I am in need of some advice so I'm turning to the experts in hopes of some guidance. First, I'll give you a quick rundown of my previous GMAT experience and some of the steps I've taken to reach my goal. I figure that by sharing my background, it will give you a sense of what I've been doing so it can aid in the advice that I'm seeking.
I finished my undergrad in December of '05, and since then I work as a construction professional. The quant related courses I took in college, included; stats, calc, physics, statics, and algebra. Additionally, I work as an estimator so I use geometry on a daily basis. Also, I am passionate and frequent reader.
One of my greatest strengths has always been my exceptional memory (it's to the extreme that I can still remember the bday gifts that I received when I turned 3 years old). However, I realize that this strength is not necessarily beneficial when it comes to the GMAT.
My GMAT journey began last October when I took the Kaplan math refresher course. After completion, I took the 9 week Kaplan on-site course. I finished the course last January and then went on to spend about a month doing problems from the OG. I was consistently scoring around 600 on my CATS so I decided I was ready to take the test (my goal is the mid 600's). I went and took the test last February, and after about 10 questions I realized my brain was absolutely fried. I skipped through the remaining questions and did not report my score. My natural tendency is to be more on the aggressive side and I realized that this approach did more harm than good as I was studying hard all the way up to the day of the test.
I gave myself a week off after the test and then spent the next month drilling nothing but the OG and the Kaplan quiz banks. I was feeling good about myself and where I was with my preparation so I went and took the test again. This time I scored 410 (I was in the 20's for both quant and verbal), but I did get a 6 on my essays.
I consider myself to be pretty self aware, so after the test I made a list of the things that really "got to me". First, the noise of the testing center drove me nuts so I changed my routine from studying in my office to studying in the public library so I could get used to the background noise. Second, the resolution of the computer really was driving me crazy so I changed the resolution on my work computer to mimic the testing conditions. Third, my timing was not where it needed to be so I focused extra hard on my pacing. I was short on time as the final fall application deadline was approaching so I gave myself 1 month and retook the test. Over this one month period, my practice scores were still around the 600 mark, but I used the same study tools as I mentioned above.
At the end of April, I went and took the test for the 3rd time (2nd official) and my results were not much better. On the 3rd attempt, I scored 430 (still in the 20's for both quant and verbal). I felt pretty dejected by my results because they were not indicative of the effort that I had put forth. I was studying 6 days a week (Mon-Thurs, 2 hours/day after work, Friday off, and 8 hours on Sat & Sun). I've never worked so hard at something in my life without coming close to the results that I desired. Even though I was disappointed, I decided that I would continue on my journey until I earned my 600+ score. After reviewing BTG and gaining guidance from some of the experts, I realized that I needed to change my approach by adding supplementary materials. The materials that I have since added to my repertoire include the MGMAT books, in addition to the Powerscore CR Bible. I took some time off after my last attempt and started studying again back in early June. My plan was to spend time on each book until I reached a mastery level. I realized that with my prior studying, I moved on after I felt "good enough" with my understanding of the different subjects and that "good enough" simply wasn't going to cut it. My intent was to spend a month focusing on timing/pacing after I completed the study materials that I mentioned above. Well, here I am in October and I've only made it through 2 of the MGMAT books; numbers properties and word translations. I felt that both of these topics were my Achilles heal during my previous attempts (in relation to quant). After completing the numbers properties book, I did the numbers properties questions bank from MGMAT and I was satisfied with my level of understanding. However, I recently did the word translations question bank and I did absolutely horrible. My poor showing on the word translations question bank is what has lead me to writing you this message.
Recently, I was searching the BTG site and I noticed a few comments from Ron P's responses to site member's posts. The first thing that really stood out to me was a note that was made in regards to "lateral thinking". As I mentioned above, I have always been reliant upon my memory to help me in learning. The comment about lateral thinking made me do some introspection and I realized that the slightest detail in a problem is completely throwing me off (i.e. combined work rate problems). I really don't know what I need to do to train my brain to think in these terms. I did notice that Ron made mention about adequate breaks from studying are essential to do this kind of thinking, so I gave myself a 3 day break and began to re-review the questions from the question bank. Sadly to say, the "deer in the headlights" look is still present on my face. I don't what the solution is for my "issues". I do know that I will not quit until I succeed, but I obviously need some help to make the improvements that I desire. I've considered the MGMAT course and tutoring, but after my $1500 investment in Kaplan and the $750 that I've spent on the 3 test attempts, in addition the money that I've on the MGMAT materials, this is kind of going beyond my budget. I could come up with the cash for a couple of tutoring sessions if this is something that would help me get over the hump.
In the past, flash cards have always worked well for me, but I get the fact that memorizing a bunch of formulas isn't going to get me the gold if I can't think laterally when the various questions come my way. I've started making an error log, but I'm struggling to see how this is of benefit to me as I get lost every time a similar problem throws a new wrinkle my way.
You will notice that most of my comments are specific to the quant sections and that's because quant has been my primary focus up to this point. As I mentioned above, when I complete the MGMAT quant books, I plan to move onto the MGMAT SC book and Powerscore CR Bible. RC is by far the weakest point in my Verbal game. From my research on this site, it sounds like the Powerscore CR book is the best resource to choose from. Any feedback on my approach would be appreciated.
As of late I've been reviewing the "Thursday's with Ron" study halls and they have been a tremendous help. The session on rates problems all of a sudden made things so clear to me as all I need to is fill in the hard numbers and then define the relationships, which sets me up for easy algebra to solve the problem.
One last detail that I have failed to mention is I'd really like to retake the GMAT by the end of December. Does this target date seem feasible?
Finally, I know this message may seem like a lot of doom and gloom, but I have made a ton of progress from my last go around with this test. I'm really proud of how far that I have come. However, I do know that I'm not yet where I need to be, so I'm hoping that some shared insight will help get me over the hump!
