770, AWA 6.0... feels good man

Question

Hi,

I did the GMAT today and got a 770 (Q:50, V:47). I want to thank everyone on this forum, but particularly Bunuel, whose explanations have been invaluable.

Test day experience

Everything went smoother than expected. The test administrators were not too strict, etc.
The AWA section was good, mostly due to this post: how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html
I had a hard time coming up with very good reasons for the issue section, but I think it was OK.

I felt that the quant and verbal sections were both quite a bit harder than most practice tests I had done.

Material used
- Kaplan's GMAT premier
- OG 12
- MGMAT SC

Practice tests
(all, except the MGMAT quant sections, which were harder than the real test, were properly timed)
GMAT prep 1: 680 (before I had done any studying)
GMAT prep 2: 760 (Q:50, V:42) (~1.5 weeks before the exam)
Kaplan 2: 730 (Q:46, V:44) (linear)
MGMAT 1: 710 (Q:47, V:40)
MGMAT 2: 730 (Q:48, V:41)
Kaplan 3: 710 (Q:43, V:51) (CAT 1)
MGMAT 3: 750 (Q:48, V:45)
Kaplan 4: 770 (Q:51, V:52) (CAT 2)
MGMAT 4: 740 (Q:47, V:45)
Kaplan 5: 770 (Q:52, V:51) (CAT 3)
MGMAT 5: 780 (Q:51, V:45)
GMAT prep 1: 780 (Q:50, V:47)
GMAT prep 2: 760 (Q:50, V:42)

Study method
I can't find the particular post now, but bb wrote an excellent novice's 3 month study guide. To be honest I deviated quite a bit from it, but in general I stuck to studying quant the first month (more like 2 months, during the first of which I didn't study much), studying verbal the second month, and doing practice questions the 3rd month.

Other random notes:
- In terms of the strategy itself (for solving the various question types), Kaplan seems to have a lot of seemingly logical ones, but at the end of the day I didn't use any of them (for example, I did not make any notes during RC questions, but this may not be the best idea for all test takers).
- While I can see how the error log can be useful, I abandoned it shortly after I started studying.

I don't particularly feel like writing too much right now, but if you guys have any questions I'll be happy to answer them.

Edit: Link to the 3-month study plan: gmat-study-plan-for-gmat-novices-start-your-gmat-journey-80727.html

idiot · Answer

WOW!!!.....congrats man.
wish you good luck for the next phase.

einstein10 · Answer

great score!! congrats.. could you share verbal section difficulty level. sc, cr and rc
 and how was the math section compared to gmatclub math test..many thanks

nickk · Answer

I have not taken GMAT club's tests, so I cannot compare them to the actual GMAT. I guess it didn't differ too much from the GMAT prep (but I guess that goes without saying).

The SC question were harder than I had anticipated. I had to follow my intuition on a number of questions (it helps that I'm a native English speaker). 
CR was comparable to the practice tests I had done.
RC was relatively easy for me. This is mostly because, on the practice exams, I had greater problems with passage concerning law (I literally don't understand these passages at all) and some abstract issues. Fortunately, on the actual exam I mostly got short passages relating to the natural sciences which I'm OK at.

sh00nya · Answer

awesome score nickk. For the SC's you said you had to follow your intuition did the 'this sounds correct' approach worked well for you. If so any particular pointers on how to effectively use the intuition approach. Was MGMAT SC all that you refered to for the SC section?

einstein10 · Answer

nickk thank you for your response... i guess practice exams, you mean exams that u have mentioned in your debrief.

nickk · Answer

Thanks guys.

sh00nya: Yes, I only used MGMAT SC. It's a great book, but, in my opinion, in contains more than you need to know. In fact, there are many things which I didn't learn in that book. If you are able to master it, you are pretty much guaranteed success on SC. 
Regarding the intuitive approach, I'm afraid I can't tell you much more. I don't mean to boast, but I've always been relatively good at English (probably because I used to read a lot as kid) so I just ended up reading a number of the answer choices (after eliminating 2 or 3) a few times and picking the one that was best.

DAYNE · Answer

congrats

nsp007 · Answer

awesome score... Congrats !

shadow · Answer

congrats on the great score. looks like you had some good materials to work with. best of luck in your apps

andrue · Answer

congrats for big score !! all the best for apps

bb · Answer

WOW Nick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You must be stocked - I absolutely am - fantastic score man!!!!

nickk · Answer

Thanks bb, your posts have also been most helpful. In fact, without your 3 month study guide I probably would have scored lower.

The school that I'm applying to has a minimum GMAT score of 600, and works on a first come first serve basis, which means that anyone with the minimum requirements is automatically accepted. It feels like it's a big of a shame not to get to use my score fully if you know what I mean :p

bb · Answer

I do, and I felt exactly the same. I picked average (not top 10 schools) for my apps and I felt I could buy more with 750 but at that time, application deadlines for all of the top 10 had passed, so I had a choice. no idea if I made the right one but it worked out

nickk · Answer

I'm sure it was the right choice. I'm applying for an MSc in Finance program, and I just can't justify spending the inordinate amounts of money that most well known programs charge. The program that I'm applying to is relatively well known and the tuition fees are only a fraction of those at other well known programs such as LSE, etc.

On another note, I'm thinking of putting my GMAT score on my CV. Do you do this?

lonewolf · Answer

congratz on the great score there.

ykaiim · Answer

Nick,

Great score!

I want to know about the MGMATs. Is it worth purchasing these tests?

Yesterday, I gave the free online test on Manhattan Gmat website. I found the Maths section really challenging but in the Verbal section, I saw all CR and a few SC questions, which I have already done before. So, do these MGMATs contain altogether different sets of questions or you can expect some/many of the questions you have already gone through in such forums.

Please suggest.

nickk · Answer

UPDATE: got a 6.0 for the AWA :D how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html really is the only guide you need

Sorry for the late reply ykaiim.
It is always good to have extra practice tests, and since buying any MGMAT book gives you access to them, I would suggest you buy MGMAT SC (probably the best SC book).
The MGMAT math section is pretty tough, but when you take it untimed and make sure you understand everything, you'll learn a lot. Regarding the verbal section, I can't really comment as it didn't really stand out.

DAYNE · Answer

have you read the powerscore SC bible book?

nickk · Answer

No, I haven't, but if I remember correctly it's also a good SC book.

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770, AWA 6.0... feels good man

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