GMAT update

I took the GMAT last Saturday and scored a 710 (92%) with an AWA score of 5.5. It's a solid score, but nevertheless a bit anticlimatic for me. I was really hoping for at least a mid 700 score but decided to move on and focus on other aspects of my application. I already feel so behind on my essays because I've been focusing on the GMAT for too long.

Now that I have the test out of the way, here are my two cents regarding test prep materials and practice tests:


[Books]

1. Official Guide: a must-have book for GMAT prep; great for real test questions, but was personally too easy and not a true reflection of the real deal.

2. Cracking the GMAT (Princeton): good for first time GMAT takers; gives lots of tips and tricks that can be helpful. the book also comes with access to full-length practice tests online. tip: beware of their online access time limit! once i enrolled onto their online system, i only had about 2-3 months to take all of their practice tests and utilize their materials. maybe this just happened to me, but if you're thinking of using this resource in the long term, your online access may expire and you may not be able to take any more practice tests from their system.

3. GMAT 800 (Kaplan): some very tough and tricky questions that's great for those scoring in the 700's already. i did find some errors in the book though that made this resource a bit questionable. (which reminds me, i need to write a letter to the publisher about this...)


[Online Practice Exams]

1. GMAT Prep: the best source for practice. it's exactly like the real thing (the blue screen, the fonts, everything!) and it's adaptive, so you will get a true sense of what your score will be. feel free to retake the two practice tests more than once because the pool of questions is quite large and you can get more practice out of this. tip: if you practice your AWAs on this software, you will never see your writing ever again. so if you want to see what you wrote, make sure you save it elsewhere so you can go back to it later for review.

2. Manhattan GMAT: very great resource for practice, practice, and more practice. For only $39, you get one-year access to 7 full-length computer adaptive exams. the great thing about this software is that they give you detailed explanation about each question and answer along with the category that each question lies in. this gives you a good sense of what your strengths and weaknesses are so that you can focus your studying and be more efficient. i personally found the math to be too wordy while the verbal was a bit on the easier side. but nevertheless, a great practice tool and highly recommended.

3. PowerPrep: the test questions reminded me a lot of GMATPrep since it was the older version of the GMAT when ETS used to administer the test. the scoring is fairly accurate as well, but if you solved all of the problems on the OG, you may see some repeats.


Hope these insights are helpful to those who are in the GMAT studying stage. Best of luck to all!!