Guys,

I just took the GMAT yesterday and scored a 690 (47q, 37V). This score is a definite improvement over my 620 a few years back. Verbal was my weakest link so I spent a lot of time studying MGMAT SC. I improved my verbal from 29 to 37, which I think is a great improvement, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

My first time preparing for the gmat I spent a lot of time on Kaplan's material. Kaplan did not reflect the gmat as closely as Manhattan did. My advice is to spend your time reviewing all of Manhattan's material and the 6 tests that come with it.

Mgmat
1: 590 (43,29)week 1
2: 650 (45,34)week 2
3: 640 (41,36)week 4
4: 660 (44,36)week 5
5: 640 (44,34)week 7
6: 650 (44,35)week 8

1a: 690 a week before exam date
2a: 710 a week before exam date

GMAT Prep
1: 660 (47,36) in week 3
retake: 700 (46,40) in week 6
2: 710 (49,37) about two weeks before exam date


PR
590 (45,26) also in week 8: not sure what happened here or if it is a reliable exam.

Now my biggest hurdle will be to get in to B-school with a 690, and 2.6 gpa in physics from U of I in Champaign/Urbana. I have 4.5 years work experience as a trader, and even managed my own portfolio for a while. My target schools are kellogg and booth. Think I should retake the gmat to get that 700+ score? I know it is within my range.

I spent about 3 months preparing. My study tools included MGMAT SC, CR, Number Properties, and Word Translations. I also had OG 12th edition, along with the Verbal Review and Quantitative Review 2nd edition.

Over the first month I spend time simply going over the MGMAT material. I spent most of that time going over the SC stuff. After this month of prep I took GMAT Prep I and scored 660. My quant was strong, buy my verbal was still shaky.

For the next 1.5 months I had a routine of doing 10 questions each of CR, RC, SC, PS, and DS questions Mon-Wed. On Thursday's I would take one of GMAT clubs math tests. The gmat club math tests are more difficult than the actual test, but I had been focusing so much on verbal, and I wanted to spend at least a day on quant. I took a MGMAT CAT every Friday, evaluated my progress and started the cycle over again on Monday.

When I felt I was almost ready, I took GMAT prep II to see how I was doing, and scored a 710. This felt great and was my first time scoring over 700. I scheduled my test two weeks down the road after seeing this score. During these two weeks I retook a couple of MGMAT tests and one of the GMAT Prep tests just to stay in test taking shape. I also spent an hour or two addressing some weak areas every day, but not forgetting to nurture my strengths. I also started reading a lot of articles in scientific american, and the economist.

On test day, I woke up at 630. I had my morning cup of coffee and my standard breakfast. Went to starbucks and did a reading passage, a few quant questions, and a some CR. Nothing crazy, but just a few questions to get my brain working. I grabbed a bit to eat for lunch and was off to take my test. The rest is history.

A couple of questions...is any weight given to the difficulty of my major? Some could argue that 2.6 in physics could be a 3.6 in economics.

I have some time, would enrolling at a local university to prepare an alternative transcript be a better play?

I can get some glowing letters of recommendations from some very reputable individuals, but would it be helpful to have one of the LOR's come from a current student? I know a few people attending the schools that I am looking to attend.

BlueRobbin,

The MGMAT CR was not very helpful to me other than the fact it helped me to categorize the types of CR questions.

As far as lsat CR vs OG 12 vs the actual gmat: I think LSAT CR is tougher than both, but they are also different. While logic is the key to any of these questions, I think your best bet for preparation would be to practice the questions in OG 12, and the Verbal Review 2nd edtion. MGMAT CR will be helpful in singling out question types, as they reference questions in OG 12 and the verbal review.

While I did not blow the verbal section of my test away, I thought that OG 12 and the Verbal Review were more difficult than the CR questions that I received during test day.

Personally, with assumption questions I try not to let my mind roam too much on what the assumption is, unless it smacks me in the face while I am reading. After reading the conclusion of the argument I usually just read through the answer choice and see which one most logically strengthens or weakens the conclusion. Easier said than done.

My humble opinion is that you should retake if think you can significantly improve your score. Booth and Kellogg are both top tier programs and a higher score can only strengthen your application.