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username: seoulite
score: 710 (47 Q, 41V) AWA 5.5
date: jun 02, 2011
Best Prep Materials - Manhattan GMAT, GMAT Prep, and GMAT Club Tests and Forums

Super pumped so I had to post this. Somehow skyrocketed from 650 in practice tests to 710 over the past couple of days. Then hit exactly the same score for the actual GMAT. Took most of the GMAT Club Tests and after trying those the actual GMAT was much easier. Whew! It's over!

760 (49Q 45V)
6/4/2011
oops-missed-the-first-question-760-49q-45v-114705.html
Prep Materials:
OG12, MGMAT, Powerscore CR

Username:heregoesnothing
Score: 710 48Q 38V
Date: 06/06/2011
Prep Materials: All MGMAT Guides, OG Guides, PowerScore CR and SC
Debrief: tale-of-a-first-timer

Username: tkyle99
Score: 750 (Q-49, V-44, AWA 5.5)
Date: 04/01/2011
Prep Materials: OG Guide 12th Edition, OG Quant Guide, Kaplan Premier
Debrief: 750-on-first-attempt-my-debrief-115244.html

Username: gmatpapa
Score: 710 Q48 V40, AWA 5.0
Date: 25th May 2011
GMAT Prep Materials: Most used- Official Guides, GMATPrep Verbal docs, MGMAT- Number Properties and Sentence correction, Gmat Club tests, Powerscore CR Bible.
Link to your GMAT debrief: from-620-to-710-my-gmat-journey-114437.html

Username: frederickbenny
Score: 760 (Q-50, V-42, AWA 6.0)
Date: 20/06/2011
Prep Materials: OG Guide 12th Edition, Kaplan Premier 2010-2011 (+ CD and the online resources), Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction (+ online resources), GMAT Prep Software
Debrief: gmat-matted-down-760-first-attempt-115718.html

User Name: soozz
Score: 700
Q: 50 V: 34
Date: 20-06-2011
Prep Materials: OG 12, Verbal and Quant additional practice OG's, MGMAT SC,CR,RC, Aristotle SC guide, RC99 ,GMAT CLUB material and tests
Tests- Gmat prep (2 tests), MGMAT (6 tests)

User Name: gmatkoopa
Score: 770 (50Q, 47V), 6.0 AWA
Date: 6/24/2011
Prep Materials: OG 12, MGMAT, GMAT Prep, GMAT Club Tests, Kaplan, Princeton Review, Kaplan Real Test Day Experience
Debrief: gmat-debrief-770-q50-v47-115912.html#p939862

Username: missxmelon
Score: 750 49Q 44V 5.5 AWA
Date: Jun 25, 2011
Best prep materials: Official Guide, GMATprep
Debrief: 750-49q-44v-5-5-awa-116263.html

Username: saptak1990
Score: 740 (Q50, V40, AWA 5.0)
Date: June 27, 2011
Debrief: 740 in just 1 month with OG only!

770 (Q 51, V 42)
yes! another Indian Male Engineer (IME)

scary time...think i messed up the first one in quant, otherwise remember missing out on one more question, still can not get that answer. here's my 2 cents, hope this helps (at least a few more IMEs, man we are the darn unlucky bunch...have to fight for everything )

1. entire quant is easy! even if i did not know a formula, can work out from basics.
2. avoid slipping into CAT mode...time is unlikely to be a constraint!
3. i had 75 mins, no one would care if I completed in 50
3. i took 74 mins, and did every addition (even 79 + 65) on paper, read the question again, and verified every answer!
4. i desperately needed a 50+ in quant to breach 750! gosh, this was a test of patience
5. i had to save my energy for the verbal section,

Verbal
1. hate myself for the SC mistakes! last 4 practice tests i had made a mess of the simple questions (the company... are... kinda) and that continued even today! definitely...[i]made a mistake in so...as..eeeeek![/i]

mistake - in preparation itself. highly recommend Manhattan + OG, simultaneously. Even if you remember every rule in MG, it's difficult to apply those rules in an exam setting!...read MG SC, refer to the specific questions in OG and solve them, scrutinize them (even the ones you get right), and make notes...

for heaven's sake pl stop casually written e-mails, ym/Gtalk, blackberry messenger. and STOP reading blogs!!! GMAT does not give a damn to humor! shun literature and beauty, GMAT english is an algorithm (except for some arcane rhetoric questions)

2. RC - was never a natural strength. practice tests were nothing great! but I did practice like crazy...worked on 25 full length LSAT tests over last - on screen and under time constraints.
highly highly recommend powerscore LSAT RC; especially the passage diagram technique.
second tip - visualize what you read! imagine the molecule that attaches itself to a protein, the protein that swims across the blood stream, the nerve cell with hundred of dendrites ready to accept the molecule...
after the passage step back, and collate thoughts...will save immense time in main point, tone, and other overall inference questions

