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GMAT Throwing me off my game

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GMAT Throwing me off my game

by thexravenx » Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:21 pm
History:
My first GMAT practice I scored a 640. 42V 36M

I practice hard and my best score ever was a 700 on MGMAT.

On G-Day I scored 640: 40V 38M. Quite disappointed.

What I noticed was the GMAT threw me off my game. I did not have my strategies down pat and it really cost me when the road went rough. Also, the "stress" of the ticking clock threw me off even though I had been practicing with a timer.

I have been preparing again for my next run. I used Kaplan's ultimate guide to create solid strategies. On the quizzes I am doing quite well but my exams are going the wrong direction.

Kap 1: V99% M59%
Kap 2: V97% M55%
Kap 3: V95% M51%

My Gmat Focus scores are going down as well
GF1: 49-44
GF2: 47-42
GF3: 47-39

Each of these results are from the same day of the week (Sunday for Exam & Saturday for Gmat Focus), same time (noon which is my next appointment time), and are 1 week apart.

This pattern matches what I saw when prepping for my last attempt a month ago; A high score obtained then a gradual drop in scores.

I feel like I am making more careless mistakes as I "progress". I am Using Kaplan's quizzes and Grockit to practice during the week. During these practice sessions I am consistently going over each problem using my strategies. I even say the steps to myself. But when I take an exam I revert back to bad methods to solve problems.

I have 1 more GMAT Focus, and 1 more exam sim left, which I am scheduled to take next weekend. Then I re-take the GMAT Oct. 30.

What Can I do to make sure I am at my best and following my strategies to a T instead of reverting back?

HELP!
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by DanaJ » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:40 pm
I remember seeing a post by someone from Kaplan that the second and third tests you take after your initial diagnostics test will show lower scores. Supposedly this is because you're assimilating lots of new stuff and have a bit of trouble adjusting to all the info in your head. While this may not be the case, since you say you've started prep quite a while ago, there might be some value out of analyzing this.

First off, you need to stop worrying about timing. If you feel yourself getting anxious, just pause for a few seconds, take a deep breath and say this: "Timing is important, but my performance is even more important. Stressing about it won't help me at all, so I'm just not going to." This usually does the trick for me: you need to convince yourself that you're not having trouble, because otherwise YOU WILL> This is all a mindgame you can beat, remember!

Secondly, you say you use the right strategies to go for problems in practice sets, but can't really do that when taking a CAT. Again, it's about being aware of the situation. You need to "catch yourself" when you're going off the track and correct that behavior! I know it's hard and it might waste some precious time, but that doesn't matter as much as getting everything solidly pinned down. If you can get yourself in the right mindset for D-Day, wasting a bit of time in your practice tests will be a negligible loss.
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by thexravenx » Tue Oct 20, 2009 6:55 am
Thanks Dana.

I think I am going to spend the next 8 days going over 6 timed Math Sections and not worrying too much about "am I on time". Just focus on doing the strategy.
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by KapTeacherEli » Tue Oct 20, 2009 7:07 pm
Dana's advice is great. However, there's another thing--you've described your study habits pretty well, but you haven't described the rest of your life. How many hours are you studying? How many are you working? Are you getting to the gym?

It's possible that you're simply burned out. Obviously, to beat this test you need to work and to work hard. But taking a day to catch up on sleep, or spending an hour at the gym a few days a week, could be the key to giving your brain a reset and starting fresh.
Eli Meyer
Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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