GMAT Strategy

Hello,

I've been pretty depressed the last couple of days, and I feel like I can't improve. I started studying for the GMAT in May, enrolled in the MGMAT prep course, and did the required homework. I also reviewed the materials again before class and went over the chapter review questions I got wrong to understand the concept behind each question.

After the prep course was over, I went over each quant book again, reread the materials and did quite well on the review questions. I also went over the OG12 questions that the prep books correlate to, and kept an error log of all the questions I got wrong. For each wrong answer, I reviewed both the official explanation along with the MGMAT companion and made notes on why I got the questions wrong.

I studied everyday for 2-3 hours on weekdays and 6 hours or so on the weekend. I started to notice how I was getting mentally fatigued and began taking Fridays off as a day to rest. Anyway, my score has not improved at all and I'm starting to question if I'm just naturally dumb regardless of how well I did in college.

I started off with MGMAT CAT with a 340, and got screwed because I made the CAT exam time each verbal question at 1:17 and each quant question at 2:00. So while reading a RC passage, by the time I get to the 4th paragraph, the question would skip. Same with RC questions (I thought the timed per question option meant it gives you the set time to answer the question, but you can go over the time as long as if you finish within 75 minutes per section as a way to practice pacing yourself).

MGMAT 2 - 600
MGMAT 3 - 560 (I was surprised by this score. I took the exam in my room when it was really hot and stuffy since my local library was closed due to Labor Day. I thought I was going to get <350 since I couldn't concentrate at all and my neighbor's dog kept barking)
MGMAT 4 - 540
MGMAT 5 - 470

As you can see, my scores have been dropping. After each CAT, I would review the next day, making notes, and understand why I got the question wrong. I would also redo the question again several days later to make sure I understood the question and the concept. Anyway, each test was taken on a Sunday, after reviewing the prior exam and going over OG12. I'm taking my last MGMAT CAT exam this Sunday and/or GMAT Prep as I have already registered to sit for the exam on 9/30/11 during my last week of prep course. The light at the end of the tunnel to attend business school is fading away~

Prep Materials
MGMAT CAT
8 MGMAT books
MGMAT Foundation of Math (I did all the exercises and did well)
OG12
OG Verbal
OG Quant
Kaplan (I rarely use this as my coworker gave it to me and he stated that the material isn't that great. I just used it to brush up on my math)

you didn't mention the quant and verbal scores. And there are still 10 days left. You can review ur errors again and understand where is the problem. You can revise particular topics also....
You will do well in final exam.. just don't give hope..

cans wrote:you didn't mention the quant and verbal scores. And there are still 10 days left. You can review ur errors again and understand where is the problem. You can revise particular topics also....
You will do well in final exam.. just don't give hope..

Ah, sorry about that. Here are the scores.

MGMAT 1 Q19 14
MGMAT 2 Q40 33
MGMAT 3 Q35 30
MGMAT 4 Q38 29
MGMAT 5 Q29 27

Although I only have 10 days, I'm pretty sure I won't do well. I do plan to take the exam again in December or January. I thought I would be prepared during my last week of prep course and told myself I should be good to go after a month of review...but boy was I wrong~

i am not counting mgmat 1 as that was bad because of the time limit.
But from 2nd to 5th, your quant score has decreased badly...
Why don't you review quant basics again....? Verbal is more or less consistent although I am sure you can do better...

Dude don't worry its not about being dumb etc. MGMAT Quant is tougher than GMATs. Also if you are facing issues in quant, try to get a local tutor, they don't have to be professional as quant is very fixed in approach, and anyone with a good quantitative background can take you to Q45.

AbhiJ wrote:Dude don't worry its not about being dumb etc. MGMAT Quant is tougher than GMATs. Also if you are facing issues in quant, try to get a local tutor, they don't have to be professional as quant is very fixed in approach, and anyone with a good quantitative background can take you to Q45.

It's a little frustrating how the materials I read makes sense and doing the exercise review is pretty straight forward, but when it comes to the practice tests, I feel like what I learned does not get applied to the question. I think I need more practice but overall, I'm not happy with my progress.