1st Attempt - 710...

Great score, you're unofficial will almost always be identical to your official score.

i've never heard of the unofficial being different from the official. what a great feeling to do better than expected. big congrats.

Thank you all for your congratulations. I'll try to keep this brief, but feel free to follow up with any questions you may have.

I studied for a total of three months (taking a two week break in mid-January for a vacation). Unless you are squeezing all your preparation into a month or two, I would suggest taking a week or so off to refuel the tank. Three to four months of constant studying can drain you. During the first two months of preparation (December - January), I studied one to two hours each weekday and approximately four to five hours each Saturday and Sunday. During the last month of preparation (February), I studied an average of two hours each weekday and six hours each Saturday and Sunday.

I utilized the following materials:

- OG 11
- OG 11 Verbal
- PR Cracking the GMAT
- Kaplan 2007 Premier
- Manhattan GMAT SC

I swept through each book twice and completed all questions. I tracked all errors with an error log and went back through each of the books to work specifically on any issues I encountered the first time around.

I only did the four PR exams that were included with the purchase of the 'Cracking the GMAT'.

CAT 1 - 680
CAT 2 - 650
CAT 3 - 660
CAT 4 - 720

I took the GMATPrep CAT 1 two nights before the exam, but was so wiped that I didn't generate a score.

Keys to taking the exam:

- Try to remain calm. I almost let a minor panic attack set in 10 questions into the quant, but closed my eyes, took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. I found that once I got on a roll, my mind didn't wander...

- Seeing easy questions towards the middle/end of the quant section does NOT mean you will score poorly. I came across some difficult questions towards the middle section of quant (#15-#25), but some of the easiest questions fell in the set of the last 10 questions (experimental?).

- Use your break time wisely. I left the room, walked the lobby of the building, drank some water and thought about anything but the GMAT.

I'm sure I left out a lot of details. Feel free to ask any questions you may have...I'll be happy to answer them.

Thanks again to all who have contributed to the board. You made the GMAT experience far easier than it would have been otherwise.

Congrats!

Congratsssssssssss!! Amazing Score