GMAT Strategy

I am completely confused as to why my CAT scores MGMAT 1 (41Q/34V) 620, MGMAT 2 (39Q/33V) 590, MGMAT 3 (29Q/35V) 530 have declined so much.

I'm generally a very good student 3.85 GPA undergrad, but have problems with timed standardized tests. If anything I've only increased my studying time (because I get more frustrated with lack of results I spend more time studying), but to drop from a 41Q to 29Q? I generally spend 2 hours on weekdays and up to 15 hours on weekends study and I've been at it since Jan 09.

Materials I've covered so far:

MGMAT SC
MGMAT Word Translations
80% of OC11 (Usually tough questions)


Perhaps I'm focusing so much on the tougher portions I'm getting the easier questions wrong and not evening advancing to tougher questions.
Needless to say I feel frustrated, and have felt my time studying thus far completely ineffective. Has anyone had a similar trend and what have they done to reverse it?

Could you be hitting burnout? When is your test scheduled for?

A weekend or two off to blow off steam and recuperate might help you get ready for the stretch run to the finish.

Something I see with a lot of students is that their scores go down at first, since they've just learned all of this new stuff and are trying to apply it on the test, but aren't yet comfortable enough doing so. Keep working on it and your scores should start to increase eventually.

Thanks for the advice. I think originally I thought I could cram really hard for 3 months and achieve the score I wanted (700), but with working full time at 11-12 hours a day I just don't think it will be feasible. It looks like I'm in it for the long haul, but thats ok because I don't plan to apply for 2-3 years.

Well, the good news is that studying over a long period generally works better than cramming, so although working 12 hours a day certainly isn't ideal it may end up being fine in the end.

The key is to cut yourself off when you start to get frustrated; studying in a poor mental state isn't going to help. The best way to study is about 8 hours of concentrated effort per week, broken up into 5 or 6 short bursts. Make sure to work in practice tests once in awhile, but take the results with a grain of salt; I certainly don't score 760 on every practice test I try. After all, practice tests are just guesses as to how the real test works.

Good luck!