I took the test few days back. It was my first attempt. My score was 740 (98%) (Q50 95% and V39 89%) . I am pretty happy with the result, especially because I never broke 700 on mock tests. Materials used for preparation excluding the forum, studied in the following order Kaplan GMAT 800 Kaplan GMAT2005 OG10 Some RC's and CR's from LSAT published by Kaplan, Arco, and some retired official LSAT questions Practice tests taken, from the first to the last Kaplan 2005 Paper test 690 94% (Q48 87% V44 97%) PP1 670 89% (Q48 90% V 34 70%) - before OG PP2 680 (90%) (Q47 86% 36 79%) - before OG Kaplan Diagnostic 620 87% (Q38 V39) Kaplan CAT 1 590 73% (Q42 V30) Kaplan CAT 2 630 83% (Q50 V33) Kaplan CAT3 640 85% (Q48 V35) Forum challenges in the order taken(I have done them almost every day since I got access) C23 30 89% C22 26 78% C20 24 58% C21 25 89% C16 18 66% C15 22 87% C24 30 97% C19 31 93% C17 30 93% C18 30 95% C14 27 95% C13 29 93% C12 31 95% C11 33 95% Exam Nothing special, really. Math - Kaplan level, Verbal OG level, maybe a little bit above. I got 1 bold face - not really hard, two 75 liners but I didn't have any troubles understanding RC's. The last passage was the longest and the hardest. My timing was perfect. I didn't have to guess on any questions. I finished each section with 2 minutes to spare. CR's were straightforward (this is my strongest area in verbal). SC's were also not very hard. I only had to semi-guess on one idiom question. Math had equal mix of DS's and PS's, few of them involved tedious calculations and there was only 1 question (PS) I was unsure about. Some questions were really easy (probably experimental). I had percentages problems, 1 easy permutation, work problems, set problems, little tricky geometry, unusual number of interest problems 2 or 3, only 1 number property, and few inequality DS's. My total preparation time for this exam was a little under 2.5 months. I tried to study every day, minimum 1-2 hours. I did questions in groups of 40-50 to build up my stamina, timing myself of course. I did all the questions in the books I listed above. I did OG CR's and SC's twice - the second time was when I was going through explanations - very useful. LSAT CR's really made me understand how GMAT CR's work. Since I have already taken the test, I feel like I can give advice. For math do challenges, after doing them math section of GMAT test would look easy do Kaplan read Math drill section in OG10 - where they explain what is what - even, odd, integer, remainders, etc You need to remember the definitions by heart to not make stupid mistakes in math. don't pick numbers in most cases, solve the problems - if you fully understand the problem you can solve it. (I know some people might object but this is my personal opinion) learn efficient problem solving style - read HongHu's posts in math forum, the way she does math is extremely efficient and clear inequalities - before picking numbers, if you must, rewrite it in such a way that you get zero on one side and a product on the other. Verbal practice, practice, practice read, read, and read - especially non-native speakers of English for CR's and RC's - LSAT In conclusion, I must say that I am really in debt to this forum for getting a good score on GMAT. I would like to thank people who post problems and participate in discussions. I would also like to thank all the people who create and maintain the challenges, which were an important part of my preparation process. If you have any additional questions - feel free to ask them here. I will try to be around.

Had I had a month or two more to study, I could probably have done better but I cannot afford to spend that much time (and don't want to ). On their second attempts people improve 10-30 points minimum usually. Plus it probably would be an insult to everyone else here for me to retake GMAT with that score. Also admission officers might question my sanity as well in this case. (retake might happen though if my AWA's are bad) For time management just don't linger on a problem. The trick is you can't jump over your head on GMAT. If you try, you will end up guessing in the end, worsening your score. So if 3 min are gone and you still have no promising leads, make an intelligent guess and move on. Don't overdo the strategy when you devote more time to the first 15 questions. 800score, I don't know anything about it. Sorry man. Good luck on your GMAT.

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BULLdoser

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01 Jul 2005, 18:35

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Thanks for your great advice! But don't you think that I should take the test in 2005 only(ref-ETS>ACT) & there will be rush in GMAT registration for 2005.
(Please don't say concentrate to your study & hardly pay heed to ETS-ACT shift).
By the way how do you rate PR math workbook?

sparky

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Updated on: 02 Jul 2005, 00:50

Originally posted by sparky on 01 Jul 2005, 18:52.
Last edited by sparky on 02 Jul 2005, 00:50, edited 1 time in total.

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BULLdoser

let's see, you have almost 6 months till the end of the year. that's plenty of time.
will there be a rush? maybe but I don't think the numbers of test takers will double or anything like that. you can register now for say 3 months ahead, and say re-register later if you feel not ready. this way you will guarantee yourself a spot but it may cost you an extra 50 to re-register.

Also, imo, i don't think there will be hardly any change in terms of the questions and timing. ACT questions will replace ETS questions slowly over time after passing experimental testing. In fact new ACT tests may be easier than ETS tests in the beginning since ACT would rather see more happy people than more angry people. GMAT is a big business, and ACT would not want to loose GMAT contract over acting unpredictably, irresponsibly, and unprofessionaly.

I've never used PR math workbook.

BULLdoser

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01 Jul 2005, 19:05

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Sparky,
I'm overwhelmed by your response.
You are real friend.

sparky

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02 Jul 2005, 00:49

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Biren

Awesome score Sparky. Time to party. :musband

Best Wishes for the application process.

Please let me know the name of the LSAT book you used for verbal. Also let us know about how you prepared the essays.

