I am so ecstatic, that I have lost my conciousness. I do not know where to begin.
My prev score was 690 a couple of years back. I was faced ina crisis then because there was a possibility of layoff, and so to hold on to living in the US, I had to get F1 visa, and so I just signed up without knowing how the test is structured. I got 690, and wasn't even sure whether this was good or bad. I wrote my essays to Berkeley for part time program in a day and submitted my application. I got in, but dropped the idea for going to school for my job looked stable.
Recently, I purchased:
--OGuide ETS 10th edition
--Kaplan CD Higher Score
--ARCO
After reading the verbal instructions in
OG and Kaplan book, I gave a test from the CD. I scored 740.
Since verbal was my weak point (math was always easy, I used to finish Quantitative in 50-55 mins), I stressed on that. I completed about 100 questions each from the CR, SC, RC questions in
OG and did all three Kaplan CD tests.
Scores:
CD test 1: 740
CD test 2: 770
CD test 3: 720
ETS CD Test 1: 780
ETS CD Test 2: 760
By know I had a fair idea and was expecting about 750 in the test.
Overall I prepared for 1.5 months.
My test center was Fair Oaks, CA...near Sacramento. There was no one in the center taking a test, so I was lucky, no noise.
I finished the Quant in about 55 mins, Verbal in about 70 mins. My AWA was 5.5. When I saw my score, my jaw dropped, and I had to drink lots of water, I ended sweating up during the test...
Few tips:
--A hot environment may have helped. Last time I did the test was in the Bay Area and the center was cold and freezing.
--I read the RC passages 2 times before answering the questions.
--SC was easy. CR was avg.
--Quant was easy, about 4 questions on permutations of which 2 of these were in the end. 2 questions on sequences and series questions where you need to find the sum of a sequence. I already knew formulas.
I have become so confused now, that I am in a fix where to apply, Harvard or Stanford. My cousin, who is a tutor scored 790 last year. He teaches Math. I took some of his guidance. That's that.
Let me know if you have any more questions! I still need to re-collect myself and come down to earth.