From 400 to 610 Never quit never get tired (NL)

Background

I’m an dutch 24-year-old bachelor student, who graduated in 2013 in the field of Automotive management. Afterwards I chose to do a pre-master year at RSM-university in Rotterdam. This pre-master prepares you for a Master in Management(Master of Science) program. All my previous education had been in Dutch, only my pre-master was completely in English. In addition to this pre-master year you have to do a TOEFL and a GMAT, for which you have to score at least 600. A piece of cake right? RSM consistently achieves a competitive position in national and international rankings. In the Financial Times 2013 European Business School ranking, RSM enjoys a consistent top 10 position. I’ve passed all my courses with an average of 8/10. Next to my study I run my own business in export and import of cars, and give intermedair advises to automotive companies(-/+35 hours a week).

The beginning . . .

The GMAT is not very common yet at many European Business schools and many don’t see it mandatory. I saw the GMAT as an math test combined with some English reading ; ) I really didn’t took the test that seriously. Until one student told me at the introduction day at university that only 10% passed the GMAT of the 300 pre-master students, simply because they had no clue what they were dealing with.

The thing is that whenever you didnt immediatly start studying at an university, you will obtain a BBA degree (Bachelor Of Business Administration). On the contrary when you start at an University in Europe you will uptain a BSc. degree (Bachelor Of Science ), which is an academic bachelor degree. The most logical path for an dutch student is to get a bachelor degree, then an Msc. degree, then work for 5-7 years and then apply for an MBA. An Msc. Degree is centered arround academic research and theoretical foundations and is more suitable for young students without much management experience.

The beginning of my journey

I first started studying for the GMAT in sept 2013. My first CAT score was 400(F!@?). Afterwards I booked an offline course at GMATholland, which consisted of 5 workshops and a self-study plan with the Manhattan GMAT books. GMATholland now has an online study module (like the Economist), but when I started they didn’t have it yet (a pity though). The funny thing was that GMATholland was the only institute in Holland who gave GMAT courses at that time.(-.-“). After struggling with these books, working my way through (much to fast), I decided to do a lot of practice tests of MH-gmat.
All my CAT’s scores ranged between 510-600
After reviewing and more practicing I decided to give the real GMAT a try . . .

GMAT 1: 470 : Q37 V18

BANG , I really think my heartbeat stopped right there. How could I underperform so much?

Fase 2 mastering my verbal

I always considered myself good in English, so I didn’t pay that much attention to the verbal part of the GMAT, what a mistake, my god. So after being angry at myself for a week I decided to do some research on this beloved forum to find a solution for my non-native verbal problem.

First I found the reading list and I immediately bought all the books! (Still reading :D)
books-to-read-improve-verbal-score-and-enjoy-a-good-read-76079.html

Secondly I subscribed myself to E-GMAT. THANK YOU LORD.

Thirdly and not least I subscribed myself to the magazine the Economist and forced myself to read at least 2 hours a day. I LOVED IT : )
After 2 months of intensive reading,e-gmat-ting, and practicing I decided to give the GMAT another try in july 2014. . .
GMAT 2: 570:Q36 V32
This time my heartbeat didn’t stop. But still it was not enough! RAWR! Why didn’t my Quant part improve? Why????? I even did worse this time on Quant . . . .

Fase 3 The Eye of an Tiger

After I took 2 months for a very intensive holiday I created a new battle plan. How can I tackle my Quant issues and verbal issues, in a very effeciënt way? After browsing through the forum again I decided to take the online course of the Economist. I completed the whole course (85%), took 4 CAT’s , my scores ranking between 580-620. I felt more confident about my skills and I was getting more and more ready for another try to crack this GMAT. After 4 webcam meetings, 150+ hours of study, fine-tuning my strategies, downgrading my social life, pushing myself to my limits and beyond I decided to give the GMAT a third try.
GMAT 3: 560 Q37 V30
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT? I looked at the mirror and told myself, this is not working out pretty well for me . I need to find another way. After reading a lot of more GMAT experiences ( the motivating ones ; ) ) , there was only line I never forgot:
As long as you haven’t given up, the GMAT is within your reach.

Fase 4 Never give up never get tired

After this terribly defeat I figured out I had to reinvent myself, but I had to start living again. So I opened up my social life again, went out more, and then made a new little study plan. Because I knew I mastered the basics, I figured out that I just needed more practice, more confidence and more easy of mind.
Action plan
- Redoing all questions from OG13
- Redoing all questions from Gmatprep Question Pack
- Doing all questions from OG Quant 12
- Buying GMATprep exampack

My GMATprep exam scores
1: 640: Q47 V30
2: 640: Q43 V34
3: 650: Q45 V34
4: 640 Q46 V32

I felt like hell yea, this is more LIKE IT!
So after scoring continuously above 600, I wanted to crack my GMAT once and for all.

GMAT 4: 610 Q41 V34
YEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!! Although I was disappointed about my Quant score, I was sure that whenever I have to re-do the GMAT again in the future (for an MBA), I know I can and I will crack the 700.

My tips

- Keep your work/life/study balance alive!
- Set goals!
- Read as much as you can!
- Master the foundations first, save all the OG questions till your final preparation (last 2-3 weeks)!
- Practice practice practice!!!
- Make the GMAT a challenge for youself, not a burden.
- Keep your heartbeat down during the test
- Eat healthy, get enough sleep and work out at least 3 times a week.

I want to thank all the active people on the forum for their solutions and although my score will not sound interesting for most of you, for me this was an achievement and an intensive progress. I wrote this experience very fast, but I wanted to share my experience as soon as possible : )