I just Beat The GMAT!

I am very disappointed and sad to inform you that i appeared for GMAT today and scored pathetically.

Overall 610 Quant 48 Verbal 27

I never got this low score in any of my mock tests. The lowest i got was 640 in the Kaplan and 640 in MGMAT CAT 1, which i wrote without any prep. I scored 760 on GMATPrep1 and 710 on GMATPrep2. I reinstlled the software and scored 760 and 710 subsequently. I am not sure how i got this low score.
In all the OG verbal problems, my accuracy was consistently above 80%.

i think i got too tired by the prep and lost all my energy by the G day.

MGMAT CAT1 640
MGMAT CAT2 650
MGMAT CAT3 680
MGMAT CAT4 710
MGMAT CAT5 710
MGMAT CAT6 720
Kaplan CAT1 640
Kaplan CAT2 680
Kaplan online 690
GMATPrep1 760
GMATPrep2 710
GMATPrep1 reinstalled 760
GMATPrep2 reinstalled 710
Knewton diagnostic 680

i think i got too tired by the prep and lost all my energy by the G day.

SPOT ON!! Its highly advisable to keep one's mind is active shape on the day of the test.

sharmasumitn1 wrote:I am very disappointed and sad to inform you that i appeared for GMAT today and scored pathetically.

Overall 610 Quant 48 Verbal 27

I never got this low score in any of my mock tests. The lowest i got was 640 in the Kaplan and 640 in MGMAT CAT 1, which i wrote without any prep. I scored 760 on GMATPrep1 and 710 on GMATPrep2. I reinstlled the software and scored 760 and 710 subsequently. I am not sure how i got this low score.
In all the OG verbal problems, my accuracy was consistently above 80%.

i think i got too tired by the prep and lost all my energy by the G day.

MGMAT CAT1 640
MGMAT CAT2 650
MGMAT CAT3 680
MGMAT CAT4 710
MGMAT CAT5 710
MGMAT CAT6 720
Kaplan CAT1 640
Kaplan CAT2 680
Kaplan online 690
GMATPrep1 760
GMATPrep2 710
GMATPrep1 reinstalled 760
GMATPrep2 reinstalled 710
Knewton diagnostic 680

As per Ron's request, i am putting my PM conversations with him on this thread.



i will point out that you are completely missing my point re: studying too much. the point is *not* being "motivated and alert" -- that varies from individual to individual.
the point is that the kind of learning that's required for the GMAT -- the sort of learning that involves conceptual understanding, and that links concepts together with relationships -- is *IMPOSSIBLE* if you are studying every single day.
go back and read the linked thread again.

the approach of "studying every day without wasting time" is only valuable when you are simply trying to memorize as many things as possible -- it's actually destructive to creativity, conceptual understanding, and lateral thinking.
this is why that sort of approach is found *only* in countries/cultures in which a very low value (perhaps even a negative value) is placed on creativity and independent thinking.

sharmasumitn1 wrote:
thanks for the response. I will take a couple of weeks off and start my prep again. can you please suggest any good prep material? I don't want to do OG and GMATPrep again as i have gone through them twice or thrice. I need quality fresh questions and tests to gauge my capabilities. I scored in the range of 640 - 710 in MGMAT CATs. I did the MGMAT CATs early in my preparation. I wrote the MGMAT CATs without proper timing strategy and without any plan to tackle question types. After i became familiar with the timing constraint and strategy for individual question type, my scores improved considerably and i started scoring above 700. I also did Kaplan CD CAT1 and CAT2 and score 640 and 670. I also did knewton CAT and scored 680.

I agree with your observation that without proper breaks it is immensly difficult to be motivated and alerted. I was aware of this fact, however it was too difficult to be away from preparation as i always have studied in the traditional way -- study without wasting time...without taking breaks...
I think most of the people study this way -- they keep studying, revising concepts without taking breaks...

I have really worked hard for this. I have studied MGMAT SC Guide twice. I have studied the PowerScore CR Bible twice. I have done OG 11, OG 12, OG Verbal Review twice. I was so confident this time by my mock test that i never even imagined that i will score in low 600s.

sharmasumitn1 wrote:

sharmasumitn1 wrote:I am very disappointed and sad to inform you that i appeared for GMAT today and scored pathetically.

Overall 610 Quant 48 Verbal 27

I never got this low score in any of my mock tests. The lowest i got was 640 in the Kaplan and 640 in MGMAT CAT 1, which i wrote without any prep. I scored 760 on GMATPrep1 and 710 on GMATPrep2. I reinstlled the software and scored 760 and 710 subsequently. I am not sure how i got this low score.
In all the OG verbal problems, my accuracy was consistently above 80%.

i think i got too tired by the prep and lost all my energy by the G day.

