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05 May 2023, 12:09
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Hello!
It's me again! In February, I posted this after my 3rd official attempt at the GMAT...and months later here we are again after my 4th attempt. Except this time I've managed to do worse than the last two times
Today, I scored a 620 (Q:36 V:38)
Here's some context as to what I've been up to in the last three months.
February: I had a wonderful vacation on the other side of the world and left all my work and studies back in the US
March: Came back from my trip and got pretty sick so took a week to recover and then spent the rest of the month attempting to study but, with no clear test date in sight, I lacked motivation and spent more time focusing on work and having wonderful social experiences that I had been desperately missing for months since starting GMAT studies last May. Despite this, the ever-present guilt of not successfully mastering the GMAT loomed over me.
April: Had my "Oh F***" moment when I realized April had arrived and I had yet to make any significant effort. This panic increased when I realized how close I was to June (when I would be leaving the country again for another trip that I very much want to enjoy GMAT-free). So I signed up for TTP and started going through Quant studies slowly. By week two of April, I had only gone through 2 chapters of TTP and began strategizing. Figuring that in my last three attempts, I only truly studied for the exam 3 weeks prior to the test, I had the WONDERFUL idea to book two tests within May to trick myself into studying intensely for 6 weeks in a row for the 5th exam. Also with this plan, I'd be forced to give it my all and go into my trip (and summer) completely GMAT-free, regardless of the outcome (ahhh what a beautiful thought).
In the last three weeks, I've tested and reviewed over 100 OG questions (verbal/quant mix- 60% accuracy for Medium/Hard quant and 90% accuracy for Hard/Devilish verbal), read and reviewed the first nine TTP quant chapters/tests, and took four practice exams:
4/1 MGMAT 1B: 680 (Q43 V39)
4/15 MGMAT 2B: 630 (Q41 V35)
4/23 MGMAT 3B: 630 (Q49 V37)
4/29 Official GMAT Prep 5: 640 (Q35 V42)
The more I studied, the worse my test scores became. So I was oddly calm about today's score because it was somewhat expected.
Part of me feels like TTP is making me a more insecure test taker. Now I fear if I don't know the TTP method, I'll get it wrong even if it's a question I USED to be able to solve in a different Manhattan Prep way. I know, I need to follow the course more closely and do more of their practice sets. I just always seem to throw the strategies that I trained for out the window in the test center (not to mention running out of time!!!)
The advice I need now is what should I do in the next three weeks? I know, I know push the test back. But you see, I'll just be perpetuating my procrastination cycle further. How to I maximize my studying in the next 20 days to give it the best shot? Finish TTP? Hire a tutor? I don't even need a 700+ at this point. I just want to improve! I'm a non-traditional female candidate with a 3.9 ivy league undergrad gpa so the GMAT doesn't NEED to be perfect, but I don't want it to shut me out of top schools either.
I've been searching for advice in this forum but it seems people rarely seem to struggle with quant on here. I've been studying/ testing for almost a year-why am I performing worse than before? I need to rid myself of the awful financially-draining beast that is the GMAT!!
It's me again! In February, I posted this after my 3rd official attempt at the GMAT...and months later here we are again after my 4th attempt. Except this time I've managed to do worse than the last two times
Today, I scored a 620 (Q:36 V:38)
Here's some context as to what I've been up to in the last three months.
February: I had a wonderful vacation on the other side of the world and left all my work and studies back in the US
March: Came back from my trip and got pretty sick so took a week to recover and then spent the rest of the month attempting to study but, with no clear test date in sight, I lacked motivation and spent more time focusing on work and having wonderful social experiences that I had been desperately missing for months since starting GMAT studies last May. Despite this, the ever-present guilt of not successfully mastering the GMAT loomed over me.
April: Had my "Oh F***" moment when I realized April had arrived and I had yet to make any significant effort. This panic increased when I realized how close I was to June (when I would be leaving the country again for another trip that I very much want to enjoy GMAT-free). So I signed up for TTP and started going through Quant studies slowly. By week two of April, I had only gone through 2 chapters of TTP and began strategizing. Figuring that in my last three attempts, I only truly studied for the exam 3 weeks prior to the test, I had the WONDERFUL idea to book two tests within May to trick myself into studying intensely for 6 weeks in a row for the 5th exam. Also with this plan, I'd be forced to give it my all and go into my trip (and summer) completely GMAT-free, regardless of the outcome (ahhh what a beautiful thought).
In the last three weeks, I've tested and reviewed over 100 OG questions (verbal/quant mix- 60% accuracy for Medium/Hard quant and 90% accuracy for Hard/Devilish verbal), read and reviewed the first nine TTP quant chapters/tests, and took four practice exams:
4/1 MGMAT 1B: 680 (Q43 V39)
4/15 MGMAT 2B: 630 (Q41 V35)
4/23 MGMAT 3B: 630 (Q49 V37)
4/29 Official GMAT Prep 5: 640 (Q35 V42)
The more I studied, the worse my test scores became. So I was oddly calm about today's score because it was somewhat expected.
