I bombed* the GMAT (relatively speaking) (very long)

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*Disclaimer: I am aware the term "bombed" is relative. I've read a few posts around here saying that words like that in this context might be offensive to some. I don't mean to offend anyone by saying I "bombed" the exam with the score that I got. I have very high expectations for myself, I am planning to apply to top 10 schools, and I had reason to believe I would get 700+ (my original goal).

This is long - my apologies. I think it helps me to write it all out and just get it out there.

I only registered for an account today, but I have been reading the forums for a few months now and have gained a lot of information in preparation for my GMAT. I was hoping I would be able to share a happy story today, but instead, I'm mentally preparing myself for more studying and a re-take.

A little background about me - I'm 25 years old, US citizen, graduated with a BBA with high distinction from Michigan, and work at a boutique marketing strategy/new product development consulting firm.

I picked up the OG 11 in December of last year as I started to think about taking the GMAT. I did a few problems and left it lying around as I focused on other commitments. Come April I realized I better get my butt in gear and I buckled down to study. Overall, I studied 2-3 days a week during the work week and 2-3 hours on the weekend.

Shortly after I bought the Kaplan complete study guide because I heard it was harder than the actual exam. Breezed through that and took my first practice test online. Got a 650. I could handle that - after all, it was my first practice test, things had to go up from here.

I continued to fit studying in between long work days and ended up scheduling my GMAT for July 21st. It was shortly after a major deadline at work and before my birthday, so I thought it would be a good birthday present to myself to get it out of the way. Unfortunately, because of the major work deadline, I didn't get any studying in two weeks before the exam.

I think I got nervous and overcompensated by taking a lot of exams. I analyzed the problems I missed, but I don't think I spent enough time with them. Still, on the practice tests I took, the scores I got gave me confidence that I would meet my 700+ goal.

My practice test breakdown is as follows:

6/14: Kaplan CAT: 650 total, Q43, V39
6/20: MGMAT CAT #1: 680 total, Q47, V36
6/28: MGMAT CAT #2: 690 total, Q43, V40
7/3: GMAT Prep #1: 710 total, Q45, V42
7/18: MGMAT CAT #3: 710 total, Q42, V45
7/18: MGMAT CAT #4: 650 total, Q44, V35
7/19: MGMAT CAT #5: 740 total, Q46, V45
7/20: GMAT Prep #2: 700 total, Q44, V41

As you can see, my practice test schedule got very stupid the weekend before the test (including taking 2 in one day - one in the AM, one in the PM. DO NOT DO THIS EVER!!!). I think I psyched myself out knowing that I hadn't been able to study for a week while I took care of a major work deadline, and tried to cram for it. In retrospect I should not have done this for multiple reasons, but all in all, I still felt good going into the test given I was getting mostly 700+ scores.

I got to the test center Tuesday morning for my 8 am exam. Signed in and got cracking on my first essay. The proctor immediately taps me on my shoulder and points to the screen. I look at the top of the screen where I notice the name at the top is not my name! They signed me in as the wrong person. Our names were not even close to the same.

So I have to leave and re-sign in, re-scan my palm, and get my picture re-taken. I plop back down at the computer and get started again. The essays were pretty easy and I felt good about them, so I thought I was off to a great start. I took my break, ate a banana, and sat down for quant.

Quant was my biggest concern. I was up and down with quant. Overall, I felt about as good as I could have hoped with the quant. I had to guess on a few but was able to make educated guesses, and I never really felt stuck or panicked. Finished up that section with 5 seconds left and took a short break, knowing that my bread and butter, verbal, was the last piece of the puzzle.

I sat down and tackled the first few problems. I think the first 3 were sentence correction, which I feel really confident about. RCs were alright, but the second one was long and very complicated. I had a feeling I missed one or two of the 3 questions about it but I didn't feel like I bombed it. The rest of the verbal section wasn't too bad in my opinion - I felt pretty good about all but maybe one or two answers.

I finished up with about 5 minutes left over and finally got to the report score screen. I clicked "report scores" and felt my heart beating out of my chest (I suffer from panic attacks so this is a bit scary for me). The score comes up...

650. Q46. V34.

I think I sighed really loud and a few others heard me. Based on my practice exams I thought for sure I was on pace for a 700+. I felt like someone just sucker punched me. I didn't think the verbal was THAT hard, so I was stunned at my craptastic verbal score.

I left the test center so distraught and frustrated, I didn't know what to do. It was such a lonely feeling.

Today I'm feeling a bit better, so I thought I would share my story and what I learned from my experience.

1. Pace your studying properly. I took way too many practice exams before the test. I didn't feel like they were wearing me down, but I'm sure they did. I should know better - I have trained for 2 marathons. I should know the week leading up to the marathon is time to rest for your best performance. I screwed myself for that test as well as my next ones because I don't have as many fresh questions as I should.

2. LEARN from the practice tests. I'll be honest - I reviewed my wrong answers, but did not fully digest exactly what the answer explanations were teaching me. I paid for this big time.

