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In Need of Direction

by AIJ248 » Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:33 am
Greetings ALL

I have been preparing for the GMAT exam for over 2yrs with few positive results. Part 1 of my story begins with a MGMAT prep course, I struggled to keep up with the course material and saw little improvement. (My scores ranged from 480 to 520. I eventually decided to hire a private tutor to teach me the math fundamentals with no emphasis on verbal. After months of learning the basics and utilizing the Bells Curve Math study guide provided by my tutor (No OG preparation), my tutor advised he felt that his work was done and I needed to focus on timing and practice questions. Throughout this time I worked full time, 5 days a week including some weekends, min. of 10 hrs/day.

Part 2. For the past 6 months I have studied alone and with a study partner for a min of 7 hrs a day 6-7 days a week. I have utilized MGMAT practice exams,Thursday with Ron videos (math only), Magoosh, Grockit, OG 11 &12, re-read all MGMAT review books, princeton review crack the GMAT, beatthegmat, gmatclub as well as gmatquantum for additional support. On the MGMAT exams I have taken from 1/10-2/26 my scored has ranged from 420-580 with Quant improving to 40 but Verbal fluctuating from low 20's to 30. This is a far cry from my goal of 720. I was scheduled to take the MGMAT on the 22nd but after receiving a devastating 540 on the GMAC prep test (two weeks ago), I rescheduled my exam for the end of May. I feel like I'm standing still.

I have refrained from studying since taking the GMAC exam. I can't continue until I figure out how to effectively and efficiently move forward. These are the problems I have identified.

Timing: I do 37 timed problem sets from each section. When I don't take a full practice exam I am conscious of my time and feel comfortable throwing problems away. I usually finish within the allotted timeframe or earlier. When I attempt a a full practice exam and come across a difficult/unfamiliar problem within the first 5-10 questions, I pause like a deer in headlights and then attempt to solve the problem. I choose to try to solve the problem because I am hoarding my "throwaways." I've rationalized that it would be better to anticipate difficult questions towards the end of the exam which I can throwaway guilt free. Unfortunately, what happens is I spend to much time on the unfamiliar/difficult problems in the beginning and have to rush towards the end because I am running out of time.


Strategy: I didn't have one going into this. I know to how study hard but I don't know how to study smart. I have never had a solid method, system, strategy or study technique when it comes to exams. Never took the SATs or any prep course, up until MGMAT and this exam has exposed this flaw which is why it is so difficult for me to adapt and improve. I just don't know what to do or how to do it so I just try everything (tutor, study partner, various prep sources, all have help me build my confidence and improve my knowledge but it does not reflect in my score).

Studying: Study at various locations beginning with an hour of Math PS problems then take a 15 in break and review for another hour. This continues until I hit 4 hrs, then I go for lunch and begin the process again with more math and include some verbal. The biggest problem is I have soooo much resources. When I review I try to review everything and add on each day....so if I did 15 PS math problems yesterday, following day I will start with the 15 from yesterday and add on. Eventually I just become overwhelmed, I know I do not focus enough time on reviewing and practicing my problem areas because I have too much material. I'm trying to hold onto everything...

I would appreciate ANY suggestions, I am truly at a breaking point. I will not quit but I do not know how to proceed and improve.
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by lunarpower » Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:43 am
i received a private message regarding this thread.

first, this:
AIJ248 wrote:Timing: I do 37 timed problem sets from each section. When I don't take a full practice exam I am conscious of my time and feel comfortable throwing problems away. I usually finish within the allotted timeframe or earlier. When I attempt a a full practice exam and come across a difficult/unfamiliar problem within the first 5-10 questions, I pause like a deer in headlights and then attempt to solve the problem. I choose to try to solve the problem because I am hoarding my "throwaways." I've rationalized that it would be better to anticipate difficult questions towards the end of the exam which I can throwaway guilt free. Unfortunately, what happens is I spend to much time on the unfamiliar/difficult problems in the beginning and have to rush towards the end because I am running out of time.
here, it looks like you've already got a precise diagnosis -- you just have to manage time during the test in the same way as when you do homework problems.
as far as this part goes, that's it. the rest is up to you, since whatever is preventing you from applying your practice strategy in a testing environment is purely psychological.

