gmat burnout

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iridebikes: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 31; Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 10:38 am; Thanked: 2 times

by iridebikes » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:05 am

I have been studying for the gmat since november, on and off after receiving a 510 on my practice test (17 quant, 41 verbal, I think). I have been working hard at improving my quant score and after taking three practice tests I scored a 43 and 45 on mgmat quant, and a 43 on gmatprep. Needless to say I was very happy with my improvement, and this was WITHOUT covering word translations/fractions (I use mgmat guides). Anyway I saw my verbal score decline from a 41 to a 31 (I haven't been working on verbal because I need a 550-600 for my target schools). I was devastated by the score drop from november till now. So I covered fractions/half of word translations and my quant score dropped from 43 to 39 and even 37 yesterday on gmatprep. I average around a 600. I feel like I have burnt myself out and my test is in two and a half weeks, great. I have worked through the first half of the sentence correction book and have learned a lot but haven't practice much. I went into this working on improving my quant score, I feel like if I try to learn the verbal section in the next few weeks my math score will suffer even more. I know I can retake the test again and I'm not very anxious, should I continue working towards my goal of scoring 40+ quant? I have learned the math and I feel all I need to do is review it, rather than half ass my math review/half ass verbal. Thanks guys.

Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:05 am

bkw: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 116; Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:34 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 6 times

by bkw » Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:08 am

Hi,

I think it is important to not overwork, which is something I did before the last time I took my real test. I simply did it all wrong! As a non-native I practiced too much CATs instead of focusing on the concepts of e.g. verbal. I never had a day off, and I can remember I felt burnt out the weeks before the actual test. I simply got fed up with GMAT questions, especially those I got wrong.

However, I think it is important to find out what you need to be better on. E.g. say verbal...
OK, if your Quant is already above average, I suggest that you still dedicate some time for it. Say 1-2days/week depending on how much Verbal practice you need. And if you pace your skills with a CAT per week, then that practice + review would also count!

So, do neither forget the weaknesses nor the strengths, and try to keep yourself warm all the time. If you have very short time left before real exam, make sure that you are confident in your stamina, and writing essays. Do at least 1-2 full length CAT(including AWA) per week. Else than that, I think it is import to review the concepts that GMAT treats.

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