I think I posted the LSAT books I used already somewhere in this thread.
As far as AWA is concerned

I did 3 Kaplan tests with AWA to build my stamina for the real thing. Overall I wrote around 15 essays for practice. I just follwed Kaplan 2005 advice on AWA, that is about it. I am not really good at AWA and think that AWA topics are really BS, especially analysis of the issue. I am still awaiting my AWA scores but I don't think I did especially great on those. In addition the keyboard sucked big time, I really had to hammer the keys with my fingters to get letters come up on the screen. For that thing only, I could have requested to cancel my exam and give me back my money, but I went on, if I didn't have screwy keyboard I could have typed twice as much, oh well. Now it's a waiting game.

sparky

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04 Jul 2005, 14:22

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I was sitting and thinking what made me add 50-60 points to my PP scores over pretty short time - 1.5 months (I could used one more month to improve my verbal since I felt I could improve more but oh well - that's one of the challenges of GMAT - to get ready within a limited period of time).
Continuous studying and doing hard new problems were probably factors
but another thing I can recall is I took it easy for 2-3 days before the test, some light reviews, that's it, eating well of course.
I took my last full practice Kaplan CAT test 5 days before the real thing, not 2 days like lots of people do.
I didn't sleep well. I had to take some sleeping pills which didn't work. I managed maybe 4 hours of good sleep before I had to wake up. I think what's importan is not how much you slept but whether you got at least few hours of real night sleep.
No red bullls or any stimulants of any kind during the test although I brought a red bull along. I had just one cup of coffee in the morning.

DLMD

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04 Jul 2005, 14:59

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Congrats!!!! Good luck on your application bro.

sperumba

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05 Jul 2005, 06:37

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Congrats Sparky.

good luck wiht ur apps.

HowManyToGo

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07 Jul 2005, 07:48

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Congrats sparky. Great score.
But to be honest , I expected you to max Q.

BTW, I've decided to retake my test ( remember I fell short the last time around).Any tips for time management. I'm cannot lay my hands on any newCATs so giving thoughts about 800score. What say sparky ?

HMTG.

sparky

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07 Jul 2005, 10:21

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HowManyToGo

Congrats sparky. Great score.
But to be honest , I expected you to max Q.

Had I had a month or two more to study, I could probably have done better but I cannot afford to spend that much time (and don't want to

). On their second attempts people improve 10-30 points minimum usually.

Plus it probably would be an insult to everyone else here for me to retake GMAT with that score. Also admission officers might question my sanity as well in this case. (retake might happen though if my AWA's are bad)

HowManyToGo

BTW, I've decided to retake my test ( remember I fell short the last time around).Any tips for time management. I'm cannot lay my hands on any newCATs so giving thoughts about 800score. What say sparky ?

HMTG.

For time management just don't linger on a problem. The trick is you can't jump over your head on GMAT. If you try, you will end up guessing in the end, worsening your score. So if 3 min are gone and you still have no promising leads, make an intelligent guess and move on. Don't overdo the strategy when you devote more time to the first 15 questions.

800score, I don't know anything about it. Sorry man.

Good luck on your GMAT.

HowManyToGo

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08 Jul 2005, 07:18

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Thanks sparky. Good luck with you apping and please be around.

HMTG.

kwasi7

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11 Jul 2005, 03:48

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CONGRATS on the great score and thanks for the wonderful insights too.

sparky

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15 Jul 2005, 04:00

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Got my AWA 4.0

(I was almost crying). Thinking about retaking. I so much don't want to take it again.

banerjeea_98

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15 Jul 2005, 07:24

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sparky

Got my AWA 4.0

(I was almost crying). Thinking about retaking. I so much don't want to take it again.

wow ! That's a bummer. Wud s**k if u have to do a retake just for AWA. Altho personally I think no school even look at AWA, however, the best bet wud be to call the schools and ask them directly. Problem might be, however, if ur essays are gr8 i.e adcoms mite wonder why there is no correlation bet good essays and the AWA score. Best Wishes to whatever u decide.

kwasi7

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15 Jul 2005, 07:49

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Sparky,

but i'm sure you won't have any problem with that. just power your essays and you'll be "home free". :beer

tinyseal

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15 Jul 2005, 18:58

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Sparky,

I think a lot of schools do not pay much attention to the AWA score. If I were you, I would focus on preparing essays and gathering more information from the desired schools.

Best wishes!

gmataquaguy

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27 Jul 2005, 05:28

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Hey Sparky,

Do you have any advice on SC's. How did you "review" the questions you made mistakes on? So lets say you did 20 SC's today and you got 4-5 questions wrong. You jot down the errors you've made and why you got a question wrong; How do you incorporate that into your prep going forward?

A) Do you go back a week later and do the same questions again?
B) Do you do "trending analysis" on the type of questions you get wrong and "somehow" incorporate lessons learnt into your prep going forward? If so how? I mean what exactly do you look for? What if you see no trends?

I'm in that dilema. I've done the 885C's - 160 questions and made mistakes on x questions. After each session, i jot down the errors I've made. How do i use this data to get better? Any detailed ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

best regards,
gmataquaquy.

Tyr

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27 Jul 2005, 09:45

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sparky

Got my AWA 4.0

(I was almost crying). Thinking about retaking. I so much don't want to take it again.

I don't think you should worry at all.
4.0 is a pass, and you don't need more than that.
Yes they say that admission committees can take a look a your essays blah blah blah.
Can you expect a person to write a real essay in 30 minutes? I think not. I personally can put together a pretty solid work, not in 30 minutes though. People who take writing seriously will agree with me that extreme time constrains diminish the value of writing significantly. People in admission committees certainly understand that.

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