Hello! and thanks in advance for reading and your willingness to give advice.
Background...
I started this long treacherous journey about a year ago. I decided that business school was for me and I decided that I should aim to go to one of the very best schools.
When I first started my GMAT prep I read through some post on this site and sites like this one, but I haven't been led to post until now because I could really use some help.
I took the official GMAT the first time January 26, 2013 and I scored a 490![:oops:]( "Embarassed")
after averaging about a 550 and scoring even a 590 on practice exams. Last Saturday, June 1, 2013 I took the GMAT again and I scored a 520 ![:?]( "Confused")
after averaging about a 580 and scoring even a 640 and 630 on practice exams. I'm thankful that I scored above a 500 because I needed to earn above a 500 to participate in a MBA prep program this coming fall. However, I need a higher score. I want to earn at least a 650 and at this point I want to go for earning a 700+ since I've put so much time, effort, and money into this ordeal already.
In preparation for my last test I re-enrolled in an in person Veritas Prep course. (I really should have waited to retake this course, at the time I had way too much going on in my personal life and I didn't dedicate enough time to completing homework) Then for about a month and a half I reviewed all of the books. Typically I spent a day reading through the lesson plan then another day doing practice problems with two of my classmates. I also completed practice exams every Saturday up until the week before my test. I decided not to take a practice exam the week before the test because I sometimes experienced test anxiety (but perhaps I should have, because I seriously tanked in terms of timing during my retake)
Also I did take a crack at utilizing an error log, but I didn't gain much from this because it just seemed like I needed improvement in every area lol![:lol:]( "Laughing")
.
So here I am a few days after retaking the GMAT in need of some advice. I know earning my target score of 650 or higher (hoping for 700+) is going to take hard work, and it's going to be uncomfortable, and it's not going to be an easy task. However, after a year or so on this journey I have to admit that I'm apprehensive about the amount of time I continue to dedicate. In preparation for my last test I pretty much only focused on GMAT, but after not coming close to hitting my score I question if I "over studied". This time around I want to earn my target score, but I also want to have some sense of balance in life (i.e. rejoin Toastmasters, volunteer, exercise 4-6 days a week, maybe enjoy summer somewhere in there lol). Can someone help?? How should I proceed?
Background...
I started this long treacherous journey about a year ago. I decided that business school was for me and I decided that I should aim to go to one of the very best schools.
When I first started my GMAT prep I read through some post on this site and sites like this one, but I haven't been led to post until now because I could really use some help.
I took the official GMAT the first time January 26, 2013 and I scored a 490
after averaging about a 550 and scoring even a 590 on practice exams. Last Saturday, June 1, 2013 I took the GMAT again and I scored a 520 
after averaging about a 580 and scoring even a 640 and 630 on practice exams. I'm thankful that I scored above a 500 because I needed to earn above a 500 to participate in a MBA prep program this coming fall. However, I need a higher score. I want to earn at least a 650 and at this point I want to go for earning a 700+ since I've put so much time, effort, and money into this ordeal already.In preparation for my last test I re-enrolled in an in person Veritas Prep course. (I really should have waited to retake this course, at the time I had way too much going on in my personal life and I didn't dedicate enough time to completing homework) Then for about a month and a half I reviewed all of the books. Typically I spent a day reading through the lesson plan then another day doing practice problems with two of my classmates. I also completed practice exams every Saturday up until the week before my test. I decided not to take a practice exam the week before the test because I sometimes experienced test anxiety (but perhaps I should have, because I seriously tanked in terms of timing during my retake)
Also I did take a crack at utilizing an error log, but I didn't gain much from this because it just seemed like I needed improvement in every area lol
. So here I am a few days after retaking the GMAT in need of some advice. I know earning my target score of 650 or higher (hoping for 700+) is going to take hard work, and it's going to be uncomfortable, and it's not going to be an easy task. However, after a year or so on this journey I have to admit that I'm apprehensive about the amount of time I continue to dedicate. In preparation for my last test I pretty much only focused on GMAT, but after not coming close to hitting my score I question if I "over studied". This time around I want to earn my target score, but I also want to have some sense of balance in life (i.e. rejoin Toastmasters, volunteer, exercise 4-6 days a week, maybe enjoy summer somewhere in there lol). Can someone help?? How should I proceed?