Hi All
I recently took my first GMAT after 7 weeks of pretty intense studying (4 hours each weeknight, 6-8 hours every Saturday and Sunday) and scored a 620. I was shooting for the 680-700 range, so I was pretty disappointed.
There were three keys to my study strategy:
1. Focus on Quant (I come from a Communications background, and felt math was my bigger weakness)
2. Read material from Manhattan GMAT study guides, and do practice problems every study session.
3. Take a practice test (Manhattan GMAT & GMAT Prep) each Saturday to assess my progress.
My progress after the first few weeks felt good. My practice test started to improve, but became a little erratic:
ManGmat Test 1: 580, Q40 V31
MG Test 2: 550, Q35 V31
MG Test 3: 640, Q41 V36
MG Test 4: 640, Q42 V36
MG Test 5: 680, Q46 V36
MG Test 6: 610, Q40 V34
Gmat Prep #1:710
Gmat Prep #2: 630
Although I tried to relax the week before the exam, I could tell I was stressed out and nervous. Overall, between work and studying, I felt completely burnt out. On test day I had pretty bad anxiety driving to the test center. During the test I thought I was doing well, but noticed a pretty bad tension headache hitting me towards the end. After the test I had to walk it off before driving home.
I've taken a couple weeks off, and now I'm going to start another 6 weeks of study before taking the test again (I want to take it again before the June format change). Anyone have any tips or suggestions? Any explanations or remedies for the erratic scores received on my practice test?
Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to get it all out there.
Thanks,
Ben
I recently took my first GMAT after 7 weeks of pretty intense studying (4 hours each weeknight, 6-8 hours every Saturday and Sunday) and scored a 620. I was shooting for the 680-700 range, so I was pretty disappointed.
There were three keys to my study strategy:
1. Focus on Quant (I come from a Communications background, and felt math was my bigger weakness)
2. Read material from Manhattan GMAT study guides, and do practice problems every study session.
3. Take a practice test (Manhattan GMAT & GMAT Prep) each Saturday to assess my progress.
My progress after the first few weeks felt good. My practice test started to improve, but became a little erratic:
ManGmat Test 1: 580, Q40 V31
MG Test 2: 550, Q35 V31
MG Test 3: 640, Q41 V36
MG Test 4: 640, Q42 V36
MG Test 5: 680, Q46 V36
MG Test 6: 610, Q40 V34
Gmat Prep #1:710
Gmat Prep #2: 630
Although I tried to relax the week before the exam, I could tell I was stressed out and nervous. Overall, between work and studying, I felt completely burnt out. On test day I had pretty bad anxiety driving to the test center. During the test I thought I was doing well, but noticed a pretty bad tension headache hitting me towards the end. After the test I had to walk it off before driving home.
I've taken a couple weeks off, and now I'm going to start another 6 weeks of study before taking the test again (I want to take it again before the June format change). Anyone have any tips or suggestions? Any explanations or remedies for the erratic scores received on my practice test?
Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to get it all out there.
Thanks,
Ben
