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eyelikecheese
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Sun Nov 14, 2010 8:46 am
- GMAT Score:690
Hey guys I just got back from the testing center. I am a somewhat of a frequent poster/information seeker. I have studied my life away for the past 3 months non-stop; to the point where I have no idea what to do in life now that I'm not studying for the GMAT.I also had a dream last night about mathematical equations. It was getting bad. Although I am more than pleased with my score, I may take it again because I know I can do better. Quite frankly the test way easy. Maybe the quant was a little harder, but the verbal was simple. My breakdown was Q44 V39. My first score was 530. This was without doing the 2 AWA's and also not timing the test because my endurance was so low I couldn't even complete the 78 questions without have to take a break! So my actual score was much lower. I will follow-up with a detailed debrief, but hope this brief synopsis is proof that you can do anything you set your mind to.
Going into the test I knew that I would seriously cry if I scored below a 670. From a 670-690 I would be indifferent, and 700+ I would be ecstatic. You have no idea how weird it is to actually see this score, yet expect something higher. I came from a 530 which is mediocre. At one point almost a month into studying I was going to settle with a high 500 score. I worked my butt off, but I know I can do better. I frequently got 49's on GMATPrep and MGMAT(which the CATS were not indicate of the real thing, much harder).
The only thing I was worried about on the real thing was the paper/pen combination, which was a non-factor at all:). I actually wish I had bought the pen/dry erase paper so that I wouldn't have wasted 4 WHOLE notebooks on scratch paper.
The verbal was much easier than anything I've seen on any test. The quant was semi-tough. I totally guessed on the first question! I would say I am to the point where I "educatedly guess" on 85% of the DS probs, but with about 90% confidence. I also just downloaded chineseburned's AWA from gmatclub, and reviewed it for about 30 minutes today. I still have not typed a AWA prior to a practice test, and still don't plan on it if I study, nor would I advocate anyone to waste time practicing AWA
I was under no time constraints, thus had an abundance of time. I am not not by any means, average-perhaps even below average on SAT, but got my act together and made only one B in college at a T20 public university. I didn't frequent this board at all untill a month ago. Coming into the test I knew that I was strong in verbal and HORRIFIC in quant. Well, turns out I was mediocre at best in verbal, and downright embarrassing in quant. I had some work to do. In total I put in about 600 hours. I stopped keeping count after the first months 350+. I would not advocate anyone taking that long, unless you are like me and want to do the best possible.
I mainly used the 3 OG's, and each of the Manhattan books. Number Properties was paper gold. Geometry was utterly useless. I slowly developed my quant skills and then my verbal skills slacked. I was horrible at reading comprehension, which is ironic because I read books all the time, from topics such as business, finance, social dynamics, history, and philosophy.
For the past 3 weeks, I've been logging onto random forums working on the harder problems and refining my verbal skills
It's very weird to accurately convey my emotions leading up to test day. I don't get nervous, but nonetheless I was scared; scared of failure on something I had dedicated my life to for 3 months. No going out, no relationships, absolutely no television, NO NOTHING. I was in the proverbial GMAT cave, and loved every minute of it.
Some useful tips:
-If a guy who didn't even have enough endurance to finish the quant section on his first attempt(530), can get a high 600's, absolutely anyone can.
-The absolute best advice for reading comprehension is to read the economist and NYTimes. Don't read anything that interest you though. The kicker here is to find the most disheartening, uninteresting article you can find and read it with passion. This is the most valuable information I can give, and is worth its weight in gold. I dreaded reading some passages, but it has made me more aware of social issues, health and technology issues as well.
-Study, study, study. I thought about the exam non-stop. I had dreams about equations, would work countless problems each day, and lurked these forums to the point where I would sit and refresh the pages in hopes that someone would post a new question.
My scores:
Sept 10: MGMAT 530
Dec 570
640
610
670
GMAT PREP 660
Veritas 620.
GMAT:690
I took so many test, probably 20 in all. One day I took three,
Going into the test I knew that I would seriously cry if I scored below a 670. From a 670-690 I would be indifferent, and 700+ I would be ecstatic. You have no idea how weird it is to actually see this score, yet expect something higher. I came from a 530 which is mediocre. At one point almost a month into studying I was going to settle with a high 500 score. I worked my butt off, but I know I can do better. I frequently got 49's on GMATPrep and MGMAT(which the CATS were not indicate of the real thing, much harder).
The only thing I was worried about on the real thing was the paper/pen combination, which was a non-factor at all:). I actually wish I had bought the pen/dry erase paper so that I wouldn't have wasted 4 WHOLE notebooks on scratch paper.
The verbal was much easier than anything I've seen on any test. The quant was semi-tough. I totally guessed on the first question! I would say I am to the point where I "educatedly guess" on 85% of the DS probs, but with about 90% confidence. I also just downloaded chineseburned's AWA from gmatclub, and reviewed it for about 30 minutes today. I still have not typed a AWA prior to a practice test, and still don't plan on it if I study, nor would I advocate anyone to waste time practicing AWA
I was under no time constraints, thus had an abundance of time. I am not not by any means, average-perhaps even below average on SAT, but got my act together and made only one B in college at a T20 public university. I didn't frequent this board at all untill a month ago. Coming into the test I knew that I was strong in verbal and HORRIFIC in quant. Well, turns out I was mediocre at best in verbal, and downright embarrassing in quant. I had some work to do. In total I put in about 600 hours. I stopped keeping count after the first months 350+. I would not advocate anyone taking that long, unless you are like me and want to do the best possible.
I mainly used the 3 OG's, and each of the Manhattan books. Number Properties was paper gold. Geometry was utterly useless. I slowly developed my quant skills and then my verbal skills slacked. I was horrible at reading comprehension, which is ironic because I read books all the time, from topics such as business, finance, social dynamics, history, and philosophy.
For the past 3 weeks, I've been logging onto random forums working on the harder problems and refining my verbal skills
It's very weird to accurately convey my emotions leading up to test day. I don't get nervous, but nonetheless I was scared; scared of failure on something I had dedicated my life to for 3 months. No going out, no relationships, absolutely no television, NO NOTHING. I was in the proverbial GMAT cave, and loved every minute of it.
Some useful tips:
-If a guy who didn't even have enough endurance to finish the quant section on his first attempt(530), can get a high 600's, absolutely anyone can.
-The absolute best advice for reading comprehension is to read the economist and NYTimes. Don't read anything that interest you though. The kicker here is to find the most disheartening, uninteresting article you can find and read it with passion. This is the most valuable information I can give, and is worth its weight in gold. I dreaded reading some passages, but it has made me more aware of social issues, health and technology issues as well.
-Study, study, study. I thought about the exam non-stop. I had dreams about equations, would work countless problems each day, and lurked these forums to the point where I would sit and refresh the pages in hopes that someone would post a new question.
My scores:
Sept 10: MGMAT 530
Dec 570
640
610
670
GMAT PREP 660
Veritas 620.
GMAT:690
I took so many test, probably 20 in all. One day I took three,
Last edited by eyelikecheese on Fri Jan 28, 2011 7:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I am not kin of 'sudden snow-falls' like you are - I guess
