The GMAT surely kicked my ass!! From Ist attempt 570 to 510!

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Well my first GMAT attempt got me a 570 (Q41, V24), that was two years ago, it didnt surprise me much. My mock test scores ranged from 550-620. Then 21st July 2012 I decided to give the GMAT again. I wanted to apply the same year itself which didnt give me a lot of prep time. The max I could give myself was a 18th Sept as date for the exam. My work is not very hectic, and it gets over by 4 in the afternoon. So i studied everyday since July 21st.

I first did OG 12, then Kaplan 800, Manhattan SC, I took a mock test and got 590. I also did Manhattan Series, Powerscore CR. And practice questions from the blog. I took a couple of mock test i scored a max of 670 (V29, Q49), I also scored 610 on Manhattan Free test. So I knew hoping for a 700+ was wishful thinking but I wanted at least a 680-690. Anyways I took the test, I kept telling myself to stay clam, I found quant a little more difficult than the questions i attempted at home, but the verbal took me for a ride. Literally. ok, so I wasnt 99% sure of my answers but kept eliminating choices and went forward. I did feel in between they were giving me relatively simple parallelism question but I didnt pay much attention, I just kept moving forward making sure i wasnt taking too much time on my questions. When the screen popped with a 510(V19, Q42) I was shocked, angry and didnt quite think it was possible. yes, I am defeated. I was probably arrogant in thinking I couldnt go lower than my 570 of last time. I guess I was wrong.

My weakness: I used to think my Quant was relatively strong, till I never managed a good score ever I realized maybe im just fooling myself and its really just average. I could never get those permutation combination questions right ever. I almost never get them right unless i make a fluke guess. Verbal has always been my mortal enemy. I am terrible at CR, could never make any sense of RC questions and SC became passable only because of Manhattan Sc, else even that was terrible. My main problem is that I used to analyze my mistakes in CR but they used to still not make much sense to me. Like i would eliminate wrong answers and get stuck on the last two choices and then inevitably choose the wrong one. RC was something I used to never be able to get more than 50% hit rate ever. I tried the manhattan way of making notes while reading them but somehow during the actual exam I attempted it the old fashioned way of reading - not understanding- guess working the answers (incorrectly might I add).

I dont think I have it in me to attempt it a third time and get an even lower score. And now all prep material looks familiar so I will be making choices from what I can recollect of my last studying. So does anyone think I can get a 700? or should I just give up and go into something that wont make me feel like a super dud. Everyone's 700 success stories just gave me unrealistic hope that maybe I could do it and GMAT just set me straight and told me Im playing way out of my league. Might I also add that now I'm apprehensive to talk to people cause there is a part of me that is now convinced that the English I was proud of at one point, is in reality, very very poor.

So my question is: Should I do it again? If so, should i try it after a break or right away? How do I change my studying approach? Should I consider a private tutor? or can I just give up? :)
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by Jim@StratusPrep » Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:01 am
If business school is something you want, do not give up. It may take a long time for you to learn the test, but it is learnable. Focus on the fundamentals first. You should be able to do all the basic problems without much effort and know all the concepts. People often skip this step and can never recover...
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by gmatwarroom » Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:06 pm
mayageorge86 -- many of the stuff from your story seem familiar to me :) your weaknesses seems mine too (never get permutation combinations questions right :( )

on top of all, for me, procrastination has been the killer -- have been planning of writing gmat since last 5 years -- went long way into right direction of preparation for many times but one or other Tsunami would come at office and wash away my dream (of writing GMAT, to go to biz school) -- but honestly speaking, no one to blame to but myself...

anyway, to cut the story short -- i have not given up -- I told my self -- I would go to Biz school, dont care if I write my GMAT at the age of 60-- but I would DO THIS --

In the hope of bringing discipline into my preparation for GMAT, I have joined Manhattan classes (once a week) -- hope this time I would write GMAT, before I say good bye to 2012...

just gave first CAT of Manhattan yesterday -- was disappointing 580 -- that's where I got connected with your story -- seems you also started there -- also that even I dream of 700 ...:) I would continue believing on my gut and hope things would align...

for you, man, there is something in me telling -- that you would DO IT -- you wont give up -- dont give break (look at me -- it's going on for 5 yrs)... my 2 cents...
Good luck !!!!!

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Sep 25, 2012 7:12 am
mayageorge86 wrote: So my question is: Should I do it again? If so, should i try it after a break or right away? How do I change my studying approach? Should I consider a private tutor? or can I just give up? :)
Don't give up. A lot of students have been in your position and eventually conquered the GMAT Beast.
For inspiration, check out the many rags-to-riches-esque stories in this forum.

"The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it."
"• Molière

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by AIM TO CRACK GMAT » Tue Sep 25, 2012 8:38 am
hi..... i just wanted 2 know how far are the the books from Barron helpful?????????? are they worth... i am goin 2 start with my PRep.... so jus wanted 2 knw d right material!! thanksss