GMAT Strategy

I need some help getting my head back in the game. Here's my story...

Took at GMAT last March and scored 700(q43,v42). I was happy with that at the time but ultimately decided to to retake after I realized I was just shy of a truly elite score. My focus has been on quant as that's my weaker section.

I started studying again in February and had planned to take the test in April, but when I found I wasn't absorbing the material quickly, I gave myself until June. About a month before the exam, I learned that GMAC would be adding IR and that I would be included in those who missed the cut-off.

I guess, internally, I sort of panicked (I wouldn't really realize this until later however). I started going on an all out GMAT study binge trying to balance what now felt like four important sections.

On practice tests, I was still scoring well--between 45 and 48 on quant and between 38 and 44 on verbal. I was bombing IR though, and that was disconcerting despite the common sense wisdom about IR not mattering yet.

Then the day of the test came, June 18th. I had everything planned out, breakfast, clothes, bag packed with a snack, light yoga to calm my nerves. All systems were go and I was firing on all cylinders. I marched into the testing location at exactly 30 minutes early for my before my 12:30 appointment. I announced my arrival to the proctor, and...

He tells me I'm exactly 30 minutes LATE! After studying for five months and planning everything down to the two little snack bags of fresh pineapple drizzled with coconut oil (because coconut oil is good brain fuel, high in medium-chain fatty acids that are easily digested) for food during the breaks. But I somehow messed up the time in my head. I thought my appt was 12:30--I blew it.

At first, it all didn't quite register. But as the day wore on, the panic start to manifest. I rescheduled for one month later. I felt that an extra month of study would be just icing on the cake. But it wasn't. It was overkill. The whole month I was stressed to the max. When the morning of the test came, I was not poised and confident. I was going through the motions but my head wasn't quite there.

About halfway through the quant, I felt the decision fatigue start to set in. I scored 650(q42,v38). Not good.
I had improved none of the three score components. I felt pretty dejected. I scheduled another test for a month later. I stopped studying and began to relax for the first time in months. I started seeing friends I hadn't seen in a while. Halfway through that four week period, I took a GMAT Focus and it indicated that my score was in the 48-51 range. That felt good.
But then the week of the test, disaster! I ended up having tension with my boss on Wednesday and a relaxing trip to the Smithsonian (in DC) on Friday turned horribly wrong when my car got towed.

The next day, Saturday, the day of my test, I somehow, accidently mixed the times up again and missed my appointment. Again. (Freud would have had a blast with me. Do you see a pattern forming here?)

Exasperated, I returned to work on Monday and immediately moved to iron out the bad blood with management. After regaining confidentce that exceptional b-school recommendations would not be in jeopardy, and my work life was back in one piece, I decided, "Screw it, I'm going to schedule the soonest possible GMAT appt as to not give myself time to panic." Three days later, I took it again. I got to the testing center on time.

But I remember thinking to myself as I was checking in, "Oh man, am I going to make it 4 hours?" I felt drained. Really really drained.

And sure enough...

Yup, drained. 620(q44,v32) HA! First, let's look at quant. 44. Exhausted from my emotional rollercoaster ride and having not studing for six weeks, only briefly looking over math once for the Focus and once the day before, I managed scored higher on quant than I had each of the previous two times. Still though, 44 is really not nearly high enough. In fact, somehow my q43 last March yielded a higher percentile rank than a q44 this time, 64% and 63%, respectively.

And verbal? Yeah, I completely bombed verbal. Decision fatigue. I remember not really caring much about my answers. Not taking the time to write notes. Etc. The food I brought (little squeeze pouches of fruit baby food) to refuel during the breaks did little to reenergize me for verbal.

So, yeah, it's been a mess. This whole... well... year. Yuck!

But I'm still committed to this. I want this. I know I am perfectly capable. So whatever I have to do, I'll do... I think mostly, I've just been beating myself up over this-and I need to stop with that. For what it's worth, the damage is already done-no harm in continuing to take test...

What's the best way to get back on the horse? (Please, positive comments only. Thanks.)

Wow. Okay, I feel for you. This story was sad to read, so I can't imagine how you must be feeling! (admittedly, you told it really well, so it was in fact funny, but I'm not sure if it's just in that schadenfreude sort of way).

Are you planning on applying this year? Do you have any target schools in mind? Do you have a strong quant background in college? As you noted, your score is good, but the quant is significantly lower than most top schools suggest (I recently posted about this percentile problem because I find it quite silly).

The answers to these questions will help. If you're not applying this year, I'd throw everything to the wayside and come back in a month or so and start studying again. If your background in college was quant it will both help and hurt you. It helps because they'll see you have learned math, but it will hurt you because they'll think your school didn't have tough math. If you're trying to go to a top 20 school you need a different kind of (quant) score than if you are applying to a top 50 school.

Keep working hard! The quant is much more learnable than the verbal, so you can do it!

Definitely start by taking some time off. Relax. It's just a test. Focus your studying better. Don't think about how many different areas there are--figure out what types of problems you need to fix. Maybe you're doing great on geometry, and just need to work on your rate-time problems. But looking at it on a smaller scale like that, as a collection of smaller items to master, can be easier than looking at everything as one gigantic, four-hour, solid mess. Break the test down into bite-size pieces, and foucs your efforts on improving specific things. It will make your studying much more efficient.

Take so many practice tests that you hardly notice there's anything special about test day.

When you're studying, don't OD. Set a fixed amount of time you'll study SIX days a week. Give yourself one day off, always. Don't go over the study time, but also don't go under. Make everything feel routine so that it becomes no big deal.

And considering your history, find a responsible friend/family member who can do the following: 1. Put together your snacks for test day 2. Give you a wake-up call for the test 3. Drive/escort you to the test center on time. Put those things into someone else's hands, because it seems like it might not be your strong suit. That way, all you need to do is focus on getting a good night's sleep.

All of these pieces of advice are really focused around one thing: RELAX. You're getting yourself worked up over the test, and that might be hurting you more than anything else.

You can do it!