780. math 51 verbal 47

I got 780, believe it or not.

I have been hoping for above 700, but didn't think that I could achieve that good of a score. Considering that I only had one and half month to prepare for the test, that I'm working at the same time, and that both of my little boys had been sick in the last two weeks, I have to say I did pretty good.

My experience may not be applicable for many of you since I imagine most of you guys are still students and have more times to prepare, but I'll still write a little just in case I could be any help to anybody in any way. I would be happy to share more if any of you have any more questions.

Preparation

I did not have a lot of time to cover a lot of materials, so I chose to concentrate on one set of books (two Chinese GMAT reviewing books in my case, math and grammar) to get the basic principles. I have not spend time to specifically prepare for reading comprehension and critical reasoning. Once I feel I have got the basic understanding about the math and grammar principles, I did the first PowerPrep test, and started to study the Official Guide. In the mean time, I have chosen to actively participate in this forum, doing almost all questions that are posted in this forum, and try to write down my reasonings and solutions for each question. The forum served a very important role in my preparation for the test. In addition to learning additional methods of solving a math problem and increasing my understanding toward confusing grammartical usages, I have also used it as a daily practise venue. I always tried to form my own answers before I looked at the others' answers. This way I can see where my weakness is and I remember the correct ways of solving a problem better. The most important experience that I have on preparing for the test, is to try to use your own brain everytime you see a question, not only guess a choice, but actually think. Having to write down a post helped with this goal.

Test Day

I've been having five hours of sleeps in average in the last month, so that I could actually have some time to study. But yesterday, I decided that I will not gain too much more by several hours' studying. So I went to bed with the kids at 9 o'clock, and I woke up at 7:30am this morning and I felt very relaxed. I did not set a very high target for myself. I was thinking as long as I score over 680 I'll feel ok. Considering that my second PP test was 710 even when I didn't do well in the verbal part, I was pretty confident that I wouldn't do too much worse than 680, so I wasn't feeling nervous at all.

I finished the two essays just in time. Didn't even have time to re-read my second essay. I took the break, letting my mind prepare for the math part that is coming. Math was relatively easy, I didn't have time to worry if that means that I didn't do well or something, I just kept doing the questions, only breaking to check my pace several times, and to remind myself to be careful not to overlook any traps for the DS questions. I finished the math part 10 minutes earlier. I took about one minute before I clicked on "proceed". It may be better if I could take the 10 minutes to rest a little, but I didn't feel like I would have a good rest with an unfinished section. I did take the 5 minute break again, before I start the verbal sections. The questions in the beginning felt at the right level, not too easy, not too hard. Then when I approach the middle part, the reading comprehension passages became longer (from 40 lines to 70 or 80 lines), and the critical reasoning became harder. I got a couple bold face questions too. I reminded myself to concentrate on the questions off hand, and in one RC question that I didn't understand in the first read, I took the time to re-read it. I was a little worried if I wouldn't have enough time, but I still tried to make sure I do not rush any questions. In the last 8 questions or so I had to remind myself multiple times to calm down and concentrate. In the end I actually finished the section with several minutes left.

My mind had been in a state of being exited since the beginning of the test and I only start to feel tired two hours after the test was over.

Anyways I'm glad that this is over and I didn't do too badly. There are still so much to do. I need to prepare the other matierials before 1/3, the deadline of UR's PhD program.

Whatever result I would get in the end of this endevore, I would never forget this forum and its many participants. I have learnt so much from here and got so much encouragement from the people here. I will try to give back whatever I received in the future days to come.

Good luck to all of you that will take your test later!

p.s. For those who wanted to take a break from your hard studying, here's something I wrote in the past. Hope it brings you some relaxation in the hard busy days.
https://grapefruitgarden.blogspot.com/
(If you read the Love Game, be sure to start from I, and proceed to V.)