700 (93%): Q 46 (80%),V 40 (90%)

All,

Just got back from taking the GMAT. It was my first time, so the butterflies were there, but I'm overall happy with the result and do not plan on taking the test again.

Got to the testing center an hour and fifteen minutes early and was told I could take the test immediately.

Started off with analysis of an argument, which was relatively easy and I wrote five lengthy paragraphs easily. I forget the exact subject matter but you can find all of the topics at https://www.mba.com.

An analysis of an issue was more difficult. It dealt with changes in equality, and due to the absolute nature of the comment, I felt I had to go against the issue. However, I didn't want to become too political about my views so I tried to use moderate views. I ended up writing four decently sized paragraphs.

Used the break, i had brought a 32 oz of Gatorade and Nature Valley trail mix bars, so I knocked off 2 bars and some Gatorade in about 8 min or so and started on the quant. (NOTE: Make sure to eat something!)

The first couple of questions were pretty easy, but then the questions started getting progressively harder. The content itself wasn't that difficult for the most part, but some of them involved using several different concepts and were extremely time consuming. There were a couple where I should've just guessed between two or three different choices, but I knew I could arrive at the answer and therefore kept at it, which became a problem towards the end. I picked up the speed and ended up at the last question with only 45 sec left (and if i had 15 sec more, I probably would've gotten it right). The mistake i made was that I cut that last question too close and by the time I arrived at the answer, I had 5 second left to answer. As soon as I tried to confirm, the time was up, so that question probably went in blank. (Aside: only 1 combinatorics question, and it was easy.)

I became overly frustrated thinking to myself, "YOU KNOW HOW THE GMAT WORKS, WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE A QUESTION BLANK!" and muttered to myself during the second break. I decided to wash my face and use the bathroom but for some reason was still upset when I started the Verbal section. I started thinking that if leaving a question blank netted me a 690 instead of a 700, I would be a really flabbergasted individual, to put it nicely.

Anyway, I started off with a couple of SCs and CRs and was moving along. One thing I noticed about the CR was that in several of them, especially towards the end, two choices could possibly have been correct. There wasn't much give. (Aside: Only 1 BF -- and it wasn't that diffcult). In the SC's, if you give them enough time, you can notice the flaws in the sentences. I didn't get an RC until question 15 or so, and got two sandwiched between a SC. The first 2 RC's were relatively easy, the 3rd was of average difficulty, and the final one was a difficult and lengthy science passage. I don't remember the exact number of lines. I'd guess maybe 65-80. I ended with a string of difficult CRs.

I filled out the survey at the end and was pleasantly surprised to see a 700 on the screen. I was also happy that percentile wise I had 80/80 in both, now a requirement for the top B-schools. I'm not sure how much leaving a question blank affected my overall score, (if any of you know the exact penalty, please let me know), but overall, I'm happy with the result. The score may seem somewhat pedestrian to some of the scores posted daily on this website, but I'm still satisfied by the result.

My practice scores:

Kaplan # 1 - 570
Kaplan # 2 - 580
Kaplan # 3 - 610
Kaplan # 4 - 590
Kaplan # 5 (I had the 2006 CD as well, and thought it might be different) - 740 (tons of repeated questions).

GMATPrep # 1 - 710 (Q 48, V 39) - saw overlap with at least 5-6 OG questions and/or GMATClub/TestMagic questions.
GMATPrep # 2 - 720 (Q 49, V 40) - saw overlap with at least 5-6 OG questions and/or GMATClub/TestMagic questions.
Powerprep Tests - I received a 770/780 on the two tests, but this was purely an exercise in memorization as I would say I remembered 80-85% of the questions.
GMATPrep # 3 - 720 (Q 50, V 38) - saw overlap with at least 9-10 OG/GMATClub/TestMagic or GMATPrep questions.
GMATPrep # 4 - 730 (Q 48, V 42) - saw overlap with at least 10-11 OG/GMATClub/TestMagic or GMATPrep questions.


As you can see, many of the questions on these exams I had previously seen through either OG or through these websites. I had run out of tests and figured the best way to study was to review actual GMAT material rather than start with PR or any other junk floating around pretending to be GMAT material. However, I knew these scores were slightly inflated so I estimated my actual ability to be around 680 or so. I also had decided that if I scored above 650, I wouldn't take the exam again.


Studying:

I first thought about taking the GMAT in 2005. I never ended up getting around to it until 2006. I started studying in Jan 2006, but wasn't really serious about it until I'd say late Jan-early Feb. After a long day at work and a long commute, the last I thing I wanted to was study for the GMAT! I still tried to take a test every week though. And the week before the test, I took the Powerprep tests Sat/Sun, and took GMATPrep Wed/Thu week of test. Didn't touch the GMAT on Fri.

Books I used:
7 Manhattan GMAT Guides - strongly recommended
OG 10th Edition - Duh!
Kaplan 2006 - Strategies are useful. Tests are good for Quant, not representative for Verbal.
PR 2006 - Really nice strategies. I wouldn't use the questions.

And finally my background:
23, Finance background, 1 1/2 years of experience at a major financial services firm.

DONE! I'm actually surprised I could write through so much detail right after returning from the exam, but I plugged through it. Although I don't plan on applying to schools probably for another year and a half, it is nice to get the exam out of the way.

I can't thank you guys for your help in answer questions (or providing questions), so I hope this debriefing helps people. Thanks all! Any questions, please feel free to ask.