Completely Lost Motivation- Exam on the 27th December

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by buzzz85 » Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:39 pm
varun0629142 wrote:Hi All,

I have my exam on the the 27th. I feel least motivated to study at present. Please assist me in raising my momentum and motivation. I will be grateful to all.

Thanks

Varun
Varun
No need to worry about the test.
Actually, no matter how well prepared you are, you will never have that feeling of complete preparation.
So, don't feel depressed, rather give 1-2 full time tests DAILY till 26th.
Go back and revise questions in the test which you got incorrect.

Believe me, the feeling of unpreparedness is common.

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by David@VeritasPrep » Fri Dec 21, 2012 8:22 am
I do agree with Buzzz that you will never feel completely ready on test day. There will still be nerves.

The standard advice probably would be to take a test each day (I cannot recommend 2 tests in any one day), However, when you are already lacking in motivation, I would say maybe take one day off first! Think about the reasons why you are taking the GMAT, look at some information from some schools you would like to attend. It is better that you get re-focused and not burn yourself out more.

After your day off, spend a day working on just the parts of the GMAT that you like. Remember, success leads to motivation BEFORE motivation can lead to success. So have some fun and get some questions right. Then you can take a test and see where you are. That would leave you about 4 days until the 27th. The next day I would spend working on the problem areas that the test exposed. You could then take another test. So now you have 2 days until the test. Remedy your weaknesses on the following day and just do some light studying since the test will be the next day.

Here is what I would say Today (21st) Day off. 22nd work on what you are good at and have some fun and find success. 23rd - full GMATPrep practice test AWA and IR included - go through the test that same day. 24th work on weak areas as exposed by the test. 25th another full practice test - revise that day. 26th a little light work on the areas that the test exposed. 27th test.

That is just my suggestion. I believe that practice tests are like the Olympics - you go to the Olympics to see how well you have already trained. A practice test is not so much a way to study as it is a way to see what you need to study and where you are in your preparations. So I recommend a day between practice tests (at least) to be able to work on the areas revealed in those tests so that the next practice test has some chance of being better for you.

Does that make sense?

It is up to you of course and you must do what you feel is right for you.

David
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by shreerajp99 » Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:00 am
Great advice David.I have my exam on 28th.The only free practice CAT i am left with now is Princeton gmat.I have been solving questions from gmatprep documents and thus feel that giving gmatprep would be futile.I gave Veritas free test but scored just a 630(Q45,V33) :(
My aim is to get a 700.The maximum ive scored till date is 680 in any kind of test,so dont know how do i believe in myself that i can still get a 700.
Also,i have been solving around 20 quant questions from gmatprep question pack1 and get 70% correct.
Anyway,since i am working full time and couldnt get vacation from office for the exam,what can u suggest to maximize my score come test day.
My weakness is mainly quant:Topics such as Absolute values,word problems and co ordinate geometry.
In verbal weakness is mainly SC involving sentences such as 'as many as','compared to','10 times' etc.
In CR,assumptions is my area of concern.

Thanks,
Shreeraj

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by David@VeritasPrep » Fri Dec 21, 2012 3:32 pm
Shreeraj -

The current version of the Veritas Prep test tends to underscore people. So a 630 on that does not mean that you cannot get a 700 on the actual test. If you have reached a 680 on a practice test then you are within range of a 700+ on test day.

I understand that you have limited time to study from now until a week from now when you take the exam.

On the Quant side I would work more on Word Problems. These give a high return on investment. If you can learn to identify and to set these up the algebra is not bad most of the time.
Coordinate Geometry is very often based on the standard equation "y= mx + b" and in many cases does not require you to draw the graph on your note board. Make sure you can do at least basic coord. geo. problems and if something gets too tough on test day you can always skip it. I cannot imagine you getting more than 2 tough coord. geo. problems on one test.

I will make a second posting giving you some information on assumptions questions.
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by David@VeritasPrep » Fri Dec 21, 2012 3:56 pm
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by shreerajp99 » Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:45 pm
Thanks for ur reply!So should i take any practice test or continue with doing timed sets from gmatprep question pack?

Thanks,
Shreeraj

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by David@VeritasPrep » Sat Dec 22, 2012 4:44 am
Please work at least one full timed test in there. I know that you have solved questions from the GMATPrep test but try one of those and see what happens. If you do see a question that you know you can work through it as you would do - all the steps. If you find that you know 1 out of 4 questions it is still worth it. If you know 1/2 of the questions you might want to use the one unofficial test you have remaining. But you definitely want to get at least one full test in between now and test day. Just to stay sharp. You have already taken many tests it seems so you do not need to try to take too many between now and test day. Working with official questions the way that you are is probably better than working with unofficial tests - for you given the nearing date of your test and the fact that you have taken many practice test so that you have only one left.
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