HELP - GMAT soon and I've hit a brick wall

Question

There are so many success stories on this forum and 700+ GMAT masters. Can you give me some advice?

I took the Magoosh practice test today under exam conditions (including doing AWA and IR beforehand) and got V36 Q36.

Below is a summary of the study that I've done so far:

Jan 2016: Started reading about the exam format using OG 2015. Did some practice questions in Quant, SC and CR

Feb 2016: Did the first practice exam in the GMAT software by GMAC (free) and got V42 Q40.

Mar - May 2016: I did every single DS, PS, SC and CR in the OG 2015 and looked at where I got questions wrong and why. Have a journal for facts to remember/recurring errors
Focus on Quant because it is my weakness

June 2016: Signed up to Magoosh and did all lessons for Quant and all the lessons I needed for Verbal. Started a more comprehensive error log.

Since start of June 2016 I took time off work and I have been studying GMAT full time 5-6 hours a day for 5 days a week (some times a few hours on weekends). In total I would have done at least 100 hours since start of the year. Most of this time has been spent on Quant.

In the past week, I've been doing Quant and Verbal practice questions - 75min at a time. Then spend at least that much time thoroughly going through the answers.

My exam is less than 2 weeks away. I'm not sure what else I could do to improve. My predicted score seems to have declined/not improved since my first GMAT practice (during which I was relying more on my raw/intuitive skills rather than the lessons and methods learnt).

My concern is not the score itself (perhaps I'll just resign myself to a low 600), but the fact that I don't seem to be improving.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear sxyw , I'm happy to respond. :-)

First of all, please keep in mind that score prediction is NOT an exact science, particularly because the precise algorithms used by GMAC are top secret. It's much more an art than a science. Therefore, I would take the exact prediction from the Magoosh score with a grain of salt: it's a good ballpark figure, but not necessarily as rigorous as the GMAT Prep (who knows how accurate even that is!!). I would NOT interpret it as a sign that you are not improving. I don't know whether you have read my blogs on stress-management techniques, but it would be a very good idea to make yourself an expert in these in your last two weeks: 1) Overcome GMAT Exam Anxiety: Breathe! 2) Beating GMAT Stress 3) The GMAT, Business School, and You: The Big Picture 4) Zen Boot Camp for the GMAT Also, you have absorbed a great deal of information, but now would be a good time to appreciate different perspectives, ways of looking at problems from a new perspective. Along these lines, see: How To Do GMAT Math Faster It might be good to go back to Magoosh and watch some of the introductory lessons again, for example that Introduction to Math module. Now that you have all the detailed knowledge, it might help to reinforce the big picture. The very best thing you could do as you continue to study is to use the stress-reduction techniques to relax into your confidence. When you are loose and relaxed and open, you naturally allow your best self to emerge. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

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