Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Apr 2711:00 AM EDT
-12:00 PM EDT
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors
Apr 2808:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
04 Jun 2012, 05:22
Kudos
Bookmarks
Dear all,
I was reluctant to write a debrief at this point regarding my result because I am truly disappointed and I will definitely re-take it since I think anxiety truly got to me. Also, I am not sure my post will help anyone but I want to give back to this forum somehow and I think writing this will do so.
Background information and Overview:
I am currently finishing my Research Master in Human Resources Management and Organizational Behavior in Groningen - The Netherlands. I am originally from Romania but I have been studying abroad for the past two years now. I was accepted for a PhD position in Business Ethics at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. However, in order to start the position this fall I need to pass the Gmat with 650. I was given 2 months to prepare for this exam since they required my score no later than the 1st of June in order to start in September. Now my first attempt was a complete failure (550 Q:35 and V:31 I think) and I cannot start in September anymore. However, I was told that if I re-take on the 25th of July I could start the PhD in October. I am a bit reluctant and scared whether to give it a try so soon after this failure. I am also studying full time and working part-time. I was thinking of taking a course since this would probably help me structure my preparation and give me a boost of confidence that I am on the right track. But I am not sure what to do next so any suggestions would be highly appreciated!
My preparation:
As I mentioned above, I had two months to prepare. I knew I had to work on both quant and verbal since the last time I did any mathematics was in high school and I am not a native speaker of English. Therefore, I brought the Official Guide, the 12th Edition and the Supplement for both math and verbal. I also got the Kaplan book to learn how to strategically approach each question type. Subsequently I also got the Manhattan Math books. I went through all these books once and I focused on both sections of the exam. I followed the two month study plan from Beat the Gmat forum but I did not focus only on what the emails were including because I was not good in either part of the exam so I thought I cannot afford to focus only on one section at a time. Specifically, during the Verbal preparation I also continued to prepare for the Quant part. To do this, I just focused on specific areas and did problems from this forum. I know going only once through the books mentioned above is not enough but I did not have enough time for this. In sum, my approach was as follows:
1. I familiarized myself with the structure of the exam and the question types
2. I went through the Manhattan books for quant to learn the concepts and the basics for mathematics. At the same time I went through the Kaplan book to see additional strategies of how to attack the problems.
3. For verbal I focused on Kaplan only since I did not have enough time to go through the books from Manhattan, even if I know they would have helped me.
4. I practiced every day, with no break because I learn better when I practice and repeat things. I know this is not recommended but given the time framework given to prepare for it I felt like the more practice the better.
5. I subscribed to the free service of this forum - Question of the day and also from Kaplan. I additionally watched some videos from Ron - Thursday with Ron which are amazing!
Practice tests:
I took one CAT from Kaplan which really decreased my confidence. I do not really remember the score but it was around 550.
I took one Manhattan CAT and got 600
Veritas Free CAT: 670
I took both Gmat Prep tests several times.
Gmat Prep Practice exam 1 - first attempt: 540 (before starting any preparation)
Gmat Prep Practice exam 1 - second attempt: 630 (after going through the quant basics)
Gmat Prep Practice exam 2 - first attempt: 600 (a few days before the actual exam)
Gmat Prep Practice exam 2 - second attempt: 670 (a few days before the actual exam)
Actual exam:
My main surprise at the exam was the note-boards provided. I found them really uncomfortable for the quant part. Maybe it is just me but doing mathematics with a marker on those note-boards was a bad experience. Regardless, the main problem I had on the exam day was that I completely lost myself in the quant part. I am not sure what happened but I was constantly under the impression that I am behind time. This subsequently influenced my performance negatively because I could not concentrate on the problems and kept on rushing and I knew that the problems I was getting were of a low level score and this further affected my confidence. Mid through the quant section all I wanted to do was get out of the test center and run away. I believe this further affected my performance in the Verbal section.
What I would do different on the exam day:
1. I would take the time to write down a timing strategy so I would not worry about this during the exam. For instance, for quant:
Q11 - Time left 50
Q21 - Time left 30
Q31 - Time left 10
I used this strategy during one of my practice test and it did help. I do not know why I did not do this during my actual exam. I just lost it.
