...and that Sir is how I got owned by the GMAT

[rahulshah2008]

So I have been prepping for the GMAT for a good two months - from the end of Jan through 3/27 when I took my GMAT. Over the 6 weeks prior to the test, I would say my intensity was a good 7-8 on a scale from 1-10 (10 being the highest). When I took the first GMATprep test I was surprised to see that my verbal score was higher than the quant and I overall I did a 650. I was rather happy about it as my target score is approx 720 and I got the 650 without any practice from any source other than doing the 90 or so problems that come with the prep software and ensuring test conditions.

So I order the MGMAT set of books, the OG13 and the additional guides. Interestingly as I studied more, the practice CATs kept getting lower. Sounds weird right? Its not really because the more I studied the smarter I got and the more I started dwelling on problems and this led to a timing issue. I knew I had to work on my timing and the only way to do this was by taking more tests. I needed more practice and so I ordered the Kaplan Premier to get access to the Kaplan tests.

The following is my CAT history

Source Date Test Number Overall Score
MGMAT 10/28/12 1 580
GMAT PREP 2/4/13 2 650
MGMAT 2/17/13 3 550
MGMAT 2/21/13 4 540
Kaplan CD 5 570
Kaplan CD 6 540
Kaplan CD 7 570
Kaplan CD 8 590
MGMAT 3/8/13 9 610
MGMAT 3/11/13 10 650
MGMAT 3/12/13 11 590
GMAT PREP 3/13/13 12 670
GMAT PREP 3/14/13 13 650
Kaplan Premier 3/19/12 14 690
Kaplan Premier 3/20/13 15 660
Kaplan Premier 3/21/13 16 680
Kaplan Premier 3/25/13 17 690
MGMAT 3/25/13 18 710
Kaplan Premier 3/26/13 19 680

As you see my score went down and then as I worked on my timing, it started to climb. For the last 10 tests, My average math score was about 48 with an 85%+ percentile and verbal was approx 34 and 81 percentile. This increased my confidence and so I sat down for the GMAT.

Test day - 3/27/2013 - overall score 610. Q - 46/71 and V - 28/66 WHAT!??!!! This is lower than my GMATprep scores and almost as if I had not studied at all.

Devastation galore as I was going to apply in round 4 and seemed like that was not an option any longer for a good school and I would have to wait another year (I am in my early mid-30s and the goal was to get into a good MBA program while still considered somewhat young).

Now that I have given it some thought I made a list of what I believe I did wrong and what I did right:

Right -
MGMAT books and went through each one of them.
Got a good grasp of the fundamental (as best as I could)
SC Grail completed
Multiple CAT test under simulated test conditions
All OG problems and reviewing answers on thorough review of all answers, especially the wrong ones.

Wrong -
3 tests in the two days prior to the exam. There must be some truth to not taking test consecutive days.
Math practice the night before (I was nervous) the main game. I think this causes lack of sleep or bad sleep (for me at least).
Verbal prep not extensive enough.
Losing my nerves during the test.
Not confronting the proctor of the test for cutting my second break in half. I used the restroom and as soon as I got back the proctor logged in and I lost 3-4 minutes of my second break. I didnt want to create a scene in the test room or get even more nervous prior to the verbal section.

Needless to say I will be taking the test again. I am all ears for any input anyone may have.

[RonPurewal]

Source Date Test Number Overall Score
MGMAT 10/28/12 1 580
GMAT PREP 2/4/13 2 650
MGMAT 2/17/13 3 550
MGMAT 2/21/13 4 540
Kaplan CD 5 570
Kaplan CD 6 540
Kaplan CD 7 570
Kaplan CD 8 590
MGMAT 3/8/13 9 610
MGMAT 3/11/13 10 650
MGMAT 3/12/13 11 590
GMAT PREP 3/13/13 12 670
GMAT PREP 3/14/13 13 650
Kaplan Premier 3/19/12 14 690
Kaplan Premier 3/20/13 15 660
Kaplan Premier 3/21/13 16 680
Kaplan Premier 3/25/13 17 690
MGMAT 3/25/13 18 710
Kaplan Premier 3/26/13 19 680

This is WAY too many practice tests.

In general, I recommend the following:

* If your test is not right around the corner, then one practice test every 2-4 weeks is enough.

remember, practice tests are NOT a tool for improvement!
they are only a diagnostic tool. they will not improve your skill set, since they're too diverse"”they don't offer any concentrated practice in, well, anything.
the only reason to take practice tests, at this stage, is to get a diagnosis of what you actually need to study. once you've got that diagnosis, you don't need another diagnosis for at least a couple of weeks.

this whole "practice test addiction" is a major problem, because, essentially, you're wasting the time you're spending on all ... those ... tests.

Devastation galore as I was going to apply in round 4 and seemed like that was not an option any longer for a good school and I would have to wait another year (I am in my early mid-30s and the goal was to get into a good MBA program while still considered somewhat young).

An extra year or two isn't going to kill anyone. If you are a quality candidate at 33, you will still be a quality candidate at 36.

For people in certain fields, like Wall Street stuff, the difference between, say, age 25 and age 30 can be significant; many industries have more of a rigid/standardized timeline on which people are generally promoted (with exceptions for superstars, of course).
On the other hand, especially if you are already older than the median, an extra 1-2 years will make little difference indeed.

You may also want to look into executive MBA's, which may be better suited to your current position.

Multiple CAT test under simulated test conditions

this should be a "wrong"; you took way too many tests.

All OG problems and reviewing answers on thorough review of all answers, especially the wrong ones.

...maybe.
a case could be made for going through all the problems in, say, quant or SC.
on the other hand, there are many more CR and RC problems than anyone should ever need.
in those two areas, by the time you've gone through, say, 1/3 or 1/2 of the OG content, your approaches are pretty much set in stone"”and further studying will accomplish very little.

in CR and RC, there's no stuff to know, and no "rules" that can help you solve the problems. worse, trying to memorize such "rules" will actually HURT your ability to solve the problems, because it will crowd out the actual human reasoning that is the sole vehicle for success in CR and RC.

Wrong -
Verbal prep not extensive enough.

This is probably off, too. In fact, you may have prepared too much for verbal, especially CR and RC. In each of those two areas, you shouldn't really need to spend more than 10-20 lifetime hours studying.
If there are still problems beyond that point, then (a) further studying will likely just exacerbate them, and (b) it becomes an issue of stepping back and re-evaluating your entire mentality, not just cramming more problems.

Not confronting the proctor of the test for cutting my second break in half. I used the restroom and as soon as I got back the proctor logged in and I lost 3-4 minutes of my second break. I didnt want to create a scene in the test room or get even more nervous prior to the verbal section.

Well, for heaven's sake, why not?

There'd be no reason to "make a scene"; confrontations can be firm, yet professional and even gentlemanly. Especially if you're going to have a career in business.