760 (Q 51, V 41)

Folks,
I bumped into this website a couple of weeks ago. It has been a very useful site and has a lots of good / challenging questions and interesting discussions. So, I wanted to share my experience so that it may help others.

I started preparing about 3 months ago - but was not very regular. I used to spend 4 to 5 hours over the weekends and about 3 hours over the week. I put in 3 days of rigorous preparation before the test and that helped a lot. I took both the powerprep tests in the beginning

PP-I - 690
PP-II - 760

Looking back, the PP tests seem to resemble the real one more closely than the others.
I did take the Kaplan tests and scored 600, 660 and 680 (didn't take one fully). I do think that their math problems are good and prepare you for some tougher questions. But, like so many others who have posted before, I too think that their verbal is quite tough especially the RCs and don't give you the real picture.I also think that the math questions discussed on this forum were very useful in my preparation.
As for the exam itself, I was a little nervous and wasn't able to sleep well yesterday night. But the Essay section helped me calm down a little bit and get used the environment. I have one advice - when you practice your tests, don't always do so in a room that's very quiet. The exam hall was a little noisy and I could hear the traffic on the road. Also, people were moving in/out etc.

The math section started off with an easy question, but I was still nervous. Indeed I kept double checking my answers and was not able to concentrate properly.I spent about 10 minutes on the first three questions - not because they were difficult, but because I was still feeling nervous.. But luckily, I was able to calm down after that and concentrate. I ended up finishing with about 8 minutes to spare. The questions were easier than the ones that are discussed here. Just a few standard tricks that we are all too familiar with.

I felt that the verbal was dragging on... May be I was tired too. I was very slow to start with - I still had 24 questions with only 30 minutes to spare. I realized that I was again checking my answers way too many times and started to pick up speed. Once I felt an answer was right, I picked that answer and moved along. I don't think that's the right thing to do though. I ended up finishing with about 2 minutes to spare. I think OG is the best source to practice for this section. The questions are almost of the same difficulty level as those in the OG.

Overall, I am happy that its over and happy with my score. I would like some advice on the application process etc. - I have about 8 yrs of experience in the networking industry and have an MS in CS (gpa 4.0).
I plan to do my MBA in Berkley. Is there a good forum that discusses such things?

Thanks and hope this helps.
-R