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Bad GMAT Test Experience

by chris6 » Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:00 am
I recently sat for the GMAT test and received a 470 (Q-31/V-24). Two days before I took the real test I scored a 580 (Q-40/V-29) on the GMAT Prep and a week before this I scored a 550 (Q-42/V-24) on GMAT Prep. The conditions for the practice exams were pretty close to the real thing, it just wasn't in the same environment, obviously. I completed the essays and took approximate 8 minute breaks between sections.

After scoring well in Quant I decided to focus most of my efforts on verbal before the real exam. I studied very hard a couple days leading up to the test (atleast 6 hours a day) and on the day before the test I studied about 4 hours. I noticed that I rushed through the Quant section and possibly made careless errors. I just can't understand how my quant score dropped so low. I learned most of the basics from the MGMAT guides and got a tutor and still performed poorly. I need to get in the high 500 range if possible. I scheduled a retake on November 30th.

What do you think could have happened? Is the quant on the real test a lot harder than the GMAT Prep practice tests? I did notice that I got a string of problem solving questions at the beginning of the test. I am actually better at DS. I really need some feedback. What could have happend? Was I nervous? I'm really not sure what the heck happened. I did notice a couple of days before the test I started getting a lot of CR questions wrong that I previously had gotten right. I think I started second guessing myself.

How should I prepare for this next go around? What is the best way to prepare for the tough questions? I have thirty days and I can't let the GMAT beat me.

Thank you
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by Bryant@VeritasPrep » Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:01 am
Depends on which practice tests you took. Some are more difficult and some are easier. I would recommend a prep class, where a qualified instructor guides your preparation. They are usually up to speed on the current tests and how to best prepare. Results from this type of preparation can be dramatic. It's worth the cost!
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Enroll now. Pay later. Take advantage of Veritas Prep's flexible payment plan options
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by gmatplayer » Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:50 pm
Sorry to hear that. I had same experience
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by DanaJ » Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:17 am
While your verbal seems to be in line with your practice tests, your quant is obviously not. In order to get more relevant feedback regarding your strategy, I suggest you provide the following:
- books used
- amount of time dedicated to study and amount of time you can dedicate from now on
- any specific strategies that you're unsure about

I'm sure you'll do better next time with the right approach and resources!
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by chris6 » Sat Oct 31, 2009 5:52 am
I studied for a few months with the MGMAT guides. I felt that I learned most of the math concepts. Do you have any tips in identifying what concept is being tested? The concepts are always disguised.

Anyway, I scored a 42 and a 40 in quant on both GMAT Prep exams about a week a part. I feel something must have happened on the quant on the real test. This is the only thing that I can think of. I must have rushed through carelessly making mistakes. What do you think could have happened? I felt that I was second guessing myself also.

I understand that if I scored around a 40 in quant one time and it being a fluke, but two times a week a part. This told me that my ability in quant is around a 40. Wouldn't you agree?
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by DanaJ » Sat Oct 31, 2009 1:56 pm
While I can't say for sure (2 GMATpreps vs. the real thing are not statistically relevant - we usually need more than a sample of three to establish some sort of clear opinion) what your true level is in quant, the evidence points to 40 level. There are several possible reasons why your score went down:
- test anxiety - you might be stressed and underperform, in which case welcome to the club! Only a handful of people go in the test room completely worry-free, so you should think of it this way: if everybody else does it, I sure can as well!
- timing issues - timing is a problem in both ways, running out of or having too much of... My advice is to always time your practice, no matter if you do a set of 10 questions or a CAT. Teach yourself to go slower if you say you finished the section with too much time on your hands.

Knowing concepts down is good, but don't stress if you can't "name" them exactly. I scored a 50 in quant and still can't clearly tell the difference between algebra and arithmetic! It's practice that's essential - practice with a solid background, of course.

If CR is your weakness, I recommend the PowerScore CR Bible. It did miracles for me - CR was by far my weakest point when I started.
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by chris6 » Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:32 pm
Thanks for the pointers. I do believe that timing was an issue in the quant. I remember speeding through and later realizing I was well ahead of my time. I believe that I made a lot of careless mistakes on easy questions. This is what had to have happened. This was due to nervousness or test anxiety, whatever one would call it.

I rescheduled another test at the end of November. In the month that I have I am going to focus a lot on verbal, but also revist my math strategy guides and redo some of the in action questions as needed.

