Study: Week of Hell

I have been studying like hell all week! The weekend was full of furious review and multiple practice problems. I had the 2007 Kaplan GMAT study guide with a CD already purchased because I was thinking of getting started with studying. The CD has a program that mimics the CAT testing program.

There is a lot of material to cover. I am almost overwhelmed trying to fit it all in. Once the weekend was over it was back to work during the day. Trying to fit as much studying in the evenings as possible has been rather tiring. I know that a lack of sleep won’t help, but there is so much to cover.

I wrote a practice test on Sunday and got a low 500. Felt sick to my stomach knowing that a low 500 would not get me into any of the schools I wanted.

I am particularly worried about the essays since they are graded by a computer and then a human. Only if the two grades differ by a significant amount will they have a second human “re-grade” the paper and substitute their grade for that of the computer. How on earth can a computer accurately grade an essay?

Also, the computer adaptive testing (CAT) has me concerned. From my studying, I know that it is crucial to get the first 10 questions correct for each section. Since the test will give progressively high level questions for each correct answer, but will do so at small increments later in the test as it narrows the range. That is the CAT test will start with a 550 level questions. If you get it correct at the beginning of the test it will give you a question 100 points harder at the 650 level. If this same question were answered much later in the test correctly and then the test would give you a question 10 points harder at a 560 level. In short, it is hard to impossible to earn a good score if you bomb the first 10 questions.

Regarding study material, I am surprised at how much and little has changed since I was considering the test last time. In 2003 I purchased a Kaplan book and have found that the in the 2007 study guide the helpful pages reviewing all the simple triangles and other math tricks were no longer included.

Tonight, on the eve of the test I took another practice and only got a 540. That makes me sick. I stayed up till 2 AM reviewing everything I got wrong hoping that I could discover the flaw in my logic.

I feel like I was walking down the street and suddenly a starter pistol went off to begin a 100-meter sprint I was going to run next month. I wish I had a least a month to study and not the “surprise” of having one week before the test is discontinued in Canada.

(Update: See how this process went for a 2010 Queen's Candidate on their blog)