I'm not going to get what I want OR how to give up

Question

Hours and hours go into studying. 3+ a day easily, not including CATs, taking 1-2 a week. I haven't seen my family in weeks, my fiancee sees me in the office and I take all my meals in front of a book. The kitchen table looks like the search results for "gmat" on BN.com. I dream in ratios, word problems, and DS. 

No matter what, I'm still fluctuating wildly in my scores. tonight I have accepted that I just will not get to my 680 goal. Pride has gotten in my way to even admit it, but the dice are loaded and I'm not the house. 

Stick a fork in me. I'm done.

trahul4 · Answer

keep your spirits high ! It may work wonders

s_positive · Answer

U seem to be taking it too seriously dude...

Relax... Chill... Study to your potential and juss give ur best shot on the G-Day.

Praetorian · Answer

It would help to know more about what you are doing. You did not indicate whether you need any help or advice, but I am going to try to offer you some advice any way. Hope you will not mind. 

If you can measure your progress weekly, it will give you some sort of indication of where your prep is headed.

My favorite way to measure progress is simply to keep a error log and take short, but clear notes of the common mistakes you make. At the end of every week, compare notes from this week and the weeks gone by and see if you have managed to overcome some mistakes. This way, you become conscious of any patterns in your performance. This will help you become better at this.

kryzak · Answer

Hey zakk,

Like we discussed last night:

Quant:
- Study your Veritas Numbers properties book front to back and UNDERSTAND the concepts and questions in that book

- keep a log on what on the GMAT "tricked" you into get the wrong answers. Learn from those tricks

- Memorize the geometry stuff, that's all you can do.

- Do the final two "columns" in PS and DS, but understand why you miss the question.

- Don't worry too much about probability and combinations right now, other than the basic stuff. You don't see those until you break 700.

Verbal"
- DON'T finish 10+ minutes before the end of the test
- TRIPLE check your answers if necessary, especially if you have time.
- Keep a log of the "tricks" GMAT uses to get you to answer the wrong question in RC/CR. There are a few, but once you know them, you won't miss the medium level questions again.
- Practice Manhattan SC front to back.

Get the OG Verbal and Quant review if you have time to do those, they'll help!

Good luck!

solidcolor · Answer

Zakk, same feelings here... I'm taking the test next Saturday. Mad with GEE MAD now. And fighting with my boyfriend. Depressed.

GMATBLACKBELT · Answer

You will do well solid. Let us know how it goes!

solidcolor · Answer

Thanks BlackBelt. I scored 650. Q46 V34. I'm unhappy with that and planning to sit for the test again, October. 

I'm fighting with SC. Finished OG10 and OG11, now heading to 1000 SC. Then CR, then RC then Quant practice again. 

It's not an easy feeling to do it again, esp. when some of my friends are doing so well in the test (720) and are now preparing the essays. 

It's hard, but I have to win. 

I know I'm gonna do better in the second time. I'm studying seriously this time, from my first failure.

emoryhopeful · Answer

This is just a tip to possibly help break through the plateau. It seems that everyone uses the OG and Manhatten and love it. They don't get what they want on the first try, so they review those books again to see what went wrong. In my opinion, maybe you should try a completely different book that maybe doesn't get the same positive reviews. I personally used Kaplan, which gets bad reviews for the wording of their questions and ridiculous RC's. Maybe that's what you need, a different wording to play with your mind, and stupid tricks to fool you, to realize your potential. Its just a thought, that if the best books aren't helping, maybe some of the others say something or explain something differently that will click in your head. Stay positive, the GMAT can be beat. This forum can attest to that.

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I'm not going to get what I want OR how to give up

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