2. Taking time off during the preparation period is essential! I would make sure that I take more time off. I did went to the gym at least two times a week and this helped but it was not enough. I was so stressed that this is the only attempt I have to pass it and the time given is so short that I tried to cover too much in too little time. Therefore, I ended being burned out and not able to concentrate on the exam day. I cancelled two trips during those two months and isolated myself almost completely from every social activity. This was a mistake but I did not have the time to do anything since I was working and studying. Additionally, I would say having a healthy personal life helps. The last two weeks of my preparation were shadowed by some personal problems which definitely did not help my confidence nor my concentration. Unfortunately this is not something that can be easily controlled. I remember reading a post saying that the Gmat does not tell when to take it but you do...I wish I had that option
3.I would try not to attempt hard questions of 700 since this is not my target. I tried to do as many problems as possible but I think this was a wrong approach as I would first have to master the lower level problems and not the upper level.
4. Try to learn more from my mistakes - analyze each question (in Verbal) and each problem (in Quant) after doing it, understand why I made a mistake and how not to make such mistakes again. Basically try to learn from each question - whether I got it right or wrong - and have take-aways from each. I think this is a great learning process. To be more specific:
For Quant:
Ask myself, why did I got this question wrong? If I got it right, what other approach would lead me to the same answer.
For Verbal:
Analyze each question and answer choice, especially for the SC part. For the CR, I started to make analogies and try to predict the answer. This strategy worked great but unfortunately I only applied it at the end of my preparation and so I did not have enough time to internalize this strategy.
5. Always, always time myself! I have a stop watch and I did this at the beginning of my preparation period but then I said well I can just do this without the watch, I will be ok on the exam day if I do not do every question under time pressure. However, this translates into bad habits which will not help on the exam day so always always time yourself!
So this is my debrief. It is not very specific because I want to re-take the exam and then I will provide another debrief hopefully a successful one. I feel a bit inferior to those on this forum because the majority seems to be doing great in Quant and struggling with Verbal. Unfortunately, I am struggling with both and preparing for both is not easy. Additionally, there is the new section now - Integrated Reasoning - which I have no idea how to approach it. I took the weekend off from everything in order to accept the failure - my first ever - and now I am trying to think of a strategy to start my preparation again and give it a second try. I still have courses to finish but my work ended so this should give me a bit of extra time. I am not confident at all that I will pass it the second time and this has to do with the mental preparation for this exam that I believe makes a huge difference on the exam day.
I apologize in advance for any spelling mistakes. I wish good luck to all who are struggling with it!
Laura
I was reluctant to write a debrief at this point regarding my result because I am truly disappointed and I will definitely re-take it since I think anxiety truly got to me. Also, I am not sure my post will help anyone but I want to give back to this forum somehow and I think writing this will do so.
Background information and Overview:
I am currently finishing my Research Master in Human Resources Management and Organizational Behavior in Groningen - The Netherlands. I am originally from Romania but I have been studying abroad for the past two years now. I was accepted for a PhD position in Business Ethics at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. However, in order to start the position this fall I need to pass the Gmat with 650. I was given 2 months to prepare for this exam since they required my score no later than the 1st of June in order to start in September. Now my first attempt was a complete failure (550 Q:35 and V:31 I think) and I cannot start in September anymore. However, I was told that if I re-take on the 25th of July I could start the PhD in October. I am a bit reluctant and scared whether to give it a try so soon after this failure. I am also studying full time and working part-time. I was thinking of taking a course since this would probably help me structure my preparation and give me a boost of confidence that I am on the right track. But I am not sure what to do next so any suggestions would be highly appreciated!
My preparation:
As I mentioned above, I had two months to prepare. I knew I had to work on both quant and verbal since the last time I did any mathematics was in high school and I am not a native speaker of English. Therefore, I brought the Official Guide, the 12th Edition and the Supplement for both math and verbal. I also got the Kaplan book to learn how to strategically approach each question type. Subsequently I also got the Manhattan Math books. I went through all these books once and I focused on both sections of the exam. I followed the two month study plan from Beat the Gmat forum but I did not focus only on what the emails were including because I was not good in either part of the exam so I thought I cannot afford to focus only on one section at a time. Specifically, during the Verbal preparation I also continued to prepare for the Quant part. To do this, I just focused on specific areas and did problems from this forum. I know going only once through the books mentioned above is not enough but I did not have enough time for this. In sum, my approach was as follows:
1. I familiarized myself with the structure of the exam and the question types
2. I went through the Manhattan books for quant to learn the concepts and the basics for mathematics. At the same time I went through the Kaplan book to see additional strategies of how to attack the problems.
