Beat The GMAT

aapegasus · Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:36 am

Hi BTGians

I just got back from my test center after a real dismal performance and need your help. Managed to score a bare 580 (Quant 44 Verbal 25 Crying or Very sad

). I was not surprised to see my score, as half way through the test i realized that i was not doing good. AWA was fine although i got a topic for analysis of an issue which was pretty vague. Quant problems really boggled me down starting with four problems on inequalities. I took my time in solving those 4 questions(about 8-9 mins). The problems just got more and more tough and i managed to mark the answers although i was not confident or sure of the answer for atleast one single question Crying or Very sad

. Most of the answers were a guess. Geometry problems were also tough (or should i say that i have not prepared well. Actually i have never encountered such questions in OG/Quant Review or any other source. BTW i did not refer to any manhattan gmat books or tests)
One after the other the questions all seemed so tough to me and the lack of confidence whether my answers were right or wrong pushed me to do more mistakes and lose my concentration and confidence. Also i feel that i have mismanaged my time. Took more than 4-5 mins for pretty simple problems and finally made a guess after realising that i have wasted much time.

Once i finished my Quant section i was feeling low and dejected coz Quant was my forte considering my engineering background. (BTW i have a 8.51 GPA in my under grads from one of the premier institutes in India and 4 years of IT experience). In the second break i realised that Quant was a flop show but somehow decided to make up in verbal section. Verbal started off good with a few SC and RC's. Again i was not sure whether my answers were correct or not. I was really not confident of the answers. Half way through i completely lost interest in the test and was hardly trying to concentrate for the rest of the questions. Before reporting the scores I felt that i would get much less than 580. I did not expect to score more than 44 in quant but was more dissapointed when i saw the verbal score of 25. BTW i never scored less than 32 in verbal in any of the GMATprep tests.

Things i learned:
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1.) OG quant/GMAT prep is really not the indicator of GMAT Quant. BTW I have attempted all the questions and managed to get 80% of them correct although i never timed myself while solving. Solving in time( less than 2 mins) is the most important thing to do for GMAT. I guess this is one major reason for my poor show in Quant.
2.) SC/RC/CR questions in real GMAT seemed to be of the same difficulty of those in GMAT prep or OG (or may be because i never encountered the toughest ones while writing the test).
3.) Although i never wrote a test with AWA, i feel that did not really effect me while writing the test.
4.) Lack of confidence really beats you when attempting standardized tests.
5.) I did not write many mock tests. I just wrote the two GMAT prep tests in which i got scores of 580 and 660(3 days before the test with 3-4 repeats).

Materials used for preparation:
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1.) OG 11/12 - OG 11 Quant Review and Verbal Review
2.) Manhattan SC Guide
3.) 1000 series for RC/CR/SC
4.) Magooshdotcom for quant practice.
5.) All Quant and Verbal questions from GMATPrep. This atleast helped in losing fear about that white and blue screen.

Ask:
---

I was actually targeting for a 650 in GMAT but now after this poor show my confidence seems to be completely shattered Sad

.I dont want to miss the second round deadlines for the Top 35-50 universities.

What are the materials that i should follow now?
Will i be able to reach the 650 mark with another 45 days of preparation?
Can some one please suggest some ways as how to overcome my fears and build some confidence Sad

?

Thanks in advance. Will be eagerly waiting for your response.

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prasantnaidu · Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:13 am

I am not an expert but reading your story two things are quite clear.
1. Time Management.
2. Keeping aside the AWAs during your mock tests.

I think you yourself have realized the essence of time management. Moving to the second topic, you need to give a complete mock test with all your AWA,Quant and Verbal. Even i did the same mistake as a result on the D day when I was in the mid of verbal my cells started dieing and the mind starts becoming lazy.It happened with me so try this and see how you score in full mock tests.
Manhattan books are really great you can give them a look.

All the best for your chase.
Keep Rocking,
PN.

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rohittk · Wed Oct 21, 2009 7:53 am

You should also complete all the 6 manhattan tests and review them properly. Manhattan really provides very good explanations.The tests will also help you in building stamina and tackling fatigue during quants.

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rohittk · Wed Oct 21, 2009 7:54 am

You should also complete all the 6 manhattan tests and review them properly. Manhattan really provides very good explanations.The tests will also help you in building stamina and tackling fatigue during quants.

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ownedbytheGMAT · Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:53 am

Dude,

Your problem is psychological! You got a 44 in your Quant and you let your wrong perception of a poor performance affect your shot at the GMAT verbal!! Dude the GMAT is computer adaptive: meaning the better you do the harder the test becomes.

When you retake, PLEASE, clear your mind and be optimistic. You can easily get to the 700s if you don't let your mind mess with you!!

Good luck buddy!