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Just grossly underperformed. Please talk me off a ledge.

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Just grossly underperformed. Please talk me off a ledge.

by ssilver » Mon May 14, 2012 2:43 pm
So, I've just taken the real GMAT. Scored a 670 (Q42, V40). Things felt pretty fine during the exam, was pleased with my pacing, and felt fairly assured of my responses.

I had taken the six MGMAT tests for prep, and my fifth and sixth MGMATs were 730 (Q45, V45) and 750 (Q48, V45) respectively. In each, I had achieved a 99% score in the verbal, and my understanding is that consensus seems to be that the MGMATs quant section relative the real thing is harder and computationally more intensive. Given that, I certainly wasn't expecting to do worse on the quant.

Anyway... obviously I blew it. Could it be that the MGMAT algorithm is off? I noticed that in each of my practice tests I closed out the verbal section with about a dozen consecutive correct answers. It seems that the MGMAT algorithm is forgiving of a few incorrect answers early on if you close really strong. Could it be that a few answers incorrect early on during the real test is irredeemable?

My quant skills are sort of peculiar in that I feel very strong in combinatorics, all types of word problems, and stats (generally more difficult q types), and less strong algebraically (easier stuff). I didn't get many of the aforementioned difficult q types on my exam. Perhaps I didn't get past the easy stuff to the q's that I am oddly more comfortable with.

F#&$*&%!

670 will totally not cut it for my target schools, so this definitely garners a re-do. Feeling so super defeated. Any consolation / proverbial back-patting would be appreciated.

Thanks.
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by MQ0451 » Mon May 14, 2012 5:41 pm
You'll need to take a look at your application. If you're applying to a top ten school, a 670 is low, but not the end of the world. If your application can make up for it elsewhere, either with great work experience or a strong undergraduate performance, you could still get in to some very good schools. Worst case scenario is that you learn from this test and you get set back a few months. That's not a life changing scenario. You're out a couple hundred bucks and have to spend some more weeks studying, that's hardly the worst thing in the world. While I can completely understand how disappointing it is to get a lower score than you were expecting, just remember to take it in stride and try to do better next time. If you decide that waiting to retake the test is the right choice for you, take a look at what could have thrown you off. Was it testing in an unfamiliar test environment? Try taking practice tests somewhere new each time (different libraries, for example). Did you take the test early in the morning, but you took your practice exams late at night? Try taking the exam next time as late as you can during the day. It sounds like you're doing well on your practice exams, so you know the material very well.

You have to realize, this is just a minor set back. When you get taken down a notch like this there is nothing you can do besides stand up, dust your self off, and get back at it. No one said it would be easy. Keep your eyes on the prize. Don't give up. Just keep at it and keep adjusting your plans until you nail it. You can do it. You've worked hard enough and studied long enough. Get back up there and show this test who's boss.
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by ssilver » Tue May 15, 2012 12:11 am
Thanks. I sincerely appreciate the thoughtful response, pragmatic perspective, and encouragement.

Indeed, I'm dreaming top-ten. Work experience is good, and probably quite atypical, which I hope counts for something.

It's true that I took all my practice tests late at night after work, and that today's exam was in the morning. I may do as you suggest and try to schedule the exam for later in the day next time. With respect to my practice environment, I typically I took practice tests at work after everybody else had gone home. But honestly, this morning I felt alert and focussed, and the environment was non-intimidating and actually quieter than I feared it might have been, so no excuses really.

Retrospectively, I feel like my studying hasn't been as content based as perhaps it should have been. Even if I underperformed, I could probably still stand to have a better grasp on some things.

I spoke afterward with my dad - who's a really smart, really competitive, guy - to debrief. He told me: 'You took a knife to a knife fight.' Meaning: maybe I was gonna do really well, maybe I wasn't, and that perhaps I hadn't put in the time to develop consistency.

I felt really bleak for most of the afternoon, but I think I'm coming around, and tomorrow I guess I'll be back at it. Tentatively thinking of a mid-July re-do.

Anyway, thanks again.
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by AbhiJ » Tue May 15, 2012 10:45 am
If I were you, I would take some of other tests - Veritas/Princeton Review, to gauge my GMAT Quant true level. MGMAT Quant is tough but scaling is leinent. GMAT Quant is quite different from MGMAT Quant. I would suggest you to buy GMAT Question Pack1 offered by GMAC and solve the 200 Quant Questions. You would see the difference. GMAT Questions very subtle and contain certain peculiar traps not found on the MGMAT. MGMAT Quant is rigrous, GMAT Quant is tricky - the solution is obvious - only after you see the solution.
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by Ashim88 » Sun May 27, 2012 8:41 am
I always run away from knife fights, but anyways.

If I were OP (original poster), I would still apply to some of those schools. The GMAT is just a piece of the application. If you have a strong undergraduate GPA (higher than the class average of where you are applying) - it can make up for a lower GMAT score.

Don't kill yourself over this test if you don't have to.
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