490, 610, 610 and 710(47Q40V)

Thanks people. It's not the best score in the world, but it was much more than I thought I would be able to get, I was shooting for a 650.
For testtakers, I really recommend using the timeline somone proposed here, I just read about yesterday. I teared an inch off the top of one of my scratch papers and put the
Question: # 1 5 10...
TIme: #76 65 55 etc.
on it and referred to it quite a few times. This REALLY helped me to relax and take the time to solve more questions instead of hurrying and guessing. It sounds like a simple strategy, but as others have said, I believe it to can be quite essential, at least for me it was.
Another tip: The breaks are not strictly 5 minutes, they are as long as you neeed them to be. The test does not re-start until the proctor unlocks your computer, so don't panic if you get sick and have go to the bathroom - just let the test administartor know.
For studying, don't get discouraged and NEVER give up. Find someone close to you to motivate you and repeat this to you when you are ready to give up. I started studying last June, took a PP test after two weeks of studying and got a 560. I was so discouraged, I erased the GMAT from my memory and life until about October. This time around when I got a bad practive score on a test, I just retook the test until I got over a 700.
Yeah, I guess I already knew the answers for some of the questions, however, this reinforced my understanding and helped my ego by getting those 7XX scores, even if only on the second try, they still feel great. Good luck!

I still wonder how much luck is involved in the GMAT, I mean most people have to guess on a few questions and whether you get them right or wrong makes a huge difference. Another tip I have is to take the GMAT at the end of a month and also schedule an appointment right after it (days apart) for the next month. Do this only if you are prepared to do well on the test. In case you do bad on the first test for some reason (lack of concentration, sickness, bad luck) you can retake it immediately. If you do well on the first test just cancel the second appointment. You will lose the money, but if you get a good score, you probably won't care that much.

Did you encounter some similar problems from previous test? Also, how is it possible to schedule GMAT appointment within 3 days? I have to schedule it a month ahead.

All questions were different, although I thought that the second exam was easier, but that could be a mental perception. I scheduled both tests a month ahead.

So you were willing to loose money if you score well on the first one huh. I wonder if ETS recorded the questions that people did on previous tests so they don't pop up again.

no, i am sure the questions are different every month, since you are only allowed to take the test once a month. plus they probably get randomly pulled from a pool of hundreds of questions.

congrats on the great improvement

thanks for the advice. just for the record - how many perm/combo question did you encounter on the last test and the previous?? btw smart strategy for the retest dates. wish i had the money. don't you get a 80 refund if you cancel your appointment or smth like that?? i thought i read it in the bulletin?? can anyone confirm this??

i've had the same questions come up in my tests months apart. I don't think they are recycled as often as you'd think. I've also had different students of mine report similar questions over long periods of time.

congrats on your success. You should be very proud. Good luck in the application process.

So, Ian based on your experience/your students experience what is the best day to take test if you have written test in last month and you want to have the option of writing test next month as well (for taking advantage of the repetition of questions).
Thanks
S

oh, I don't think I can answer that one. I don't know if there's a formula for repeating questions or anything like that. I think it's just random. There are definately thousands of questions the computer chooses from when building a test, and I'd bet that ETS probably groups huge bundles of them together to be used for a specific test. But the computer is definately giving the same quesitons to different people - each test is not unique - so it might give you the same questions twice.

Probably, there are some questions that are given prominence in a given time frame, and that may be a particular month. They may do that to test various problems experimentally. That's definately possible.

Congrats on the great score. I like the concept of taking a test over until you get a 700 I think that does a lot of your mental strength going into the test.

Can you please post a link to the thread discussing the "timeline"

Thanks and congrats again

Congratulations. More for your effort and mental strength than the score.

All can say is BRAVO!!!

and am proud of you for showing determination and HOPE And most important being relentless in your pursuit of taking a membership in the 700 club !!

How is it possible to take a GMAT after 3 days of taking one, I thought you had to wait a month atleast.