Need serious help .. 3 months of prep .. no outcome:-(

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Hi Every One,

I have been preparing really hard since the last 3 months of my life sacrificing fun time, office work, family and friends but it really hasn't paid off. I have tried all .. reducing the number of question I solve daily, taking off days, concentrating on my mistakes, focusing on my timing issue .. Everything, but still am unable to find an optimal solution.

Some time I get 90% accuracy in CR with proper timing (2min/question) and the next days my performance goes way off, 30-40% accuracy with 3-4 mins per question.

It would really appreciate if some one like Stacey Koprince, Ron Purewal, Eric or Mayo could help me out. I am in really trouble and badly want to beat the gmat, but am not able to do that. I am sorry, I am really emotional right now, and all this is due to the fact that my 3 months of extensive studying hasn’t paid off.

I will start from the point where I started, I didn't gave the diagnostic test right way rather I first completed the PR book. Then I took my first test, this was paper based and untimed, I scored around 580. My quant section has always been strong and I can easily score 40 + except the fact I have some timing issues. Verbal has been heck of a problem for me since day 1, especially RC and CR. Since English is not my native language it had to be weak but I didn’t expected it to bee too far below. Amazingly I always did well on SC.

Then my prep moved a step forward and I completed Kaplan premier and Kap 800 books. These books added more to my miserly, slowing my timing further down. Then I worked with the Powerprep bible for CR but this didn’t help me either. During this time I also gave a Manhattan GMAT exam scoring 560, 90 min for each section. Still the same output, quant was good above 40 and verbal extremely poor.

During the last month I had been doing problems from the OG11. Each question I got wrong the first time I went back and tried to solve it on my own without looking at the answer and then looking at the answers for all the one’s I got wrong, just to learn from my mistakes. I had 90% accuracy for PS(timed), 89% DS (timed), 75% CR(2.7 min/question), 70% RC(2.5 min for passage + 2.5 min per question) and 80% SC (1.5 min per question). I solved the entire OG but my timing didn’t improve for RC and CR. For CR I had to study the stimulus and conclusion again and again for getting what the question is stating. Similarly I took a lot of time to answering the questions in RC and had to read the passage again and again to understand what the author is saying.

I gave a GMATPrep test after completing OG11 to see where I stand and what happened when I ended the test, I saw a 270 score in front of me…….. AHHHH .. I guessed on the last 10 questions of quant portion and 15 question of verbal. My strongest section, “quant” also suffered from the timing issue but. I don’t know why this happened as I solved the entire OG with 2 mins/question.

I took few days off prep and went out with friends, spent time with family. Last week I came back to studies again. I analyzed my mistakes again, solved the question again which I got wrong in OG11. Read a lot post which could motivate me from this website specially Mayo, Ursala’s and Eric’s. I then moved on to OG11 Verbal book (Purple one). Solved 40 SC questions last Monday with 90% accuracy (timed -1.5 mins/question). Yesterday I wanted to do 30 CR questions. But I was only able to do 20 of them. Out of which 6 were correct the first time and 14 wrong. Out of 14, I got 5 correct the second time I looked at them without consulting the answer. And moreover all these question took me an average 2.7 min per question.

Now this is the point where I am currently standing, I am really confused as what should I do. Should I purse to study the way I am doing now or leave it for a month and come back fresh, make a new start. I really don’t know. I am really very de-motivated right now. Can any one suggest me what should I do to improve. I so want to beat the gmat but am unable to do. It would be great if some one could suggest me whether I should continue studying and follow some what different plan or leave studies for some time may be a month and make a new start. One thing that is bothering me is that if a make a fresh start, I would be redoing all the questions and they wont be as beneficial for me as they could have been the first time I tried to solve them.

I am sorry for such a long post but I badly need help. I look forward to you suggestions.


Thanks

Adil
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by beatthegmat » Sun Aug 17, 2008 2:44 pm
First of all--some perspective. Remember, the GMAT is only one dimiension by which admissions committees judge your MBA candidacy. A great GMAT score won't get you in, and a weaker GMAT score won't necessarily keep you out. The test is certainly important, but I personally think that it takes a backseat to essays and recommendations (maybe that's just me).

I don't know what your test date is, but if it's flexible or in the far future I recommend taking a break for at least a week. You are clearly burnt out, and additional study at this point will not have much value for you.

Take some time away from the books and re-connect with the people that matter to you and do some of the hobbies that you put off during the last three months. After clearing your head, then spend some time outlining your study strategy in the past. Next, outline the study strategies that have been suggested by myself, Ursula, and TwinnSplitter (see GMAT Resource directory) to see how your prep has differed from these three examples of successful prep.

If you feel like you are unable to develop a strong plan for yourself. Ask tactical questions to this community for advice, or even consider signing up for a course.

I know you are concerned that leaving off the prep for a while could hurt your momentum, but at this point I think it may be a good idea. All this GMAT studying in the last few months may have disrupted your priorities in life, and it will be healthier for you to get some of your perspective back and then move forward.

Don't give up! We're here to help as always.
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by adilayub » Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:16 pm
Thanks Eric, I really appreciate your help and support.. I actually took a break for 3-4 days and came back to study yesterday. I gave a MGMAT CAT yesterday, scored 570 (Q44, V27). When I was going through my mistakes I analyzed that for a lot of questions in verbal, my mistakes were so obvious such as I choose answers with strong words, out of scope and the one's that were grammatically incorrect. More over I found that I have to work equally hard on all 3 (SC, CR, RC) sections.

I have formulated a plan for this week to work on SC, CR and RC question in OG Verbal book by analyzing my mistakes/week areas. Also would be doing some extra problem for particular section (for which I would be having <80% accuracy) from PR, Kap Premier and Kap 800 books. I would be taking a CAT every Saturday to build stamina, to improve timing and it would also gauge my performance and weekly improvement.


I hope this plan work out!! Thanks again for your concern!