Squekyclean

Hi Guys! Just finished my GMAT yesterday. Given the prep time I had, I am quite satisfied with the score (but a little sorry to miss out on the magical 700). I have not been an active member in the forum, but I regularly checked the posts to get an idea about how the test takers think and how they prepare for the test. My heartiest thanks goes out to Erin, Ursula, and Spaderman. Your posts have been really helpful. I think I really owe you guys a post. A Brief Summary of My GMAT Prep: Prep Time: 4 Weeks Prep Materials:OG, 10th Edition Kaplan GMAT (only for Test Taking Strategy) The Princeton Review Cracking the GMAT CAT (only for Test Taking Strategy) Kaplan Math Workbook for GMAT and GRE (Brush up concepts) The Princeton Review Verbal Workout (Brush up concepts) Philosophy: As 1/4 of the total questions are experimental, it is theoretically possible for anyone to get a near perfect score by getting 75% of the total questions right. So there is no need to have a perfectionist attitude. Take it easy, but stay focused. A good score is just around the corner. Choice of Prep Materials: The [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] is the best possible resource for the test takers. The basic principles of GMAT questions is only reflected on questions on the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip]. Kaplan, Princeton, etc. questions come nowhere near the real test questions, and should only be used for light practice. And the computer based tests from the test prep orgs. should not be taken seriously, their only possible use is to build up stamina for the real thing, nothing else. Preparation: Because of severe time constraint, I had to schedule my TOEFL and GMAT on Jan. 31 and Jan. 7 respectively. I started preparing for the exams on last week of Dec. 2004. I spend the first week going through the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] and identified DS and SC as my main weaknesses. Then I used the Kaplan Math and Princeton Verbal workbook to brush up the basic concepts. During the next two weeks, I got through the DS, SC, and PS section twice (the tricky questions nearly 3-4 times). I only managed to do 25% of CR questions and 20% of RC questions. I had to concentrate on TOEFL for the next 10 days or so. I used the Kaplan's TOEFL book. Its grammar section has been quite a help in SC, as it enabled me to decipher the somewhat cryptic [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] explanantions. (I got through TOEFL just fine, my score range is 237 - 293, Listening 28, Reading 30). After getting through TOEFL, I concentrated in building up the stamina for the real test. Used some Princeton and Kaplan Section-specific Review tests. I took the two powerprep tests, the first about 6 days before the exam (got 710), and the second the day before the exam (got 720). As most of the questions were from the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], I thought my actual score would be a liitle lower (because of the familiarity with the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] questions, I got more of them correct in lesser amount of time). The Test Day: Due to some bizzare reason, the only GMAT appointment time available in the only test center in Bangladesh are at 0800 hr. I got up around 6:30 in the morning, got a little snack, and watched some TV (saw the episode of Friends with Bruce Willis on it) and kind of settled my nerves. Things like IDs etc. were all taken care of the night before. I reached the test center around 0740 hr. During the Test: I was not really bothered about the Analytical Writing Section. Writing kind of comes naturally to me. Used the section to calm myself down (and adjusting the earplug - man they are pesky!). The quantitative section began to my surprise with an [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] question (it is one of those lame ones - (1/2)^2 - (1/2)*(1/5) = ?), things got difficult pretty quickly. I faced about 4-5 probability questions and one question about arithmetic progression. I was facing a severe time constraint, and had to guess a few here and there. In the end, I finished the section about 2 -3 minutes to spare. The last few quetions were very easy, but the questions around 20-33 were real pain the neck. Those questions were very easy, but involved a lot of (purely clerical) calculations. I guess the ETS idea behind this is to force you make a mistake because of time pressure. Verbal section was a dreary one. The SCs were quite easy. But some of the CRs really freaked me out (I think my lack of practice on CR really got me there). The RCs were relatively easy but once again my lack of practice got me into time trouble and I think I made quite a few mistakes. (It explains my poor verbal score.) One of the RCs strangely resembled one in the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] about Competitive Advantage. The last few questions, once again, were quite easy. Post-Mortem: If I ever take the test again (which I probably would), I would try to classify the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] questions in particular groups. This would allow me to concentrate on specific problem areas better. About the Quantitative Section, the probability questions are not that tough on the GMAT - the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] materials are enough to answer them. But I could have used a little more practice so that I can pace myself better. Same goes for the Verbal Section as well. The SC section can very easily be taken care of by classifying the problems. My personal observation is an average SC question involves at least two grammatical errors. If you could identify both, you could easily find the correct subset of answer from the answer choices. Finally, I hope my long post would be of some help to you guys. My final judgment on GMAT is the test can be cracked and can be cracked within a short period of time. Thanks once again. If you have any questions please mail me at fin_econ@yahoo.com. I would be glad to help you. Squeky