3. Don't think you "deserve" anything on the real test because you did well on a practice test. I like to think I am fairly humble, but I think a small part of me thought somewhere deep in my brain thought I would just waltz in and get my 700+ because of my practice exam scores. For whatever reason, the real thing was a completely different animal for me. I tried my hardest, but I think part of me somewhere in my subconscious thought I had it in the bag before I got into the test center.

I'm sure there are other things I could come up with, but right now I'm just focusing on my game plan for round 2. I want to apply to Haas, Kellogg, McCombs, and possibly Anderson and Fuqua for full time Fall 2010. I am not going to let this one test get in my way.

(By the way, is anyone still reading this?)

So my plan is to do the following before I take it again in late August/early September:

0. Birthday party and forget about GMAT for a week or two.

1. Go through all my OG questions and create an error log. Study this.

2. Browse this site for other tutorials I could use to study. I am going to use this opportunity to improve my quant AND verbal. I'm going to do better than I ever thought I could.

3. No more than one practice test a week. Spend time going over EVERY question, right or wrong, and add to the error log as needed.

4. No tests 5 days before the actual exam. Only practice problems, and spend as much time reviewing the answer as I did completing the problems.

So thanks for reading. If you have any comments or suggestions I am obviously open to them. This site has been a great resource for me and I hope this story can help someone if they have a disappointing test day relative to their expectations.

-Brian

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by abcdefg » Wed Jul 22, 2009 7:00 pm
Brian I can't believe I read your post because it sounded exactly like my story! I was also averaging around 680-700 on my practice exams and was hoping for a 700+ yesterday. I ended up canceling because I ran out of time.

I crammed for this test in under a month and the week leading up to the test, I was doing 2 practice exams at the same day for 3-4 days in a row. Just wondering why everyone says it's a bad idea. I didn't really feel that tired during the test and taking all those practice exams can't really be compared to a marathon.

good luck!

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Ditto

by deltaforce » Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:22 am
I did my exam yesterday and tanked it. Like you, my last 7 exams were 720 plus. Gmat quant focus range - 46-50 and Mgmat all 46+ and gmat prep never less than 50 in quant and 41 in verbal. (highest being 47 in verbal with two repeats)

I went to the test feeling confident that I'd do well. Before the exam I made a mistake of taking medication for flu and the rest was like a bad dream. Bit nervous when i started and around 3 rd question my heart beat was probably close to a million beats a second. I guess the painkiller wasn't such a good idea.

I couldn't focus and did 90% of my quant mentally


Finally around the 37th question in verbal my heart beat stabilized, but the damage was done.

The exam is pretty easy compared with mgmat especially math. Verbal is similar to gmat prep except critical reasoning.

I am gonna redo the exam next month and hopefully try to hammer it.

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score

by deltaforce » Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:23 am
my score math 42, verbal 34

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Sounds like a fluke.

by mgshorrGMAT » Thu Jul 23, 2009 5:30 pm
Dude you might just be the one that ends up saving my a**...

Right now I am 2.5 weeks out from my first GMAT, and my practice scores are basically identical to yours. I have come to realize that it is just to hard to move up from 700, as it was to get to 700. At least in "CAT land".

I've been using MGMAT, and have slowly seen my quant. scores creep up to 46-48 range. Verbal has been between 36-41.

What I like about your post, compared to most others, is that it is a true story of what can go wrong. I mean that respectfully. Sounds to me like you have a pretty good foundation in both Q and V, but in the home stretch you just put too much on your back. I'm not one to give advice, as I havent taken it yet, but it sounds like you did the old Cramerooski right before the test.

Sound a lot like what I am about to do!!!

S heres what I can say: The best piece of advice I have seen on this site is: Take time to digest the material.


I cannot even say how true this is. It really hit home for me because I used to RUN through the MGMAT guides, and as it turned out, I forgot 75% of it on the practice tests. As I went through to review my answers, I could remember reading the exact lesson, but I had forgotten everything it had taught.







Bottom Line: I feel for you dude because it sounds like were in the same situation. We both score well on practice exams. We both think we will do well. And I, as much as you, have a "subconscious" thing about doing good on this test.



Best of luck, and let me know how the next one goes.


On my end, my test is scheduled for August 11th at 6:30pm(Hell yea) In Baltimore, Maryland.

Thats what 17-18 days? I should probably check that out. Anyways, what I can take from this, is that if I dont feel ready by the 4th, Im gonna reschedule.



Again, best of luck. I think if you take a month to review you'll crush it.



Mark

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by brianm » Fri Jul 24, 2009 9:08 am
mgshorr-

Thanks for the kind words. My reasons for posting this were a. it was a therapeutic way for me to start to get over the fluky test, b. to see if I could get some advice from others, and c. to hopefully help anyone else who happened to be in my same position. I'm glad this might help you - be sure to let me know how things go.