3. CR - had to be my savior and indeed it was! am sure i got all of them correct, given the mess i would have made in SC. I think the preparation helped me a lot here:
a. finished CR bible over a span of one month in May
b. wrote 25 LSAT tests in May - June (i.e. approx 1200 questions), loved doing CR and hated myself for every mistake
c. analyzed all mistakes (including those in 10 full length tests) to spot error patterns. was particularly vulnerable to - weaken, assumptions, mimic...
d. convinced myself of these - one and only 1 conclusion exists (most of the time, at least in GMAT); there always exists ONE obvious answer!
e. many times the darn-this-is-stupid-and-obvious" is the true answer. MBT answers are like ... OMG-kya-ch***apa-hain

however, the GMAT CR seemed exceptionally easy (scared the hell out of me!) and in not a single one i had to re-read the options! inshallah...CR eventually became an ego fight!

on the hindsight, what I think I did right:
1. basic reading to develop the fundamentals of CR; do not have a natural talent in CR. read the bible in between the lines
2.did not get into the nonsense of test-series i.e. write, see score, skim over, create a discussion thread in a forum, and forget! does not help in improving!!!
3.Umpteen practice and (more important) analysis of every mistake in RC and CR. 60 min analysis for a 120 min test. can remember most of the RC and CR mistakes
4.LSAT! LSAT! LAST! the tests did rip me apart! this test format is just too good (love this format as much as I loved jee and olympiads! it just exposes the fundamental flaws of our cramming based education system...no doubt, we produce pathetic diplomats (now jump to weakening this one )
6. Quant - no ego! stay focused on a 50+ and save energy
7. flashcard - prepared, often repeating the same topic, around 300 of them...200 for SC, 50 each for CR and RC. counting the # cards related to a particular mistake in CR, helped a lot

what could have been better:
1. did not follow a structured SC practice...developing my own algo to solve! verb-->pronoun-->modifier-->read vertical-->meaning change...
kinda never liked SC...that was the mistake
2. RC - read the LSAT bible a tad too late. could not apply the principles in practice. Manhattan is good but assumes a natural reading efficiency... can not help a 37-38 breach the 44 mark. the LSAT bible can...
flipkart takes 21 days to ship this book...i ordered it too late
3. started practice test a tad too late...10 tests in the last 14 days, not right
4. flashcards were not stacked in an organized way; so could not refer to all of them in the last few days

btw, i really envy the 2012 test takers...integrated reasoning ROCKS, it just does! kudos to GMAC for including this section...it has everything...RC, CR, logic games (more reason to follow LSAT ), data interpretation!!! thoroughly enjoyed the IR experimental section (though was concerned about my SC performance)...!!

am contemplating writing the LSAT! the logic games section is so enticing!!! but have to see it the midst of my schedule; am sure 'll never go to a law school...

next...can post my test progress (manhattan 6+ kaplan 4)...if anyone found this post useful.

p.s. i wrote this post in a rush (going out for evening drinks). request a pardon from the die-hard SC enthusiasts for the language and construction errors (including those in the p.s.)

•Username: markostanojevic
•Score: 720 (46Q, 42V), 5.5 awa
•Date:07/23/2011
•GMAT Prep Materials*: Knewton, OG 12th edition
•Link to your GMAT debrief*:

Username: pisupat
Score: 710 (Q49, V38) and AWA 5.5
Date: 21st July 2011
Prep Material: OG, Quant Review, Verbal Review, Manhattan and GMATPrep
Link to Debrief: 710-q49-and-v38-117474.html

Username: rish2jain
Score: 770 (Q50, V44)
Date: July 30 2011
Best Prep Materials: OG12, GMATPrep, Verbal OG, Manhattan SC, MGMAT mocks..

Username: agajoji
Score: 710 (Q48,V39)
Date: July 30, 2011
Prep Material: Kaplan workbooks, Princeton Review, Petersons, Manhattan SC, GMAT Prep, Manhattan Equation-Inequalities

username: JoelCairo
score: 760 (44Q, 51V). 6.0 AWA
date: 7/8/11
materials: OG 12; MGMAT Number Properties workbook; Kaplan, MGMAT & mba.com CATs

Username: sjthack
Score: 730 (44Q, 47V, 6.0 AWA)
Date: 7/27/11
Materials: OG 12; Complete MGMAT workbook series; Kaplan GMAT Premier, Kaplan Math Workbook, 800score CATs
Debrief: too new to post link

* Username: ndennis
* Score: 720 (47 Q, 44 V)
* Date:4th August, 2011
* GMAT Prep Materials*: GMAT Official Guides (Including Verbal review and Quant Review), Manhattan- 8 guidebooks, Powerscore Bible for Critical reasoning
* Link to your GMAT debrief*: