Hi all, here's my story.
GMAT was never an intention. There is a particular program I was gunning for since last year, but this year the program made GMAT a pre-requisite.
I found out about this in Sept while I was working. With zero prep and no knowledge of the GMAT, I immediately got my first attempt a big fail 460 (Q32 V22). I got 5.5 in AWA, if it is of any comfort. But nonetheless, it hit me really bad.
I started self-studying with Barron's, McGraw Hill, and OG 10. I was forunate to find this lovely community. I picked up a few things from everyone. I used GMATprep, OG 12 Verbal and Qaunt 12 ed too. and MGMAT CAT tests and question banks. I scored an average of 610 and 620 on 4 CAT tests.
One month later, Today, I took the GMAT. 540 (Q44 V20)!!!!!! What the (blank) is going on?
Okay, Q32 to Q44 is quite something. I owe it to everyone here. I thought the most useful advices came from gmatninja.com, Ron's videos on techniques, and everyone. I feel tiny bit relieved that I got something out of the way.
Now..... verbal...from V22 down to V20!?
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there is a significant imbalance. Verbal is my weakness clearly...I felt like crying. I did the verbal review and did very well on it actually. In my daily ritual of 20 questions per topic, I got 90% of them correct. I know grammer rules by heart.
But what happened? MGMAT got me at the low and mid 30s....and GMATprep gave me the same.
I sat down calmly and looked back at what happened. There were 3 main issues.
1. I got hung up with a question in Quant, while I was working towards the end, I realized I messed up a question from before. It might have still stuck in my mind afterwards.
2. I drank too much red bull...I felt I needed to pee badly so I might have rushed it.
3. My mental stamina was just wearing down.
Which brings me to humbly ask help from everyone.
1. How to train mental stamina?
2. Verbal workshops and techniques advice.
3. How to be consistent in verbal?
My aim is get above 650.
Please help! I am feeling desparate and hopeless.
GMAT was never an intention. There is a particular program I was gunning for since last year, but this year the program made GMAT a pre-requisite.
I found out about this in Sept while I was working. With zero prep and no knowledge of the GMAT, I immediately got my first attempt a big fail 460 (Q32 V22). I got 5.5 in AWA, if it is of any comfort. But nonetheless, it hit me really bad.
I started self-studying with Barron's, McGraw Hill, and OG 10. I was forunate to find this lovely community. I picked up a few things from everyone. I used GMATprep, OG 12 Verbal and Qaunt 12 ed too. and MGMAT CAT tests and question banks. I scored an average of 610 and 620 on 4 CAT tests.
One month later, Today, I took the GMAT. 540 (Q44 V20)!!!!!! What the (blank) is going on?
Okay, Q32 to Q44 is quite something. I owe it to everyone here. I thought the most useful advices came from gmatninja.com, Ron's videos on techniques, and everyone. I feel tiny bit relieved that I got something out of the way.
Now..... verbal...from V22 down to V20!?
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there is a significant imbalance. Verbal is my weakness clearly...I felt like crying. I did the verbal review and did very well on it actually. In my daily ritual of 20 questions per topic, I got 90% of them correct. I know grammer rules by heart.
But what happened? MGMAT got me at the low and mid 30s....and GMATprep gave me the same.
I sat down calmly and looked back at what happened. There were 3 main issues.
1. I got hung up with a question in Quant, while I was working towards the end, I realized I messed up a question from before. It might have still stuck in my mind afterwards.
2. I drank too much red bull...I felt I needed to pee badly so I might have rushed it.
3. My mental stamina was just wearing down.
Which brings me to humbly ask help from everyone.
1. How to train mental stamina?
2. Verbal workshops and techniques advice.
3. How to be consistent in verbal?
My aim is get above 650.
Please help! I am feeling desparate and hopeless.
Last edited by doitright on Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
