I studied for the GRE for 4 months, took the official test 3 times (practice tests 4 times), and switched to GMAT where I studied for 3 months and took the exam twice; and now, I've decided to go back to the GRE. My score was higher on my last GRE and my GMAT score was horrendous. I would need a minimum of 100 more points on my GMAT to be in my goal range. Plus, I enjoy studying for the vocab and solving geometry problems; I dislike number reasoning, data sufficiency, and grammar questions.
I've never quit anything in my life, but I'm really running on fumes. What would you recommend on how I should study for my switch back to GRE studying? Any recommendation on hours/quality of study? Previously, I studied at least 2 hours per weekday and 6-8 hours per weekend with a practice test done bi-monthly. I had an error log that I revisited at least twice. Is there such thing as "hitting the ceiling" or point of diminishing returns? Have you met/tutored anyone similar to my case? If so, how did you help that student, or how did that student help him- or herself? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
-Lifelong learner who wants to change the world.
GMAT Forum
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- YoungY508
- Students
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- Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2017 11:06 am
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9361
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
Re: HELP! Running on FUMES!
Hi! Love your tagline. 
And thanks for coming to the GMAT vs. GRE workshop last night.
Okay, it sounds like you feel comfortable with your decision to move back to the GRE—yes? Or is that something we still need to discuss / debate?
First, if you feel like you are running on fumes, you may just literally need to give yourself a break. You can safely break for up to about 3 to 4 weeks without losing much of your knowledge / momentum. (And you can break longer than that, but you'll then just need to plan in some extra time to get yourself back up to current speed.)
I can't remember whether you said you are planning to apply this fall. If so, it may be the case that you decide to go for round 2 to give yourself time to take a solid mental break right now. (If you do this, give yourself a minimum of 1 week. And I really recommend asking yourself what you think you're comfortable with—and then adding 1 week to that. If you shortchange yourself here, then you won't actually get the full benefit of the mental recharge that you need.)
During that break, do not do anything test-related. You have 100% complete permission to not think about it, study for it, talk about it with friends & family, etc. (You may decide to work on some aspects of applications during this time or you may not—up to you.) Make sure that you are taking steps to help the mental recharge: getting full sleep every night, doing some kind of physical activity (sport, exercise, walking, yoga?) that you enjoy, taking time to connect with family/friends (brunch / happy hour / shared activities), and giving yourself good "me-time" for whatever you want to do. (This can also include things that you've been letting slide and that's stressing you out—eg, when I'm really busy and I don't have time to do basic cleaning / tidying around the house, I get stressed out as clutter piles up and stuff gets dirty. It actually helps me relax to clean up!)
You might also use this time to develop some Mindfulness practices that can help you when you're ready to study again (and that will help with life in general, actually!).
Start here:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/
The above article links to some free resources from UCLA.
There's also this program:
http://www.10percenthappier.com/mindful ... he-basics/
It has a free 1-week trial and is then paid, but I've had several students who have really liked it, so that's another option.
Next, when you're ready to resume: At this stage of the game, the goal is not to review / re-read / re-do everything. You already know a bunch of stuff / have a lot of skills. The goal is to :
(1) diagnose the specific areas of "low-hanging fruit" that are the best opportunities for you to improve,
(2) work on those things for 2-3 weeks to improve,
(3) take another practice test,
(4) use that new data to diagnose the new areas of low-hanging fruit that represent your best ROI, and
(5) repeat the cycle.
What is low-hanging fruit / how do you do this? Take a look at this article, which talks about how to analyze a GMAT exam (yes, GMAT—because that's what I write about
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ts-part-1/
You can use those same principles to analyze your GRE data—get yourself to your "buckets" (you'll learn what that is when you read the article series. Note that your buckets are not hard-coded—they can change after every practice test. They're just helping you to identify the best opportunities for you right now, for the next couple of weeks.
It may be the case, as you're doing this, that you realize you have hit a wall on certain things—and, in that case, one thing you could try is some tutoring. You have to decide whether the expense is worth it to you, of course, but a tutor can sometimes help you to break through those walls. An expert tutor knows how to ask questions / examine your work to diagnose issues that you may not even realize you have. And an expert tutor should know multiple ways of approaching / thinking about something so that they can recommend alternative approaches / find something that works better for you.
