9000 questions in 2 years. No result!

GittinGud, sorry to hear that. I wanted to wait till you finish the exam to tell you that you over-studied. Over-study is even understating it. I recently wrote about this phenomenon here: https://www.facebook.com/HanoiGMATtutor ... 9922225428

At this level, you should really work with a tutor to identify your areas of weakness and fine-tune your approach to earn those additional 20-30 points. 760 really should not be anyone's goal, but a 740 should be attainable if you study the right way, and then if you get lucky on test day you may be able to crack the 99th percentile. There are some frequent posters on this forum who are more than qualified to help you. It is worth your investment, trust me.

Wow. I think you have attempted more questions than anyone I know!
I would recommend something other than questions
Like a book or an inexpensive course specifically for Quant - e.g. TTP or Math Revolution. It is under $100 and gives you a month timeframe to get your quant to 49 or 50.

Also - this: https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-impro ... 41670.html

Hi GittinGud,

Based on the fact that you’ve been studying for two years now, you clearly seem to be putting an immense amount of pressure on yourself to succeed on the GMAT, and that pressure is looming over you on test day. I’m happy to provide some advice on how to move forward, but first I’d like to learn more about your situation with the GMAT. I have some questions:

1) How many times have you taken the actual GMAT? Please list the dates on which you’ve taken the GMAT, the total scores, and the quant, verbal, and IR scores, as well as how you were feeling while taking the tests.

2) How many practice GMATs did you take? Please list the dates on which you’ve taken any practice GMATs, the total scores, and the quant, verbal, and IR scores, as well as how you were feeling while taking the tests. Also, please tell me where these tests came from (ex: mba.com).

3) Please describe how you studied. For how many hours a day did you study and for how many months?

4) To what programs will you be applying? What are the deadlines for these programs?

5) By when would you LIKE to take the GMAT? By when MUST you take the GMAT?

6) For how many hours a day, on average, can you study between now and your next GMAT?

7) In your opinion, how prepared were you for the GMAT? It's important that you answer this question as objectively as possible.

Once I learn a bit more about you, I can provide some detailed advice.

Thanks for your replies everyone!
HanoiGMATtutor I am definitely going to consult someone to focus on specific areas of weaknesses especially in quant.
bb Yes, I am focusing on quant for the next month, starting with the basics.
ScottTargetTestPrep I'll try to provide the info you wanted as accurately as possible

1. GMAT1 (2nd Jul 2019): 710 Q45 V41 IR6. Extremely comfortable before the exam. Verbal was smoother than I expected. The next section, Quant was extremely difficult right from the very beginning. I got such questions types that I had never even encountered before. I was stressed, really stressed. IR was average. No stress. AWA was decent. Mild stress, nothing too serious.

2.
Veritas June 26 740 Q51 V41 IR6
Veritas June 27 720 Q50 V39 IR6
GMATPrepCAT1 Jun28 730 Q50 V37 IR5
Veritas June 29 710 Q49 V38 IR6
Veritas June 30 730 Q51 V39 IR6

3. Background: 4 years including prep for CAT and GMAT. 2 years dedicated to GMAT. Classroom course for CAT preparation for 2 years (CAT quant is considered several time more difficult than GMAT quant).

GMAT Prep: Manhattan guides for all verbal sections. No resource for GMAT quant. All GMAT books cover the very basics for GMAT. No advanced concepts.

GMAT Practice: On an average, 5-10 hours per week solving question from GMAT club and other sources.

4. Top 20 programs in the US. Top 30 globally. Deadlines are mostly in SEP 2019.

5. Must take GMAT latest by Aug 1 2019.

6. I can dedicate as many hours as require for GMAT prep for my target score of 760+

7. I thought I was adequately prepared for atleast a Q49 and V39. I was very confident in verbal (yearlong intense prep) and fairly confident in quant(after 2 weeks of intense preparation,which started on 17th Jun).

Please let me know if you require any other information.

710 is not a bad start! That said, it's clear that you need at least 5 points in quant if you are to hit your 760 score goal. As bb already mentioned, since you need quant help, using TTP would be a gamechanger for you. In fact, take a look at the latest debrief from a TTP student who scored 760 on his GMAT.

If you have any further questions regarding your study plan or TTP, feel free to reach out to me directly.

Let’s do this!!

GittinGud, have you decided what to do? Keep us posted!

Wow this whole post is a mess.

