760 : Q50 V42 - Am satisfied !

Question

Hello all, I am pleased to share my score of 760 with all of you. I took the GMAT this Saturday in downtown NYC, so this message is a little late, but I got busy with work. I am slightly disappointed as my target was 99 percentile, ie. 760 - 790. So I am mostly satisfied as I managed to barely squeeze in there

I know its a great score for most schools, but I was hoping to use a strong GMAT to offset my limited work ex. Ah well... we'll see how everything turns out. Everything said and done, the test went well and I am glad I could share this with you. This forum helped me structure my preparation and provide me with guidance and advice and I have been recommending it strongly ever since. I will try and get back online and post my debrief. Thank you all once again.

Ravshonbek · Answer

gimme ur score and retake urself for ur 99 percantile dream of 790

good luck

emoryhopeful · Answer

You can't score higher than 99th percentile, so why fret on whether it was 760 or 790? Congrats on the big score.

bmwhype2 · Answer

did they have CRT or LCD monitors at the dt nyc center?

sevenplus · Answer

Congrats on your 99 percentile! Very well done.

sandipan.mondal · Answer

I feel quite silly. I don't really remember. But I'm going to venture a guess and say CRT. Though I can't say so for sure.

gonzoswim · Answer

They have LCD displays at the 100 william st. location in NYC. They are a little small but you can move them closer very easily. My only complaint about the testing center was that people kept coming in and out of the room. I guess they have people taking practice kaplan CATs...which we all know are a waste of time anyway...

bmwhype2 · Answer

thanks. that will be my test center when i am ready. :lol:

sandipan.mondal · Answer

My Debrief:

I started thinking about giving the GMAT in the beginning of September and I decided to squeeze in my applications by December, so that gave me about 2 months to study for the exam. I started by spending quite a few hours online trying to search for methodology and material and past experience to help structure my prep. Thats when I came across the gmatclub. 

Materials I used:

 OG Guide 11th Edition
OG Verbal Guide
OG Quant Guide
Manhattan SC
Kaplan800

Software:

Powerprep
GmatPrep 

Preparation:

I started by leafing through the Official Guide. I gave the diagnostic exam and found that I was doing fairly well. The sections giving me trouble were SC, CR and Data Sufficiency. 

My degree was in Electrical Engineering, so I was fairly confident with Math, so I proceeded to solve every single problem in the Official Guide for both Problem Solving and Data Sufficiency. For Verbal, I started out with Kaplan800 and my SC and CR were very average. Thats when I realized I needed to buy the Manhattan SC book. I read through this book several times, solved all the OG questions, made notes and tried to make sure I understood all my mistakes. 

I had no real strategy as such. Just solve as many problems and practice as much verbal as I could. After finishing all the questions in the OG, (Except for RC) I gave GMATPrep #1 and scored a 730 (V48 Q42). This was a good score, but I was aiming for the 99 percentile and knew that I needed to push beyond 750. Additionally on analyzing my mistakes, 9 out the 10 incorrect in verbal were SC and most of the quant mistakes were in DS.

So I signed up for the Challenges, proceeded to re-read the Manhattan book, worked through the OG Verbal and Quant guides. As I went through October I started giving more CATs both the PowerPrep and ManhattanGMAT Series. 

Finally by the 3rd week of October, about 7-8 weeks after I started my preparation, I was done with all my materials. I had given 4 ManhattanGMAT Quants and solved about 10 challenges. I was saving the GMATPrep #2 for a few days before the actual exam in the hope that a good score would boost my confidence.

I started preparing for the AWAs just three days before the actual exam. I read the sample essays in the OG and went through the methodology outlined by 800score.com and their sample essays. I never actually wrote an entire essay, just made a few outlines.

CATs Given:

GMATPrep # 1 : 760 Q48 V42
ManhattanGMAT 1 : 680 Q42 V38
ManhattanGMAT 2 : 690 Q44 V38
MahhattanGMAT 3 : 710 Q46 V38
PowerPrep 1 : 760 Q50 V46
PowerPrep 2 : 760 Q51 V46
GMATPrep # 2 : 760 Q48 V46


The Actual Exam:

It was quite cold on the 3rd of November. I took a taxi down to the center. Signed in at the lobby and took the elevator up. As I entered the PearsonVue center I was quite surprised at the number of people there. There were about 30 people. After having my picture taken, I was led into the room, seated at a computer and I started the exam. 

The first essay was Analysis of an Argument, and I was surprised that off the 4 essays I had seen at 800score, this was one of them. I thought I wrote it fairly well, and the Analysis of an Issue went off allright too. Nothing extraordinary, but I was satisfied. 

Then the Quant section started. Most of the questions were easy enough, but there were 1 or 2 in the middle that got fairly difficult. Additionally, there were a few DS that I thought I had the right answer, but I wasn't 100% sure. As I reached the end, I realized I had 5 questions left and 5 mins to go. I panicked, guessed the 5th last one and proceeded to solve the last 4 in a record time of 3 mins. As I reached the last one, I realized I had over 2 mins and cursed myself for not solving through the 5th last one. Ah well.. finished the Quant section and disappointed I took my break.

I went to the restroom, looked at myself and swore that I needed to crack the Verbal section. Focussed and determined I sat through the verbal section, which actually went pretty well. Answered everything and I was fairly satisfied when I was through. I thought I had compensated for my possibly poor Quant with a good Verbal. 

The seconds it took for the score to pop up were so long. I was nervous and when the score actually popped up I was surprised, happy and slightly disappointed all at once. 

I had a 760 with a 50 in Quant and a 42 in Verbal.

I was happy with my 760 and surprised with my 50 in Quant. This was my best Quant score and especially how it went I was surprised with it, and equally disappointed with my Verbal. I had spent quite a few weeks working on verbal. I was pretty sure I could get a 44 or a 46. But at the end of the day I was satisfied with my 760. It's a good solid score and my 7-8 weeks of preparation paid off. 

My official scores were emailed to me just 5 days after the exam and I got a 5.5 in my essays.

I'd like to thank all the other posts to help me structure my prep. Given that I only had 2 months, it was an invaluable resource.

negade · Answer

Congrats Great Score!!!!!


Question for ya: Whats the difference between powerprep and gmatprep. I registered for the exam and got a CD, thats the gmatprep correct???

Where can i get the powerprep.

Congrats again and you are our inspiration

sandipan.mondal · Answer

I wouldn't recommend the powerprep very strongly, because it's now been replaced by the GMATPrep. The powerprep CAT also has a lot of overlap with questions from the OG. I found almost all of the verbal questions in both powerpreps to be from the OG. However, its good to just sit down and practice and time yourself, to build stamina. 

I had just googled PowerPrep up and found a site where I downloaded both CATs from.

Best of Luck with your prep.

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760 : Q50 V42 - Am satisfied !

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