Moving in the Wrong Direction...

[fourteenstix]

I just pushed back my test another 10 weeks (to Sept 28th) due to a stagnation of quant improvement. I took the GMAT over 5 years ago for my MBA (Q43/V31). That score represents less than a week's worth of prep at Barne's & Noble [poor college student didn't want to fork over the $$$ to buy the books ]

I'm retaking the GMAT to apply to a few doctoral programs (strategic management). I studied moderately from March through May, and very heavily from June til now. My CATs are as follows:

Kaplan: 560 May 30th
GMATPrep 1: 640 (Q42/35) June 29th
GMATPrep 2: 660 (Q42/39) July 5th
MGMAT CAT #1: 580 (Q38/V31) July 13th

I wasn't very well rested for the MGMAT CAT, but I still felt it was rather bizarre and tough to finish within the time constraints. I didn't think Kaplan or MGMAT were terribly representative of what I remember the actual exam to be.

My goal is to score 720+, but I'm moving in the wrong direction. I'm keeping an error log, studying fundamentals, timing my practice problems, and so on.

Your help and suggestions are greatly appreciate!

[Jim@StratusPrep]

Looks like a bad day, so don't worry too much about the dip as long as you see improvements on the next exam. In general, third party exams are not that great relative to the real thing.

What resources have you studied with during your prep?

[fourteenstix]

Looks like a bad day, so don't worry too much about the dip as long as you see improvements on the next exam. In general, third party exams are not that great relative to the real thing.

What resources have you studied with during your prep?

I started off with OG13 and the QR 2nd Ed solely. After realizing that I need additional focus on quant and better approaches than the OG provided, I purchased Dabral's Quantum GMAT course. I still didn't see much improvement despite copious hours of studying. I didn't take a very focused approach--I just studied everything rather than identifying my weaknesses and then concentrating on those areas (a common tactic of many on this forum). Now, I'm working through MGMAT's quantitative strategy guides and keeping a more detailed error log to try to identify my weaknesses (timing, accuracy, etc). I'm trying to review everyday to keep concepts fresh, but it's tough with work and a wife.