(1) I hate to say this but there a ton of posts like yours and these prep companies jump on it (no offensive to them, some do offer good advice) but they see it more of a victim and that they can sell you something (hint: their prep course)
(2) No one should ever do that many questions. There is only a limited amount of good questions out there and the more you do the more you stray further and further away from questions that represent the test. In fact the best test takers can look at third party prep questions and say "fcuk this, this is a bad question" and not even waste their time with that question. You should always do a study aid (not questions), then once you've studied the subjects, then attempt questions. Seems like you are just doing questions without a foundation of the concepts. Furthermore doing 9,000 questions you are just doing question after question without actually learning what you are dong. Doing 500 very high yield questions and learning them is 1000x better than doing 9,000 questions without learning them.
(3) "my accuracy was about 40-50% and 80% for 700 level and 600 level questions" . I'm sorry but that is no where near a Q50. Furthermore, I wouldn't look at your practice test scores, use practice test for the content learning, not your "scores", these scores are some times way off.

First thing first, get this 760 out of your head. It's not realistic. Even people that score 760 never aim for a 760. They study and once they feel prepared, they take the test. 760 is more about luck and having a good day then anything you can prepare for. I think anyone that scores a 720 is well capable for a 760 given they had a good day.

Second if you only took one test and felt the Q45 wasn't what you should get, then just sign up for the next available test. I think you are thinking way too literal that Q45 is a dumb as a brick and a Q50 is where you are, that isn't true. Even people that score Q50 can easily get a Q45 if they make a few dumb mistakes on easy questions which are worth a ton.

My advice to you would be just to take the next available test, I don't think you're at a Q45 level and hopefully the quant goes up.

If you doesn't go up then you need to pick up a text book (not practice questions) and work on learning the content of your weakness, if you really did 9000 questions you should know what you are weak in. Then re-do the official questions, then take the test again.

The last thing you need to do is buy another course and add onto the 9000+ questions you have already taken.

Which country pool are you from?
Probably you can still get into top bschool, that must be your ultimate aim I suppose.
Let us know

To echo some of the other comments.

You have overprepared and burning out yourself to the point that on test day you are ridden with anxiety aiming for ridiculously high scores.

You don't need new materials or more preparation. You need slowing down, digesting things in your head and overall practicing relaxation techniques.

Based on others' test experiences, the GMAT appears to have large fluctuations in actual scores, contrary to GMAC claims. You cannot control test day conditions or the algorithm.

Aim to only tackle the one question in front of you. Be strategic, pace yourself and try to enjoy the test experience. And yes, do lay off on all those practice exams and problems. Go through some general quant books if needed. You don't need more test prep companies' materials. GL!

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all your suggestions. I did sincerely follow all of your advice - concentrate on quant; take it easy.
I took it light the last 40 days and didn't so much solving, no CATs except for the 2 GMATClub Quant CATs.

I subscribed to MathRevolution but I found that it was very gimmiky, not the way I studied or wanted to study. It may have worked for others but I personally did not like it or find it useful. I wanted in depth knowledge on each topic, to learn, unlearn and apply what I learnt by developing my own techniques.

I then identified my weak areas, combinatorics, inequalities, absolute value and almost every topic for DS. I studies theory for what I was weak at from the following links:
1. https://gmatclub.com/forum/ultimate-gma ... 44512.html
2. https://gmatclub.com/forum/view_importa ... &sk=t&sd=d
3. https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-you-need ... 40445.html

I practiced as many DS questions as I could, almost everyday.
I also practiced a few Verbal questions every now and then so I don't loose touch.

I took the GMAT gain today and I scored a 750 Q50 V41. This was after a 2.5 min penalty on my verbal section because I extended my break by 2.5 minutes accidentally. I really wanted a V43-44, 760+ 99th percentile. But oh well, this will have to do for now.

I will post a debrief later but I'm all caught up with college application and admission now.

P.S. I am an Indian IT Male, so 710 wouldn't have cut it even for low tier colleges and as a matter of fact, 750 is about average for medium-high tier colleges.

I mentioned that I like to learn (by solving a lot), unlearn and create my own techniques. These were some of the best questions to learn combinatorics basics:
1. https://gmatclub.com/forum/letter-arran ... 84912.html
2. https://gmatclub.com/forum/let-s-play-poker-84956.html
3. https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-many-way ... 16939.html
4. https://gmatclub.com/forum/fifteen-runn ... 88230.html
5. https://gmatclub.com/forum/topic215915.html

This is fantastic, GittinGud! Congratulations on the huge score improvement. Your hard work and your intelligent approach paid off! Good luck with your business school applications. With the tenacity and intelligence you have demonstrated you will surely be successful!