-
lateraldeath
- Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2008 12:08 pm
Note: any GMAT takers in North Cal who plans to take the GMAT at the San Jose test center, be advised that they are doing construction all around the structure and it will be not only loud but SHAKY. On top of that, weekend they have no air condition until 9AM so your essay portion (If you're test is at 8AM) is going to be a sweaty experience.
Kaplan CATs: 510-580
800 scores: 610
GmatPrep1: 650 (Q48:V?)
Actual Test1: 630 (Q49:V26)
GmatPrep2: 740 (Q49:V42)
Actual test2: Cancelled Score
So I started studying for the GMAT around mid March. I didn't really have much of a plan going into it. Bought the Kaplan 2008 book, and later the OG 11th + verbal. I started out with the kaplan and even though i know reviews of the book said to not trust the scores on the Kaplan, the fact that I can never score above 600 really lowered my confidence. After two months of study without any real improvement, I decided to give the real test a try because I was starting to think maybe 500s is where my abilities were limited to be.
So I signed up for the actual test in the SJ center and downloaded the two Gmatprep tests. The week before the test i decided to do 2 more mocks, one from 800score.com and the day before the test, the Gmatprep 1. The 800score was completed without too much improvements either, they asked some quantitative type questions that doesn't really appear in the actual Gmat so it's not the best measurement. The Gmatprep1 i took the day before the test surprised me as a result. Especially the quantitative since the highest I've gotten all previous times was a 31, and suddenly i see a 48. So on the day of the test i had no idea what to expect from myself anymore.
Turns out that as most people have said, Gmatprep is a very accurate measurement. My test day was the first Monday of May, the SJ center gave me no prior warnings regarding possible disturbance from the construction, though they do provide ear muff and plugs. However, since i was on the wall directly from the room of construction, that did not help through the shaking and loud hammering sounds. End result was i was not able to finish my verbal section, and i even ended up running out of time with the last 2 questions blank. As a result my verbal was ruined and ended up being a 26. However, my quantitative was even better, 49, so the overall score was a 630. So assuming even if i got the last two question in verbal wrong but clicked a choice. My over all score would have probably been 650, which would be exactly like my prep test score.
Since i know that i can still raise my verbal skill as well as score, i decided to give it another shot in a month, preparing mostly on verbal this time. I took two weeks off as a break and afterwards, bought the OG11 and the OG verbal. Both of them were great helps and had questions modeled closely to the actual test questions. I did about 20-30 questions of one type of verbal everyday. I started reviewing the math again the week before my second attempt and the day before the test, I took the second GMATprep. This time, very happy to find that not only did i keep my math exactly at 49 but also improved my verbal score to a 42, thus getting a 740.
I decided to give the SJ center a second shot for the sake of a familiar setting at 8AM. This time, i successfully gotten them to give me a seating that's away from the construction side (last time i asked too but they rejected the request saying they want the GMATs together cause we need to type). But go figures, the construction moved to the side that I've asked this time so once again, the shaking and banging are directly around me. On top of that, the center felt like 95 degrees and did not really cool to a comfortable temperature until 10AM. These two eventually really affect my quantitative and essay performance. I wasn't able to concentrate at all and i canceled my score as a result, knowing that if anything my score wouldn't change much from the previous one.
So i'm going to try it for a third time at a different test center. I know what score range i should expect now so hopefully it will go well this time.
Things i feel worth noting:
1. My quantitative scores were extremely precise to each other. The GMATpreps really are good measurements of the actual test.
2. Kaplan had a good effect on me in that since it was my first impression of GMAT questions, the actual test being much easier gave me a good boost in confidence (this applied only to the quantitative though). However, the bad effect was it affected my math/verbal study portion time. Since i could never raise my math score (and i'm more math oriented), i kept my focus mainly on math instead of evenly splitting them- without really knowing that it was already at the 49 range. If i took the GMATprep earlier instead of the day before, i might have gotten this whole thing over with in one shot.
3. My experience of improving the VERBAL is practice and i would suggest only the OG books. After a good amount of practice, i really started getting a good feel of how the verbal questions and answers are structured. This really helped me in times where I'm stuck between 2 or 3 choices, I was able to pick the right one because it "felt right". Also, Spidey's sentence correction note was very helpful.
