Can't Explain It, Quite Shocking Really

[devincrane719]

Hello all,

I'm currently writing this in the throws of dispair and I've reached a new low in my pursuit of GMAT excellence. I have, within the last few hours, finished my second attempt at the Graduate Management Assessment Test. At this time, I am truly at a loss and am unable to make sense or logically put together what transpired during my second exam. I feel like a failure, having let myself down, and as important to me, let those supporting me throughout this process down.

My first exam was taken a month ago. I had completed the MGMAT course a month prior. I completed all the associated homework, I was doing practice problems nightly. I studied on average 3-4 hours per night. I made notecards for areas that I was really weak in. I studied what my OG Archer indicated were my weaknesses. I even hired my MGMAT teacher as a private tutor for an hour per week until the day of my test. Come test day, I felt prepared, anxious but prepared. I knew there were areas that I was weaker in than others, but I knew that I could take the exam and have an expectation to my exam. My practice scores indicated that I should score in the mid-600's. I took the test.

610, 40Q, 35V, 6.0AWA 6.0IR

I was nevertheless disappointed. I knew I could accomplish more. I shouldn't have taken as long on some quant questions as I did. I knew I could do better.

I registered again. I began studying for this next exam 8 hours a day. I studied my quant knowing that this area was my primary weakness. I studied verbal and the associated weakness areas that I knew I needed to focus on. I studied harder than I have studied in a long, long time. I continued with my tutor for another 11 hours of private tutoring. I took it today. I thought it was going well. Apparently my assumption was very, very wrong. My preparation failed me.

550, the rest doesn't even matter.

I look at myself, and I feel like I've failed. How can all of my preparation go to waste. How can I drop down so poorly? I just don't know.

I'm determined to get better and I want to get better. I'm just going to take a break now. Need to refocus, re-evaluate and see what I can do. I've just never have felt so low from a test.

Good luck to you all on your pursuit.

[RonPurewal]

hi,

so here's my best hypothesis about why you did so much worse:

I registered again. I began studying for this next exam 8 hours a day.

... and that's mostly why.

if you are actually studying that much, you are more or less totally destroying your brain's ability to think and form intuition.
those skills -- along with creative problem solving, etc. -- are not built while you study; they're built during your time away from studying, while your brain is at rest.
in fact, the timing with which your brain builds the neurons required for those processes is not unlike the timing with which your body builds muscle. you don't build (or repair) muscle while you work out; that happens during the rest and sleep (and days off) that you get afterward.

imagine the kind of physical shape you'd be in if you worked out for 8 hours a day, every day. horrible! you'd probably have multiple injuries, and your non-injured body parts would definitely be much weaker than before.
same thing with the neural connections required for creativity, critical thinking, flexible problem solving, thinking, and even common sense.

when you step back from the test, you should think carefully about what this test does and doesn't involve. if you really give some thought to that, then you'll realize (unless you've forgotten your first-year high-school math, or you aren't familiar with the structure of the english language) that there's very little knowledge to acquire. instead, this is a test of (a) strategic thinking -- especially on CR and RC, which require no concrete knowledge at all -- and (b) recognition of mostly basic concepts (in SC and math problems), rather than memorization of obscure or "advanced" things.

I studied my quant knowing that this area was my primary weakness.

if you decide to take the test again, you should focus on strategies -- especially alternative, non-textbook strategies (like backsolving and "plugging in" on multiple-choice problems, and testing cases on DS problems).

I studied harder than I have studied in a long, long time.

again, too much of this is probably the biggest issue. this is not a "work, work, work" kind of test; it's a test of strategy and reasoning.

in fact, i'll make you a bet: i'll bet you that, if you do no preparation at all and then come back and take the test again, your verbal score will be higher than it was on this past attempt.

good luck.

[devincrane719]

Thank you very, very much for your response Ron. I really appreciate your thoughts. I believe your assessment to be correct in that I was putting too much emphasis, too much time into studying and not enough time into developing the appropriate strategies of the exam.

Right now, I'm taking a break for awhile. I'm going to reload so to speak and come back with a much different plan, attitude and perspective. I'm going to relieve myself of the sheer amount of study and instead focus on short, key bursts. Attempting to focus on my thinking ability and intuition.

I'm definitely going to take the exam again. I still think the material is fun, interesting and it develops my ability to think critically. I'm not defeated, just a little deflated. I know I'll do better the next time.

Perfect practice makes perfect execution.

Thank you again.

[RonPurewal]

Good luck.