Strategy: I didn't have one going into this. I know to how study hard but I don't know how to study smart. I have never had a solid method, system, strategy or study technique when it comes to exams. Never took the SATs or any prep course, up until MGMAT and this exam has exposed this flaw which is why it is so difficult for me to adapt and improve. I just don't know what to do or how to do it so I just try everything (tutor, study partner, various prep sources, all have help me build my confidence and improve my knowledge but it does not reflect in my score).
the good news about this test is that it's not the kind of test on which "solid study methods" are necessarily essential, especially on the verbal section.

the critical reasoning and reading comprehension sections are not things that can be learned mechanically, or defeated by any system of memorized "rules". instead, these problems rely on the same kinds of skills and mindsets that you use in the real world -- so, if you have too much of a "solid method" on these problems, your performance on them may actually start to decline.

on the other sections -- sentence correction and quantitative -- you may need a certain amount of routine practice, if you lack the underlying skill set. for instance, if you are weak at any of the algebraic skills required for the math section, then you will need a certain amount of routine practice on those skills. similarly, if you are unfamiliar with any of the basic constructions/structures of the formal written english language, you will have to take some time to familiarize yourself with those. beyond that point, though, most of the preparation for math consists of learning alternative (non-textbook) strategies and organizing your approaches more effectively; and most of the preparation in sentence correction consists of setting priorities correctly and concentrating your studies on a few key areas, rather than trying to canvass every possible sentence-correction concept you can get your hands on.

by the way, if you have actually been studying 6-7 days per week for 7+ hours per day, your brain is going to be absolutely incapable of the proper sort of thinking; after that much studying, the only thing you're going to be able to do is memorize stuff -- precisely the skill that is useless on this test.
the first thing you should do, therefore, is walk away from everything related to the gmat for at least a few weeks. just as an overtrained athlete has to sit out in order to recover, you're going to need some time off so that your brain can learn to manufacture the correct neuronal connections for lateral thinking again.
... and, by the way, "walk away" really means walk away: do nothing. you wrote in your private message that you were still solving 10 critical reasoning problems a day during your "time off" -- which means that it hasn't been time off at all. (with a thorough enough review, 10 critical reasoning problems can easily make for a relatively long day of studying all by themselves.)

Studying: Study at various locations beginning with an hour of Math PS problems then take a 15 in break and review for another hour. This continues until I hit 4 hrs, then I go for lunch and begin the process again with more math and include some verbal. The biggest problem is I have soooo much resources. When I review I try to review everything and add on each day....so if I did 15 PS math problems yesterday, following day I will start with the 15 from yesterday and add on. Eventually I just become overwhelmed, I know I do not focus enough time on reviewing and practicing my problem areas because I have too much material. I'm trying to hold onto everything...

in verbal, the two official guides (the main book and the verbal supplement) should actually be more than enough for anyone, at least on critical reasoning and reading comprehension. those two problem types don't require any concrete knowledge at all -- instead, they require that you understand what kind of mindset and general approach is required for each of a few different aspects of argumentation and/or extracting information from passages.
for instance, "strengthening/weakening" questions require you to (a) understand the specific point that an argument is trying to make, as well as the basis on which the argument makes that point, and then (b) discern the reasonable or likely consequences of the statements in the answer choices, and use real-world reasoning to figure out whether those consequences will affect the original point. that's basically all there is to understand about this question type; once you get to the point where these ideas are firmly in your head when you see one of these questions, you're basically done studying for them.
same for other question types in those two areas; once you've got the general mindset, there's not much you can do in the way of further preparation -- and, indeed, too much further preparation is going to start working against you, because your brain will start trying to memorize rather than think.

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in any case, your first task is to walk away from all of this stuff for a while, to give your brain time to recover. after that, unfortunately, you're basically going to need a fresh start and, more importantly, the completely new way of thinking about what this exam is and what it isn't.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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by AIJ248 » Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:58 pm
Thanks for the response Guru Ron. I will bite the bullet and walk away completely for two weeks. After that, I'll hit the books with a revised strategy...

No more than 3 hrs of studying and reviewing M-F divided between Math and Verbal. Two math topics and one verbal topic beginning with areas I have identified as weaknesses. Saturday take timed math/verbal questions and review all questions, 35q/75mins ( Focus will be on routine practice of areas of weakness and min. of 2 alternative strategies for every PS problem; Figure out a simple SC strategy that I can easily apply to each practice problem....do this diligently ) After two weeks take full Practice exam to determine progress...I hope to post an update with a positive outlook ahead.
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by lunarpower » Sun Apr 15, 2012 2:40 am
this sounds better. a couple of thoughts:
AIJ248 wrote:No more than 3 hrs of studying and reviewing M-F divided between Math and Verbal.
remember, it's a matter of quality, not quantity. if AT ANY POINT you find yourself "mentally checked-out" and just going through the motions of studying -- basically, trying to meet a time quota that you've set for yourself, even though you are mentally absent -- you should STOP. it doesn't matter if it's just ten minutes after you've started studying; if your brain is in that state, you are done for the day. go get some sleep, or hang out at the pool, or whatever.

