I just Beat The GMAT!

First time poster, long time lurker.. Please forgive me if I sound like a whiner.. feel these forums are just as good of a place to vent as to exchange ideas.

Made the decision to go to business school at the start of the year, looking to improve myself career wise but also educational wise. Been out of school now for 10 years and looking at math and sentence correction is nothing more than fleeting memory at this point. As a side, I'm from Canada and never had to do standardized tests during HS and Uni..

First time I took the test in May, I didn't respect it.. did some practice questions, looked at some sentences to correct and went in there thinking I was king kong.. came out with a 510. Disappointed but I didn't deserve any more.. tried again at the end of september - came out with a 530.. even more disappointed because I had trouble with some of the word problems, specifically work related and exponent rules, which I thought I studied enough for.. Pleasantly surprised about my verbal (75 percentile) so I figured I had a solid base but my math is sorely lacking..went back for the past month and studied as much as I could, just wrote the exam this past weekend.

480 - crushed... my math was pathetic and my verbal score was almost as bad. I didn't even have any questions about rates, probabilities because I couldn't get past the "basic" stuff like inequalities and number properties and the data sufficiency all but killed me. Verbal was a surprise because while I didn't spend as much time looking at it, I did a fair share of practice questions and was continually getting the correct answers for crtical thinking and sentence corrections... I don't know what happened and I don't where to begin again.

I used the official guide and picked up some kaplan books, math fundamentals, verbal foundations, the kaplan guide to study... and was doing about 2 hours a night. Full time job and a young family so I have to be very strategic with my time.

Its still my goal to get into business school but I'll be honest, my faith in my abilities is wavering at the moment.

Where do I go to improve my low 500s quant.. seems like everyone can do these no problem! except for me.. if I can't get over this hump, I won't have a chance to even answer the rates, ratios, etc problems.

I know what I want the end of the tunnel to look like, but it seems like I'm hitting dead ends and having to start at the beginning again.

Hi. Sorry to hear this. Nevertheless, many first timers perform poorly but improve significantly their second time. If others here seem to know how to tackle the gmat it's probably bc they have taken the test several times/have been studying for a long time now. with that said, don't be discouraged. Keep studying and getting your hands on other books/practice exams/etc. Manhattan GMAT books are pretty helpful. When I was studying for the exam I liked how they broke down concepts and had a separate book covering a few topics. So if you have a weakness in a specific area you don't have to buy them all. if you still have questions you can post on the other forums here. people are pretty nice here. they will try to help!

I like your post's Subject. Just keep working on it. Make a target for the number of hours you will put in each day till your exam and start practicing. You will be back here to write how you scored 700+.

Good luck and dont forget,the forum is here for your help.

Hi, I like the positive attitude in your subject! Try the Manhattan Gmat books and their adaptive CATs, they're quite good. WIsh you good luck.

malfuriouspete wrote: I know what I want the end of the tunnel to look like, but it seems like I'm hitting dead ends and having to start at the beginning again.

Hi malfuriouspete,

It's good to hear that you're confident to beat the GMAT !

Considering 2 hours a day, you should apply a strategic plan for your studies. I'm not an expert in GMAT world (just a dummy who is in the 27th day in BTG study guide ) but I can tell that a good plan will play a substantial role in beating this GMAT thing.
Standardized tests like GMAT demand intense practice. The key is to get the logic that test writers use to trick us test takers.
In my view, the reason that you didn't get your desire score lies behind the fact that you've never took a standardized test before. As a result, you are not mastered at how to deal with these types of examinations.
If I were in your shoes, I would choose working on my weaknesses (This structure is hypothetical subjunctive that I've learned few days ago ). Right now, you're in a great position by knowing your strength and weakness points. Make sure to take 4-5 CATs before writing the real test. This will help you in several ways:
First and foremost, you'll be comfortable with sitting on a computer-based test for 3-4 hours. In the meanwhile, you can practice your time management.
Second, taking several full test will provide you with a great confidence that you can perform well in the real exam.
Last but not least, you can track your improvement by means of full tests while practicing several subjects.

I am looking forward to see your topic entitled: "I've not only beat the GMAT but also took the juice out of it!"