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Hi everyone
This is my first post. Gave my GMAT a few days back. I expected to get a score of 710 - 740 ...got 730 and am quite pleased with it.
About Me : I am working...6+ years of work ex...so had to juggle office and prep.However worked on weekends and basically took tests. However took the last few days off to prepare and that really helped.
I based my predictions on my performance in the PP tests as well as actual GMAC test papers. They gave me the best indicator of what to expect.[8]
Somethings that I learned from this FORUM that really made a diff to my prep
a) Do the PP and GMAC tests before you do the Official Guide. I did just that and was able to get a good estimate of what I would end up scoring
b) OG+PP+ GMAC materials are the best. I stuck mainly to these and I think that helped wonderfully.
c) Keep your cool, expect the unexpected etc. - useful things to mentally prepare yourself with.[:o)]
d) The other test materials are not as good as the GMAC material. I did not waste too much time with Kaplan etc. after that and focussed on the GMAC stuff
e) Analyse what you got wrong in every test to death as well as what you got right espl. for verbal. This helps develop an instinct for how the test setters set the traps for unsuspecting test takers.[bomb]
So thanks to Erin and all those who took the trouble of posting their experiences.
About the test
a) Found the test to fairly easy throughout. After what I read about how the actual test quant is compared to the prep materials, I was expecting a really tough quant section. But it was fairly easy...so much so that I finished about 2-3 minutes ahead of section time. Since I had not spent a helluva lot of time anuswering the first 12 questions carefully, I was beginning to suspect that maybe I had got a lot of them wrong and hence was getting a lot of easy questions towards the end. I assumed that the computer had pegged me at a lower than my ability band. But I guess that wasn't so.
Something that really helped me in my quant prep was the IMS quant material for GMAt. Their verbal is no great shakes but quant is useful parctice. I did about 10 of their quant tests. ( IMS is an Indian coaching firm like Kaplan, PR etc.)
b) For Verbal too I ended up finishing abt 1 1/2 mins ahead of time. No surprises here. One boldface ..but fairly easy.
For SC, I really took time to learn basics of grammar - http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/ ...this is a great grammar resource. I also used teh Kaplan Verbal workout. A tip here ...don't buy this book since the tests all come with the latest edition of the main kaplan book....they are part of some free extra questions that you can access. Try getting hold of this book from a library or a secon hand copy... adn read the appendixes on grammar.
SC outside of GMAC materials is not good...stick to the GMAC material.
CR and RC were my strongpoints so did not really prepare for them specifically.
My scores on tests
1) Crack- GMAT free test - 580 ( this test sucks! don't waste time on it)
2) Kaplan Diagnostic - 640
3) Kaplan CD tests1,2 - 640,650
The GMAC tests I did before I did the OG
4) PP1,2 - 760 & 750 ( basically overpredict your score marginally)
5) GMAC tests - Consistently 700 - 720 range. Best predictor of your score.
Hope all of this helps you folks ...all the best.
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