I just Beat The GMAT!

Hello all,

I have been reading the forums for quite a while now, though I have only posted once, I am now ready to post since I am all out of ideas and my confidence in regards to the GMAT is at a all time low. I began studying for this exam back in the spring and am at a crossroads where I am not sure if I should try yet again or just give up. I graduated university in the summer of 2007 and worked at GE for a year long internship, I decided I want to get an MBA, I have even taken a step back career wise to tackle this exam and so far have had zero success.

I have gone through and completed all the questions in OG 11 at least 5 times, and have completed the questions in the Quant OG and Verbal OG that are sold separately at least 3 times. I have not had much difficulty completing the Quant section but have had struggles with SC and Verbal, but felt I would still be able to get at least a 35 in verbal.

With that being said, I had taken the GMAT Prep test 11 times, although I know there is a lot of duplication among the tests, I attempted to minimize it by doing the tests at my local university and doing the tests on different computers. I also had 2 CD versions of the GMAT Prep. I had also written the Princeton Review CAT exams as well. Of the GMAT prep tests my scores ranged from 550-650. With Quant between 39-44 and verbal between 30-35. As for the Princeton Review Exams I scored 38-39 for the quant section and between 25-30 on the verbal section. My average score for the PR CAT was 540. I also wrote the Power prep GMAT as well which I found online, but most of it was the same as the Purple and Green books. On that exam I scored a 680. I always reviewed the questions I got wrong on the quant site after finding the answers on this site.

I wrote my gmat today, and was feeling pretty good, I felt I aced both my essays and felt pretty confident after completing the Quant section. I also felt pretty good about my verbal section as well and was expecting a score of at least 550. To my surprise I scored the same as I did 3 month prior a pathetic 470. My quant score was 31 and my verbal score was 22. I was so shocked and sadden by my results. I spent nearly 5 hours a day for the past 3 months studying for this exam and could not even break a 500. I did not feel the material on the exam was hard or completely different then the GMAT prep but I just don't get it how could this of happened....Again??.

I never scored so low on any of the practice exams and feel I have practically memorized the OG 11 and OG Quant and OG Verbal books. I know I can improve in regards to SC but as for everything else I am confused and out of ideas. I am now starting to consider possibly taking prep courses but the costs are a bit out of my price range as of now. I am hoping if you guys can give me a study plan or give me advice on how to move forward. I am not looking for a 750 or anything just a healthy score over 600 would be fine with me.

Please let me know if you have any ideas or advice on how I can move forward.


Best Regards,

K

Dear friend

Dont loose hope...All you need is to forget your past and focus with renewed zeal and enthusiasm

Read this thread and you will surely be motivated

https://www.beatthegmat.com/finally-the- ... 22185.html

Thanks

Hey,

I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing GMAT. I was also really disappointed with mine - after 6 solid months of prep I scored a 590 (30% math, 94% verbal).

Verbal is no surprise as I am English. I scored higher in practice tests. I didn't study for this.

I spent 6 months on math and managed to go DOWN. This is from a point of knowing nothing. I knew in the exam that I wasn't doing well and shouldn't have taken the score. I was devastated.

BUT we have to pick ourselves up and carry on. There are to many stories of people overcoming their problems with this test not to. Here's my way:

1. After the GMAT I gave myself a solid 3 week break to rejuvenate and reflect on my experience. I think this is really important.
2. I asked myself: what will I do differently next time? Because we have to be honest with ourselves - if this is what we scored then we just don't know the material well enough - there are no two ways about it. I realised that I didn't learn from my mistakes enough and I didn't analyse questions enough. It doesn't matter how many times we do the OG ifwe don't analyse the questions and take something away from them.
3. I had a 'good enough' attitude. in my practice I was getting 680, so I said to myself 'this is good enogh' and didn't make sure I understood EVERY SINGLE question I couldn't answer.
4. My attitude has changed. I am going to spend as long as it takes to master the content and WILL LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED. We need to be rigorous and honest with ourselves and tackle everything we couldn't answer and then answer it again and again until we can.

Hope this helps - good luck!