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udvranto
Joined: 17 Aug 2011
Last visit: 22 Jul 2020
Posts: 126
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 50
Location: United States (WA)
Concentration: Technology, Entrepreneurship
Schools: Foster (I)
GMAT 1: 600 Q48 V24
GPA: 3.74
WE:Information Technology (Computer Software)
Products:
05 Mar 2012, 16:41
Kudos
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I have been practicing GMAT problems for about two months now and planning to retake the GMAT in mid April. My first GMAT was bad (550 Q47 V20, debrief here).
I participated in the MGMAT Post Exam Evaluation. The instructor told me to focus on reading first and possibly on AWA. Since I did not carefully study OG the first time, I decided to study OG as well.
I started reading books from the gmatclub reading list. I finished The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Welcome to Your Child’s Brain. Every morning I practiced 5 CR, 5 SC and 1 RC Passage from OG 12, OG Verbal 2, OG 11 and OG 10. In the evening, I reviewed the problems and read books.
I took the MGMAT CAT 5 on Sunday and scored 680 Q48 V35. Obviously it’s a bit of improvement. If I compare to the original GMAT (550 Q47 V20) it’s a HUGE improvement. However, if I compare to the last MGMAT score (670 Q48 V33), it’s just a mere 10 points improvement and 2 points improvement for verbal.
I am worried. Because, MGMAT CAT 5 and 6 are considered the easier ones. Since I performed well before and ended up scoring bad in the real exam, I am worried that I might do the same again!
When I looked into the individual question types, I found that I am still weak in
CR
Weaken Conclusion
Find Assumption
Strengthen Conclusion
RC
Interference
Specific Details
SC
Parallelism
Quantifiers
Modifiers
S-V
Idioms
These are the exact same topic I was weak before!
I am quite dumbfounded and frustrated now! When I crammed it turned out bad. Now I did not cram, still I am not seeing much improvement!
What should I do now?
I participated in the MGMAT Post Exam Evaluation. The instructor told me to focus on reading first and possibly on AWA. Since I did not carefully study OG the first time, I decided to study OG as well.
I started reading books from the gmatclub reading list. I finished The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Welcome to Your Child’s Brain. Every morning I practiced 5 CR, 5 SC and 1 RC Passage from OG 12, OG Verbal 2, OG 11 and OG 10. In the evening, I reviewed the problems and read books.
I took the MGMAT CAT 5 on Sunday and scored 680 Q48 V35. Obviously it’s a bit of improvement. If I compare to the original GMAT (550 Q47 V20) it’s a HUGE improvement. However, if I compare to the last MGMAT score (670 Q48 V33), it’s just a mere 10 points improvement and 2 points improvement for verbal.
I am worried. Because, MGMAT CAT 5 and 6 are considered the easier ones. Since I performed well before and ended up scoring bad in the real exam, I am worried that I might do the same again!
When I looked into the individual question types, I found that I am still weak in
CR
Weaken Conclusion
Find Assumption
Strengthen Conclusion
RC
Interference
Specific Details
SC
Parallelism
Quantifiers
Modifiers
S-V
Idioms
These are the exact same topic I was weak before!
I am quite dumbfounded and frustrated now! When I crammed it turned out bad. Now I did not cram, still I am not seeing much improvement!
What should I do now?
05 Mar 2012, 21:09
Kudos
Bookmarks
I think you need to take a break. Notice the similarity between your GMAT performance chart in your debrief and the chart trainers of athletes use in planning training and competition at https://www.coachr.org/peaking_for_competitions.htm. Rest is a critical component in training - we're not designed to keep pushing. We need breaks to recover. After recovery, we are stronger. Take a break, put the books down, have a beer... Hit it again hard for 3 weeks and leave yourself another week of lower intensity leading up to your test date. That's what I would do (and did, worked well for me).
05 Mar 2012, 23:54
Kudos
Bookmarks
I like this advice! I feel that this strategy would work well with my studying habits as well.
