Hey guys~ I just wanted to vent out a little because I’m getting pretty frustrated with my progress. I posted a few months back where I studied diligently everyday and my scores were progressively getting worse. Started off with a 340, 600, 580, 540, an 480 or something along those lines.

I took the final MGMAT CAT 6 exam a week ago and scored a 650. I don’t remember the break down but I think it was Q45 V35 or something like that. As usual, I reviewed both sections the day after to learn from my mistakes.

I also started reviewing my error log by going over the problems I got incorrect and tried to understand the concept that was being test. So after a week of consistent review, I took the GMATPrep 2 exam yesterday and scored an impressive 480 Q31 V23. I have no excuses, and honestly, I feel as though the dedicated hours of studying were a waste of time. Today, I will be reviewing the GMATPrep 2 exam and looking over my mistakes (although I believe it’s doing me no good). I know the general consensus here is that MGMAT math is harder than the official GMAT quant questions but it seems quite the opposite for me. Overall, I feel like I’m beating a dead horse since I’m not improving. Anyway, I will just do what I can for my first exam coming up in 3 days.

**Also, just to ask a question, when you guys take the GMATPrep CAT exam, are the questions displayed to have really long lengths, particularly the verbal section? My monitor is a widescreen monitor and even when I set the resolution to the recommended resolution, the displayed fonts are short and stretched. I find it annoying to read a RC passages where the paragraphs look like two really long sentences.**

I'm using the 8 MGMAT study books, OG12, and OG Verbal/Quant Review.

The approach is doing a set # of questions in a row timed, then going over each one regardless if I got it right or wrong. Then I start using the error logs to find my weakness and go over the questions again a few days later for additional review. If I don't understand something, I use the forums to find my answers and correlate it with MGMAT.

I looked over my GMATPrep and did the quant section again w/o looking at the answers until the very end. Got 34/37 correct, but then again, since I originally got such a low score, the problems I solved were in the 300-500 level range. Looking over verbal now.

The screen size/resolution of GMAT Prep is the same as you will see at the test center - it is software from 2005

As to your journey and frustration. This can be an indication of fatigue, stretching our your prep too long (studying for a year does not mean 4x result if you study for 3 months). Most of the time (95%+ people will get a higher score studying for 3 months than for a year).

That is worrisome if your score jumps so much.
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Maybe your rushing through the topics. I would suggest take your time with each topic and understand it. Dont call yourself dumb when you make a mistake. Rather view as a gift to learn from your mistakes. Lastly, DONT BE HARD ON YOURSELF FOR GETTING PROBLEMS WRONG. Its all part of the learning experience.

I took the exam yesterday and scored a 490 Q37 V21. The score aligned closely with the GMatprep I took a few days before the exam but the MGMAT scoring is really different. I found the quant portion to be pretty difficult on the real exam. I ran into a few problems where I thought, “What in the world is this?” From what I remember, I had a few coordinate geometry questions, a probability question, several work/rate questions, and two combinatorics/factorial questions. I ran out of time on the last question and couldn’t click on confirm but I read that as long as a choice is selected, the question is counted as being answered.

I thought the verbal was a bit easier but after seeing a V21, geebus! I was way off. I thought I would score better on V than Q. Anyway, I’m not sure where to start now, but I am thinking of starting from the very beginning with the basics again. I scored pretty well on all the chapter review questions on the MGMAT and I do understand the fundamentals but I happen to freeze when it’s tested for some reason.

Overall, I think I pinpointed my weakness to CR and DS. I’m really not fond of DS, regardless of what it’s asking. For CR, I’m usually 50/50 between the right and wrong answer choices.

I will start studying again on Feb 1st and will make some necessary changes. I will take Sundays off, and study in chunked sessions. Studying 3 hours in a row didn’t help me other than build up my study endurance without feeling fatigued. I will also start reading online articles to help prepare for RC. Lastly, I will try posting more frequently on the forums and explain answers rather than reply “straight A” or “+1 on D” that I often see, haha.

I think its because your miserable and psychologically positive about the test so you tend to underperform. Its like a negative confirming bias. Take a weekend off, get back to the easy fundamentals and build up your confidence. Its just like a good basketball player, he knows hes good, but gets in a funk. Sometimes you need to relax, take time off, and get back on the court with a better attitude.

Haha, I feel you. I actually just took my second test today and improved but it's not enough to get into the programs I want. I'm happy overall with my improvement, but I know I can improve even more.