The entire world came crashing down on me when I saw my score on the screen. I could not believe it! I was doing decently in the practice exams, yet I received a 550! I was confused, so was my family members, who saw me working hard for the exam, for the last three months. I was not sure what went wrong!
I spent the night after the test watching Netflix. I didn’t want to deal with the pain of pondering over the score. For the last couple of day, I started to think about the test and I was able to point out some possible reasons. Let’s start from the beginning.
The Preparation
The practice scores are given below. I improved from 500 to 670 at some point, but crashed down with a 550 in the real test. :(
Score Graph
Individual Score Graph
I scheduled the test on Dec 10, 2011, three weeks after the course. My target was a 720. I realized that I may not get it if I don't work hard. So, I took three weeks vacation from work and planned to spend the vacation in three parts: reading, practicing, and revising.
I had two weaknesses: timing and verbal. For timing, I started using a handheld stop watch, instead of the iPhone app I was using at that time. For the verbal I decided to cover more materials. Here is the list of all books I used.
MGMAT Books (5 quant, 3 verbal, 2 foundations) - Covered during the course
MGMAT Advanced Quant
Doing Grammar
Aristotle SC Grail
Aristotle SC 100 Collection
Aristotle RC 99
Aristotle CR Set
PowerPrep CR Bible
During the first week, I finished 4 passages, 5 CR, 20 SC - all from Aristotle books, every morning. In the afternoon I finished a chapter from the Advanced Quant. In the evening, after returning from the gym, I read a chapter from the PowerePrep CR and skimmed thru a chapter from Doing Grammar. Here is the CAT on at the end of first week - 670 q48/v33.
Note that, although I made a lot of improvement in quant (q45 to q48), my verbal did not improve even after investing a lot of effort in it, a mere improvement of 1 point, from v32 to v33. I realized that I needed more practice rather than just reading a ton of books.
At this point, the continuous study without a break also started to take toll on me. I started to disliked the preparation.
However, I liked the PowerPrep CR so much, that I decided to finish it. For some reason, I stopped following the schedule I created before. I continued to finish PowerPrep CR and Advanced Quant.
About a week before the test I started doing the OG. I had about 50% covered during the MGMAT course. I was trying to finish the rest of the OG. A big mistake was that I did not review OG carefully. I was just concentrating on finishing it.
Although Stacy warned me before, I made a huge mistake by taking another GMATPrep on Dec 06 - 620, four days before the test. Taking CAT test frequently does not improve the score.
I just lost my hope at this point. I was aiming simply for a decent 630-650.
The rest of story is simple. I went on to take the test and got whatever I was destined for. :(
The Lessons Learned
1. Do not cram everything in a short period of time. Take the time to build up your skill, slowly and effectively.
2. Do not cover a ton of books. Make a list of good and proven materials and just focus only on those.
3. Always make and follow plan. If you fall out of the plan, readjust. But don’t let it go altogether.
4. Use OG, and review your mistakes. Use OG, use OG, use OG.
5. Do not do CAT exams frequently. CAT exams don’t improve your score, practice does.
6. Take breaks, a day off etc. Do not burn yourself out in the last few days leading to the test.
What Worked Well?
1. My timing sense was near perfect. Although I miscalculated the timing during the verbal, I was always on time. I used a real stop watch and it worked well for me.
2. My quant is solid now. I finished the Advanced Quant - all 150 problems. However, I will probably need more DS practice. But this is not of primary importance.
3. I studied a lot of books. So the theoretical basis is covered.
4. Although, I did not score well the exam execution was good.
Future Plan
1. Need to focus on Verbal. My plan is to do 10 SC, 10 CR and 3 RC from OG everyday for two weeks.
2. Take test on every two weeks.
3. Two hour of DS every weekend.
Questions to You
1. How long do I study before I take the next exam? I shifted my focus to 2012 for application season (i.e. 2013 MBA). Also there is a test change coming up in June 2012.
2. Do I need to cover any other material? I know it is an absurd question. But I feel, I could use some more SC coverage.
3. Is there any other course that might be helpful for me? Should I consider taking personal verbal course? For instance, I can take MGMAT personalized verbal course for $185/hr. But it is too costly! :(
4. Do you see any other problem with my preparation?
5. Do you have any other suggestions?
