Should I reschedule?

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Should I reschedule?

by jenniferd » Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:07 pm
I am scheduled to take the GMAT on August 25th, which is less than a month away. After two weeks of hard-core studying, I took my first practice exam and received a 600 (Q39, V34). YIKES!! I was aiming for a 700+. I feel incredibly discouraged and un-motivated... admittedly a little depressed.

My poor performance was due to lack of time management and stamina; I ran out of time in Integrated Reasoning and Quantitative and also ran out of energy toward the end of Verbal. I also had not practiced much with the computer-based test (mostly just OG problems out of the book), so I was a bit frazzled by the pace at which I was expected to complete the problems. I spent today practicing problems with a timer and have been getting mostly under 2 minutes, but there are just a handful of tough problems that take a long time. I can usually get to the right answer, but it takes 5 minutes, which is unacceptable for the actual test.

Question: Is one month sufficient time to raise my score from a 600 to a 700? Has anyone heard of such improvements occurring? If not, be frank: should I just reschedule for a later date? If it IS possible to reach a 700 in the next month, I am very happy to work hard, take the chance, and invest the time and effort; I am willing to devote 2-3 hours during the week and 5-8 hours per day on weekends. However, if this is overly ambitious and seemingly impossible, I'd rather set realistic expectations with what I can accomplish.

Please let me know your thoughts.
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by AbhiJ » Sun Jul 29, 2012 11:18 pm
jenniferd wrote:I am scheduled to take the GMAT on August 25th, which is less than a month away. After two weeks of hard-core studying, I took my first practice exam and received a 600 (Q39, V34). YIKES!! I was aiming for a 700+. I feel incredibly discouraged and un-motivated... admittedly a little depressed.

My poor performance was due to lack of time management and stamina; I ran out of time in Integrated Reasoning and Quantitative and also ran out of energy toward the end of Verbal. I also had not practiced much with the computer-based test (mostly just OG problems out of the book), so I was a bit frazzled by the pace at which I was expected to complete the problems. I spent today practicing problems with a timer and have been getting mostly under 2 minutes, but there are just a handful of tough problems that take a long time. I can usually get to the right answer, but it takes 5 minutes, which is unacceptable for the actual test.

Question: Is one month sufficient time to raise my score from a 600 to a 700? Has anyone heard of such improvements occurring? If not, be frank: should I just reschedule for a later date? If it IS possible to reach a 700 in the next month, I am very happy to work hard, take the chance, and invest the time and effort; I am willing to devote 2-3 hours during the week and 5-8 hours per day on weekends. However, if this is overly ambitious and seemingly impossible, I'd rather set realistic expectations with what I can accomplish.

Please let me know your thoughts.
A lot depends on what resources have you used till now.

Assuming that you have used the right resources - MGMAT books/ OG12.Lot of guys do improve 100 points in 1 month. However this is not common. A 650 would be more realistic. You should try to leverage your strengths because they would give you maximum ROI in a short span of time.
If you are willing to work for 2-3 months, a 700 should be achievable.

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by jenniferd » Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:32 pm
Thanks for the response. At this point, I'd be willing to accept a 650+ as a first shot.

I've been using the OG and Princeton Review's 1,037 GMAT Practice Problems. I ordered the OG Verbal and OG Quantitative supplements. Would it be worth switching from Princeton Review to Manhattan GMAT at this point? How would you prioritize attacking OG Verbal/Quantitative supplements vs. purchasing Manhattan GMAT and doing those problems? I will likely end up doing both but just wanted to get your thoughts.

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by AbhiJ » Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:43 pm
I would suggest to use MGMAT for topics that you are having trouble with.
MGMAT book on Sentence Correction and Number Properties are widely recommended. Though use them only if these are your weak areas.

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by Chutney5493 » Mon Jul 30, 2012 1:22 pm
Does MGMAT strategy books have practice questions or just theory & explanations? I'm having trouble with Sentence correction and I really want to improve that.

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by rijul007 » Mon Jul 30, 2012 1:49 pm
Chutney5493 wrote:Does MGMAT strategy books have practice questions or just theory & explanations? I'm having trouble with Sentence correction and I really want to improve that.
MGMAT SC guide is the best as far as I know. The only problem is that it does not have practice questions of itself. It provides a list of related OG problems after every concept.
I would highly recommend this book if you are facing troubles with Sentence correction.

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by Chutney5493 » Mon Jul 30, 2012 2:08 pm
Thanks! Just ordered MGMAT strategy guides. I hope they help me.