3. For verbal I focused on Kaplan only since I did not have enough time to go through the books from Manhattan, even if I know they would have helped me.
4. I practiced every day, with no break because I learn better when I practice and repeat things. I know this is not recommended but given the time framework given to prepare for it I felt like the more practice the better.
5. I subscribed to the free service of this forum - Question of the day and also from Kaplan. I additionally watched some videos from Ron - Thursday with Ron which are amazing!
Practice tests:
I took one CAT from Kaplan which really decreased my confidence. I do not really remember the score but it was around 550.
I took one Manhattan CAT and got 600
Veritas Free CAT: 670
I took both Gmat Prep tests several times.
Gmat Prep Practice exam 1 - first attempt: 540 (before starting any preparation)
Gmat Prep Practice exam 1 - second attempt: 630 (after going through the quant basics)
Gmat Prep Practice exam 2 - first attempt: 600 (a few days before the actual exam)
Gmat Prep Practice exam 2 - second attempt: 670 (a few days before the actual exam)
Actual exam:
My main surprise at the exam was the note-boards provided. I found them really uncomfortable for the quant part. Maybe it is just me but doing mathematics with a marker on those note-boards was a bad experience. Regardless, the main problem I had on the exam day was that I completely lost myself in the quant part. I am not sure what happened but I was constantly under the impression that I am behind time. This subsequently influenced my performance negatively because I could not concentrate on the problems and kept on rushing and I knew that the problems I was getting were of a low level score and this further affected my confidence. Mid through the quant section all I wanted to do was get out of the test center and run away. I believe this further affected my performance in the Verbal section.
What I would do different on the exam day:
1. I would take the time to write down a timing strategy so I would not worry about this during the exam. For instance, for quant:
Q11 - Time left 50
Q21 - Time left 30
Q31 - Time left 10
I used this strategy during one of my practice test and it did help. I do not know why I did not do this during my actual exam. I just lost it.
2. Taking time off during the preparation period is essential! I would make sure that I take more time off. I did went to the gym at least two times a week and this helped but it was not enough. I was so stressed that this is the only attempt I have to pass it and the time given is so short that I tried to cover too much in too little time. Therefore, I ended being burned out and not able to concentrate on the exam day. I cancelled two trips during those two months and isolated myself almost completely from every social activity. This was a mistake but I did not have the time to do anything since I was working and studying. Additionally, I would say having a healthy personal life helps. The last two weeks of my preparation were shadowed by some personal problems which definitely did not help my confidence nor my concentration. Unfortunately this is not something that can be easily controlled. I remember reading a post saying that the Gmat does not tell when to take it but you do...I wish I had that option
3.I would try not to attempt hard questions of 700 since this is not my target. I tried to do as many problems as possible but I think this was a wrong approach as I would first have to master the lower level problems and not the upper level.
4. Try to learn more from my mistakes - analyze each question (in Verbal) and each problem (in Quant) after doing it, understand why I made a mistake and how not to make such mistakes again. Basically try to learn from each question - whether I got it right or wrong - and have take-aways from each. I think this is a great learning process. To be more specific:
For Quant:
Ask myself, why did I got this question wrong? If I got it right, what other approach would lead me to the same answer.
For Verbal:
Analyze each question and answer choice, especially for the SC part. For the CR, I started to make analogies and try to predict the answer. This strategy worked great but unfortunately I only applied it at the end of my preparation and so I did not have enough time to internalize this strategy.
5. Always, always time myself! I have a stop watch and I did this at the beginning of my preparation period but then I said well I can just do this without the watch, I will be ok on the exam day if I do not do every question under time pressure. However, this translates into bad habits which will not help on the exam day so always always time yourself!
So this is my debrief. It is not very specific because I want to re-take the exam and then I will provide another debrief hopefully a successful one. I feel a bit inferior to those on this forum because the majority seems to be doing great in Quant and struggling with Verbal. Unfortunately, I am struggling with both and preparing for both is not easy. Additionally, there is the new section now - Integrated Reasoning - which I have no idea how to approach it. I took the weekend off from everything in order to accept the failure - my first ever - and now I am trying to think of a strategy to start my preparation again and give it a second try. I still have courses to finish but my work ended so this should give me a bit of extra time. I am not confident at all that I will pass it the second time and this has to do with the mental preparation for this exam that I believe makes a huge difference on the exam day.
I apologize in advance for any spelling mistakes. I wish good luck to all who are struggling with it!
Laura
Moderator:
