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Require Help on Strategy

by Ishaan44 » Fri Nov 07, 2014 1:44 am
So i just gave the GMAT today, scored a miserable 640 (Q47 V32)

The worst part is I had my hopes really high since I scored a 720 in GMAT Prep Test 2 yesterday.

Can anybody here tell me what went wrong? The verbal in the actual test went horrible.

I am really dumbfounded and devastated, to say the least.

Would appreciate any help.

Thanks!
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by [email protected] » Fri Nov 07, 2014 10:22 am
Hi Ishaan44,

First off, a 640 is not "miserable"; it's just shy of the 80th percentile. It's understandable that you might be disappointed, especially if your goal was to score 700+, but the GMAT gave you the score that you earned. Now, you have to do some analysis of how YOU studied so that you can figure out what didn't "match up" with Test Day, fix those issues and then retest.

First off, taking a CAT the day before your Official GMAT was NOT a good idea. Taking a CAT requires a lot of effort and energy; it could very well be that you "burned out" a bit and you weren't at your best on Test Day.

I'd like to know a bit more about your overall studies:
1) How long did you study?
2) What materials did you use?
3) What were your scores on each of your CATs (include the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
4) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT every time (including Essay and IR)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?

6) How well did you sleep the night before your Test?
7) How long was the ride to the Testing Center?

Thankfully, Business Schools don't care if you take the GMAT more than once. Also, since the GMAT is standardized and predictable, you CAN train to crush it.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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by BestGMATEliza » Mon Nov 10, 2014 1:38 pm
I agree with Rich, a 640 is still a good score you should still be proud of yourself. Some important things to consider when analyzing your test day score:
did you get enough sleep before the exam? Were you extremely nervous so much so that it hindered your performance? Did you have enough to eat that day? Did you have too much caffeine? Did you take enough practice exams in test like conditions?

Knowing the answers to these will help you improve conditions for your next test day.
Eliza Chute
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by manyaabroadtpr » Fri Nov 14, 2014 3:26 am
Hi Ishaan,

Totally agree with the experts suggestions and tips. We just wish to add that Verbal becomes tough on the D day because we sub consciously pace the test in the same way as we have approached the quant. We either spend too little time on each question or too much. We must understand that the pacing and the approach for verbal is totally different from that of the math.
Also stress keeps building up as we proceed to the middle of the verbal section so we would have to make a few intelligent guesses and move on. At no point of time should we let anxiety or stress get the better of us.

Just cheer up!! 640 is still a good score to boast of!!
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