My name is Aliya and I have been preparing for GMAT for more than 8 months. I have to say that my bachelor in liberal arts did not involve much of math and I was totally dumb in it. Therefore, my preparations started with basic rules such as neg X neg = positive number 
The second constraint was that English is not my native language, moreover, it was never the main instruction language in my education. Another most serious constraint was my nature - I am really bad at details - the skill that is also decisive when solving the problems both in Q and V parts. I could know the way how to solve well, but just because I missed a stupid detail, the answer was wrong. Therefore, I had a long way to go, but a lot of enthusiasm.
After 3 months of active but chaotic preparations, I took my first test. I was slightly disappointed, but already knew that I will be taking it the second time. The result was 610 (don't remember precisely, but something like Q.38 V.34-35, overall percentage 72%). I have been preparing before the exam through the Kaplan 800, OG 12, Veritas online course + Veritas prep material. I have to notice that I was really nervous, did not sleep well - was able to sleep only 3-4 hours the night before, and was more concerned with the timing then with the questions. I think it also hindered me from being concentrated.
The second time I took Gmat on 30 Dec and was shocked! Even though my preparation was much deeper, and this time I was very relaxed and calm, I scored even less than the first time! 570 (Q.34, V.36 - overall percentage 48-53%). It looked like someone has made a bad joke - I could not believe it, and first two hours after the test was more laughing. However, soon I got depressed - the next 2 weeks I could not even look at books, nor did I want to leave my bed However I knew I had to do it, and began my preparations again. Now I think I was too much relaxed (I thought it will enable me not to get nervous, I made myself through self persuasion that being calm is the key to score well) Before the second test, I finally discovered Manhattan prep materials, which I found to be the best of best!
The third exam was scheduled on 17th Feb. I was smth between nervous and relaxed But did not sleep well again - after 4 hours of sleep I woke up because of an intense activity of my brain - I was solving the equations in my dream! Deciding that it was worse forcing myself to sleep, I got up and arrived to test center more than 3 hours before the test. During the Quantitative part, in the 8-10th question I understood that I am rushing and getting nervous. I forced myself not to rush. By 20th question I thought that I am failing the exam again, since the questions were not getting difficult. Although I took a lot of time solving the last 10 questions, I finished with more than 6 minutes left. And I felt disappointed, since thought that I spent the time not effectively.
I did not finish all the questions in Verbal part, since I had to choose randomly the last 3-4 questions. Moreover, I felt that concentration was disappearing after 3 hours of intense brain activity. My idea why people score less on verbal part is - one of the reasons is the lack of concentration by the end of the test - the test is strenuous, it takes 4 hours, with little breaks, and all the time you have to stay very concentrated.
Imagine my surprise when I saw that I scored 47 on Quantitative part! Although I was disappointed by Verbal score, I was very happy with Quant score! Moreover, I heard that for foreign applicants the Verbal is not so important as Quant is. The score above 36-37 is acceptable in top mbas. Guys, what do think about it? Is it true?
Anyway, I will be taking GMAT one more time to score above 700after admission to the school. I heard that recruiters in schools do not invite for interviews those who have scores lower than 700. What do you think about it?
The second constraint was that English is not my native language, moreover, it was never the main instruction language in my education. Another most serious constraint was my nature - I am really bad at details - the skill that is also decisive when solving the problems both in Q and V parts. I could know the way how to solve well, but just because I missed a stupid detail, the answer was wrong. Therefore, I had a long way to go, but a lot of enthusiasm.After 3 months of active but chaotic preparations, I took my first test. I was slightly disappointed, but already knew that I will be taking it the second time. The result was 610 (don't remember precisely, but something like Q.38 V.34-35, overall percentage 72%). I have been preparing before the exam through the Kaplan 800, OG 12, Veritas online course + Veritas prep material. I have to notice that I was really nervous, did not sleep well - was able to sleep only 3-4 hours the night before, and was more concerned with the timing then with the questions. I think it also hindered me from being concentrated.
The second time I took Gmat on 30 Dec and was shocked! Even though my preparation was much deeper, and this time I was very relaxed and calm, I scored even less than the first time! 570 (Q.34, V.36 - overall percentage 48-53%). It looked like someone has made a bad joke - I could not believe it, and first two hours after the test was more laughing. However, soon I got depressed - the next 2 weeks I could not even look at books, nor did I want to leave my bed
However I knew I had to do it, and began my preparations again. Now I think I was too much relaxed (I thought it will enable me not to get nervous, I made myself through self persuasion that being calm is the key to score well) Before the second test, I finally discovered Manhattan prep materials, which I found to be the best of best! The third exam was scheduled on 17th Feb. I was smth between nervous and relaxed
But did not sleep well again - after 4 hours of sleep I woke up because of an intense activity of my brain - I was solving the equations in my dream! Deciding that it was worse forcing myself to sleep, I got up and arrived to test center more than 3 hours before the test. During the Quantitative part, in the 8-10th question I understood that I am rushing and getting nervous. I forced myself not to rush. By 20th question I thought that I am failing the exam again, since the questions were not getting difficult. Although I took a lot of time solving the last 10 questions, I finished with more than 6 minutes left. And I felt disappointed, since thought that I spent the time not effectively. I did not finish all the questions in Verbal part, since I had to choose randomly the last 3-4 questions. Moreover, I felt that concentration was disappearing after 3 hours of intense brain activity. My idea why people score less on verbal part is - one of the reasons is the lack of concentration by the end of the test - the test is strenuous, it takes 4 hours, with little breaks, and all the time you have to stay very concentrated.
Imagine my surprise when I saw that I scored 47 on Quantitative part! Although I was disappointed by Verbal score, I was very happy with Quant score! Moreover, I heard that for foreign applicants the Verbal is not so important as Quant is. The score above 36-37 is acceptable in top mbas. Guys, what do think about it? Is it true?
Anyway, I will be taking GMAT one more time to score above 700after admission to the school. I heard that recruiters in schools do not invite for interviews those who have scores lower than 700. What do you think about it?
