Hi Everyone,
I've been ducking in and out here and there over the past month or so. Can't say I've contributed much, but I've benefited a lot from the quant section here! Just took the GMAT today (2/26/2010) and got a 720 (94%) - M49(87%)/V41(91%). This score seems to be a pretty fair indication of where I thought my level was at. I probably spend around a month studying for the GMAT, the first diagnostic I took was around 580. Here's a rough breakdown of my background and my study preps:
Chinese-American
Electrical Engineering major (3.7GPA) from UT Austin
2 years IT consulting (accenture)
Going to China for a Private Equity internship at the end of March
Study materials:
OG 12th edition (MUST HAVE)
Manhattan SC (MUST HAVE)
GMATclub math guides (you'll find it if you search the forums)
GMATclub quant forums
For the past 2 weeks, I've done nothing but take practice GMATs (1 a day) from:
Manhattan
GMATPrep
Knewton
Test taking experience:
Didn't get great sleep last night as one of my friends texted me at 2:30am to wish me good luck, and I never really got any decent after that ;-p timing on the AWA was good, but a bit on the rushed side (preparing a template for the argument and issue essays beforehand is absolutely vital). Math I felt was pretty hard, didn't get any PS combinatorics/work/rate problems though they showed up as DS questions (yuck!) I think I missed like the 3rd question on the test and started freaking out after that. I spent way too long on that problem (prob 4-5 minutes) and so ran into time difficulties at the end - I actually did not even complete the last question! I clicked an answer for #36, but didn't even click confirm before the time ran out - i was sooo frustrated after that. Took my break and pulled myself together and talked myself into concentrating on the verbal. At this point, my verbal score on the practice test ranged from 38-44, but averaged around 38-40. Ran into issues again with timing with Verbal (which is rare since I usually finish with 5 minutes to spare) since had a few tough RC passage as well as couple tough CRs. I think I had to finish 3 verbal problems at the end in 1:20 minutes. Needless to say, when I finished the test I didn't think I would do well at all. Clicked through to the results and got the score. At the moment I was extremely relieved and elated, but I think I could have performed a little better, but I am happy with the final results!
Depending on if I can turn my PE internship into a full-time position, I might be submitting my app for 2011 MBA. Targeting the top finance MBAs, but will pretty much look at the top 10 schools in general. My 720 puts me near the median of those schools, so I figured there's probably no point in taking the GMAT again unless i'm going for that 99%. If anyone thinks I should take it again, please let me know your reasons =) It seems like the average GMAT score is getting higher and higher. A year or two ago, a M49/V41 would've probably got me close to a 740 but it's a 720 now. I guess I can't complain - just glad it's over and praise God for being very gracious to me as regards to my final score, I was sure I would be below 700!
Let me know if you guys have any questions, I may not have been very specific in my post but would be glad to answer any questions you guys may have!