First of all I would like to extend a big thank you to all the Beat the GMAT users who have posted on the forum. After reading tons and tons of posts regarding study schedules, exam experiences and stories about winning after falling, I can clearly say that I owe every one of you this post. I hope it comes of use to someone who reads this, like the other posts on BTG were to me. The MBA has been a dream for me since college, that is for more than 4 years now.
I gave my first GMAT on June 20th, 2011. I had studied for roughly 3 months for the exam. 2 days before the actual exam I gave my GMATPrep test. I got a 750 (Q-50, V-41). I was happy because my manhattan gmat scores also pointed to something similar (MGMAT6 - 730).
I knew that this was extremely important for my career going forward. I needed the best score possible! And that gave me the tension!! So I walked into the exam hall, passport in hand. I finished all the formalities and selected the target schools. By this point, my heart was beating as it does when I run on the treadmill at speed 10.5. Extreme tension got the better of me. The essays appeared and by the end of the essays I knew that I hadn't done a good job on them. This was horrible for me because I had written 11 issue and 11 argument essays in the 11 mock tests that I had given. My heartbeat went further up!
I took the 5 minute break after the AWA section. I NEEDED IT.
For quant, I had a strategy. NO FALTERING BEFORE THE 10th question! Ok so I started the quant section. First question was easy, second was also easy.. this continued till the 5th question. Now I could see that the difficulty had increased.
6th question: Data Sufficiency Geometry Question. Even though I come from an engineering background, I, during my preparation observed that geometry was my weakness. I had even mastered probability and statistics, considered tough by most students. Data sufficiency was an area that I had trouble with during my preparation. I almost always got every answer in problem solving, but there were 3 or 4 mistakes that I used to make in Data Sufficiency.
Back to the subject - 6th question: Data Sufficiency + Geometry (Ayoooooooooooo)! But I was determined (read foolish). I decided that WTF I was going to get this answer!! After 5 minutes of trying and trying, I finally abandoned my stupid ego and decided to guess. I guessed "C" (Both combined - safest answer & almost always wrong )
The next question I saw was visibly easier. I knew it! I HAD FALTERED! My plan had gone PHAT!!!!!
Result : Heartbeat has now reached a threshold and I now have a sweat breaking in the AC environment.
I breathed slowly and calmed myself down. As I continued answering the questions, I knew that I was getting relatively easy questions. The probability question I got was CHEAP by any standards!! I ran out of time towards the end and did the last 3 questions hurriedly. I clicked "Next" for the last question when the clock showed 00:03. I actually finished the exam with 3 seconds remaining.
---------- I took my 8 minute break and ate a snickers bar (As advised by a lot of BTG users :mrgreen: ) -------------
I started the verbal section and this time things seemed better. I was getting the tougher, longer passages and I knew that I was doing reasonably well. My verbal is not stellar but I had managed a 41 in the GMATPrep, and that was the best I had achieved. I got my sentence correction answers right (trust me sentence correction is like mathematics : just follow the rules of grammar and it's like addition and subtraction). I finished verbal with 2 minutes to spare because I took 5 minutes on one question that was ridiculously worded ( I knew that it was a mock question but who's taking chances right!! )
I clicked Next. There was a small questionnaire about my level of work experience, background etc etc. Next came the BIG question - Do you want to Report / Cancel your score?
I paid $250 for this exam. No shit. REPORT MY SCORES.
Then I saw it. 700 (Q-47, V-39). My vision blurred. My eyes drooped. I HAD FAILED.
I collected the provisional report card and left. Riding my bike, I felt like a big loser. I couldn't understand what had happened! The mock said 750. How could I have got 700? A 50 point difference!
I didn't want to go home. I just went to my girlfriend's place and sat silently. I sat silently for a time that seemed like eternity. I must have sat without saying anything for about an hour. She came and then gave me a hug and asked me what I wanted to do about the score. I was confused!! I could not understand how I could have got 90 percentile. And my Quant was 47! 47! No engineering background person with that level of preparation could have got that score. A week later I got my AWA score. 4.5 (37 percentile). Not surprising considering my heartbeat level at that point. Finally, I decided to give the exam again. The GMAT has a rule stating that a candidate cannot repeat the exam for a month after an attempt. So my options began after 21st July. I went to the site to schedule the exam. ALL SLOTS WERE FILLED TILL SEPTEMBER!! I tried the next day. Someone had either cancelled or rescheduled his/her exam, because the slot suddenly opened up for August 5th. I scheduled the exam. However, this time my work schedule ensured that I could study only over the weekends. And I did so. I studied around 5 hours per day over the weekends. I pretty had given up on serials and movies since the time I had started studying, so this was not new to me.
Finally, August 5th came. I went in calmly, and answered the exam like it were another mock test. I answered the AWA section with ease, obeying the structure. I took the break, ate a BarOne. Ah screw the snickers. There's the time tested BarOne :mrgreen:
I answered the quant with ease and finished with 15 minutes to spare. Hmmmm I think I overdid the cool nature there.
Either ways, it's better than ending it with 3 seconds to spare. I took the 8 minute break and then answered the verbal. It seemed decent itself.
Finally, i clicked on the next button for the last question. The exam was done. There was a research thing that I had to answer. 30 MINUTES FOR THAT! Ah I decided that it was too much for me and decided to move forward quickly. I selected the Report Scores radio button and this time my heart did dhag dhag only this time! Score : 730 (Q-49, V-41). I did a fist pump and said YES! For me, this was a moral victory.
For a lot of you, 700 may be a good score, but for me, it was dismal. I had worked so hard, toiled day and night for a total of 3 months! For many of you out there, 730 may be a dismal score. For me, it's not stellar, but it's good. Seeing the 96 percentile on the score card gives me hope because there are now only 4 percent of the people that I have to compete with.. At least in the GMAT score department.
The "Good Score" for you has to be decided by you and you alone. Which school, how much scholarship and which country is a question you have to ask yourselves. And then work towards it. Hope this helped! Thank you all for your tremendous support! For me, the 30 point difference came mainly because of my attitude towards the exam. I enjoyed giving it for the second time. I actually smiled and lauded the psychometricians on one of the questions, who I think had prepared a superb verbal question.
But like you yourself said, to each his own. 
