720 and satisfied!!! (45Q,44V)

I really didn't even need the score. I'm going to go to a part time MBA program at a local university (Eastern Carolina), while continuing to work full time. I think the average GMAT there is in the 500's. I know many of you are trying to get into the great schools - wish I was 25 again and could do that, too! But the reality is I couldn't even go to B-school if it wasn't for my company's tuition reimbursement program. (At 50-something, there's no way I'm going to take out a student loan!) Besides I love my job - my motivation is to rise within the company I work for.

When I started studying for this test, my first practice test (paper, not CAT) was about 550. I have been out of school for a LONG time! I didn't even imagine at that point that I could have scored a 720. Then I found this forum. You guys really raised the bar for me. I have always pushed myself. When I saw the difficulty level of the problems in the math forum, I really got serious about studying. At first I didn't even attempt to answer questions on the forum. After a bit, though, the light started coming on, and my confidence started going up. I purchased many of the study materials that people here were recommending. I really focused my studies on math, since verbal is my strong point. My first practice CAT (GMAT Prep 1) was 35Q, 49V. (That was the highest my V ever got, btw, ending with a 44 on the real thing!) I would never have guessed that my final score in quant would be higher than the verbal.

I used OG 11, Princeton Review, PR Math Workout, and a 9th grade homeschool algebra course (which was very helpful). I learned some of the best tips, tricks and techniques here on this forum, including the great one on mixtures which I got to use on the test!

My test was at 9:00 a.m. this morning, and was about an hour's drive. I got plenty of sleep - went to bed before 9 last night. I got up 2 hours before I needed to leave, had a light breakfast and took a snack with me for the break. I spent about a 1/2 hour solving problems this morning, just to wake up my brain. Reviewed a couple formulas, etc. Last night I didn't even look at the math - I was afraid of burnout. Instead I wrote a practice essay.

During the test, I almost ran out of time on the math. I had to guess on the last 2 - 3 questions. I think I started the last question with something like 20 seconds on the clock. That guess was random. The last few before that were "educated" guesses based on POE. I think the Princeton Math Workout teaches some good guessing strategies.

Funny thing is, I was very, very confident during the verbal. I really thought I had a shot of getting them all right. Can't really remember any of them that I didn't feel pretty good about my answer, and I finished with 13 minutes to spare (guess I should have taken more time, maybe reread the questions) So I was somewhat disappointed in the verbal score, but it was still 97th percentile. Math was 77th, overall 95. With where I'm going to school, no way I'll consider a retake.

I didn't need to push myself as hard as I did this summer, but it became a personal goal. And like I said, you guys raised the bar.

Thanks.