So this time works: 720 - 95%

Just made my second attempt few hours ago. This time I got a 720, with Q49 V39.

Last time, 3 months ago, I got 650 (Q46 V34). I made a terrible mistake in timing for Quant, and was easily trapped in Verbal. This time I managed time a lot better, I was more willing to guess on some really challenging questions and move on.

What I have seen today, was challenging Quant comparable to the GMATPrep, or a little bit more. But what I can not underestimate is the real test pressure, which tends to be the biggest enemy. There are moment I was stuck in the calculation and could not find a way out. I saw many number property questions today, no combinatorics, no probability. I scored 50 in GMATPrep, and in real test, 49. Really, GMATPrep is the best source for Quant, but please make yourself comfortable with more challenging questions.

For Verbal, I was glad to realize many tricks in the test. After 3 months, I have realized what a typical CR looks like, I have familiarize myself with RC passages, and have learned some more SC tricks. A jump from V34 to V39 is fair enough to me, exactly what I feel about myself. There were brainteasing CR questions, and I believe I made some other RC and SC errors. If I had more time practicing, I would perform better.

Managing time is crucial in doing the test. Today I didn't waste a minute both in Quant and in Verbal. Last time, I did a poor job especially in Quant because I wasted so much time in some blind alleys and had to guess on the last 7 or 8 questions). That really hurt the result. Normally at home, I can easily achieve a Q50 in GMATPrep. Things are a lot different in the real test. So be prepared. For Verbal, I felt comfortable with my movement between questions. My score for Verbal couldn't get higher because I was tricked somewhere.

The AWA wasn't that good today for me. I did not spend much time reading about AWA. So my very first essay was pretty simple. The second one got better because I started to feel more comfortable and calm down. I really appreciate the one hour of AWA, it helps me a lot ij settle down my feeling for the Quant and Verbal parts.

Material I covered:

First attempt:
OG 10 and OG11
Manhattan books
CATs (PowerPrep, GMATPrep, Manhattan CATs, Kaplan)
Some paper tests

Second attempt:
1000 CR, RC, SC
Paper tests
GMATPrep
Quick revision of OG11's math review, and Manhattan books


1000 CR, RC and SC, although contain many unexplainable answers, help me a lot in practicing. I don't know how exactly the 1000CR helps me to improve my reasoning skill, but the more I tried, the more comfortable I feel with CR. 1000SC also helps me a lot. I actually printed out the whole thing, practice ON it, revise ON it, and I found it really helpful to make colorful correction/revision.

Paper test sets that I have is a good resource, too, except the fact that there are so many overlapped questions. The challenging degree in the real test is just the same. I used the paper tests as an addition to the CAT GMATPrep.

So, in short, for Verbal, Manhattan books are excellent for basic knowledge and tactics. OG10, OG11 and the famous 1000 CR, RC and SC make a very good pool of questions. I practice these materials VERTICALLY, i.e. focusing on one particular area at a time: few days for CR, few days for RC and few days for SC. (By the way, OG10's RC passages are particularly helpful). In such way, I could have enough time and chance to really LEARN the skill to deal with each area. Finally, I tried the paper tests and CATs, HORIZONTALLY, to see how I deal with a good mixture of everything.


Well ok, so that's briefly what I've done with GMAT. I know 720 is a humble result, given that I have seen so many scored 730 and above. They also have really sound GMAT experience.

For me, I would have a lot more to say about how-to-cope-with-things experience. Last three months was a hard time for me, both at work and at home. At office, we have been doing extremely good businesses recently, meaning more contracts due, more workload, more deadlines. I was promoted to manager 3 months ago, meaning more responsibilities, new roles, new pressure, even more travel. Plus, our personnel has doubled in the last few months, meaning more or less a chaos of juniors in the group... So every time I came home after work, I was almost exhausted. It was really really hard to start studying at 8.30pm after such a long day at work. At home, recently we have so many things to do. This time last week was my father's first year's mind ceremony. It wasn't an easy time for me...

I'm glad that I scored 720 after all. I wouldn't wish for more... Special thanks for GMAT Club, where I found so many good materials, good explanations, good advices, and especially the ENCOURAGEMENT and INSPIRATION from all of you guys.

Wish you all the best in your tests.