***READ UPDATE IN MY SECOND POST, WHICH IS THE THIRD POST IN THIS THREAD***First off -- 670 is a good score. I know that. To anyone who strives to acheive a 670 and hits that mark, AWESOME!
Now...I need a little advice and inspriation.
I took the GMAT on Saturday. Result:
670 q46 v35
GMATPreps:
07.18.10 650 Q41 V35 GMAT PREP 2006 - TEST 1 note - No verbal studying prior to this test
07.24.10 690 Q44 V40 GMAT PREP 2006 - TEST 2
07.30.10 740 Q47 V45 GMAT PREP 2006 - TEST 1 - REINSTALL
08.05.10 680 Q44 V40 GMAT PREP 2006 - TEST 2 - REINSTALL**
08.07.10 750 Q49 V44 GMAT PREP 2005 - TEST 1
08.08.10 760 Q50 V44 GMAT PREP 2006 - TEST 2
08.10.10 Q49 GMATPREP 2005 - TEST 2
08.12.10 V42 GMATPREP 2005 - TEST 2
** After 10hr work day, tired, finished test w/20+ min remaining for both verbal and quant (normally I finish with 0-3 mins left). I made numerous careless errors.
I believe the 740/750/760 are accurate representations of my ability when performing at 100%.
Problems I experienced on test day:
Time of day: Test was at 8:00am. Every practice test I took was started between 11am-1pm on Saturday. I need a solid 6-8 hours of rest in order to perform well. When I woke up, at 5am, I went for a jog (routine) but noticed I ran out of energy before I completed 2/3rds of my normal distance (very unusual).
Nervous Energy: Wow, I really underestimated this beast. I tried going to bed extremely early - no dice. I tossed and turned for hours until my usual bedtime of midnight. When I woke up at 5am, I felt extremely tired. Clearly, the day wasn't starting off well.
At the test center, I immedately became intimiated. I knew I was off my game. I knew it.
I went to the bathroom three times (once before the test, after AWA, after quant). Each time, the woman at the front desk informed me that I forgot to take the bathroom key. After taking the key, I went to the bathroom, grabbed the door, and was "surprised" to find out it was locked.
Atfer the second time -- I though -- What is going on? I must really be putting in a poor performance. Despite this, I wasn't positive that I was performing poorly. The GMAT is superb at "tricking the test taker."
AWA: I didn't practice AWA -- big mistake. The mental fatigue caused by one hour of essay writing cannot be ignored. Are you a perfectionist? If you are an avid reader of gmatclub, chances are -- you are a perfectionist! As such, don't be surprised if you become "wrapped up" in writing the perfect AWA once you start the GMAT. This can take considerable energy away from you. It did for me.
Verbal: Normally my verbal breadown goes like this.... 0-1 RC incorrect, 0-2 CR incorrect, 4-5 SC incorrect. I KNEW I missed at least 2-3 RC and 2 CR. I had to re-read a RC passage THREE TIMES in order to understand it. Even then, I couldn't visualize what I was reading. That is highly unusual for me.
So, I went home with my tail between my legs. Ugh! Deep down -- I knew my performance was subpar. I spent the next two hours fielding calls from friends, co-workers and family (
Why did I put all this pressure on myself?). Everyone knew I spent the last three months studying every night and weekend. Worse yet, everyone was expecting a great performance (great track record of academic success). Ugh!
So now, its back to the drawing board. I refuse to give up. I will die before I give up.
Reschedule date set -- October 9th at Noon (10am-4pm is my best performance time)
But...whats the plan? I have exhausted much of the GMATPrep material. I will surely see numerous repeats, especially using the 2006 software.
Materials I have:MGMAT books, OG12,
OG Quant,
OG Verbal.
I went through all of OG12 quant section, 50 of the hardest
OG Quant, All OG12 SC, 30 hardest OG12 CR and 30 hardest OG12 RC.
My goals areSC improvement (I am avg/slightly above avg at best)
RC consistency
CR consistency
Improve geometry (biggest quant weakness) and
stay sharp/practice quant tricks that GMAC uses.
So..any advice? I'm leaning towards...
MGMAT CAT tests to stay quant sharp and possibly improve to a 50?
GMATPrep once a week (Saturday - DO AWA + Verbal + Quant)
Read and Re-read
MGMAT SC book until I know it by heart
Do 10-15 CR and 10-15 RC questions a day (OG12,
OG Verbal)
ugh.. thoughts on
GMATClub tests for sharpening skills? Which is better at matching the "difficulty" and "trickiness" of the GMAT (
mgmat cat / gmatclub test) ?
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Updated on: 10 Oct 2010, 16:35
