Free Practice Tests to Actual GMAT - Debrief

Hi all,

I've been following this forum for the past month or so, and have found many posts to be extremely helpful. I've decided to share my own GMAT experience in hopes that it will help someone else in a similar way.

I decided to go the self-study route, not taking any GMAT courses. My reasoning for this was that I've always been very good at self-assessment and identifying areas in which I need to improve. I figured I could increase my score more quickly by developing a custom study plan for myself than I could by working through a predetermined course. Perhaps I was right, perhaps I was wrong, but I am happy with the rate at which I progressed. All tests I took were from the CATs that are available for free, online.

Summary:
Target Score: 700
Dec 10 - The Economist: 560 (Q31, V37)
Dec 14 - Platinum GMAT: 620 (Q42, V34)
Dec 21 - Babson GMAT: 710* (Q47, V40)
Dec 24 - Manhattan GMAT: 660 (Q45, V35)
Dec 29 - Official GMAT Prep 1: 670 (Q45, V37)
Jan 4 - Official GMAT Prep 2: 710 (Q44, V44)
Jan 7 - GMAT: 710 (Q48, V39)

Dec 10 - The Economist: 560 (Q31, V37)
Yikes. First full practice test, awful result. In my defence, I had spent the better part of the day going through quant problems and was probably somewhat mentally fatigued by the time I took the test. Regardless, I saw that there clearly were some core concepts that I needed to brush up on.

Dec 14 - Platinum GMAT: 620 (Q42, V34)
Still disappointing, but I was happy to see the jump in the quant score. I admit that I was not focused during the verbal section, as I was worried I would see another quant score down in the 30s. Both quant and verbal scores indicated that I still had a lot of work to do.

Dec 21 - Babson GMAT: 710* (Q47, V40)
This one was weird. When I finished, the screed showed an estimate of GMAT score range, indicating 720-770 as my projected range, with VERY high verbal and quant ranges. At first I was ecstatic, but then realized I had gotten way too many questions wrong for that to be accurate. In recording my score, I "downgraded" to 710, but knowing what I know now about the test, I would estimate 650 would be a more accurate representation. I did not perform well enough to score Q47 in quant, nor V40 in verbal. I would advise anyone taking this particular test to be aware of potential inaccuracy.

Dec 24 - Manhattan GMAT: 660 (Q45, V35)
I was happy to see Q45, as I had heard multiple times that Manhattan's quant is more difficult than actual GMAT quant. The V35, however, was disappointing. At this point I shifted the focus in my preparation from quant to verbal.

Dec 29 - Official GMAT Prep 1: 670 (Q45, V37)
After taking the first official practice test, I was happy to see that I was in range of my target score. That said, I was also disappointed in my score, as I had expected to score higher. Going through my answers, I could see that a number of my mistakes were questions that I should have gotten correctly, but had gotten wrong due to misreading the question.

Jan 4 - Official GMAT Prep 2: 710 (Q44, V44)
This one was interesting. During the quant section, I had a horrible stomach ache and kept having to pause the test to run to the bathroom. I knew that I wouldn't have the luxury of pausing the test on test day, but decided it would be a good idea to continue doing the test under "non-ideal conditions," thinking that if I could focus during that, I should be good to go during test day. What a miserable way to study... My 75 minute flu subsided in time for the verbal section, which seemed WAY too easy, much easier than any other verbal section I had gone through. I was happy with my score as I had finally hit my target. i expected that my verbal score was somewhat inflated, but knew I could do better in quant. Despite my best efforts to focus, my "math-flu" had definitely affected my performance.

Jan 7 - GMAT: 710 (Q48, V39)
Test day, 8:00am start time. I did everything I needed to to in the 24 hours leading up to the test to ensure that I was in peak performance mode. No prep the day before, extra-tough workout the day before to ensure a good sleep, and quality time with my girlfriend the evening before to keep my mind completely off the test. The feeling of writing the test reminded me of what it felt like when I was a competitive athlete. I had always played my best in high-pressure situations (playoffs, overtimes, last-minute scenarios), and I experienced a similar state of mind during the exam. The added pressure gave me a heightened ability to focus, and I knew I had written my best quant section to date as soon as I finished the 37th question. Although I was equally focused during the verbal section, the questions I was getting were were the toughest verbal questions I had seen in any CAT. I knew that I had to perform well in order to benefit from my good quant section. When I finished the test and saw the scores, I was happy to see that I had passed my target score by 10 points, and I was satisfied feeling that I had given the test my best performance. I did feel that perhaps with a different verbal question set I could have scored V40 or V41, but was still happy knowing that my score was above average for all the schools that I intend to apply at.

That concludes my GMAT story. If anyone is able to take anything away from this that will help with their own GMAT preparation, then it was well worth taking the time to type out.