Re: your related question, is it possible for someone to just hit their limit? Yes. I have had students who I thought had a certain scoring potential and it was true that they never went beyond that level*. Some students have proved me wrong, though, and have gone higher than I would have said they could. (*I didn't, of course, tell the students, "Oh, I think it's unlikely you'll get beyond XYZ score." That could just turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy!)
What do you think about all of that?
And thanks for coming to the GMAT vs. GRE workshop last night.Okay, it sounds like you feel comfortable with your decision to move back to the GRE—yes? Or is that something we still need to discuss / debate?
First, if you feel like you are running on fumes, you may just literally need to give yourself a break. You can safely break for up to about 3 to 4 weeks without losing much of your knowledge / momentum. (And you can break longer than that, but you'll then just need to plan in some extra time to get yourself back up to current speed.)
I can't remember whether you said you are planning to apply this fall. If so, it may be the case that you decide to go for round 2 to give yourself time to take a solid mental break right now. (If you do this, give yourself a minimum of 1 week. And I really recommend asking yourself what you think you're comfortable with—and then adding 1 week to that. If you shortchange yourself here, then you won't actually get the full benefit of the mental recharge that you need.)
During that break, do not do anything test-related. You have 100% complete permission to not think about it, study for it, talk about it with friends & family, etc. (You may decide to work on some aspects of applications during this time or you may not—up to you.) Make sure that you are taking steps to help the mental recharge: getting full sleep every night, doing some kind of physical activity (sport, exercise, walking, yoga?) that you enjoy, taking time to connect with family/friends (brunch / happy hour / shared activities), and giving yourself good "me-time" for whatever you want to do. (This can also include things that you've been letting slide and that's stressing you out—eg, when I'm really busy and I don't have time to do basic cleaning / tidying around the house, I get stressed out as clutter piles up and stuff gets dirty. It actually helps me relax to clean up!)
You might also use this time to develop some Mindfulness practices that can help you when you're ready to study again (and that will help with life in general, actually!).
Start here:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/
The above article links to some free resources from UCLA.
There's also this program:
http://www.10percenthappier.com/mindful ... he-basics/
It has a free 1-week trial and is then paid, but I've had several students who have really liked it, so that's another option.
Next, when you're ready to resume: At this stage of the game, the goal is not to review / re-read / re-do everything. You already know a bunch of stuff / have a lot of skills. The goal is to :
(1) diagnose the specific areas of "low-hanging fruit" that are the best opportunities for you to improve,
(2) work on those things for 2-3 weeks to improve,
(3) take another practice test,
(4) use that new data to diagnose the new areas of low-hanging fruit that represent your best ROI, and
(5) repeat the cycle.
What is low-hanging fruit / how do you do this? Take a look at this article, which talks about how to analyze a GMAT exam (yes, GMAT—because that's what I write about
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ts-part-1/
You can use those same principles to analyze your GRE data—get yourself to your "buckets" (you'll learn what that is when you read the article series. Note that your buckets are not hard-coded—they can change after every practice test. They're just helping you to identify the best opportunities for you right now, for the next couple of weeks.
It may be the case, as you're doing this, that you realize you have hit a wall on certain things—and, in that case, one thing you could try is some tutoring. You have to decide whether the expense is worth it to you, of course, but a tutor can sometimes help you to break through those walls. An expert tutor knows how to ask questions / examine your work to diagnose issues that you may not even realize you have. And an expert tutor should know multiple ways of approaching / thinking about something so that they can recommend alternative approaches / find something that works better for you.
Re: your related question, is it possible for someone to just hit their limit? Yes. I have had students who I thought had a certain scoring potential and it was true that they never went beyond that level*. Some students have proved me wrong, though, and have gone higher than I would have said they could. (*I didn't, of course, tell the students, "Oh, I think it's unlikely you'll get beyond XYZ score." That could just turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy!)
What do you think about all of that?
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
2 posts Page 1 of 1