Thanks,
Rob
I finished my undergrad in December of '05, and since then I work as a construction professional. The quant related courses I took in college, included; stats, calc, physics, statics, and algebra. Additionally, I work as an estimator so I use geometry on a daily basis. Also, I am passionate and frequent reader.
One of my greatest strengths has always been my exceptional memory (it's to the extreme that I can still remember the bday gifts that I received when I turned 3 years old). However, I realize that this strength is not necessarily beneficial when it comes to the GMAT.
My GMAT journey began last October when I took the Kaplan math refresher course. After completion, I took the 9 week Kaplan on-site course. I finished the course last January and then went on to spend about a month doing problems from the OG. I was consistently scoring around 600 on my CATS so I decided I was ready to take the test (my goal is the mid 600's). I went and took the test last February, and after about 10 questions I realized my brain was absolutely fried. I skipped through the remaining questions and did not report my score. My natural tendency is to be more on the aggressive side and I realized that this approach did more harm than good as I was studying hard all the way up to the day of the test.
I gave myself a week off after the test and then spent the next month drilling nothing but the OG and the Kaplan quiz banks. I was feeling good about myself and where I was with my preparation so I went and took the test again. This time I scored 410 (I was in the 20's for both quant and verbal), but I did get a 6 on my essays.
I consider myself to be pretty self aware, so after the test I made a list of the things that really "got to me". First, the noise of the testing center drove me nuts so I changed my routine from studying in my office to studying in the public library so I could get used to the background noise. Second, the resolution of the computer really was driving me crazy so I changed the resolution on my work computer to mimic the testing conditions. Third, my timing was not where it needed to be so I focused extra hard on my pacing. I was short on time as the final fall application deadline was approaching so I gave myself 1 month and retook the test. Over this one month period, my practice scores were still around the 600 mark, but I used the same study tools as I mentioned above.
At the end of April, I went and took the test for the 3rd time (2nd official) and my results were not much better. On the 3rd attempt, I scored 430 (still in the 20's for both quant and verbal). I felt pretty dejected by my results because they were not indicative of the effort that I had put forth. I was studying 6 days a week (Mon-Thurs, 2 hours/day after work, Friday off, and 8 hours on Sat & Sun). I've never worked so hard at something in my life without coming close to the results that I desired. Even though I was disappointed, I decided that I would continue on my journey until I earned my 600+ score. After reviewing BTG and gaining guidance from some of the experts, I realized that I needed to change my approach by adding supplementary materials. The materials that I have since added to my repertoire include the MGMAT books, in addition to the Powerscore CR Bible. I took some time off after my last attempt and started studying again back in early June. My plan was to spend time on each book until I reached a mastery level. I realized that with my prior studying, I moved on after I felt "good enough" with my understanding of the different subjects and that "good enough" simply wasn't going to cut it. My intent was to spend a month focusing on timing/pacing after I completed the study materials that I mentioned above. Well, here I am in October and I've only made it through 2 of the MGMAT books; numbers properties and word translations. I felt that both of these topics were my Achilles heal during my previous attempts (in relation to quant). After completing the numbers properties book, I did the numbers properties questions bank from MGMAT and I was satisfied with my level of understanding. However, I recently did the word translations question bank and I did absolutely horrible. My poor showing on the word translations question bank is what has lead me to writing you this message.
Recently, I was searching the BTG site and I noticed a few comments from Ron P's responses to site member's posts. The first thing that really stood out to me was a note that was made in regards to "lateral thinking". As I mentioned above, I have always been reliant upon my memory to help me in learning. The comment about lateral thinking made me do some introspection and I realized that the slightest detail in a problem is completely throwing me off (i.e. combined work rate problems). I really don't know what I need to do to train my brain to think in these terms. I did notice that Ron made mention about adequate breaks from studying are essential to do this kind of thinking, so I gave myself a 3 day break and began to re-review the questions from the question bank. Sadly to say, the "deer in the headlights" look is still present on my face. I don't what the solution is for my "issues". I do know that I will not quit until I succeed, but I obviously need some help to make the improvements that I desire. I've considered the MGMAT course and tutoring, but after my $1500 investment in Kaplan and the $750 that I've spent on the 3 test attempts, in addition the money that I've on the MGMAT materials, this is kind of going beyond my budget. I could come up with the cash for a couple of tutoring sessions if this is something that would help me get over the hump.
In the past, flash cards have always worked well for me, but I get the fact that memorizing a bunch of formulas isn't going to get me the gold if I can't think laterally when the various questions come my way. I've started making an error log, but I'm struggling to see how this is of benefit to me as I get lost every time a similar problem throws a new wrinkle my way.
You will notice that most of my comments are specific to the quant sections and that's because quant has been my primary focus up to this point. As I mentioned above, when I complete the MGMAT quant books, I plan to move onto the MGMAT SC book and Powerscore CR Bible. RC is by far the weakest point in my Verbal game. From my research on this site, it sounds like the Powerscore CR book is the best resource to choose from. Any feedback on my approach would be appreciated.
As of late I've been reviewing the "Thursday's with Ron" study halls and they have been a tremendous help. The session on rates problems all of a sudden made things so clear to me as all I need to is fill in the hard numbers and then define the relationships, which sets me up for easy algebra to solve the problem.
One last detail that I have failed to mention is I'd really like to retake the GMAT by the end of December. Does this target date seem feasible?
Finally, I know this message may seem like a lot of doom and gloom, but I have made a ton of progress from my last go around with this test. I'm really proud of how far that I have come. However, I do know that I'm not yet where I need to be, so I'm hoping that some shared insight will help get me over the hump!
Thanks,
Rob