I actually just bought the CR bible and plan on using it. Can you briefly tell me what strategies they recommend. I usually write down the conclusion
and then answer the question. Is there a better strategy?

Thanks for the help!
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by DanaJ » Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:30 pm
Actually, the book deals with 10 distinct CR question types. It would be impossible for me to summarize the strategy they present in over 200 pages, so my advice is to just read the book. You'll see - it's a really pleasant read.

Just writing down the conclusion might not be the best strategy, since you could find yourself looking at a question that asks something markedly different from the conclusion (i.e. resolve the paradox or strengthen or weaken).
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by Stacey Koprince » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:11 am
Received a PM asking me to respond. I'm sorry you had a negative test experience.

Several things can cause a big drop on test day (and, usually, it's a combination of some or all of these things). For a much more in-depth discussion, take a look at this article:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/26 ... went-wrong

The things I noticed from your post:

First, you took a practice test two days before. That does nothing positive for you, and it potentially does something negative: tires you out right before you take the real test. MGMAT's official position is not to take a practice test within 3 days. I'm more conservative - I tell my students no practice tests within 5 days.

Your quant score on the final two practice tests was pretty consistent and your real quant score represented a substantial drop. Your verbal score was more inconsistent on your practice tests, and your real score matched the score on one of your practice tests.

So, quant was an unexpected drop. Verbal was already a bit variable, and that played out on the real test.

Next, you mentioned messing up the timing on quant - rushing through and possibly making careless errors. The key questions: on how many and which questions? If you made a lot of careless errors on questions that were rated below the score you were trying to get... then, naturally, you wouldn't be able to reach the score you were trying to get. Unfortunately, they don't give us that data, but we can try to pinpoint things a bit more specifically.

When you say that you "rushed through," what do you mean? Did you finish early? Did you notice at some point that you were way ahead on time? Quantify this. By how far were you ahead? On how many questions? How much time did you have left at the end?
I did notice a couple of days before the test I started getting a lot of CR questions wrong that I previously had gotten right. I think I started second guessing myself.
If you do a lot of work in the couple of days before the test (and you did), then you are always going to zero in on whatever you think is not going well, and then you're going to lose confidence and start second-guessing yourself. That's just how human brains are wired; we always think we're in the slow lane during the traffic jam. This is another reason why you really don't want to do a lot of work in the last couple of days. You risk tiring yourself out and you risk psyching yourself out - when it's too late to do anything about it. So don't make this mistake next time.
What is the best way to prepare for the tough questions?
Don't make this mistake either. Your issue is not with the tough questions - if you focus too much on the tough questions, then you will continue to make mistakes with the lower-level questions, and you will not raise your score to the tough level in the first place. The thing that brought you down from your hoped-for high-500 was NOT the harder-than-high-500 questions. The thing that brought you down was the questions in the 500 range.

Post the details about your timing (answer my questions above) and also take a look at that article and post answers to the relevant questions from that. We'll figure out what went wrong so that you can minimzize the chances of this happening again next time!
Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

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by chris6 » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:00 pm
When you say that you "rushed through," what do you mean? Did you finish early? Did you notice at some point that you were way ahead on time? Quantify this. By how far were you ahead? On how many questions? How much time did you have left at the end?

Thank you for responding Stacey. Well, I felt that I rushed through, because I did notice that I was a few minutes ahead of time from normal (2 min per question). I'm never ahead of time like that. So, I assumed that I must have made a few careless errors. I also noticed this carelessness yesterday when I completed several questions on Magoosh. The questions that I got wrong weren't because of lack of understanding the concepts, but errors that I could have avoided if I understood the question more clearly by slowing down just a bit. I ended up using a quite a bit of time on the last questions, because I had a few minutes extra.

I'm taking the test again at the end of the month. I have been really focusing on SC and improving the verbal. I purchased the PowerScore book for CR and I plan on hammering this down next week. The final two weeks of this month I plan on reviewing all quant fundamentals from the MGMAT books, timing, and OG problems.

I was also going to take one or two more GMAT Prep exams during the course of the month. I will have to redo the tests in the software that I have already taken. I know that I won't get a really accurate score, but I wanted to get a feel for the real thing again.

Does this sound like a descent plan? Let me know what you think.

Thank you in advance for all of your helpful feedback.

Chris
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