I just Beat The GMAT!

Well I got a 680 (42Q, 41V)...

I'm not thrilled with the score as my goal was 700-710ish.

The result is actually pretty strange, because on the practice tests I had been getting around 45-47Q, and around 38V or so. So, although I'm happy with the improved verbal, I'm VERY disappointed with the quant.

I think I know what went wrong. Early on in the studying I realized that I would have time management issues in the quant. I have a tendency to -spend too much time trying to figure out questions because I hate to move on without convincing myself that I got the right answer. I think this really hurt me, and I ran out of time at the end (3 minutes for the last 6 questions!). I was aware of this problem going in and during the coarse of my studying I set strict time limits on my practice questions to get the proper time management dialed in. But with the actual pressure of the exam I somehow convinced myself that if I should spend an extra few second here and there and then it was all over! Damn nerves!

The main point that I think I have learned from this is that it is really irrelevant if you are able to eventually get the correct answer. Can you get the correct answer in 2 min or less? That's the key!

The verbal was good. I think I was so mad that I made the one mistake I didn't want to make it the quant, that I just pounded right thru it!

Many thanks to all the individuals who have contributed to this site! I have been lurking here for awhile and it has been on of my most valuable resources!

I studied seriously for about 3 months and used:
-OG 11 Book
-Kaplan Premier Book
-Manhattan Guides
-Beat the GMAT Flash cards!
-Excel spreadsheet Test Grid

I spent about a month reviewing all the books and doing a few questions here and there, but it wasn't until I booked my appointment that my efforts became more directed! I love spreadsheets (nerdy, I know), so I would compile banks of questions from the OG (by referencing the last few pages of the Manhattan Guides). Usually I would do about 20 questions at a time after work (10 verbal, 10 quant) and then review. After I reviewed the answers I would keep track of which types of answers I was getting wrong and enter that info back into the spreadsheet. I would then identify any areas I was weak in (maybe SC, paralellism for example). I would then review the weak areas and do maybe a few questions just relating to that area and call it a night. I found this to be effective because each night I would do a broad range of question and also focus on the specifics areas of the ones I got wrong.

I did quite a few practice exam (maybe 7-8, probably too many?)

I did the Kaplan CAT on that came with the CD twice and got below below 600 both times! This scared me! I did one of the Manhattan CATs two nights later and got 750...this confused me. I saved GMATprep for the last week and got 680 and 690 (although with higher Q and lower V), so all around I guess this was the best indicator.

Still I can't help but think that 700+ slipped though my fingers....

Does anybody know if a low quant and higher verbal score would be frowned upon (especially for someone coming from a technical back ground)?

Thanks again beat the GMAT!

I agree I think your technical background would actually compensate for the quant (which is a great score still). It might be an issue if you had a low quant score and NO quant background.

Seems like if you timed yourself better you would have certainly broke the 700 mark. I had a lot of trouble moving on from quant problems also. I think the best thing to do is convince yourself a couple extra seconds are not going to change your answers from wrong to right. I found, as suggested by MGMAT, writing the time guide on my wipeboard (and in practice) really helps. I made sure i was always on pace, if I wasn't I would get back on. So let's say I noticed I was falling behind, if I hit a problem I knew would take me more than 2 minutes to complete (if I was even able to complete it correctly) I would make a strategic guess and move on. This strategy was really hard for me to use at first, I could not accept the guess and move on strategy... but I think it is best. For math you should be on the following schedule (as per MGMAT):

Time Remaining Question Number
75 min
60 min 7-8
45 min 14-15
30 min 21-22
15 min 28-29
0 min 37