Yikes! 560 Q:40 V:27

[williamscottgarrison]

I began studying for the GMAT about 5 weeks ago, and have only been working with the MGMAT prep guides for about 2 weeks. I knew I wasn't ready for the test, but wanted to go ahead and take it to see where I stood.

CAT 4/16/10: Q:35 V:33 570
CAT 4/21/10: Q:42 V:30 590
GMAT 4/29/10: Q:40 V: 27 560

AWA: I think that today's AWA went rather well. However, I was running low on time during the issue section and had to whip together a conclusion and was unable to proof read my analysis. The topics were easy to write about and I was able to use recent situations from work for elaboration.

Took a 3 minute break.

Q: Overall I thought I did very well. I looked up after 20 questions and still had 45 minutes left. This surprised me. I decided to slow down a bit, and allow my self a few extra seconds per question to check all of my work. I continued working through the section with ease. I began to worry. Where were all of the absolute value, radicals, train A Vs. B distance, dripping water into a tank equations I was so worried about? (Looking at my score, I guess I wasn't doing as well as I thought I was in order to warrant such questions) Anyways, I moved on and finished the section with time to spare.

A side note, one of the biggest mistakes I made during prep was answering the MGMAT Q SG's without actually reading the books 4 days prior to my exam. I was flying through the HW banks, and felt I had a grasp on whatever was in those books. I was wrong. I had a grasp on the fundamentals of Q, but lacked the high level of understanding needed to do well on the 600 level questions. This prep shattered my confidence. I spent the last 4 days trying to rebuild my confidence in Q without touching the V. So, If you want a sure fire way to send your confidence through a royal rumble cage match before the test, I highly recommend focusing on only 600-700 level questions.

Also, the lights above me were causing a huge glare on my laminated notebooks. I didn't pick up on this during the AWA because I wasn't using them. It was during Q that this glare became really annoying. I had to hunch over my note-booklet to cancel out the glare, which made me uncomfortable. So I highly recommend, looking for this issue before you start the test. If a glare exists, maybe they'll let you move to a different computer.

Took a 4 minute break.

V: I wasn't doing well, and I knew it. For some reason, 2/3 of the way through the Verbal portion, my mind seemed to quit absorbing information. It was weird. I would go to answer the question and would totally forget what I had just read. I blame some of this on the Quant crash course I embarked upon after failing the Quant Question Banks I attempted prior to my test. I think I was mentally exhausted. Anyways, I finished the section with a couple of seconds left and had no idea where I stood. I was hoping low 30’s, but....no.

Looking back on my experience, I'm glad I took the GMAT when I did. I learned a lot about the test, how to prepare for it, and myself. I have a good plan for preparing for my next test which is in the first week of June. Think I might have to go and see if I’m still one of Mrs. Shirley’s favorite high school students after 12 years. I wonder if she’ll tutor me for free?

Overall, I'm okay with my score. It is good enough to get into my safety schools but needs about 70 points to get into my top choice. I feel this is attainable since my quant score has improved over the last few weeks. However, my verbal score steadily decreasing does worry me a little bit. I think that if I hone my skills in Quant and relearn how to correct a sentence I’ll be okay.

Also, if you have any advice, I would love to hear bout it!!

I hope someone finds this post useful.