Part of me feels like TTP is making me a more insecure test taker. Now I fear if I don't know the TTP method, I'll get it wrong even if it's a question I USED to be able to solve in a different Manhattan Prep way. I know, I need to follow the course more closely and do more of their practice sets. I just always seem to throw the strategies that I trained for out the window in the test center (not to mention running out of time!!!)
The advice I need now is what should I do in the next three weeks? I know, I know push the test back. But you see, I'll just be perpetuating my procrastination cycle further. How to I maximize my studying in the next 20 days to give it the best shot? Finish TTP? Hire a tutor? I don't even need a 700+ at this point. I just want to improve! I'm a non-traditional female candidate with a 3.9 ivy league undergrad gpa so the GMAT doesn't NEED to be perfect, but I don't want it to shut me out of top schools either.
I've been searching for advice in this forum but it seems people rarely seem to struggle with quant on here. I've been studying/ testing for almost a year-why am I performing worse than before? I need to rid myself of the awful financially-draining beast that is the GMAT!!
05 May 2023, 15:18
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Quote:
Quote:
Consider getting the ESR to see which subtopics to perhaps focus on. Working with a study buddy who is strong on Quant may be helpful as well. You could teach them Verbal in exchange. If you end up focusing heavily on Quant, take care to not completely abandon your Verbal prep. You'll probably want to improve the V38 for a 700+ score.
5 Quant tips
05 May 2023, 15:37
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Sorry about the latest results. I know I was a bit late to your last post. I’m not sure if you had a chance to implement any changes or anything like that….. I see you had a late start and perhaps mixing in a rush before this attempt along with taking a break when you forget some of the little things have contributed to the decline. Just guessing.
I think in terms of options, doing more intensive is always better than more relaxed. You get to keep more of what you learned a new usually get better results at the end.
I can see one option taking a tutor who can show you perhaps what’s wrong. Usually a tutor will do one session or maximum of two per week so it’s actually not that expensive in the grand scheme of things since he would only have a handful sessions. I would also say that if a few sessions cannot help you figure out, then it’s probably a waste of money. This is my personal opinion so Tutor’s are welcome to chime in please since I have never actually used one for my own prep 😇 I mean you can definitely use Tutor’s for anything you want but I don’t think you want to use them to do basic things that you can do on your own. But I would only do this if you are committed to taking the test because hiring a tutor for a few sessions and then not throwing yourself at it, is not going to be productive either. He basically don’t want Tutor to be the one pushing and pulling.
Another radical option is potentially to switch to GRE since it has easier quant and more challenging verbal and since your verbal is stronger, you may be able to get a pretty decent result without putting in a lot more time in to prep. I know you probably are very committed to GMAT at this point and changing tests is it going to be annoying but throwing it out there. Some people welcome a change if they hit a wall.
Finishing a course is also a good idea. It’s usually recommended to finish one before taking the GMAT 😂😇 but I would examine your study habits. I would examine your attitude and your learning. Are you studying at night while watching TV? Obviously you know how to study and do it well based on your GPA but I’m wondering if you were just forcing yourself and hating it and therefore burning a lot of energy while retaining less?
Let us know how we can support you.
Posted from my mobile device
I think in terms of options, doing more intensive is always better than more relaxed. You get to keep more of what you learned a new usually get better results at the end.
I can see one option taking a tutor who can show you perhaps what’s wrong. Usually a tutor will do one session or maximum of two per week so it’s actually not that expensive in the grand scheme of things since he would only have a handful sessions. I would also say that if a few sessions cannot help you figure out, then it’s probably a waste of money. This is my personal opinion so Tutor’s are welcome to chime in please since I have never actually used one for my own prep 😇 I mean you can definitely use Tutor’s for anything you want but I don’t think you want to use them to do basic things that you can do on your own. But I would only do this if you are committed to taking the test because hiring a tutor for a few sessions and then not throwing yourself at it, is not going to be productive either. He basically don’t want Tutor to be the one pushing and pulling.
Another radical option is potentially to switch to GRE since it has easier quant and more challenging verbal and since your verbal is stronger, you may be able to get a pretty decent result without putting in a lot more time in to prep. I know you probably are very committed to GMAT at this point and changing tests is it going to be annoying but throwing it out there. Some people welcome a change if they hit a wall.
Finishing a course is also a good idea. It’s usually recommended to finish one before taking the GMAT 😂😇 but I would examine your study habits. I would examine your attitude and your learning. Are you studying at night while watching TV? Obviously you know how to study and do it well based on your GPA but I’m wondering if you were just forcing yourself and hating it and therefore burning a lot of energy while retaining less?
Let us know how we can support you.
Posted from my mobile device
