I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi Gmat Beaters out there,

I just came back from my first Gmat and I am very surprised by the score. I usually have a lower quant score (40-42) and a relatively high verbal score about 44.

Quant has been my major concern, so I focused my studying on maths, while verbal has always been very good. Does my score mean, that I just got very lucky in quants?

I also felt very exhausted towards the end. I had a light breakfast (egg whites) and took a high protein/low carb bar with me. However, I still felt very hungry towards the end.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to improve stamina/concentration?

I am bit at a loss here on how to proceed. It's like back in uni times when the shit essay got the highest score and the essay one researched the best (and expected a pulitzer price) was just soso. (WTH???)

Thanks for any feedback in advance.

Lancs

Hi,

I think you score can easily be improved. Do book a date in the near future. Here are some suggestions to improve your mental stamina:

1. Don't go in with self-fulfilling prophecies like "I suck in math" etc. Also the algorithm is a bit skewed so the raw scores you see don't really reflect your true potential. Accounting for differences in position, and frequency of mistakes you can end up getting very different scores in Q and V for the *same* number of mistakes. Say you made 10 mistakes each in Q & V - you can end up getting a 49 in Q and a 39 in V. Ofcourse I am not considering the difficulty of the questions (which in turn depends on the position/type/frequency etc).

2. Conserve your energy on the AWA part so go in with some pre-planned templates. Once you get a topic just start hacking away at it and don't use your brain power too much. Save all the juice for the "real" test. If you are able to get away with a 4.5 then take it. This will make you feel completely energized at the start of quant while it will still keep you engaged.

3. Utilize your breaks well to eat/drink something that will keep you stomach from rumbling but at the same time give enough carbs/energy to keep you going. Some favorites in this category have been bananas, chocolate, cereal bars, and energy drinks such as Red Bull.

4. Practice as much as possible with simulated tests. That is pretty much the only way to build up your mental stamina. So take atleast 4-6 tests (take the GMATPrep a minimum of 4 times - 2 X 2). Take it in the same time you have booked your GMAT slot. Take it as you would on the day of the test - with same break time (~5minutes), no interruption (no checking emails, phone calls, text messages), with both the AWA essays, and with no caffeine/nicotine boosts.

HTH,

Arun

welcome to the club, i wont comment on the serendipity factor- it does play a role in giving u +-1 point but not this much. maybe u were not properly rested or committed on ur practice tests at home which brought u the lower scores in quant.


anyways, congrats on the score- did u have the additional half an hour integrated resoning section after the verbal, how was it ?

@ arun

Thank you very much for your suggestions! i will def. take practice test at the same time as the actual test under similar condidtions. And experiment with Red Bull. I am just still very surprised at how much I can suck on something I am actually usually very well at.

@ bblast

Hi! So yeah, I guess I was a lot more focused on the actual test. However, I studied with Kaplan and their online resources. Which everyone on this forum claims to suck at quants, ie too easy, where as verbal was too difficult. On Kaplan, my math score was usually rather low compared to my verbal score.
I had the 30min extra time for the data interpretation thing. I just had a look and clicked through the whole thing. My nerves were rock bottom and i was starving by then. Basically, the maths is very easy, but you have to know how to find the information in the graph/table etc.

thanks lancs- i definitely wont be left with too much of an energy for that last section.

BTW scores were displayed before the half hour extra section or after it ? I mean to ask is the process after the verbal section same ? or anything new ? BIQ's etc.

You don't get to know your scores until after the end of the additional 30 min testing. Which to me is not a motivation to really do those questions! I wanted to know my score immediately.

So even if I had the energy to go for another 30 min - the curiosity would have killed me.

yup, agreed, we are probably not school kids that we need to be forced to sit in by holding back the scores, anyways, thanks for the info, wonder if they would at least allow me to take a leak after the verbal section ?

Just relax!! Chances are nerves got better of you as you were a tad too anxious during the test...I too have traveled in the same boat an year back...