Hi all,
I just took my exam and got 760 (99 percentile):
Q50 (93rd percentile)
V44 (97th percentile)
AWA not sure yet since I just took it, think may expect ~5-6, but not sure
---> Question, obviously I am happy with these results - I expected in the range of 760-780 (but see below on "Test Day"for reasons why I am grateful I did score this), but what do these percentiles mean? Good? Do they raise any red flags?
--> additional question, I don't want to sound ungrateful..but wondering if my V / M split is probably on the high end for my score. i.e. I would be a tiny bit annoyed that I could have gotten one more verbal question right to get 770. Again, realize I sound like a brat, so feel free to ignore me.....just bothering me
CATs:
Rough scoring of CATs (did not record each)
- GMATPrep #1 - 770
- GMATPrep #2 - 780
- GMATPrep repeat tests (did not pay much attention to score since a few questions repeated) - 760-780 for each
- Manhattan GMAT 6 tests (~two 720-740 and three 760+, and a random 680...)
- Princeton review free test (720)
- Kaplan free test (720)
- Kaplan Premier CD tests (720, then 750+ for three of them)
Preparation/Timing:
My preparation may be a little unconventional in timing, so not sure how relevant it is for anyone.
I was going to take the GMAT 2 years ago and so studied lightly for ~1 month (i.e. 3 hrs a week), then decided not to yet and basically did not study at all for >1 year. In the last 3 months I started studying lightly (2 hrs a week) and finally in the last 3 weeks I studied more intensely, doing CATs, etc.. So it boils down to around 3 weeks of intense studying and then maybe the equivalent of 3 months 2 hrs a week of studying.
Test day thoughts:
I can be a nervous insomniac and slept ~3-4 hours total the night before (spent the rest of the 9 hours TRYING to go to sleep). My thoughts on this are:
1. Sleep is important, but do not worry even if you don't get enough sleep. The more I tried to make myself sleep the less able I was to.
2. Consider taking some sort of medication to induce drowsiness. I did not, and did not have any on hand (and didn't want to risk it)
3. I did not drink coffee or use any other redbull/stimulant. The bottom line is, you are NOT going to fall asleep during the exam. You will most likely be alert.
I don't know if I could have scored 10-20 points higher with more rest. Perhaps, but certainly not going to stress at this point.
Best preparation:
- Do CATs throughout - and do the GMAT prep in particular. I did not like the Princeton Review or Kaplan tests, think they were a waste of time. Also the Powerprep (old GMATPrep version). I would focus on Manhattan gmat and Gmatprep.
Thanks to all of you for any help you provided!
I just took my exam and got 760 (99 percentile):
Q50 (93rd percentile)
V44 (97th percentile)
AWA not sure yet since I just took it, think may expect ~5-6, but not sure
---> Question, obviously I am happy with these results - I expected in the range of 760-780 (but see below on "Test Day"for reasons why I am grateful I did score this), but what do these percentiles mean? Good? Do they raise any red flags?
--> additional question, I don't want to sound ungrateful..but wondering if my V / M split is probably on the high end for my score. i.e. I would be a tiny bit annoyed that I could have gotten one more verbal question right to get 770. Again, realize I sound like a brat, so feel free to ignore me.....just bothering me
CATs:
Rough scoring of CATs (did not record each)
- GMATPrep #1 - 770
- GMATPrep #2 - 780
- GMATPrep repeat tests (did not pay much attention to score since a few questions repeated) - 760-780 for each
- Manhattan GMAT 6 tests (~two 720-740 and three 760+, and a random 680...)
- Princeton review free test (720)
- Kaplan free test (720)
- Kaplan Premier CD tests (720, then 750+ for three of them)
Preparation/Timing:
My preparation may be a little unconventional in timing, so not sure how relevant it is for anyone.
I was going to take the GMAT 2 years ago and so studied lightly for ~1 month (i.e. 3 hrs a week), then decided not to yet and basically did not study at all for >1 year. In the last 3 months I started studying lightly (2 hrs a week) and finally in the last 3 weeks I studied more intensely, doing CATs, etc.. So it boils down to around 3 weeks of intense studying and then maybe the equivalent of 3 months 2 hrs a week of studying.
Test day thoughts:
I can be a nervous insomniac and slept ~3-4 hours total the night before (spent the rest of the 9 hours TRYING to go to sleep). My thoughts on this are:
1. Sleep is important, but do not worry even if you don't get enough sleep. The more I tried to make myself sleep the less able I was to.
2. Consider taking some sort of medication to induce drowsiness. I did not, and did not have any on hand (and didn't want to risk it)
3. I did not drink coffee or use any other redbull/stimulant. The bottom line is, you are NOT going to fall asleep during the exam. You will most likely be alert.
I don't know if I could have scored 10-20 points higher with more rest. Perhaps, but certainly not going to stress at this point.
Best preparation:
- Do CATs throughout - and do the GMAT prep in particular. I did not like the Princeton Review or Kaplan tests, think they were a waste of time. Also the Powerprep (old GMATPrep version). I would focus on Manhattan gmat and Gmatprep.
Thanks to all of you for any help you provided!
Last edited by dchen on Thu Aug 26, 2010 2:36 am, edited 2 times in total.
