What happened?

by **Gmatter08** Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:21 am

I took 2 Practice MGMATs in December after the MGMAT online course and scored about 670 on each then I went away and did not study for about 3-4 weeks and came back and took the GMATPrep Practice exam and scored a 550!!! What went wrong?? I am taking the GMAT in 2 months and I took the MGMAT course in December. What do you suggest my strategy should be now? Thanks.

by **StaceyKoprince** Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:27 am

then I went away and did not study for about 3-4 weeks

You'd be amazed how quickly you lose the material. If you stop doing anything for a month, you'll lose your skills. You need to get back into your daily study regimen - from now until the test, every day (or almost every day).

GMATPrep doesn't give you any feedback about your strengths and weaknesses so you'll have to go pull it out yourself (or you can take another MGMAT test and run the assessment reports). Go figure out what's still okay and what's not okay and use that to set your study priorities.

Also, if you aren't taking the test for another 2 months, you need to review absolutely everything in that timeframe - anything you don't review from the class, you will not remember 3 months after the class ended.

For others reading, if at all possible, try to take the test within about a month of finishing your course - and study daily even after the course ends. Otherwise, you'll start to forget things!

by **Guest** Fri Feb 01, 2008 7:21 am

Thanks for the reply Stacey. Yes, definitely it seems like I have forgotten a lot of things especially methods, timing directions etc. Since I have 2 months I am thinking of retaking the class (there is one that starts this weekend) and refreshing and then continue studying for about 10-15 days after the class and take the test. Do you think thats a good idea? How soon after the course ends should one "ideally" take the test? Many thanks.

by **StaceyKoprince** Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:53 pm

It varies depending on whether the student was able to keep up with the homework while the class was going on. Most people should take it about 2-4 weeks after the class ends, unless the student really wasn't able to do a lot while the class was ongoing.

The class runs for 9 weeks, so if you have 2 months, it doesn't seem you will have enough time to finish the class... Maybe you meant to type 3 months? Re-taking the class can be a great idea if it provides you with the needed discipline to make sure that you stick to the study schedule. You will have just seen the material last year, of course, so you may find, at times, that you remember something well and so won't feel as stimulated during class - though you likely will also learn new approaches and perspectives if you study with a different teacher this time around. If you can get over the occasional feeling of "yeah, I already know that" then retaking the course could be very beneficial in your position.

Good luck and happy studying!