770 Q49 V47

I took the GMAT for the first time a little over two weeks ago, on June 5th, and figured I'd share my experience since I had browsed these forums and found some nice study tips. Here's my score:

770, Q49, V47, AWA 6.

I started studying in early February, giving me 4 months of preparation. I kicked off my studying by browsing MBA.com and learning the basics of the test, then took the first GMAT Prep exam and scored 750. I spent the first three months going through Kaplan Premier, focusing on a single type of question at a time. After finishing a chapter in the Kaplan book, I would go through the problems in the corresponding chapter of the OG. At this stage I focused most of my attention on the timing of the quant section, because I felt rushed towards the end of the quant portion of the practice exam.

At the end of April I decided to take the second GMAT Prep exam, and scored 770, however I still did not feel completely comfortable on the quant timing. In May I switched into high gear, taking full practice tests--including AWA--each Saturday, and practice tests minus AWA on Thursdays when I knew I'd be worn out from the work week.

The most important component of my study schedule occurred during the two weeks leading up to the exam. I perform much more poorly when I'm low on sleep, and am generally not a morning person, so I knew I'd have to do something to be prepared to take an 8AM exam. For the two weeks leading up to the test, I shifted to a sleep schedule where I went to bed at 9:30-10:00 PM and got up at 6:00 AM. This killed my social life, but helped me to get caught up on my sleep before the exam. In addition, I "trained" my brain to switch itself on in the morning by solving quant problems for an hour before work. For these morning sessions I used problems from the OG Quant Review, and Kaplan monthly quizzes.

The night before the test I was a little nervous, and got something like 7 hours of sleep. Even so, I felt relatively well rested the next morning. I was still slightly anxious when I arrived at the test center, but that feeling disappeared once I got into the flow of the test. I had taken enough practice tests under test-like conditions that I knew what to expect, and didn't feel rushed at any point. I felt like I had the timing down well, and knew when to skip a question that would simply take too long. I'd say the study plan was a success, and would absolutely recommend that people pay more attention to their sleep schedules in the days leading up to the exam. Hope this is helpful.