4. Amazing how experience changes a person's view. A week ago I'd probably have been very happy to score 680-700. After my 740 practice test I'd probably be disappointed if i score less than 720 next time.
Kaplan CATs: 510-580
800 scores: 610
GmatPrep1: 650 (Q48:V?)
Actual Test1: 630 (Q49:V26)
GmatPrep2: 740 (Q49:V42)
Actual test2: Cancelled Score
So I started studying for the GMAT around mid March. I didn't really have much of a plan going into it. Bought the Kaplan 2008 book, and later the OG 11th + verbal. I started out with the kaplan and even though i know reviews of the book said to not trust the scores on the Kaplan, the fact that I can never score above 600 really lowered my confidence. After two months of study without any real improvement, I decided to give the real test a try because I was starting to think maybe 500s is where my abilities were limited to be.
So I signed up for the actual test in the SJ center and downloaded the two Gmatprep tests. The week before the test i decided to do 2 more mocks, one from 800score.com and the day before the test, the Gmatprep 1. The 800score was completed without too much improvements either, they asked some quantitative type questions that doesn't really appear in the actual Gmat so it's not the best measurement. The Gmatprep1 i took the day before the test surprised me as a result. Especially the quantitative since the highest I've gotten all previous times was a 31, and suddenly i see a 48. So on the day of the test i had no idea what to expect from myself anymore.
Turns out that as most people have said, Gmatprep is a very accurate measurement. My test day was the first Monday of May, the SJ center gave me no prior warnings regarding possible disturbance from the construction, though they do provide ear muff and plugs. However, since i was on the wall directly from the room of construction, that did not help through the shaking and loud hammering sounds. End result was i was not able to finish my verbal section, and i even ended up running out of time with the last 2 questions blank. As a result my verbal was ruined and ended up being a 26. However, my quantitative was even better, 49, so the overall score was a 630. So assuming even if i got the last two question in verbal wrong but clicked a choice. My over all score would have probably been 650, which would be exactly like my prep test score.
Since i know that i can still raise my verbal skill as well as score, i decided to give it another shot in a month, preparing mostly on verbal this time. I took two weeks off as a break and afterwards, bought the OG11 and the OG verbal. Both of them were great helps and had questions modeled closely to the actual test questions. I did about 20-30 questions of one type of verbal everyday. I started reviewing the math again the week before my second attempt and the day before the test, I took the second GMATprep. This time, very happy to find that not only did i keep my math exactly at 49 but also improved my verbal score to a 42, thus getting a 740.
I decided to give the SJ center a second shot for the sake of a familiar setting at 8AM. This time, i successfully gotten them to give me a seating that's away from the construction side (last time i asked too but they rejected the request saying they want the GMATs together cause we need to type). But go figures, the construction moved to the side that I've asked this time so once again, the shaking and banging are directly around me. On top of that, the center felt like 95 degrees and did not really cool to a comfortable temperature until 10AM. These two eventually really affect my quantitative and essay performance. I wasn't able to concentrate at all and i canceled my score as a result, knowing that if anything my score wouldn't change much from the previous one.
So i'm going to try it for a third time at a different test center. I know what score range i should expect now so hopefully it will go well this time.
Things i feel worth noting:
1. My quantitative scores were extremely precise to each other. The GMATpreps really are good measurements of the actual test.
2. Kaplan had a good effect on me in that since it was my first impression of GMAT questions, the actual test being much easier gave me a good boost in confidence (this applied only to the quantitative though). However, the bad effect was it affected my math/verbal study portion time. Since i could never raise my math score (and i'm more math oriented), i kept my focus mainly on math instead of evenly splitting them- without really knowing that it was already at the 49 range. If i took the GMATprep earlier instead of the day before, i might have gotten this whole thing over with in one shot.
3. My experience of improving the VERBAL is practice and i would suggest only the OG books. After a good amount of practice, i really started getting a good feel of how the verbal questions and answers are structured. This really helped me in times where I'm stuck between 2 or 3 choices, I was able to pick the right one because it "felt right". Also, Spidey's sentence correction note was very helpful.
4. Amazing how experience changes a person's view. A week ago I'd probably have been very happy to score 680-700. After my 740 practice test I'd probably be disappointed if i score less than 720 next time.
