Hi all,
This is my first post in the forums, as I just discovered the forums this past weekend. I had the GMAT this morning, but I was very nervous last night and was unable to sleep. In the morning, I got up and drank a 5 hour energy so that I would be able to take the test. I scored a 650, 47 Quant, 33 Verbal, and I plan to take the test again at the end of May, before the test changes structure. I am posting in the forum in order to figure out how I can improve and how I should plan my studies for the next month. My goal is to get a 710+.
It would probably be helpful to give you all a little bit of a background as to my study plan so far. I purchased the 4th edition Manhattan GMAT 8 book set in the fall of 2011, but didn't begin studying until January. I began by reading the 1st book on number properties and doing all of the problem sets designated in the book. By mid-February, I found that I wasn't getting much done without a deadline and decided to schedule the test for April 24. I was still working at a slow pace up until mid-March, but wound up finishing the material by Friday of last week. I took my first 2 practice tests this past weekend and scored a 41Q and 38V, 610, on the OGMAT and a 38Q, 40V on the MGMAT. On these two practice exams I had a very difficult time finishing quant and wound up guessing on the last 6-7 questions on both practice tests. On verbal, I had no issues with time and finished each, including on the real exam, with roughly 1-2 mins remaining. I don't have the breakdown of the official GMAT errors, but on the MGMAT I was wrong on 5 each of the RC, CR and SC questions. I managed to guess a little bit earlier on quant section of the actual exam and that helped to dispel some of the panic that I was experiencing towards the end of the practice exams.
After reading the forums this past weekend, I realized that I waited entirely too long to do a practice exam and I had not been keeping sufficient records of my mistakes/progress. I wasn't able to target my problem areas and my timing was very weak, as I hadn't practiced under the 2 minute time constraint. Going forward, I will practice the quant and verbal problems under the correct time constraints and review my mistakes. Aside from these changes, what do you think that I can do to improve my studying and score? Has anyone had an issue with sleeping the night before the exam, and how did you remedy it? Also, what type of study plan do you recommend for the next few weeks before the test? Thank your for taking the time to read this post and good luck to anyone else who is preparing for the exam!
This is my first post in the forums, as I just discovered the forums this past weekend. I had the GMAT this morning, but I was very nervous last night and was unable to sleep. In the morning, I got up and drank a 5 hour energy so that I would be able to take the test. I scored a 650, 47 Quant, 33 Verbal, and I plan to take the test again at the end of May, before the test changes structure. I am posting in the forum in order to figure out how I can improve and how I should plan my studies for the next month. My goal is to get a 710+.
It would probably be helpful to give you all a little bit of a background as to my study plan so far. I purchased the 4th edition Manhattan GMAT 8 book set in the fall of 2011, but didn't begin studying until January. I began by reading the 1st book on number properties and doing all of the problem sets designated in the book. By mid-February, I found that I wasn't getting much done without a deadline and decided to schedule the test for April 24. I was still working at a slow pace up until mid-March, but wound up finishing the material by Friday of last week. I took my first 2 practice tests this past weekend and scored a 41Q and 38V, 610, on the OGMAT and a 38Q, 40V on the MGMAT. On these two practice exams I had a very difficult time finishing quant and wound up guessing on the last 6-7 questions on both practice tests. On verbal, I had no issues with time and finished each, including on the real exam, with roughly 1-2 mins remaining. I don't have the breakdown of the official GMAT errors, but on the MGMAT I was wrong on 5 each of the RC, CR and SC questions. I managed to guess a little bit earlier on quant section of the actual exam and that helped to dispel some of the panic that I was experiencing towards the end of the practice exams.
After reading the forums this past weekend, I realized that I waited entirely too long to do a practice exam and I had not been keeping sufficient records of my mistakes/progress. I wasn't able to target my problem areas and my timing was very weak, as I hadn't practiced under the 2 minute time constraint. Going forward, I will practice the quant and verbal problems under the correct time constraints and review my mistakes. Aside from these changes, what do you think that I can do to improve my studying and score? Has anyone had an issue with sleeping the night before the exam, and how did you remedy it? Also, what type of study plan do you recommend for the next few weeks before the test? Thank your for taking the time to read this post and good luck to anyone else who is preparing for the exam!
