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GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected.

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FaxBro
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GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 25 Jul 2022, 00:51
Plateaued and dejected. Any advice?

Resuming from the past attempt in August 2020, I have started my GMAT journey again in the third week of June.

I scored a v31 q47 back then and am aiming for a v40 q50 or higher. It was a month long misdirected attempt with no strategic reflection on my errors so I don’t take it to heart anymore.

With verbal in full focus this time, I religiously went through the MGMAT course books (6th ed) in the first few weeks and am supplementing it with timed OG practise, error logging, and reflection.
Spending 8-10 hours a day everyday since the last week of June, I do feel a better command over my verbal abilities, which reflected in my MGMAT (free) mock I took 4 days ago (v37 q47). The errors in verbal were majorly carelessness driven: not reading a few key words or mis-reading some words and rarely were they about being unsure of the text or how to tackle it. Quant practice is in the works too since the second week of July but verbal remains a priority.

However, I took the GMAT official practise test 1 today and scored an abysmal v28 q49 (haven’t reviewed it yet). For context, the exam glitches like we’re on a 2G network (pauses when I click ‘next’ but the timer keeps on ticking), and this resulted in at least a few minutes lost and the last question unanswered.

Regardless, I am assuming there’s something fundamentally wrong with my test taking or practise strategy and don’t understand how to make it better.

I do feel a mental-fatigue lately, wherein there’s haziness and exhaustion, even after 8 hours of sleep everyday, in my head and while I do read what’s in front of me but to “understand” it seems to be getting a duller experience lately and I feel the need to re-read. So many coffees but doesn’t work much anymore.

I am lost. I know I can do better. My scores are unable to reflect the same.
I plan to appear for the exam in a month.
Hoping for some fresh advice from my fellow sufferers.
Thanks a lot in advance :)

Posted from my mobile device

Originally posted by FaxBro on 24 Jul 2022, 10:41.
Last edited by FaxBro on 25 Jul 2022, 00:51, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 24 Jul 2022, 14:46
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Regardless, I am assuming there’s something fundamentally wrong with my test taking or practise strategy and don’t understand how to make it better.
I scored a v31 q47 back then and am aiming for a v40 q50
I plan to appear for the exam in a month.

Here's someone who went from a V31 to a V40 in about a month. They took a bit of tutoring (6 hours solving approach) and mention a variety of resources. Perhaps working with a study buddy may be helpful.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-online- ... 68599.html

Originally posted by GmatKnightTutor on 24 Jul 2022, 13:18.
Last edited by GmatKnightTutor on 24 Jul 2022, 14:46, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink] New post   24 Jul 2022, 14:42
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FaxBro wrote:
The errors in verbal were majorly carelessness driven: not reading a few key words or mis-reading some words and rarely were they about being unsure of the text or how to tackle it.
I do feel a mental-fatigue lately, wherein there’s haziness and exhaustion, even after 8 hours of sleep everyday, in my head and while I do read what’s in front of me but to “understand” it seems to be getting a duller experience lately and I feel the need to re-read. So many coffees but doesn’t work much anymore.


FaxBro I captured the most important stuff in the quote above. I recommend this video as a good starting point. It seems to me that your mental state is the only thing holding you back, and further study is likely to push your score down rather than up.
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Re: GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink] New post   25 Jul 2022, 00:49
avigutman wrote:
FaxBro wrote:
The errors in verbal were majorly carelessness driven: not reading a few key words or mis-reading some words and rarely were they about being unsure of the text or how to tackle it.
I do feel a mental-fatigue lately, wherein there’s haziness and exhaustion, even after 8 hours of sleep everyday, in my head and while I do read what’s in front of me but to “understand” it seems to be getting a duller experience lately and I feel the need to re-read. So many coffees but doesn’t work much anymore.


FaxBro I captured the most important stuff in the quote above. I recommend this video as a good starting point. It seems to me that your mental state is the only thing holding you back, and further study is likely to push your score down rather than up.


avigutman, thank you. I went through the entire video and indeed I am going through what you've summarized succinctly in that video (I had GMAT prep nightmares throughout last night). I will take a couple of days off and check-in again on my capacity. I will also appear for the exam next month, apply with the score (assuming it's at least around the average score of the schools I am targeting) and will re-take after the application as well (as per your advice).
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Re: GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink] New post   27 Jul 2022, 15:42
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Hi FaxBro.

In my experience, caffeine takes someone only so far, and drinking coffee to keep going can lead to burnout. So, there's something to consider because, overall, what you've been doing sounds pretty good. So, you may be mostly just somewhat burned out.

On a related note, just being careful, thorough, and precise is a huge aspect of GMAT success. In fact, it's so important that we could consider it an additional skill to work on the way you would work on developing skill in answering Combinations questions or analyzing RC passages. Accordingly, you might get some key ideas that you could use to achieve your score goal from the following post.

Improving Your Accuracy on the GMAT
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GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink] New post   07 Aug 2022, 08:27
Thanks to everyone for the wonderful advice, especially GMATNinja, avigutman & MartyTargetTestPrep.

It’s been 13 days since I posted this and I took my Official GMAT practice test #2 today and scored a V38 Q50 (720). On top of using the mba.com platform in incognito mode, which did not lead to any issues, I significantly changed my exam day routine, including what I do to “warm up” for the exam and a change in order to verbal followed by quant.

