The smoke has cleared, the test has come and gone. Feel free to share your experiences with your peers.
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Not sure what happened today...

by Guest Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:42 pm

...but I completely panicked. I felt pretty good yesterday, but as soon as the first few questions hit today, it was as if I had never seen math before. I couldn't remember very basic number properties (e.g., "when you multiply squareroot-3 with 3-squareroot-3, is it 3x3, or is it 3x3-square root 3?") and how to calculate median. I doubted every answer I got, which not only led to wrong answers, but I also ran out of time. What's worse is that I knew about 10-15 questions into the test that things had gone horribly wrong. (When you see questions that pretty much ask you what half of 80 is, you know you aren't doing well).

I did just about every In Action question throughout the course, reviewed every single problem in the OG (some of them four times or more) this past week, and felt that I could tackle any problem. Practice tests had been a little hit or miss (MGMAT tests recently were 580 and 620, but GMAT Prep tests were lower). I felt like I was panicking on those sometimes, too.

I am too embarrassed to say what my score was, but any feedback as to how I can improve my score (different studying methods, how to tackle test day panic, keeping an error log, etc.) would be greatly appreciated.
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by guest Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:49 pm

I got two markers for the exam and both didn’t write. I wanted to exchange the markers, but the person who monitored the test takers was eating sandwich... I was destroyed....

I had similar experience yesterday. I saw the first math problem and couldn’t solve it. The problem was really simple, but none of the answer choices matched mine. I spent about 5 min for the first question that was not smart, but I didn’t want to begin the test from the wrong answer. Well... later on I felt a little bit better... I cached time by the end of the math section and didn’t have time only for the last 1 question. I just picked some answer. Still I thought I had failed the math part. I was thinking ...ok... I will do my best in verbal part. SC questions were really hard even I learned all rules and idioms. However, I knew that if I see some idioms that are not mentioned in SC Manhattan book I would never recognize them. I felt pretty well about CR and even about RC during the exam. The results I saw on the screen scared me. I got 39 in math and completely failed verbal part. The range of my Manhattan practice tests was between 590-700. Math average 45, Verbal results a little bit over 30. MBA tests 580 and 590. If I would get 500 on the real exam I would be accepted to the school. I didn’t. I was so disappointed. My husband knew how important it was for me to pass this exam. He researched some info online and found out that 350 is the average score for non-native speakers. He knew I was targeted 600+, but he told me... "You did such a great gob. Your score is far above average for non-native speakers. I am really proud of you."

I had no words just could not stop crying. I spent several months preparing for this test with non-stop. I was really lucky to have time to prepare. When I began to prepare I didn’t know how to translate the word "integer" or "undermine" and etc. Well, now I feel pretty confident with my vocabulary. Thanks Manhattan’s books. I can’t imagine the preparation process without these books.

Well.. believe me, not everyone gets 700+. Those guys who do get 700+ do a great job. However, there are many people who also do a great job, but do not score so high. By the way the mean score of real GMAT exam: verbal 27, math 35, total 526. It means that many people score not only above of these scores, but also many people score below of these scores.

What I am going to do now? I believe that I can pass this exam. I am planning to take Manhattan virtual accelerated class and retake exam in 31 days and move on...
Good luck to you!!!