Scored a 690 with self study on 16 aug
Overall 690 (88%ile)
Quant 48 (82%ile)
Verbal 36 (78%ile)
AWA 5.5 (77%ile...bit shocked).
Profile:
Aiming for top 30 universities in the US only, preferably in California. 3.4 GPA, normal work experience, expecting to apply in 2012 by which time I shd have 1 year of formal mgt experience and 4 years of work ex.
Prep time:
6-8 months, as I was working full time, so very erratic and unconcentrated.
Prep material:
3 OG's
2 GMATPrep tests
Finished both Verbal and Quant cover to cover, and did Verbal from main OG, but only 50% of Quant (not enough time)
Pre-Score:
650 on GMATPrep1 (taken 2 weeks before exam) - better on quant
740 on GMATPrep2 (taken 2 days before exam) - balanced
AWA:
Easy, fun, no pressure. Still surprising that 5.5 is a 77%ile.
QUANT:
On the day, got stuck on one nasty Quant question with Geometry / Area concepts - usually I breeze through them...this one ate up a lot of my time, and made me very nervous. Eventually, I guessed and moved on. But my nerves were shot. Finished last 8 quant questions in last 10 remaining minutes, so was shocked when my quant score was higher than verbal.
VERBAL:
Breathe breathe breathe I told myself when I took the break. Went back in with full focus, over concentrated (and high on muesli bars), and was more confident of questions in Verbal than I was on Quant.
Here I faced a different problem. With 30 minutes left, I was on question 35. This had to be wrong! Anyway, I was done pretty soon, and to my shock I scored horribly on verbal even though I thought I did rather well on all my prep tests and when going through the OGs. Weird.
ANALYSIS:
I need more practice tests and sustained stamina.
Quant:
Pacing Pacing Pacing. My accuracy was fine but I shdve given up on that question ages before I did.
Verbal:
Stamina to go through SLOWLY. Need a better accuracy rate in RC and SC, CR accuracy is good.
PLAN OF ACTION FOR RETAKE:
Focus on Quant pacing and Verbal accuracy. Buy MGMAT SC, PowerScore Verbal, MGMAT Quant and read cover to cover.
QUESTIONS FOR THE FORUM:
I almost hit place order on Amazon for the books above, but I want to hear from the experts on this forum first...
1. Should I retake?
2. Are the books ive chosen right?
3. What's the best resource for RC - MGMAT or is PowerScore Verbal enough? MGMAT SC wins polls across all forums, but people are divided over RC....
Overall 690 (88%ile)
Quant 48 (82%ile)
Verbal 36 (78%ile)
AWA 5.5 (77%ile...bit shocked).
Profile:
Aiming for top 30 universities in the US only, preferably in California. 3.4 GPA, normal work experience, expecting to apply in 2012 by which time I shd have 1 year of formal mgt experience and 4 years of work ex.
Prep time:
6-8 months, as I was working full time, so very erratic and unconcentrated.
Prep material:
3 OG's
2 GMATPrep tests
Finished both Verbal and Quant cover to cover, and did Verbal from main OG, but only 50% of Quant (not enough time)
Pre-Score:
650 on GMATPrep1 (taken 2 weeks before exam) - better on quant
740 on GMATPrep2 (taken 2 days before exam) - balanced
AWA:
Easy, fun, no pressure. Still surprising that 5.5 is a 77%ile.
QUANT:
On the day, got stuck on one nasty Quant question with Geometry / Area concepts - usually I breeze through them...this one ate up a lot of my time, and made me very nervous. Eventually, I guessed and moved on. But my nerves were shot. Finished last 8 quant questions in last 10 remaining minutes, so was shocked when my quant score was higher than verbal.
VERBAL:
Breathe breathe breathe I told myself when I took the break. Went back in with full focus, over concentrated (and high on muesli bars), and was more confident of questions in Verbal than I was on Quant.
Here I faced a different problem. With 30 minutes left, I was on question 35. This had to be wrong! Anyway, I was done pretty soon, and to my shock I scored horribly on verbal even though I thought I did rather well on all my prep tests and when going through the OGs. Weird.
ANALYSIS:
I need more practice tests and sustained stamina.
Quant:
Pacing Pacing Pacing. My accuracy was fine but I shdve given up on that question ages before I did.
Verbal:
Stamina to go through SLOWLY. Need a better accuracy rate in RC and SC, CR accuracy is good.
PLAN OF ACTION FOR RETAKE:
Focus on Quant pacing and Verbal accuracy. Buy MGMAT SC, PowerScore Verbal, MGMAT Quant and read cover to cover.
QUESTIONS FOR THE FORUM:
I almost hit place order on Amazon for the books above, but I want to hear from the experts on this forum first...
1. Should I retake?
2. Are the books ive chosen right?
3. What's the best resource for RC - MGMAT or is PowerScore Verbal enough? MGMAT SC wins polls across all forums, but people are divided over RC....
Last edited by tso on Sat Aug 21, 2010 6:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
