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The Gmat Just Beat Me...

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The Gmat Just Beat Me...

by PhD Frenchy » Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:23 am
Hello guys,

I took the Gmat Last Friday and got extremly disapointed...
I got a low 570...
I am asking for your comment because I feel lost in the exercice of Gmat.

I am taking the Gmat to pursue a PhD in Finance in europe. I graduated in both France and the UK. I have a very descent background in econometrics. My first paper is reviewed at the moment in a good french journal. Many scholar are incouraging me to go for an academic career. This is litterally my dream.

But the Gmat came...

I have many issue with the gmat:
1) I just don't understand my scores. For instance, when I finish a test, I don't know wether I did well or not.
2) My scores are extremly volatile. I took 4 practices (Manathan) 650, 600, 600, 680 and 570 the official one.
3) I have a serious problem with time management. Usually I perform well in Gmat exercice type, but I am failing to meet the 2 minutes delay. I feel petrified when I know I have to perform quickly and I just can't think.
4) Finally, When I am taking questions in the OG I have better performance. I don't understand discrepencies between test taking (practice or real) and taking random question in the OG 12th ed.

I would greatly appreciate If you could give me some advice and indsight because at the moment I feel lost. Moreover I feel quite fustrated because my profile is pretty different to other Gmat taker: I am not going for an MBA and I am in Europe. Sometime I feel Gmat not legitimate for my situation even though I completly understand its utility for an MBA.
But I am not giving up.

Many thanks in advance

Hello from south of France :D
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by BuckeyeT » Mon Dec 07, 2009 11:24 am
A few questions for you PhD Frenchy:

1. How did you prepare for the GMAT? How many weeks did you prepare? How many hours per week? What did you typically do to study?
2. What materials did you use to study (beside the Official Guide 12th)?
3. How did your test score break out? If you did reasonably well in one area, we know where to focus.
4. Did you take your CATs under GMAT conditions (timed breaks, same time of day as you expected to test, etc.)?

A few comments for you:
1. Don't get disheartened. It sounds like you have a solid background in academics and the workplace. You're also published, and you probably have some very impressive references. Remember, the GMAT is only ONE component of evaluating MBA candidates. Schools can overlook a lower GMAT score with strengths in other areas.
2. SCORING: Your score is an approximation of how you match up with other GMAT testers. Remember, the test is adaptive. As you answer questions correctly, the test presents you with a more challenging question. If you answer a question incorrectly, the test presents you with a slightly easier question. It continues to do this through each section until you're roughly at a point where you get every 1-2 questions right or wrong (alternating). In essence, the test is trying to find the BALANCE of difficulty for YOU. That difficulty determines your percentile.

As an example, a higher score is typically represented by many correct answers in a row. Let's suppose I got the first 16 Quantitative questions correct. Then, I alternated wrong and right answers (for a total of 11 incorrect). My score might show 11 incorrect out of 37. But, I probably scored in the 90+ percentile.

As a counter point, I could get the same number of questions wrong and score considerably lower. If my 11 incorrect answers were spread evenly across the 37 questions, my percentile might be 60-80.

Remember, unanswered questions are always considered INCORRECT. It's better to guess on challenging problems and move on than burning more than 2 minutes on a question. Since it's adaptive, a string of unanswered questions at the end of a section will dramatically reduce your score.

3. In my personal opinion, Official Guide questions tend to be a little bit easier. Kaplan has better Math questions. And, Manhatten has better verbal. Again, these are my opinions.

4. Don't just time yourself during your CATs. Time yourself during your practice. If you're sitting down to practice 20 problems in a book. Set a stopwatch or watch for 40 minutes or less. The more you get used to quickly moving through problems, the less likely you are to melt down during test time.

I hope this information helps, and I'll try to check back for your answers to the questions.
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by sehdevadesh » Mon Dec 07, 2009 11:54 am
Dear dont loose hope
but i would suggest take as many mock test as u can because they can get u rid of your fear to perform fast, also i would recommend reading BTG forum carefully and see how u want to attack the GMAT because u r missing some links which can be found if u read this forum carefully
All the very best god bless
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by PhD Frenchy » Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:01 pm
Many Thanks guys for your pep talk...

BuckeyeT

I have started studying Gmat in october. But it was not a very effective way of studying because I didn't know how to takle the Gmat. Moreover I was multitasking a lot. Lets put it this way: I took my first practice exam 2 weeks before I took the Gmat. At the moment I realized that it was very different to what I found in the couple of book I get.
Before These 2 weeks I have been reading a lot generalities about Gmat: It was a waste of time. I advice everyone starting to go first for a practice. Then I took series of questions like 10 quant and corrected. This part went well I add very few mistake and improved. But the probleme definitly happened when I took the online practice. It sounded like if it was another test. That was quite a shock at 2 weeks from the test.lol

I used OG 12th edition, another pearson book I got from a french library and manhattan sentence correction and reading comrehension.

During the exam my score break out was Q: 53% V:52% . This is my concerne it has never been so low. I usually had a quant around 70% and a very volatile Verbal from 55% to 85%. This volatility makes hard to spot which area to work on.

I took practice under exam condition (or close to exam considition). That is to say including AWA, timed and preferably on the morning (like my exam).

I would like to thanks you for your support. Thats the first time I am speaking with other Gmat taker. It does help a lot. I might give me more time to retake Gmat. I am waiting for your invaluable comments.

Take care
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by vivecan2005 » Sun Dec 13, 2009 7:23 pm
PhD Frenchy wrote:Hello guys,

I took the Gmat Last Friday and got extremly disapointed...
I got a low 570...
I am asking for your comment because I feel lost in the exercice of Gmat.

I am taking the Gmat to pursue a PhD in Finance in europe. I graduated in both France and the UK. I have a very descent background in econometrics. My first paper is reviewed at the moment in a good french journal. Many scholar are incouraging me to go for an academic career. This is litterally my dream.

But the Gmat came...

I have many issue with the gmat:
1) I just don't understand my scores. For instance, when I finish a test, I don't know wether I did well or not.
2) My scores are extremly volatile. I took 4 practices (Manathan) 650, 600, 600, 680 and 570 the official one.
3) I have a serious problem with time management. Usually I perform well in Gmat exercice type, but I am failing to meet the 2 minutes delay. I feel petrified when I know I have to perform quickly and I just can't think.
4) Finally, When I am taking questions in the OG I have better performance. I don't understand discrepencies between test taking (practice or real) and taking random question in the OG 12th ed.

I would greatly appreciate If you could give me some advice and indsight because at the moment I feel lost. Moreover I feel quite fustrated because my profile is pretty different to other Gmat taker: I am not going for an MBA and I am in Europe. Sometime I feel Gmat not legitimate for my situation even though I completly understand its utility for an MBA.
But I am not giving up.

Many thanks in advance

Hello from south of France :D
Your case seems the outcome of anxiety to take test early and a little bit of over confidence being a econometrics graduate
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