my exp: 740 Q50 V41 97%

[guy02139]

So, after three years of planning to take the GMAT, I finally dove in and took it, figured I need to just get past the test phobia. I'm pretty bad at studying, especially being 10 years out of school, finding that I've lost all of my study habit and had to get it back. Been steadily increase my effort and success over the two months but never really did superb. Over the last 6 months, my test scores were

Kap2: 650 Q33 V39
Kap3: screwed that one up when I went to grab lunch not realizing I can't pause it
Kap4: 620 Q43 V29
Kap5: 680 Q50 V32
Kap6: 680 Q50 V32

Then took
GMATprep: got 620

MGMAT1: 670 Q47 V34
MGMAT2: 650 Q47 V32
MGMAT3: 670 Q50 V33 (I was tired of losing in Q so cheated a bit)
MGMAT4: 650 Q47 V32

GMATprep2: 650 Q48 V32 (d-day -2)

Took that test two days before, I figured that's the score I should shoot for, best case.

Verbal has never been my strong suit. Although, two weeks before, I shifted my strategies to try to figure out what GMAT is looking for in CR and RC, and earn some more points that way. On a good day I was able to get 80%-90% of CR and RC during exercises, but never in MGMAT test.

Anyways, test day, I'm nervous, I'm sick to my stomach, I find myself cramming till last minute. I was reviewing GMAT 800 book and notes, then threw that into garbage can before I walked into test center.

When test started, I didn't realize they were going to put me in right away, I was planning 30 minutes of calming down before the start. I kept telling myself to breath slow, in through nose, out through mouth. For AWA, I just followed formula, and kept typing away, I don't think I've ever typed that fast for an hour. Usually when I type that fast, I'm done in 30 minutes.

Without going into details that violate NDA, I think GMAT Q is easier, you don't run into questions that takes 4+ minutes to solve like in MGMAT. By now, I know the most common mistakes I make are in DS and other question types, so I always double check. There are a couple hard ones that I had to give up, told myself those are experimental question, not sure if it's true or not, and moved on. In the end, I ended up with last question with 50 seconds to go, it wasn't a question I can solve anyways, so I guessed.

Took my breaks, did jumping jacks in the hall, and got my head back into the game. I think GMAT V is pretty good representation, although I don't know for sure because I didn't get to see the answers. The questions were similar, maybe a little more simple, CR and RC were both more straight forward. Finished that with plenty of time to spare. It helped that I told myself I want to read this stuff, it's interesting, and want to learn every detail.

GMAT: 740 Q50 V41 97%

Got my result and almost jumped out of the chair. I looked around and I was the only person left, I should have done a little dance for the cameras. I've never been good at standardize test, scored 1300 in SAT and even worse in SSAT. So this has been a little redemption, even if I don't go to B-school. I was shocked that my percentile for Q and V is the same, 92%, never been a verbal guy. The proctor and staff were really nice and very easy going, keeps you calm.

Some guy had two big bars of chocolate, the kind you cook with, in his locker, he is just munching on it during breaks, I hope he didn't get a sugar low.

If I had to redo this again, I would consider taking a GMAT exam one month after proper studying. Just sign up and study with that pressure, not knowing how I was going to perform on test day or how much more I've learned with Kaplan or MGMAT meant I was blind as to where I'm headed. And when felt prepared, then take it for real, since there are so many things I learned that I could take it again and maybe get a better 2nd score. But there's more downsides to upsides for me at this point, so not taking it again. :)

woot!