I feel a lot more confident than I did before. I do feel that q50 could become a q49 on the exam day, hence, I still want to aim for a v40 or higher so I’ll try to analyze my verbal section with tremendous amount of scrutiny.

My only question right now that I would request your advice on is whether I should stick to allocating more time to the first 2/3rd of the verbal vs the last 1/3rd?
Is it better to afford to be “more casual” at the end and expect lesser penalties versus going wrong a few times up front?

Finally, should I book my GMAT Online exam for two weeks from now on the back of this? I've had a v36 and v37 in two MGMAT mocks leading up to today.

Thanks a lot in advance!
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Re: GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink] New post   07 Aug 2022, 09:42
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FaxBro wrote:
Thanks to everyone for the wonderful advice, especially GMATNinja, avigutman & MartyTargetTestPrep.

It’s been 13 days since I posted this and I took my Official GMAT practice test #2 today and scored a V38 Q50 (720). On top of using the mba.com platform in incognito mode, which did not lead to any issues, I significantly changed my exam day routine, including what I do to “warm up” for the exam and a change in order to verbal followed by quant.

Nice work! What a great improvement.

Quote:
I feel a lot more confident than I did before. I do feel that q50 could become a q49 on the exam day, hence, I still want to aim for a v40 or higher so I’ll try to analyze my verbal section with tremendous amount of scrutiny.

My only question right now that I would request your advice on is whether I should stick to allocating more time to the first 2/3rd of the verbal vs the last 1/3rd?
Is it better to afford to be “more casual” at the end and expect lesser penalties versus going wrong a few times up front?

Well, you certainly don't want to miss any of the first few verbal questions, but there's not really any difference between the second third and the third third. So, you may be better off ditching a super hard one or two in the middle than waiting to the end to be "more casual."

That said, if what you're doing is working for you, maybe you should stick with it.

You could always work on speeding up by applying the ideas in this post.

How to Get Faster at GMAT Verbal

Quote:
Finally, should I book my GMAT Online exam for two weeks from now on the back of this? I've had a v36 and v37 in two MGMAT mocks leading up to today.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Taking the GMAT in two weeks probably makes sense.
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GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink] New post   22 Aug 2022, 04:43
Hello, MartyTargetTestPrep and avigutman,

Thank you for your advice and tips. I took my GMAT (online) yesterday and when the screen flashed 710 (V37, Q49, IR6), I was somewhat relieved because I started from a 640 in 2020 and then gave up altogether for almost 2 years. However, I still feel that I can do better as this time I lost my way with verbal a little bit and was actually expecting a Q50 with the way the section flowed for me so can only assume that I made a silly mistake.

Since this is a score that I can potentially apply with, I would re-take the GMAT (online) with far less stress and anxiety in approximately 3 weeks from now, hoping to add at least 10 to 20 points to my current score.

If possible, please let me know your thoughts on:
1. Whether 3 weeks is a decent time period for the aim
2. What should my practise distribution be like (especially since I will now be resuming my full time work as well) in terms of hours and topics
3. Should I am for either a 710 round 1 application to LBS or a potential 720 or 730 round 2 application to LBS.

I'll share my bio below for reference and would really be grateful for your advice.

Demo: Indian, Male (27)
Undergrad: B.Tech (Electrical Engineering) from a good TIER 2 college, CGPA 7.81 (translates to a 4.0 from my understanding)
Gmat: 710 (Q49, V37, IR6); plan to retake within the next 3-4 weeks aiming for a 10 to 20 points bump
Extracurricular: Led student bodies in college; international semester internship; Wharton's Economics of Blockchain and Digital Assets online certification; amateur investor and financial markets enthusiast
Work Ex: 5+ years at MBB consulting in the Marketing function (right after graduation); 3 promotions
Post MBA goals: Integrative consulting track or the CXO track, preferably in Marketing
Target Schools: LBS, HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, Stanford, Columbia, INSEAD
Unique: I belong to a persecuted minority community

Thanks in advance!
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GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink] New post   24 Aug 2022, 03:52
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FaxBro wrote:
If possible, please let me know your thoughts on:
1. Whether 3 weeks is a decent time period for the aim

Yes, 3 weeks is good, FaxBro.
FaxBro wrote:
2. What should my practise distribution be like (especially since I will now be resuming my full time work as well) in terms of hours and topics

You should avoid studying before the next attempt. Here's why.
FaxBro wrote:
3. Should I am for either a 710 round 1 application to LBS or a potential 720 or 730 round 2 application to LBS.

I'm not an admissions expert, but my best guess is round 1 is better. If you get a higher GMAT score after the deadline, you can update the admissions committee with your new score. You should probably confirm this when an admissions expert though.
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Re: GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink] New post   26 Aug 2022, 08:53
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FaxBro - Apply in R1 if you think you can complete your LBS application by Sept 9, 10 PM IST. Then improve your score and send that updated score to LBS before Oct 6, 2022. That way you will get to apply in R1 and get enough time to improve.

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Re: GMAT Prep: plateaued and dejected. [#permalink]
26 Aug 2022, 08:53

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