I'm not usually a crammer when I study, but I think because I couldn't touch the material the week I was working so much, I felt nervous and felt like I had to use up the practice exams. It was so stupid of me I am still sort of beating myself up for it, because I don't think I've ever prepared that ineffectively right before a test. But hey, lesson learned, I'll crush it next time.

Good luck man!

Brian

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by vikram104 » Fri Jul 24, 2009 1:49 pm
Same story here.... i took the test today... got a 650.( M-50 V-29)... My test was going great guns, i wrote two brilliant essays... I started my maths section full of confidence.... i knew i did well in my maths section... verbal started out well. got a bold faced as a 6th question... then i got a passage in which i cldn't get a thing...It all started to go down from there... I dont remember the next half an hour... it was all blank.. i knew i had tanked it.. around the 25th question i started to get easy ones... i knew what was comin my way...

brian-

U hit the nail on the head with the thing about stuff going at the back of one's head.. The GMAT messes with your head man.. i realized that today. i guess i became to anxious to do well and in the anxiety i screwed up. i dont know what i am writing now... still under a lot of shock.... and ya 1 thin i have learned.. your prep scores don't reflect S**T.... i was constantly scoring 740+.. and 640+ in kaplan....

I really need some guidance about how to approach this sucker the next time... coz i know i deserve better...

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by prindaroy » Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:30 am
Hey I'm sure you'll do better next time. One tip that I've gotten from several people is to do a small question during your break. If you're about to attempt the quant section, then do a math question during the break. If it's the verbal, do a sentence correction or a CR question. Sometimes anxiety from facing a question alone can destroy your chances no matter how well you can answer those questions.

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by benissleeping » Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:54 am
hey brian

i think its also worth redoing the gmat preps again as they have different sets of questions (there may be some repeats). it really is as close to the real thing as u can get.

also try and analyse the questions u get wrong on the prep software, most answers can be found on this website here!

sure u will nail it next time

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by ben wade » Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:23 pm
hey Brian,

Your score exactly matches mine - 650(q46,v34) in Sep'08.
I have taken a date for my second attempt - Aug 13th it is!!

I was in your exact same position....The last week of my exam last year, i attempted many tests...paper tests....others.... which i think screwed me...

But more than anything else, it is the nerves and thinking too much about the final score and what would happen if i get above or less than 700.

One thing i feel i need to do on my second attempt is to stay as calm as possible. Try to attain a Monk like Calmness (as mentioned in someone else's blog) during the exam. This should atleast allow you to get a score upto your ability.

I thought your case is similar. hence, writing this....All the best for your next attempt.

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by brianm » Thu Aug 06, 2009 6:02 am
Just an update in case anyone cares...I got my final score report today and got a 6/6 on the analytical writing part. So hey at least I did well on something :p

Probably going to re-take the GMAT before Labor Day weekend. That gives me about a month to refresh and study some more. Hopefully I will have a successful story come September.

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by mind_games » Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:07 am
Guys... I can't believe it... I thought I was the odd one out...
I was consistently scoring above 700 in all the preps but bombed it today...

I was very confident but am clueless as to what went wrong today.

Scored a dismal 630(Q44,V33).

Right now I feel devastated...My mind just went blank half way through the quans section and I really did not recover after that.

I guess I tried to cramp in too much at the last moment and my tiny brain couldn't take it ! :shock:

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by brianm » Wed Dec 02, 2009 2:08 pm
Bump for a follow up...

Work got ahold of my life in late summer/early fall so I wasn't able to retake the GMAT til today. Leading up to today I got a 710 (MGMAT) and 730 (GMAT prep) on my two practice exams.

For the official one today I felt pretty good about both sections but ended up with a 690 (Q42, V42). I know my quant is low but I have a pretty good undergrad transcript (3.8 GPA from Michigan Business School) with As in some quant heavy classes, so I don't plan to re-take the GMAT. I'm going back for my MBA in high tech marketing. I feel like I can explain the low quant score in my essays, but if anyone has any advice feel free to let me know.

I'm applying to Haas, Anderson, McCombs and Kellogg so I now feel like I have a legitimate shot at all of them.

I didn't quite get to 700 but I'll take it! Glad to be done!

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by brianm » Thu Dec 03, 2009 6:26 am
Ugh ok the day after the test this Q42/62nd percentile thing is eating at me. I know I don't have time to re-take the test before round 2 deadlines but I'm worried that my score is too unbalanced. I'm thinking of using the optional essay to explain my quant abilities to be forthcoming with the issue that I'm sure they're going to notice. Any thoughts?

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by MastermindExcello » Thu Dec 03, 2009 8:13 am
I think the problem is that some of you are trying to peak too early, and then sustain the peak. My feeling is that the best way to prepare isn't by taking a test every other day, but pace yourself to retain as much info in your head as you can the week before the test, get a good score on a GMATPrep, and then TONE IT DOWN. The last week should just be about light review and making sure that when the real thing comes around, you're not physically or mentally drained. Try to peak for the test, not for the practice tests.