can you please help tutor me ron?

[ann0221]

Hello- I'm sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong place but I am hoping this message finds it's way to Ron someway...

I just sat for my first gmat test on 12/2 and scored:

590/58% (q 44/61%, v 27/45%, ir 7/82%, awa 4/21% )

My last 3 full and 2 verbal-only MGMAT CAT exam scores are as follows:

11/23/13
Quant 39 49 %
Verbal 28 48 %
Total 550 47%

11/24/13
Quant 44 63 %
Verbal 37 81 %
Total 670 84%

11/29/13
Quant 44 63 %
Verbal 34 69 %
Total 640 73%

12/1/13
(I just guessed c on every quant problem, so I could practice verbal after I finished watching your two strengthen/weaken cr recordings)
Verbal 33 67 %


12/1/13
(I just guessed c on every quant problem, so I could practice verbal after I finished watching your two strengthen/weaken cr recordings)
Verbal 37 81 %

I am very grateful for all the advice, instruction and help I've received in the full 9 week course and weekly sections. I definitely felt that I had much more knowledge and had many more tools to work with on exam day than before going through the MGMAT program. However, my score on the actual exam only went up 10 points from the first MGMAT CAT test which I took without any prep.

I feel the knowledge that I had on test day really could have produced a better score.

Some things that I think went wrong on test day:

-I had such terrible anxiety that I only slept 2 hours the night before

-I ran out of time on both the math and verbal section, guessing on the last 3ish math problems and 4ish verbal problems.

-I found the verbal to be much harder than I had expected.

-I don't know how I allowed this to happen, but I spent 4 minutes on the very first verbal question, which was a sentence correction problem.

-I felt so confident about S/W/A questions the day before after my practice exams but on the actual test found that I was guessing A LOT between the last 2 answer choices in S/W/A CR questions.

-That, coupled with the fact that I think I have a false sense of how good I really am at RC questions bc I have done so many CAT tests that I was beginning to remember passages on the practice tests and probably was scoring better as a result, and therefore naturally perform much worse on brand new RC examples on the actual GMAT.

At the time I sat for the test I had been preparing for the GMAT exam for about 4 months since Aug about 30 hours a week: completed a full 9 week course, did most of the assigned homework, attended section religiously, did practiced problems in the OG, took practice CAT tests to help work on my stamina/timing (my timing still is poor but I just don't know how to fix it, I am constantly screwing up), and watched a few ad hoc focused TWR videos.

Post exam, I have been trying everything. My score really shook me and I was hoping that maybe if I spent more time with instructors that things would somehow turn around. I signed up for office hours which was really helpful because sadly enough I had been using the OG archer but not made use at all of the assessment tool. I also attended the most recent 750+ workshops for SC, PS and DS. However, today I had one of the worst study days and just am questioning everything that I'm doing. I feel overloaded with material and strategies. I had difficulty looking at problems clearly today. I couldn't remember super elementary things all day; I'm scared that as I learn new things I'm forgetting the old material. I don't know where to go from here.

My next GMAT test is on Jan 4, 2014 because I am trying to apply for round 2. I know that it is very short notice and I would understand if you already have a booked schedule, but if you have any availability I was hoping you could help private tutor me through MGMAT?

My email address is ann0221@gmail.com.

Hope to hear back,

Ann

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry that you're struggling with your prep. It sounds like anxiety is creating a real problem - see below for a resource that might help.

Ron does participate on the forums, but I'm the person who answers questions in this particular folder. If you'd like to work with a tutor, you need to call or email our office (800.576.GMAT or gmat@manhattanprep.com). You can request a specific tutor (though that person may not have availability - as I'm sure you can imagine, Ron is typically very busy, especially this time of year). The more flexibility you have (able to meet at odd times - weekday mornings, for example), the better.

Your test date is only a couple of weeks away; you don't mention your goal score, so I don't know how much more you're trying to improve, but because the timeframe is so short, you may have to make a tough decision to go for a lower goal score. (Or push your test date out, which sounds like it will mean changing your application dates.)

Because you took our course, you're eligible for a free Post-Exam Assessment (if you haven't done it already). This is a phone call with an instructor to figure out what happened on test day and come up with a plan to re-take the test. If this applies to you, please send an email to gmat@manhattanprep.com and request the Post-Exam Assessment (I'd recommend doing this even if you do sign up for tutoring).

I'll also give you some advice myself, based on what you told me.

For the anxiety problems, see whether this will help you:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... mat-score/

For timing, first let's adjust your mindset. Read this:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/

Has this been your mindset / how you have approached both your studies and the testing situations themselves? If not, that will be the most important switch to make.

Next, here's how to study with that mindset:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

And here's how to do better with the timing (two articles):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -to-do-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

Go sign up for the PEA and talk to the tutoring department to see whether anyone (including Ron) has any availability. (Though I'll let you know: it would be tough for any tutor to make a huge impact in only 2 weeks.)