chickenpox666

Hi guys!, Just got back from test center, and before I bring all the GMAT stuff in the darkest place of my cellar, I would like to comment on the exam, in case anyone finds it helpful. Background: 29 years old, male, PhD life sciences, non english-native speaker. I will first thank all the people who post information about the GMAT on the net, I really think I couldn't have made it without the wealth of material available, and even more important, without the example of those who reported how they got their high scores. That stimulated me to try to emulate them and get a 700+ score, although I really didn’t think I would be able to make more than 750… I shall not make any general strategy comments, since I think there's enough info (Twinsplitter, Ursula, Beat the Gmat!, etc). I followed more or less their strategy; basically, that means doing loads of exercises while timing myself. I couldn't study much (started in November, and last month didn't have time), but the time I studied I did so with total concentration. That means taking each exercise as the actual test and working in stacks of 40 questions without moving from the chair (no music, no glass of wine, no girls dancing on the table…). I would review then the questions I got wrong, as well as those I got right but took me too much time (over 3 min). Getting your times as low as possible is vital for a high score. When I started, my biggest handicap was the quant, so I tried to do more of those problems. Anyhow, I'm totally useless for probability, so I kind of gave up on that type of questions... Verbal was ok, although I had the most problems with Sentence Correction. I was able to improve both by doing a lot of exercises, and learning the "GMAT math" and the "GMAT English", that you canread about in Princeton Review, Kaplan, OG... I did ALL the exercises from Princeton Review , Kaplan GMAT 800, OG 11th ed, OG verbal and OG quant. I took the following tests: - Prior to start studying: PowerPrep: 640 Total - 18 Dec. '05: GMATPrep t.1: 750 Q45 V48 (After OG verbal/quant) - 28 Jan. '06: GMATPrep t.2: 740 Q47 V45 (After OG 11th ed.) - 30 Jan. '06: GMAT: 760 Q49 V45 Regarding the testing experience, I had no problems with the new style. I was given a notebook with transparency-like sheets, which I completely filled in during the quant. By the way, I finished up totally covered in the @!* ink, but the space was enough. I would recommend using it sensibly, since I do not think you can erase it easily. Anyway, I asked for a new block in the pause between quant and verbal, just in case I needed to write something. I would recommend trying to choose a good place, there was a girl doing the GMAT as I came in, and each time they opened the door they would kick her chair. This can put you out of concentration precisely when you’re about to “see the light”!!! The exam was OK, although I started with a quant question of geometry that totally startled me. I was freaking out, since I was having difficulties on the FIRST question (!!), but then I drew the damn thing myself with the correct measures and realized how easy it really was. I was warned beforehand, but can confirm it: NEVER TRUST THE DRAWINGS IN THE TEST!!!! After that it went ok, although I guess my confidence suffered a little bit. I spent way a lot more time on the first 12 questions than in the rest of the questions (around 45 min left after q. 12). I basically clicked trough the last five questions at random, basing the choice on the “feeling” I got from the problem if it was a DS, or choosing D or E if it was “plug-in” type. On the verbal I got really tough questions, more than in the GMATprep, I would say. Overall I wasn’t very confident in the result, and at the moment to click to see the report I was hoping I could get more than 700. So that confirms what the people also say, DO NOT TRUST YOUR FEELINGS ON YOUR PERFORMANCE, just keep on answering questions the best you can. Concluding, I think getting a 700+ score is possible if you take the preparation seriously and do a lot of exercises. On the other hand, I really think getting 720 or 780 will greatly depend on how “inspired” you are on the particular day and on the “luck” you have with the questions (for example, I got very few of prob., which was my weakest area). Taking into consideration the vast amount of test takers who are computer scientists and alike, really good at quant, I also think it’s much more worth to try to improve on SC, to raise your verbal score, since this will much more positively affect you overall score (of course, quant must also be fairly good…). Again, thanks a lot to all of you who help the “GMATters”, and remember: (PRACTICE)^3 = SPEED = HIGH SCORE YOU ALSO CAN GET A 700+ SCORE!!!!! ;-))