Barely-Lit

darknight.ire, Thanks for the sanity check here. :tup: I've taken prep courses, both at a university and online, and they all imply that if you go through their book (once) and take their CAT (once), that's considered prepping for the GMAT. :hmm: So, although it may be naive on on our part, for those of us who have gone through this process and ended up in the 400's, it's still a shock. By participating in this forum, I personally have learned a lot about what it takes to truly prep for the GMAT. :grad:

I need to try to determine what the next strategy should be for me in studying for the GMAT again. My previous approach was to review and study the concepts, and go through the practice problems in the OG (version 11). My thought was that if I do enough practice problems, I'll get the gist of it and do okay on the exam. I'm not looking to get a 750. I would honestly be happy if I scored a 650. Well, after using my version of a study method, I scored a pitiful 450. (See my post: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/just-finished-my-gmat/114145-i-am-absolutely-devastated-i-took-gmat-today-received-score-450-a.html ) It seems like my next strategy should be to just take as many CATs as I possibly can. It seems like an odd way to approach my next GMAT, but seriously, is that what everyone here on the board does? Does one just keep taking CATs over and over again until you get the score you want? It seems doing pracitce problems out of the OG wasn't a good strategy for me, so before I dig my heels into this, I want to be 100% certain this is the right approach. Thank you all for your insight and support in this!

Hey Patel, I took my GMAT today as well, and scored a 450, so I know exactly how you feel right now. (You can see my topic posted prior to yours.) I plan on taking the exam yet another time, and will also incorporate the suggestions m.campanella has proposed. I went to mba.com, and you can take the GMAT again 31 days after your test date.

Hey, Thank you for all the positive feedback - after the craptastic morning I had, it really helps! Regarding structuring my own practice packet - you recommend OG 10 (I have 11), as well as Kaplan/Princeton as well. Should I just randomly choose questions in each section, or do you recommend choosing questions in sequential order from each section, and after completing them, moving onto the next sequential order? (e.g. Using the OG, completing questions 1 - 20 for SC, 1-20 for CR, 1-3 for RC, 1-20 in PS and 1-20 in DS. Upon completing that, then moving onto the second study packet which would be questions 21-40 for SC, 21-40 for CR, and so forth). In addition to that and taking weekly timed tests, is there anything else you might recommend? Perhaps it's my wonderful mood today, but I have to admit I'm a bit ambivalent going back into this again. My husband even said he's even relucantant for us to fork over yet another $250. You are right though - I can't give up and I do need to stay hungry. I can't imagine staying in my current role for the rest of my life - I would rather take 20 more GMAT exams!

Scaled Score Percentile Quantitative 26 19 Verbal 26 40 Total 450 23 I am absolutely devastated. :( I just found this board today, so I'm hoping to get some advice. I couldn't believe that my score today was 450. This is my 2nd attempt at taking the GMAT. The first time was back in January of 2008 and I took the Princeton Review online course. My score was a 490. I was upset, but also felt at the time I didn't prepare as much as I could have, and was determined to retake the GMAT again. This time, along with the standard GMAT prep book, I took a very basic online review course with 800score.com. Actually, I preferred that to the Princeton Review course as it provided basic information, with no fancy "tools or tricks" to use, or any fluff. I've been studying every weekend for the last few months, and even took several days off from work this past week and reviewed all my material, and did a ton of practice questions. I actually felt pretty good about things. Even at the exam today, I went through the quantitative section and thought I did fairly well. I solved problems, and calculated answers that made sense - at least to me. When I finally clicked on the option to send my scores to the schools I selected, I was just shocked. I was expecting 550 - 600, and my score was 450. I should be able to get a score of 450 by just putting my name down. I just feel so stupid. I'm 40 years old, married with kids. My career is at a standstill. My undergrad is in Mechanical Engineering, which technically means I should be getting my best score in the quantitative section. Ummm.. NOT! I changed careers about 2 years ago to be a project manager, and honestly - I'm bored to tears. I was hoping to go back to school to really get a better understanding of business acumen and work toward a job that is more challenging. I don't know what to do now. Maybe I'm not cut out for this? I don't know what next steps to take. I feel like so much money has been wasted already with 2 GMAT exams (at $250 per exam) plus $500 toward the Princeton Review class, plus the cost of the 800score.com course. I have a hard time thinking about taking the exam a third time, and wasting yet another $250 plus any additional fees with taking more coursework to prepare. I went to mba.com, and found that I can retake the GMAT in 31 days. I don't know, I'm just disgusted with everything. I don't mean to be too cynical, but maybe it's not meant to be and I should just throw the towel in. I know in the back of my mind I don't want to, but I need some suggestions on what to do next. Is it even worth perhaps taking a classroom based preparation course? What else should I try?