GMAT Strategy

My GMAT exam is on July 7th 2010, so I only have about one week left to study I'm so frustrated.... don't know what to do... I even quitted my job to get a good score on GMAT. Now that I have a lot of free time to study, I have been studying like 6 hours every day, for about a month and a half now. Isn't this enough to get a good score?

I have only studied with the OG's (the old ones) and also the Beatthegmat forums and flashcards.

My scores using the GMATPrep Software aren't that good. After a month of study I increased 70points in Quant and that's all

Tale a look at my scores:

1) 430 (1st try - 1st exam): Didn't study for this exam.
2) 530 (1st try - 2nd exam): Studied Quant really hard, but no verbal.
3) 500 (2nd try - 1st exam) Studied a bit of sentence correction and more Quants.
4) 500 (2nd try - 2nd exam - TODAY) -> 39Q 21V: Studied a lot of Quant, and Sentence Correction...

I know my problem is verbal, but it's not possible for me to increase my scores, I just CANT at least not in the time I have left. My problem is that English isn't my native language and that I've never lived in United States. I took the TOEFL test and scored 96/120 which isn't that bad because most BS require a score around 80-90.

What should I do??? I know the answer... but I still need to hear it from you.

You should reschedule. You need to get PowerScore CR and MGMAT quant guides + SC guide. These are essential. They have helped me a lot in the past month.

I agree w/ Dawgie although if you can get your hands on the Veritas verbal guides you would be better served by doing that than the powerscore books.

Hey there!
Argh, I am in the same boat. I have my GMAT scheduled for next week (July 9th) and have not prepared at all. Without reading any books or whatsoever (don't even own anything substantial), I decided to take the MGMAT test just to see where I stand. I am indifferent towards my score - can't say if it is horrible or great. Scored a 680.

I plan to apply to schools during round one - most of them fall in October. I am really doubting myself and my chances at this point. I really need a great score as I am applying right out of school (just obtained my undergraduate degree in Communication and Economics). I am fearing that my age (19) and lack of experience is going to be a problem. The last thing I need is a poor GMAT score.

Please advice!
Thanks!

-Chern-

peichern: A 680 on the Manhattan Pracitice GMAT is not bad. I would guess that that puts you scoring in the 700s on the real GMAT. Remember - the free CATs that all the prep companies put out are DESIGNED to have you test lower than your real score so that you will buy their product. Additionally, the verbal questions frequently have errors in them that might throw you off. Have you taken a GMAT prep yet? As everyone on this forum says - that's the only true indicator of your real potential on the exam. Good luck!

also a month and half isn't enough time

some people like myself need a good 6 months to study

it takes alot of time for you to take in the verbal concepts

Thanks every1 for their comments.

Right now I'm studying for the Verbal Section, which is my weakness. I'm reading the Gmat CR Bible, and so far it has helped me a lot.

I'm a little concerned about how much time do you guys spend studying to taking the Gmat. I though that 1 month Full time would be enough but I've seen a lot of people arguing that it's needed at least 3 months to prepare well, but by three months do they mean they study part-time? right...? like 2 or 3 hours everyday? I tried to do the same but my job wouldn't allow me (8AM - 7PM and sometimes there wasn't a leaving hour).

If I don't get a score equal or above 540 I will take it again, with a better time lapse. Thanks for your support.

Holymother of god.... Tomorrow is my GMAT appointment and I just scored 430 on a MGMAT free test, same score I had the first time I started studying....

Do these exams tend to be more difficult than the real GMAT?.... What I don't get is that my score at verbal is lower now that what it used to be, and I studied most of the Powerscore CR Bible....

Dang. I don't understand ... I feel retarded.... maybe I'm and I just noticed :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

You're going to have to take it again, but don't let that discourage you. You need to do the following tomorrow, and it is absolutely critical to your success on your retake. You need to remember every single type of question that gave you difficulty. You will need to know what you struggled with so when you begin your prep again, you will know where to begin and what to focus on. Do not waste tomorrow. I would say treat it like a practice test and really focus on the things that just confused you. Make mental notes about things that did not look familiar to you at all. Make notes about things that you had seen but maybe you had never seen it from the angle that the GMAC tested you. Really use tomorrow as an opportunity to kill your retake. Good luck.

Hey MAAJ,

Wow, you ran the whole range of negative test emotions just in that title! Reading through this thread, I'm leaning toward thinking that this may all be for the best given your recent state of mind in regard to the test. The good news is that you get to go into tomorrow's exam with no expectations, which may well be a good thing! There's really no good reason to be stressed or nervous for tomorrow, since you're fairly well resigned to needing to take it again. But as the saying goes, when you ain't got nothing, you ain't got nothing to lose. You can go in stress-free tomorrow and you may surprise yourself with strong results on one section or the other, and then like Osirus says use the rest as a learning experience.

Just given the nature of your initial post, my take is that, like many conscientious GMAT examinees, you're doing everything you can to "learn more things", and in some ways missing the point of the GMAT which is to "think more efficiently and effectively". As you go through the test tomorrow, and then as you analyze your results from past practice tests if/when you do that for a potential retake of the GMAT, see if you can determine how often you simply "didn't know enough" to solve the question, and how often it came down to mental mistakes or having to guess to save time or those kind of thought-process errors. My guess is that you'll find more of the latter, and will hopefully train yourself to think more that way and less in the "how much can I study" mindset that befalls many with great intentions.

Good luck tomorrow - honestly, I think this mindset may be the best thing for you!

Defeated by the GMAT.... 480 - Q33 V24

So many things to say, but I just don't feel good enough to write at this moment. But in conclusion, these are the reasons for my 480 score:

1- Bad sleep - got anxious at night, slept like 6 hours, happens all the time when I have something very important next day. (I'll try to think about the exam the day after, and do weight lifting to help me sleep better next time)

2 - Wasn't comfortable writing with the pen they gave me... My writting was so confusing that I couldn't understand what I wrote sometimes... (I'll buy that pen an paper from MGMAT and get used with it)

3 - Not enough space to write or make calculations. Are they supossed to give you some kind of eraser? because they didn't give me one. I had to re-use the papers they gave me, and write even in the corners, and that just made more confused. Even wrote in the middle of another problem, wasted time looking for a space to write. It was just plain horrible, It was like a nightmare come true....

4 - Forgot to leave the cellphone and also to mute it, and a got 2 phonecalls in the middle of the exam, which made me more nervous because that was being recorded, so I had to mute the cellphone without grabbing it (trough my pants)which was very hard to do because of the jeans that I was wearing...

5- This one is real funny because while wearing the earplugs I could hear my neck bones clicking, It was sooo getting on my nerves, so I had to stop using them...

Well I'll comment more later, I'm gonna cry at the corner of my room, while I hugging my beardoll.

Four months have passed since the Gmat defeated me... This time it will be different, this time l'll BEAT THE GMAT!!! :@:@:@:@:@

->Step 1: Getting physically/mentally in shape for the before training<- (5 Months left)