MGMAT CAT1 640
MGMAT CAT2 650
MGMAT CAT3 680
MGMAT CAT4 710
MGMAT CAT5 710
MGMAT CAT6 720
Kaplan CAT1 640
Kaplan CAT2 680
Kaplan online 690
GMATPrep1 760
GMATPrep2 710
GMATPrep1 reinstalled 760
GMATPrep2 reinstalled 710
Knewton diagnostic 680

As per Ron's request, i am putting my PM conversations with him on this thread.



i will point out that you are completely missing my point re: studying too much. the point is *not* being "motivated and alert" -- that varies from individual to individual.
the point is that the kind of learning that's required for the GMAT -- the sort of learning that involves conceptual understanding, and that links concepts together with relationships -- is *IMPOSSIBLE* if you are studying every single day.
go back and read the linked thread again.

the approach of "studying every day without wasting time" is only valuable when you are simply trying to memorize as many things as possible -- it's actually destructive to creativity, conceptual understanding, and lateral thinking.
this is why that sort of approach is found *only* in countries/cultures in which a very low value (perhaps even a negative value) is placed on creativity and independent thinking.

sharmasumitn1 wrote:
thanks for the response. I will take a couple of weeks off and start my prep again. can you please suggest any good prep material? I don't want to do OG and GMATPrep again as i have gone through them twice or thrice. I need quality fresh questions and tests to gauge my capabilities. I scored in the range of 640 - 710 in MGMAT CATs. I did the MGMAT CATs early in my preparation. I wrote the MGMAT CATs without proper timing strategy and without any plan to tackle question types. After i became familiar with the timing constraint and strategy for individual question type, my scores improved considerably and i started scoring above 700. I also did Kaplan CD CAT1 and CAT2 and score 640 and 670. I also did knewton CAT and scored 680.

I agree with your observation that without proper breaks it is immensly difficult to be motivated and alerted. I was aware of this fact, however it was too difficult to be away from preparation as i always have studied in the traditional way -- study without wasting time...without taking breaks...
I think most of the people study this way -- they keep studying, revising concepts without taking breaks...

I have really worked hard for this. I have studied MGMAT SC Guide twice. I have studied the PowerScore CR Bible twice. I have done OG 11, OG 12, OG Verbal Review twice. I was so confident this time by my mock test that i never even imagined that i will score in low 600s.

Ron,

I agree that the GMAT Verbal requires creative thinking. I also agree that too much study will not do any good to one's ability to comprehend the various patterns in the GMAT Verbal.

As per your suggestion, i am not going to study GMAT for couple of days i.e. i am thinking about around two weeks. What should be next step in order to retake the GMAT.

Can you please provide me some suggestions regarding how many CATs should i attempt ?

lunarpower wrote:i wrote the following on another post, but i'll cut and paste it here because it was mixed in with other things.

sharmasumitn1 wrote:Can you please provide me some suggestions regarding how many CATs should i attempt ?

while you are still learning things, there's no reason for you to take practice tests more often than, say, one test every 2-4 weeks.
remember that a practice test is an ASSESSMENT!
it is NOT AN IMPROVEMENT TOOL!
you can't get better at solving gmat problems just by taking practice tests!
imagine that you're a runner. would you just run race after race after race, hoping that you would magically improve, or would you run 1-2 races a month and actually train between them?
same here.

once you are close to your exam date, it makes sense to take a few whole practice tests with greater frequency, in order to practice timing and rhythm -- i.e., getting used to doing 2 essays and 37 quant q's and 41 verbal q's in a row, and learning to deal with fatigue.
when you do this, the idea is that you aren't going to review the problems very thoroughly -- you'll be past that point, and instead at a point where overall rhythm is your primary concern.

Ron,

Thanks for the feedback. It has been almost two weeks since i wrote the gmat. I have not started my prep again. Now, i am planning to take a whole practice test to see where i stand. Depending on my performance, i will focus on my weak areas. I am planning to practice the GMAT Paper Tests problems as i have already exhausted the official prep material. If i perform well above 700 in my practice tests, I will retake the GMAT within a month.

Hi SHARMASUMITN1,

looks like its the same situation for me.

I was consistently getting 700+ scores in prep exams and was very confident. Because I had to guess last 5 questions in verbal in last GMAT, I rushed this time and who knows may be I messed up couple of questions in first 10 questions or messed up last few questions in succession. But I remember I was getting kind of hard questions which made me believe I was dong fine.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/540-640-620- ... c731a0d0f7

If you wish we can be in touch with each other and discuss problems, methodology etc.

Thanks
[email protected]