I just took my final GMAT(as far as I can tell) on Saturday and walked away with a score that I'm completely satisfied with.
The first GMAT exam I took was in January --- I scored 710 and 690 using GMATPrep CAT and 700 using
Manhattan GMAT CAT so I was a bit disappointed when I got 690(47q 38v) instead of breaking the 700 mark.
I isolated my weakness as sentence correction and went through 1000 SC in span of about 3 weeks. Unfortunately, although I improved in verbal the second time in March(from 38v to 39v), my quantitative score suffered a bit from 47q to 44q(I chalk that up to the sleep deprivation --- I was so nervous about the exam that I only got 4 hours of sleep the night prior)
I realized that my verbal score may have reached the plateau and decided to concentrate on quantitative problems instead. I finished the OG12 front to back and I purchased the
GMATClub tests and finished 20 out of 25 available tests. Learning from my mistakes, I tried to relax myself as much as possible and actually postponed the exam for 2 weeks because I did not want GMAT to get in the way of my social life.
I honestly expected around 690 as I did in the first retake and I just hoped for anything in the 700. Suffice to say, I was pleasantly surprised to receive the score that I did. I did GMATPrep two weeks prior to my final retake and I got 750(50q 41v) but I treated that score as an anomaly as I saw a few questions that I've seen from the GMATPrep before.
I'm content with how I did and although I can potentially increase my score a bit more, I cannot foresee myself going to GMAT yet again.
It was a blessing in disguise that I did not perform adequately on my first exam. If I had received 700 on my first attempt, I would've been content and not attempt to retake. Do not be discouraged that you do not receive the score that wanted. With more concentrated effort you may walk away pleasantly surprised as I did.
I hope other people have similar luck!
Materials used:
Reference:
OG11, OG12, Official Verbal Review,
Manhattan GMAT Guides 1-8(I thought guide 6 and 7 were not very helpful)
Exams:
Manhattan GMATGMATPrep
GMATClub Tests _________________