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Monkeybiz
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Declining scores, what am I doing wrong? 22 Mar 2013, 07:34
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I started preparing about 2 months ago and have already finished all of MGMATs books.
Feel pretty confident about verbal but have major issues with timing.

Prep test history:
4v ago, GMAT Prep 1 (only quant), Q44
2v ago, GMAT Prep 1, Q42 V39 660 (easy mistakes in both Q and V, 2 repeats in Q)
1v ao, MGMAT CAT 1, Q40 V35 620
Today, MGMAT CAT 2, Q37 V36 610 (major timing issues in both sections, was in the 99th percentile in V for a long time but bombed a RC passage after 75% of the test)

I've been prepping frequently since my first test = >5h/day. Can someone help figure out what I'm doing wrong?
Aiming for 700.

Thanks
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VeritasPrepRon
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Declining scores, what am I doing wrong? 22 Mar 2013, 08:49
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Monkeybiz
I started preparing about 2 months ago and have already finished all of MGMATs books.
Feel pretty confident about verbal but have major issues with timing.

Prep test history:
4v ago, GMAT Prep 1 (only quant), Q44
2v ago, GMAT Prep 1, Q42 V39 660 (easy mistakes in both Q and V, 2 repeats in Q)
1v ao, MGMAT CAT 1, Q40 V35 620
Today, MGMAT CAT 2, Q37 V36 610 (major timing issues in both sections, was in the 99th percentile in V for a long time but bombed a RC passage after 75% of the test)

I've been prepping frequently since my first test = >5h/day. Can someone help figure out what I'm doing wrong?
Aiming for 700.

Thanks
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Hi MonkeyBiz, is it possible you're overstudying? If you're talking about 5+ hours a day, even if you limit that to just weekdays that's 25+ hours which is a lot in a given week. With weekends we're at 35 hours minimum. That's a lot for your brain to process, you may be getting saturated, especially if your scores are going down. I'd take a week off detox and do something to get my mind off the GMAT (Vacation? Camping? Movie marathon??) and get back to it in a week to see what concepts have gotten foggy and what's super clear in your mind.

I also wouldn't recommend going over 20 hours/week on GMAT. I'd put the ideal at 10/week but you can do a little more if that's your style. The exam is tough, but you need to grasp concepts to do well on it more than pile on the hours. Obviously there could be other factors at play but this is the obvious one from your post. Maybe take a step back and determine if those 5+ hours a day are really helping your prep for the exam or if you should try a different approach (maybe 3 hours every other day and a practice test once a week).

Best of luck!
-Ron
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Monkeybiz
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Declining scores, what am I doing wrong? 22 Mar 2013, 10:15
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VeritasPrepRon


Hi MonkeyBiz, is it possible you're overstudying? If you're talking about 5+ hours a day, even if you limit that to just weekdays that's 25+ hours which is a lot in a given week. With weekends we're at 35 hours minimum. That's a lot for your brain to process, you may be getting saturated, especially if your scores are going down. I'd take a week off detox and do something to get my mind off the GMAT (Vacation? Camping? Movie marathon??) and get back to it in a week to see what concepts have gotten foggy and what's super clear in your mind.

I also wouldn't recommend going over 20 hours/week on GMAT. I'd put the ideal at 10/week but you can do a little more if that's your style. The exam is tough, but you need to grasp concepts to do well on it more than pile on the hours. Obviously there could be other factors at play but this is the obvious one from your post. Maybe take a step back and determine if those 5+ hours a day are really helping your prep for the exam or if you should try a different approach (maybe 3 hours every other day and a practice test once a week).

Best of luck!
-Ron
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Thanks for your advice Ron.

I'm on a quite tight schedule and have to take the exam in April sometime. I also have time to study GMAT now before my other classes start.
But you do have a point. I guess GMAT is not really like the collage exams where you just could cram for 15 hours straight and get away with an A.

I'll take a few days off and try to come back with a fresh mind.