neilferrini wrote:
GMAT Prep I - 690 (Q44 V40)
Not quite sure what to think. You did mention that the verbal in your opinion was a little low. That is positive info for me...
YES! Particularly for those of us who can score above 40 on quant. I took GMATPrep quant 4 times and never scored higher than a 41, but got a 44 on both my actual GMAT attempts. If you are a "natural" on verbal - which I think you are - I think the score is a bit deflated on prep... just my two cents.
In fact, I think I got a 690 on my second GMATPrep with these exact splits - after a travel monday + 14 hours work + 2 glasses of red wine
. To me the key to the GMATPrep is just that it is great experiential practice. I mean having a fairly accurate scoring algorithm is nice, but it's all about having the experience of the real test with the actual software, etc.
neilferrini wrote:
Really hoping for a stronger score next Thurs. I have on more GMAT Prep exam, but not sure if I want to take it. Also have a ton of V.R. and Q.R. questions I have yet to touch that I can work through. Thoughts?
I think at this point it is unlikely that you're going to jam more content into your (already tired) brain. If it were me my study plan over the next few days would be as follows:
Monday: 45 minutes ALL QUANT problems (no more)
Tuesday: GMATPrep CAT
Wednesday: Light reading on the forum for test day psych-up strategies, the 6.0 AWA post, no more than 10 quant practice problems. Lots of positive thinking & success visualization
Thursday: 5-8 practice problems to warm the brain up, and then your planned G-day routine
This might seem kinda nuts, but I think mindset is incredibly important on test day. On my first attempt I was amped up. Sure I was going to kill it. I'm naturally a great test taker and so I had tons of confidence and I was excited and really up to smash the exam.
I completely and utterly chokedSeven weeks later - totally new attitude for round 2. Instead of the amped killing machine, I was really calm.
I knew that what I was aiming to do (710 goal) was to be better than 90% of test takers. And MAN that is a competitive group. I thought a lot about how I had prepared, and I honestly felt that I had given myself an adequate study period, that I had studied smart, and that I had given it all I had.
And then I was asking to be better than almost everyone. I realized I had to be okay with the fact that
I just might not be better than 90% of everyone else AND that I wasn't willing to spend the next six months with my boyfriend the quant bible in order to increase my score. I had to be okay with whatever outcome happened because I felt really good about my preparation.
As you know, I ended up killing it the second time around. Yes, much of the difference was about more effective study habits. But a lot can be attributed to me taking the pressure off myself. Whatever score was going to be good enough - because I had put in a best effort. I felt SO different during the exam with this mindset - it actual was kind of fun (sick, I know).
So I wish you calm-zen-happy thoughts on test day. You absolutely must come back and say how you did!