First GMAT attempt - 680 Q:50, V:31

[riggs.goodman]

So, I took the GMAT on Wednesday with the following results:

Total: 680 (86%)
Quant: 50 (93%)
Verbal: 31 (57%)

My goal for the test was a 700 (as what almost everyone's goal is). Overall, I am pleased that I got a 680, but disappointed on the verbal section. I think I got burned out towards the end of the test and that affected my verbal score. I thought the quant section was easier on the actual GMAT than some of the problems I was getting on the practice test and in the books. However, I thought the verbal section was harder on the GMAT than in the books and practice tests. From the practice tests, I did the following:

Test 1: 660, Q: 47, V: 33
Test 2: 660, Q: 47, V: 33
Test 3: 640, Q: 44, V: 34
Test 4: 700, Q: 49, V: 36
Test 5: 630, Q: 43, V: 33

So, in reality, having a goal of 700 after taking the practice tests was pushing it. When I took the last practice test, I was very worried, but in the end, it worked out.

I am not planning on starting a part-time GMAT until Fall 2011, so I will probably take the GMAT one more time see if I can improve.

Good luck everyone!

[riggs.goodman]

Could someone explain this to me? I just got my AWA score back and got a 5. For the %, it says its a 56%. Going to MBA.com, I see the mean score is a 4.4 (21%). How can the average score be 4.4 but 79% of the people scored higher than the mean score? Kind of confused here.

I have a feeling this is going to be an easy answer and people are going to wonder how it got a 50 on quant, hehe.

Update 1: Never mind, I figured it out. You can have people score 4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5 and 4. The average would be 4.4, but 80% of the people scored higher than that. DUH!