Hi All,
(If you are short on time, please disregard this)
As many of us here, I am also one of the MBA aspirants, seeking to score decent, though my target is as my user name above
. I am not as active participant on this community but have been an active observer of great deals of inspirational debriefs, awesome tricks and techniques and great expert suggestions posted. This community is like a one stop shop of all the GMAT score seekers and I could not appreciate this forum enough for being such a helpful, supportive, educating, re-aligning and inspiring institute in itself. Kudos to Mr Founder and the active community.
Well, I always thought that I will also share my unique experience on this forum (as a debrief), once I take GMAT exam and come back with nice score (or any score for that matter) to help the next wave of exam takers. However, I had a change of mind this morning.
Past:I started by preparation for GMAT exam in early January 2012. I took first GMATPrep test-1 from Old 2006 CD that my friend gave me, before starting studying anything, to assess my then current standing. My score came as 590. I was little surprised and a bit shocked to see my below average performance. But that actually turned into a strong motivation to get this thing cracking. I started putting serious effort everyday, after-office and going through all the notes that I had previously collected and the books that I bought new based on the feedback on this forum. I almost started feeling stronger each day. As suggested by many, I started assessing my weak areas ( Verbal, obviously since I am not a native English speaker) and started focusing on it. However, all the connection that I just started to build up with GMAT, started to weaken because of various unavoidable +/- distractions that took higher priority (Present always takes priority over future, I think). Then for next 2 months, I was on and off and started loosing connection. However, I kept on going even after being constantly distracted unavoidable +/- (mostly +) events. I just wanted to keep the lights on. I thought the best way was to take Prep exams (GMTPrep and
MGMAT Online exams) each alternate week and analyze them at the earliest after the exam as time permits. So from January to April, 4 months of on and off Prep and 6 cats ( 2 gmat Prep from old CD and 4
MGMAT online) was all I could cover. Two weeks back, I reserved the date for GMAT Test at the nearest center for Saturday before June 5. This actually brought all my focus back to bulls eye and I started putting in more effective and disciplined fashion.
TodayThis morning when I woke up, I guess I was by the wrong side of the bed. I did not feel good about anything and felt as if I left something incomplete/ unfinished from yesterday (literally). As my focus has been GMAT preparation only for last several months, there was nothing else that should have bothered me. Somehow, it came back to my mind to re-assess my progress, again. It was time for introspection. In all of the 6 exams I scored from 590 - 640. I worked on my weak areas and started gaining back my confidence and concentration in the preparation for last 15 days. I have improved my skills in answering questions right especially in CR and RC, but what I still struggle with is keeping the track of the time. The last exam and the only exam that I actually finished without missing any question in the end involved 5 educated guesses and >5 Blind guesses in English section. Quant was usual though (finished with 10 minutes still remaining). The score was still 600 only. With my actual test date within 3 weeks, never ending work pressure at office, current level of 600 score in prep tests and serious time issues, I finally decided today that it will be a foolish to gamble on my side and still go ahead with the exam.
The decision I finally made was to push the date by another couple of months ( for the first time). I hope it turns out to be better decision. Two months time frame is based on the fact that after June 5, I will need some time dedicated for the new IR section. Moreover, I believe that I am very close, almost there, yet missing an important piece of time strategy. If I could come this far after all the hurdles, I cannot just resign to 'this is what it is'. I think I can push it a little further.
Therefore, ( here is the conclusion of this big passage for CR and RC practicing people
)I decided to Write my Pre-test debrief on this forum as a constant reminder to myself to keep the preparation go on with the same intensity as today and not forget my reason of delaying the date.
It's better to fail and fail sooner, so that when you pick up again the grounds of success will be stronger 
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11 May 2012, 12:49
