Hi,

I did the GMAT today and got a 770 (Q:50, V:47). I want to thank everyone on this forum, but particularly Bunuel, whose explanations have been invaluable.

Test day experience

Everything went smoother than expected. The test administrators were not too strict, etc.
The AWA section was good, mostly due to this post: how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html
I had a hard time coming up with very good reasons for the issue section, but I think it was OK.

I felt that the quant and verbal sections were both quite a bit harder than most practice tests I had done.

Material used
- Kaplan's GMAT premier
- OG 12
- MGMAT SC

Practice tests
(all, except the MGMAT quant sections, which were harder than the real test, were properly timed)
GMAT prep 1: 680 (before I had done any studying)
GMAT prep 2: 760 (Q:50, V:42) (~1.5 weeks before the exam)
Kaplan 2: 730 (Q:46, V:44) (linear)
MGMAT 1: 710 (Q:47, V:40)
MGMAT 2: 730 (Q:48, V:41)
Kaplan 3: 710 (Q:43, V:51) (CAT 1)
MGMAT 3: 750 (Q:48, V:45)
Kaplan 4: 770 (Q:51, V:52) (CAT 2)
MGMAT 4: 740 (Q:47, V:45)
Kaplan 5: 770 (Q:52, V:51) (CAT 3)
MGMAT 5: 780 (Q:51, V:45)
GMAT prep 1: 780 (Q:50, V:47)
GMAT prep 2: 760 (Q:50, V:42)

Study method
I can't find the particular post now, but bb wrote an excellent novice's 3 month study guide. To be honest I deviated quite a bit from it, but in general I stuck to studying quant the first month (more like 2 months, during the first of which I didn't study much), studying verbal the second month, and doing practice questions the 3rd month.

Other random notes:
- In terms of the strategy itself (for solving the various question types), Kaplan seems to have a lot of seemingly logical ones, but at the end of the day I didn't use any of them (for example, I did not make any notes during RC questions, but this may not be the best idea for all test takers).
- While I can see how the error log can be useful, I abandoned it shortly after I started studying.

I don't particularly feel like writing too much right now, but if you guys have any questions I'll be happy to answer them.

great score!! congrats.. could you share verbal section difficulty level. sc, cr and rc
and how was the math section compared to gmatclub math test..many thanks

awesome score nickk. For the SC's you said you had to follow your intuition did the 'this sounds correct' approach worked well for you. If so any particular pointers on how to effectively use the intuition approach. Was MGMAT SC all that you refered to for the SC section?

Thanks guys.

sh00nya: Yes, I only used MGMAT SC. It's a great book, but, in my opinion, in contains more than you need to know. In fact, there are many things which I didn't learn in that book. If you are able to master it, you are pretty much guaranteed success on SC.
Regarding the intuitive approach, I'm afraid I can't tell you much more. I don't mean to boast, but I've always been relatively good at English (probably because I used to read a lot as kid) so I just ended up reading a number of the answer choices (after eliminating 2 or 3) a few times and picking the one that was best.

awesome score... Congrats !

congrats for big score !! all the best for apps

Thanks bb, your posts have also been most helpful. In fact, without your 3 month study guide I probably would have scored lower.

The school that I'm applying to has a minimum GMAT score of 600, and works on a first come first serve basis, which means that anyone with the minimum requirements is automatically accepted. It feels like it's a big of a shame not to get to use my score fully if you know what I mean :p

I'm sure it was the right choice. I'm applying for an MSc in Finance program, and I just can't justify spending the inordinate amounts of money that most well known programs charge. The program that I'm applying to is relatively well known and the tuition fees are only a fraction of those at other well known programs such as LSE, etc.

On another note, I'm thinking of putting my GMAT score on my CV. Do you do this?

Nick,

Great score!

I want to know about the MGMATs. Is it worth purchasing these tests?

Yesterday, I gave the free online test on Manhattan Gmat website. I found the Maths section really challenging but in the Verbal section, I saw all CR and a few SC questions, which I have already done before. So, do these MGMATs contain altogether different sets of questions or you can expect some/many of the questions you have already gone through in such forums.

Please suggest.
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Want to improve your CR: cr-methods-an-approach-to-find-the-best-answers-93146.html
Tricky Quant problems: 50-tricky-questions-92834.html
Important Grammer Fundamentals: key-fundamentals-of-grammer-our-crucial-learnings-on-sc-93659.html

have you read the powerscore SC bible book?