I want to start off with a big THANKS to all the posters here who helped me in my GMAT preparation. I really appreciate all you guys out there caring enough to post questions, answers and strategies.
I gave my GMAT on March 20th, 2010 and got a score of 660 (47Q, 34V and 5.5 AWA). I am not sure how I feel about the score. I am absolutely relieved that I am done with GMAT and no matter what, I am not taking it again. I started my prep. in end of Nov. 2009 (I remember making study plans during the thanksgiving weekend instead of visiting my gf - boy tht really sucked).
Books I used:
MGMAT books,
Kaplan premier, Knewton course.
GMAT Prep 1:690 (Jan. 2010)
Gmat Prep 2: 730 (Feb. 19, 2010)
MGMAT scores:660, 670, 690, 690
Kaplan: 600, 660, 710
GCLUB Tests: took only first 6 - ranged from 58 to 86 percentile
I postponed my original date from Jan. 19 to Feb. 20, 2010. Unfortunately, we had a snowstorm here in NY on my test date and the earliest date I could get was March 20, 2010. I got really tired of studying in last 2 weeks especially with my work pressure going wayyy up. I was working couple of hours extra on the day before my test. I was so wary of studying that I was actually glad when the test was over. MY test center was really good. I reached the center an hour early and started my test abt 45 min. before the scheduled time. The AWA section was strictly OKAY. I struggled to get my word count. But I followed a strict format of 5 paragraphs (Intro + 3 paragraphs + conclusion) for argument and the issue essay. Quant section was actually going extremely well which frankly made me overconfident and I lost my edge. I had 3 mins for the last question and I am sure I got that qs wrong. Verbal was very good till I hit a bold face CR qs around 10th - 15th qs and the most horrible RC passage I have seen. I think I went into a daze or started dreaming. I actually had a moment when I thought - I don't need this BS - lost abt 5 mins CLOSED MY EYES & TOLD MYSELF THAT I AM GOING TO FINISH THIS EVEN IF HELL FREEZES OVER. After that I quickly realized that I had to make up for lost time, which I amazingly did but judging from my verbal score, cost me about 3 - 6 points. Either way, after I finished the exam and saw my score, I was relieved, atleast for one full minute.
My background: Bachelors degree in engg GPA 3.3 & Masters degree w/ GPA 3.1 from reputed US university in NY(Had Meritt based scholarship for my MS) Decent job as Sales Engineer in Construction industry, WE 6 years, Age 30, Indian working in US for last 6 years
Target Schools: P/T MBA NYU Stern, Baruch, Fordham university
Finally, do you guys think I have a shot at these schools?
PS I have to give shoutout to these people:
GMAT TOOLKIT: I went through the co-ordinate geometry stuff while sitting in my car before the test and probably the best thing I could have done. I used some of the same formulas in my first 10 questions. Thanks a lot Brunel.
Chineseburned: I know it has been said thousand times before but your AWA templates are Awesome!!! That is the only preparation I did for my AWA and got 5.5 .....