640 Yesterday, bummer....

ethan42781 · Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:47 am Post subject: 640 Yesterday, bummer....

Well, I took that actual test yesterday and scored 640 (43Q,34V). My goal was to get at least 680. So I think Im going to cram for another month and retake it.
Ive studied for about 3 months and feel like my knowledge of the subject matter has increased dramatically. However, my scores are down from where they were about 1 month ago. Here is a summary of my prep.

1st practice exam w/o studying:
Princeton Review Online 560 (36Q, 31V)

I then read PR 2004 cracking the GMAT, the PR verbal supplement and the PR math supplement.
PR CAT 1 - 690 (42Q, 44V)
GMATPREP1 - 660 (43Q, 38V)
PR CAT 2 - 640 (40Q, 39V)
GMATPREP 2 - 720 (47Q, 42V)

At this point I felt like I had improved and would score at least in the mid-high 6's. So my strategy was to do all the problems in OG 11, and then I would be scoring in the high 6's low 7's. This was not the case. It took me 3 weeks to get through OG (working FT) and after I was done my scores had gone WAY down.

GMATPREP 1 (reinstall) - 610 (38Q, 36V)
MGMAT 1 - 610 (38Q, 36V)
GMATPREP 2(reinstall) - 640 (44Q, 32V)
MGMAT 2 - 640 (41Q, 37V)
PR CAT 1 (reinstall) - 690 (44Q, 42V)

The only sense that I can make of it is that I took no practice exams in between the 3 week period. This gave me a timing problem and increased my stress level while I was taking the exams (stupid mistakes).
So my strategy going forward is to review more problems but keep taking practice exams. Although I need to improve in both Q & V, I think I will focus a little bit more on Verbal. A 34 is just not acceptable for me.

Does anyone have any thoughts on my strategy thus far? Any good strategies for boosting my verbal score in 30 days? Thanks, Ethan

Prasanna · Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:31 pm Post subject:

You are having a very interesting case. Sorry to note your position though...

IMO there could be many reasons why your scores came down:

1. Your concentration levels came down for some reason
2. The additional prep was not adding any value as such and you were losing what you had learnt over time (a remote possibility though)
3. As noted by you, you could have built up stress for no reason.

Looking forward, I guess the key is to relax and revise the subject areas. You could take additional tests to see where you stand. I think in your case self confidence is the key.. If you were able to score more than 700 consistently, then you have it in you come back. Your lower scores are just a temporary phenomenon I guess.

If you need any additional inputs, the forum would be glad to help. Wish you good luck

mguerreiro001 · Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:23 am Post subject:

Hello Ethan,

Our scores/preparation story are alike. I took the test on friday and got 620 (Q43 V32). The test didn't look very hard. So, I believe I lost valuable points commiting stupid mistakes. I will take the test again in a month too and I will focus on data sufficiency, CR and RC questions. I believe the silly mistakes were probably done in these areas. THe sentence correction and problem solving area will naturally improve during this preparation period. I will use Kaplan Premier and reinstall powerprep to take it again. I found the real questions quite similar to Kaplan's (more than those in MGMAT).

I hope we improve!!! Break a leg!

ethan42781 · Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:37 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the responses. I agree, and think that it is a stress/confidence issue. I remember feeling more relieved coming out of the test knowing that I was finished with it than upset about my poor performance. It wasnt until later when I realized that I had stunk it up. Hopefully the stress is behind me now.

From now on Im going to use a stop watch on all practice problems so as to simulate the stress of the real exam.

Thanks, and good luck to you as well.

nqhussain · Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:59 pm Post subject: re: ethan42781

hi ethan42781 - because my scoring pattern is similar, i wanted to ask how did you end up doin on the actual test.

jimmy23 · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:24 am Post subject:

I also want to know about different and better strategy for verbal section.any ways congratulations on your nice score.

michelsmithm · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:57 am Post subject:

GREAT, CONGRATULATIONS Very Happy

richardwang6430 · Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 6:11 pm Post subject:

Congratulations.