhattan GMAT/Princeton Review
- Questions & Answers on online forums
What I really want to recommend strongly is to do the PowerPrep like a day or two days before the test. It REALLY helped me A LOT. You can download them from mba.com and see and feel the actual layout of the test on computer. Since you'll mostly work on paper-based texts and references, you sometimes get lost and cannot calm down easily on actual test. Thus I'd say it's really important to get the feel of actual test and to get used to it.
I did not review the other books like Kaplan or Princeton Review, but I don't think you'll need another theory book once you went through Official Guide as thoroughly as possible. What you need next is to practice over and over, especially on COMPUTER, not on PAPER.
For AWA, I think it's worth to give it a shot to read sample topics on OG. However, don't look for any pattern or forms you need to follow for AWA. Rather, it's far better to get to know social issues and anecdotes to support your writing.
OK. This is all. Again, thanks a lot to you and the founder of this site. Now I got one obstacle off from my road to MBA!!
Thanks for reading this long-long article. Hope this helps anybody.
