9月jj[转自我看机警]

smart

The AWA was easy. In both of my previous test scores, I got a 6.0. I use a template-based approach to the essay writing that helps me think while I type. The \\"analysis of argument\\" essay was easy. The \\"analysis of issue\\" essay was a little difficult. However, I managed to type in about 5 paragraphs each and still had 3 minutes to check for grammar and spelling.

This time, the math section was quite easy, almost boring. I was hoping to get a 51. However, I must have missed one of the questions while I was cruising through the questions. I remember almost all questions. So, I am going to analyze which one I did wrong. There wasn't any question on coordinate geometry. There was only one simple question on statistics (median). No graphs or data interpretation questions either. A majority of the questions were related to -ve / +ve numbers. A few were confusing because of the tricky wording. Contrary to my previous attempts, this time the questions got a little tougher towards the end, although none of them was tough enough to spend more than 2 minutes. Most of the questions had short-cuts.
Here is an example (this is like an actual question): -
5 race cars finish the race at different times. What is the probability that Amber who drives the yellow car finishes ahead of George who drives a red car? -- If you find the short-cut, it should not take you more than 30 seconds to solve this one.

I could finish the math section with more than 15 minutes to spare.

The verbal section was ok. I am not good with RCs and I got 4 long passages. One of them on business (investments by US companies), one on paleontology (fossils from 64.5 million years ago), one on feminism + labor markets (women labor issues in New England), and one on literature (Greek poetry). Usually, I don't do well with long passages since my reading speed is very slow. However, luckily this time I could focus better and the passages were divided in 3-4 paragraphs. That made it easy to trace the answers. I got only one question on overall passage. The CR was quite easy too. Only one bold face question, much easier than I imagined. The SC was a little tricky. I guessed on 5 questions. In addition to the strategies used in my previous attempts, I decided to make a mark on the scratch paper every time I guessed a question and decided not to allow more than 5 guesses. If I question took more than 2.5 minutes, I forced myself to guess and move on.

I was hoping to get a better score, especially in Quant.

Anyway, I have decided not to take the GMAT again. Even if the schools average the scores, it should still put me in a good position. Moreover, some of the admission offices told me to focus on essays to demonstrate \\"leadership skills\\". So, I will focus my energy there.