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14 Dec 2020, 10:41
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Hi 
I haven't found much mental support online for the GMAT, and I wish I had more readings and stories to relate to. So I thought I'd start by sharing my own in the hope that others would relate.
I started preparing for the GMAT three months ago. I've been studying full time and already put in 450 hours. To be honest, I am not 100% sure that I want to do an MBA, but it's been on my mind for some years now, so I thought if I could get a good GMAT score, the door to a top MBA school would be a little more accessible if ever I decided to go down that path.
My experience studying the GMAT has been tough. I am very driven and self-motivated, studying everyday, having a tight schedule drawn out on an excel spreadsheet including study time, sport session and sleep hours (I know it's intense
). I've really been putting in my best. I started at 590, and I'm still stuck around 650 (best score is 670 so far) aiming for 700. I expected it to be hard, but I am surprised at how hard it is to hit the top 600, 700 scores. I have a masters in Neuroscience, I worked in big firms, I -modestly- don't think I'm not smart. But I haven't done any pure math or logic in over ten years, and I struggle with the quant section. Learning a new way to think, developing new brain patterns, adopting logic and quants habits are things that take time and a lot of hard work. After 450 hours, I see a huge improvement but I also hit a tough reality : for me, it's not enough.
You read a lot of success stories; friends, family members, colleagues have told me "of course you can do it, you're smart". And it's disheartening to face the fact that I don't have their easy ability to score well on the GMAT. Of course I know that I have the capacity. We all do, but for some people this means two weeks of studying, for me, probably six months, for others maybe two years.
I get so frustrated. I have highs, where I see myself improving and reaching my goal, and then I'll be disappointed by a score and feel down and lonely in this battle.
Anyways, my test is in one week, and even though I won't score 700, I'm glad I tried so hard. No regrets. Of course, I know that I have learned so much from this experience and I like to think that my brain is a lot stronger than it was four months ago, which will benefit me for the rest of my life. I guess, that, in itself is a huge reward.
I haven't found much mental support online for the GMAT, and I wish I had more readings and stories to relate to. So I thought I'd start by sharing my own in the hope that others would relate.
I started preparing for the GMAT three months ago. I've been studying full time and already put in 450 hours. To be honest, I am not 100% sure that I want to do an MBA, but it's been on my mind for some years now, so I thought if I could get a good GMAT score, the door to a top MBA school would be a little more accessible if ever I decided to go down that path.
My experience studying the GMAT has been tough. I am very driven and self-motivated, studying everyday, having a tight schedule drawn out on an excel spreadsheet including study time, sport session and sleep hours (I know it's intense
). I've really been putting in my best. I started at 590, and I'm still stuck around 650 (best score is 670 so far) aiming for 700. I expected it to be hard, but I am surprised at how hard it is to hit the top 600, 700 scores. I have a masters in Neuroscience, I worked in big firms, I -modestly- don't think I'm not smart. But I haven't done any pure math or logic in over ten years, and I struggle with the quant section. Learning a new way to think, developing new brain patterns, adopting logic and quants habits are things that take time and a lot of hard work. After 450 hours, I see a huge improvement but I also hit a tough reality : for me, it's not enough. You read a lot of success stories; friends, family members, colleagues have told me "of course you can do it, you're smart". And it's disheartening to face the fact that I don't have their easy ability to score well on the GMAT. Of course I know that I have the capacity. We all do, but for some people this means two weeks of studying, for me, probably six months, for others maybe two years.
I get so frustrated. I have highs, where I see myself improving and reaching my goal, and then I'll be disappointed by a score and feel down and lonely in this battle.
Anyways, my test is in one week, and even though I won't score 700, I'm glad I tried so hard. No regrets. Of course, I know that I have learned so much from this experience and I like to think that my brain is a lot stronger than it was four months ago, which will benefit me for the rest of my life. I guess, that, in itself is a huge reward.
14 Dec 2020, 10:51
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romie75 - Wow. It's both a good thing and a bad thing to spend 450 hours of study. With such intense study, you would have easily gotten a very high GMAT scored, had you planned everything more strategically. For instance, are you reviewing your practice tests efficiently? Did you correctly identify all your weak areas and actively work towards improving on those areas? Also, please do not view the GMAT score as a three-digit entity; instead, please focus on the raw scores, or even better, focus on the sub-sectional scores. First, is your quant or verbal scores improving? Are you weak/strong in a specific subsection: sentence correction, critical reasoning, etc. My best wishes for your upcoming test.
14 Dec 2020, 11:05
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hey buddy!!! do not worry about anything. Just give your exam with confidence. You will definitely score 700.
All the best for the test next week.
All the best for the test next week.
14 Dec 2020, 11:23
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Hey Disciplinedprep!
Thanks for your reply.
Well I think I've been smart studying : I don't look at the answers until I've tried the drill on my own two or three times, I redo my tests twice to see where I get double wrongs and where I got lucky, I focus on my weaknesses (although oddly enough I am pretty even in all sections without standing out weak points). I have improved my verbal, I have plateau-ed at 37 and quants I'm stuck between 40 and 44. If time is not what I need then maybe my studying was not optimized (I wish I could figure it out!).
Do you really believe that anyone within 300 hours (only) of smart studying can get a 700 score...?
Thank you for the support!!
Thanks for your reply.
Well I think I've been smart studying : I don't look at the answers until I've tried the drill on my own two or three times, I redo my tests twice to see where I get double wrongs and where I got lucky, I focus on my weaknesses (although oddly enough I am pretty even in all sections without standing out weak points). I have improved my verbal, I have plateau-ed at 37 and quants I'm stuck between 40 and 44. If time is not what I need then maybe my studying was not optimized (I wish I could figure it out!).
Do you really believe that anyone within 300 hours (only) of smart studying can get a 700 score...?
Thank you for the support!!
