Bad News Bears...

Greetings Fellow whoever reads this...

So the other day I said that I would have a good post for (yesterday).  I forgot why I said that.  I wonder if I had some epiphany to update you guys on.  Maybe it will come back to me as I write tonight.

So first the Good News Bears... then the Bad News Bears...

Good News:  I'm putting the pieces together for my trip up to visit Dartmouth Tuck (which may not even be a reality anyway...will get to this later).  So initially I was planning on taking the bus up to Hanover on Thursday 3/25.  I would get up to campus around 8pm... check into my hotel... study in the hotel and get ready for the next day.  The next day I planned on attending a class, having lunch with Tuckies, touring the campus, and attending an Admissions q&a.  I would then hopefully talk with some students who weren't busy and then head back to my hotel, to be up early the next morning to catch the bus back to the city at 6:30am.

I wanted to reach out to some current students first to meet them for coffee while I was up there and pick their brains.  I emailed a member of the Gay/Straight alliance and a Fellow at the Center for Digital Strategies.  Both responded within 24 hours, which is more than I can say for other schools.  I spoke with the member of GSA last night and although she won't be around when I'm visiting, she said she would definitely make sure that I met some members and got to speak with them.  So that right in and of itself is amazing!

Like I said, I also reached out to a Fellow at the Center for Digital Strategies... he told me that on the 25th there is going to be a speaker.  He said that if I was sure to reach out to him again that it would be great if I could sit in on the event..  So of course at this point I'm jumping up and down inside.  There was one problem though... I wouldn't get up to Hanover until the 25th @ 8pm.  So what do I do?  well... easy...  extended my stay an extra day.  So now I will get up to Hanover on the 24th at 8pm... study in the hotel... go to the event on the 25th.. hopefully set up a line of meet and greets and coffee drinking.  I don't even like coffee anymore...so maybe I'll drink tea.  Then on the 26th I'll do all of the visitor(y) things and end my weekend the same as planned.

So that's the Good News Bears... the reason why all this may not even matter is below:

Today I studied modifiers... definitely not a fan.  A lot of them I can get but then they throw in Which and That and I say "Oh crap" and can't remember the rules for using them.  I think that is used when the modifier is necessary and which is used when it's non-essential.  I could just pick up my book and figure it out, but it's on the floor and I'm in my bed.

My list of things to review is growing longer than the list of things that I know.  This is very concerning and disheartening to be honest.  I'm hitting a wall and I'm not a fan.  I won't say that I thought this would be an easy process, but I thought I would be able to retain more information than I have.  I'm on information overload and none of it is straightening out in my head.  Frustrating = YES!

You see I'm the type of person that needs to do problems over and over again.  Sure I'll get frustrated when I don't get the answer right the first or second time, but I'm pretty solid at recalling processes after that.  The way the information is provided in my MGMAT class may not be the most conducive way for me to retain information.  I'm also beginning to think that the class isn't meant for material to be retained immediately.  I believe it's to present the information you will need to know to do well on the exam, and then when you do your month of self study post-class you'll know all of the tricks.  I've recently come to terms with this set up but it's beginning to frighten me.

I'm starting to doubt myself.  Will I be able to score a 710+ on this exam?  If so... what will it take?  If someone can tell me this information I'll be eternally grateful!  I think what I need is for this class to be over asap... and then I need to be able to make my one month calendar/study plan and stick to that.  It's going to have to be a realistic study plan WITH breaks dispersed throughout.

I will be taking my second MGMAT CAT exam on Saturday.  As much trouble as I've been having lately, I think I need this test to validate my studying, with an increased score.  You know how sometimes you've been in a bubble that you need a dose of reality to show you have you've been doing? Well yeah... that's where I am now...

My goal for this next CAT is 630.  That will be a 40 point increase since the first exam.  Tomorrow I need to skim through everything I've done up until this point and go through my notecards again.  Just to refresh my memory.

I don't have any more updates from my friends... but once I hear something I will let you all know!  ::sigh::  this is taking the energy out of me like it's nobody's business!  I need to get break 700 or I think my chances will be very very slim for any of these top schools.

sidnote - it looks like HBS is creeping up on Tuck in my poll!