2nd attempt --> touched 700!

[sankarvg]

I just got back from the exam (2nd attempt) - scored 700/90 percentile. In my previous attempt, which I took back in December '07, I got 660. I am a bit disappointed with my score of 700, as I was hoping to reach around 730. I'll get over my disappoint in a couple of days, but wanted to share a few pointers which'll hopefully help fellow test-takers:
1. Complete the OG!!! I know ManhattanGMAT also strongly recommends this, I further want to echo this. In my first attempt, I made the grave mistake of hardly concentrating on the OG - I just took the 2 GMATPrep tests and did probably 10% of OG (11th edition plus verbal/quant guides combined). For the 2nd attempt, I wanted to finish all the OG questions, but couldn't (my preparation lasted about 45-50 days total). I'd say, I did about 60% of OG, which is not bad, but for someone aiming around 730, please do yourself a favor and finish all the OG questions.
2. Build your mental stamina. Knowing the content is one thing, but to stay focused and alert during the exam is a different ball game!! Once you become anxious or hurried, it's totally counter-productive!! On top of it, the questions (especially the quant ones) are full of traps!!! I had to fight my fatigue this time around as well, and I am sure I messed up a few questions because of this mental alertness/calmness factor. I am not going to suggest how, but work on this!!

And finally, perhaps Stacey, you can comment on this - in the previous attempt, I noticed several questions in Sentence Correction concerning idioms. Even in the OG, I noticed idiom questions consistently peppered. And so I spent a lot of time in preparing for this - but surprisingly, I hardly encountered any idiom questions!! What's the deal with SC? Is there any consistency to the distribution based on the subject area?? I am definitely not taking GMAT again, but it'll help others to know this..thanks!

Oh yea, and one more thing, the thing I probably did right this time is that I spent the last week before the exam on revision - hardly did new material. I re-worked the problems and revised notes. That made me feel more confident...

-Sankar

[StaceyKoprince]

Excellent - congratulations! And PLEASE do not be disappointed with a 700. There is not a single school on the planet that will reject you for a 700. (That doesn't mean they'll definitely let you in, of course - but the decision is going to be made on the rest of your app, not your GMAT score - your GMAT score is great.)

Thanks for your insight - I'm sure our other posters will be glad to hear your suggestions. Re: your idioms question, a couple of things are going on.

First, have you heard the saying that perception is reality? We tend to notice the things that give us trouble. You were struggling with idioms, you noticed, and you studied a lot to get better. I'm willing to bet you did have questions that used idioms... but you didn't really notice and remember because you weren't struggling with them so much anymore. (It's the same as: how often do you notice that you're stuck in the slow lane of traffic vs. you're one of the lucky ones in the fast lane? :)

Also, you do only get something like 12-15 SC questions and there are a LOT of grammar rules that can be tested. So part of it is just the random mix of what we happen to get. Having said that, you can bet that you'll see at least a couple of questions on each of the major topics, idioms included. Beyond that, there's a bit of randomness / luck involved.

[Guest]

sorry, what is OG

[mdinerstein]

Hi Guest,

OG stands for Official Guide, which is a book of questions of real, but retired GMAT questions released by the company that administers the test. The GMAC also publishes OG Verbal and Quant editions.

Best,

Michael Dinerstein
Marketing & Student Services Associate
michael@manhattangmat.com
800-576-4628
212-721-7400