noob question.. just took my first practice exam (kaplan)

[chet steadman]

Hi,

I am planning to apply for 2009 entrance; however, I can't begin studying just yet because I am spending my free time studying for the CFA II in June. With that said, timing everything will be a bit tricky.

I just took Kaplan's free GMAT demo cold, meaning the only info I had going in was that there were 2 general sections. I had no other prior info about the GMAT.

I scored a 600, broken down into a 59% on quant and a 76% on the verbal. My worst sub-sections were Data Sufficiency (got absolutely creamed) and Sentence Correction. I think this is a good thing because these two sections seem to repetition-based--but what do I know?

I guess my two questions are:
1) How well does the Kaplan demo reflect the actual GMAT?
2) I know everyone is different, but how much time/effort should I put in if I need to crack 700? I have very good, but limited and generic experience (3 years at Goldman) so I need a great GMAT to get into my top choice.

[Prasanna]

1) How well does the Kaplan demo reflect the actual GMAT?

Kaplan is considered to give a score much lower than the probable score. However please note that this is a general observation made by many users on the forum.

2) I know everyone is different, but how much time/effort should I put in if I need to crack 700? I have very good, but limited and generic experience (3 years at Goldman) so I need a great GMAT to get into my top choice.

As you say, you would have to find this out yourself. If you are good, 2-3 month prep should be more than sufficient.

[chet steadman]

1) How well does the Kaplan demo reflect the actual GMAT?

Kaplan is considered to give a score much lower than the probable score. However please note that this is a general observation made by many users on the forum.

2) I know everyone is different, but how much time/effort should I put in if I need to crack 700? I have very good, but limited and generic experience (3 years at Goldman) so I need a great GMAT to get into my top choice.

As you say, you would have to find this out yourself. If you are good, 2-3 month prep should be more than sufficient.

thanks a lot!