also, if you do both math and verbal on any given day, always do the math first!
this is the order of the actual test: first math, then verbal. therefore, you should practice in the same order.
Two math topics and one verbal topic beginning with areas I have identified as weaknesses. Saturday take timed math/verbal questions and review all questions, 35q/75mins ( Focus will be on routine practice of areas of weakness and min. of 2 alternative strategies for every PS problem; Figure out a simple SC strategy that I can easily apply to each practice problem....do this diligently )
in these lines you've jumbled together two things that must actually be separate: (1) doing problems under a time constraint, and (2) reviewing them with the goal of finding as many ways as possible to solve them.
when you do problems under a time constraint (#1), you should NOT rack your brain for multiple ways to solve them -- unless your current method is running up against a wall, in which case you should try to think of another method. instead, under a time constraint, you should just BAM execute the first workable method that comes to mind.
trying to find a multiplicity of methods for solving the problems (#2) is a method of REVIEWING, and should not be done under a time constraint. when you are in this phase of your studying, it's perfectly acceptable to spend over half an hour on a single problem, if it can be done in enough ways. (for instance, og12 PS 206 can be solved in at least five different ways; obviously, you are not going to find all five ways in two minutes.)
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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by AIJ248 » Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:09 am
Quadratic Equation Question

Problem is from Manhattan GMAT
Given t² + 2t + 1= 18, what is t?
(t+1)(t+1) =18

My first instinct would be to subtract 18 from both sides of the equation so that the equation equals zero. The explanation provided in the book suggests recognizing the common quadratic form on the left side of the equation and factoring as opposed to setting everything to zero. When would be the ideal time to use this technique ?? I have seen other equations in this form but the solution was set to zero. Ex. x²-10x+25=16
x²-10x+9=0
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by lunarpower » Sun May 06, 2012 10:26 pm
AIJ248 wrote:Quadratic Equation Question

Problem is from Manhattan GMAT
Given t² + 2t + 1= 18, what is t?
(t+1)(t+1) =18

My first instinct would be to subtract 18 from both sides of the equation so that the equation equals zero. The explanation provided in the book suggests recognizing the common quadratic form on the left side of the equation and factoring as opposed to setting everything to zero. When would be the ideal time to use this technique ?? I have seen other equations in this form but the solution was set to zero. Ex. x²-10x+25=16
x²-10x+9=0
the best way to get an intuitive feeling for this kind of thing is to go ahead and try these different methods on different quadratics, and observe the results.
as in most other decision-making processes, you don't want to try to articulate a hundred zillion different rules for when to use which tool. (that's actually counterproductive, in the long run -- it will make things seem to get more, rather than less, complicated the more you learn!) instead, you just want to accumulate a bunch of experience trying the different methods, upon which you'll find that you have gained a considerable amount of intuition about which one to use when.

for the particular example you cited here, go ahead and try to factor it -- you'll find that factoring doesn't work.
this isn't really something you should try to see in advance, like some sort of chess player trying to see 3-4 moves ahead in the game. instead, just try the factoring! if it works, great. if it doesn't work, oh well, try something else.
it doesn't take very long to try any one individual technique. what does take a long time is sitting there staring at the problem and wondering which method to try. you can't find out unless you try!
shoot first, ask questions later.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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by AIJ248 » Wed May 30, 2012 9:30 pm
Took the GMAT and scored a disappointing 590 35Q and 36V. I am surprised at both the quant and verbal scores. I took two practice exams prior to the actual exam and both quant scores were in the 40s while the verbal stayed at 30. During my preparation, I continued to struggle with Work and Rate problems, geometry as well as DS average and word translation questions (Data Sufficiency overall is a week spot for me). This remained the case during the actual exam. I planned 5 throwaways but ended up throwing away 8 questions including 3 questions towards the end. I feel confident that I could have answered the last three questions accurately but I was running out of time so, I was forced to eliminate answer choices and make educated guesses.

I have decided to take a MGMAT course and I will re-take the exam again upon completion. Even though I am disappointed by my score, I do feel less anxiety. I'm just hoping that this course will give me further insight on how to address my weak spots. The sight of a work and rate problem scrambles my brain even when I try to organize the given information using a chart and for DS average questions, I notice that I don't understand what is being asked.

Any suggestions for a new approach to GMAT here on out?
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