Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi Stacy,

Just got back from GMAT and scored 700 (50 Q,34V) , much lower than practice tests. My lowest score in any practice was one MGMAT CAT where i scored 730 .

My practice scores have been as follows

MGMAT CAT1 780
MGMAT CAT2 770
MGMAT CAT3 730
MGMAT CAT4 760

GMAT Prep 1 770
GMAT Prep 2 770 ( 3 days back).

I took my test at 8 AM in the morning. Unfortunately , did'nt sleep since 1:30 AM night and was struggling to rest thereafter and thus was kind of feeling heavy in the morning .Not sure if that impacted my score . I knew that i did not sleep properly , so took bottles of caffeine with me to charge me up during the test. In breaks, i used to drink whole bottle of caffeine .

Not sure , if i can really give GMAT again as my job is very demanding and giving it another try is very difficult for me. I cant really give it again i think.

Rest of my profile is average ,though i have close to 9 yrs of experience in IT ( a competitive pool for an indian male).GMAT was only some of the controllable areas where i thought ,i could improve upon and now lookslike i lost this one too.

I was aiming for UT-Austin or NUS Singapore . Do you think its even worthwhile to apply to these univs with my current GMAT and overall profile ?

I am very low and more exhausted right now due to lack of sleep and cant help cursing myself

Any suggestions or any other good univs which you think can accept my profile , please pour in.

Sincerely , awaiting your valuable response .

Though your question is addressed to stacy, i hope you wouldn't mind if i share my thoughts here.

Firstly, congratulations for a wonderful score. I definitely feel that you have a best shot at top 10 schools. After all, GMAT is just another factor for admission. All you need is a 700 and that is already there for you. You should proceed with your apps in my opinion.

Hi papgust,

Thanks for your kind words . I have been on and off in my prep due to over demanding job. Many a times i thought of calling GMAT a quit as was not able to concentrate .

Quant was bit ok , but tell you what actual GMAT RCs were not really as easy as those in GMAT Prep , as they were quite written in convoluted language . Still , it was not that way off to totally knock me out . I do believe i made serious blunders in row .

I am not really having much in CV than a B.tech in Chem Engg ( from IIT Kharagpur) and SAP Certified Consultant in Supply Chain Management . I though varied exposure of experience in Business software consulting.

Spoke to couple of folks , and seems being a Indian and that too from IT puts me in worst ppol , where avg scores are way above 740 . For folks who are not in IT and for that matter not indian , have chance with lesser GMAT scores.

Current situation is very confusing .It seems to be 50-50 shot now , but certainly not which i can bank on.

Take my words , doesnt matter how well you fare in practice tests , plan your test day well . Take a sound sleep first and foremost and relax yourself to max possible extent before the G-day. I forgot to even take breakfast as it was too late by that time.


Best of luck to you .

Dear Rohan

Nice that u have finished off your exam in a very decent matter. Agreed u were performing great in your practice tests.
I am of the opinion , your are underplaying your cards.

Given our IIT background, it should put us in the powerful orbit. Hearing your words, something is ringing in my ears.
So you mean to say IIT tag wont help much? Wont it add some data points??

Agreed we belong to IT comunity but what about IIT tag?? is that there is no value addition in Ivy schools?

Wish you can take the exam once again man.

Why don't you post what would have made things worse for you to drop down from 770 to 700 apart from less sleep.
May be we could avoid them in the future!

Rgds
Govardhan

If I were you, I would really focus now on putting stellar application. I would say even in IT we do face certain situations when you use your business aptitude, dive deep and search for those situations and give it a shot! all the best...Also as govi said, certainly all adcoms are aware of Ivy instittutes in the world and IITs are no exception...so man raise yourself, be optimisitc and i am sure you will get through.

gmatmachoman wrote:Dear Rohan

Nice that u have finished off your exam in a very decent matter. Agreed u were performing great in your practice tests.
I am of the opinion , your are underplaying your cards.

Given our IIT background, it should put us in the powerful orbit. Hearing your words, something is ringing in my ears.
So you mean to say IIT tag wont help much? Wont it add some data points??

Agreed we belong to IT comunity but what about IIT tag?? is that there is no value addition in Ivy schools?

Wish you can take the exam once again man.

Why don't you post what would have made things worse for you to drop down from 770 to 700 apart from less sleep.
May be we could avoid them in the future!

Rgds
Govardhan

Hi Govardhan,

Thanks for your response and soothing words.You are one of the great beathegmat rock stars !

Regarding drop from 770 to 700 , am still puzzled as to what went wrong and still pondering. I thought if my 1st GMAT prep were a fluke and thereafter if there is any significant variation in 2nd GMAT prep i would simply postpone the exam . But to my dismay what , i got same exact score and i kept my date with GMAT hence.

Scores were overall like

MGMAT CAT1 780 -- (51 Q, 45V) -->My 1st CAT ,surprising as well as highly motivating
MGMAT CAT2 770 --(50 Q , 44 V)
MGMAT CAT3 730 --(50 Q , 38 V) ---> This day i had continously studied entire day and gave exam in the evening, analyzed that did carelsess mistakes and overlooked other options
MGMAT CAT4 760 --->(50 Q , 44 V)

MGMAT scores i got ,were in Dec 2009 when i had my winter vacation of 3 weeks, so got some time to prepare and wrapped up a bit . But since ,as ppl say GMATPrep is the one to trust and my hectic job schedule soon started , i just could not give GMATPrep and hence did not book any date for GMAT then

The GMATPrep History :

GMAT Prep 1 770 ( 51 Q , 44 V) --->Missed 5 questions in each section-->Dont remem date but 3 weeks backs or so
GMAT Prep 2 770 (51 Q , 42V)( 3 days back)-->Missed 4 questions in each , was puzzled why i got 42 and still got same overall score.

Actual GMAT:
Quant in actual GMAT i found it reasonable and not really like MGMAT , which is way harder . Verbal started cool . Got RC a small one as 3rd or 4th question, but of mind boggling language.But still i guess 1st RC i might have been able to nail some questions as i knew i understood the RC to some extent. Thereafter ,got some CR and again a small RC and then it was followed by some CR/SC . Finally again back to one long RC , a dull boring one,.So i had 3 RCs within the first 24-25 questions .By this time i was feeling drained out and somehow wanted to sail through this RC . I saw i was lagging behind in time . Had 16 questions to go and just 20 mins remaining.

I feel i let myself go somewhere in the mid of the verbal section and allowed myself to get owned . The caffeine effect was getting overpowered . I knew i had made some random guess somewhere in the mid and wont really get 44 or sth like in practice tests , but still thought could be some high 30's to 40 atleast . After completing the verbal section , i quickly rushed through the various other pages ,w/o even caring to submit my scores to any B school as i did not have energy . All i wanted was to know how much i scored . I clicked on 'Report my scores' and was not scared a bit to do so and landed up with 700 . I thought i was looking at something wrong . I looked at it again . I was bit depressed with Quant as i thought i went past smootly through all questions and hence was confident about 51. But relatively , it was much better compared to Verbal score .

I left the test centre puzzled,tired and frustrated . Talked to one of my friend in Chicago ( from IIT B ) and he gave some consolation and asked me to give another shot . I do have sleeping problem at times but i did'nt think this time it would stretch so far .

Though i was tired , but i could still read questions and could think . Now in retrospection , i dont know what actually killed me.May be sleep deprivation , or may some serious conceptual blunders .

Frankly speaking , i did not really do much from OG ( i had OG11) as never got time to finish it . I mostly read MGMAT SC book and practised tests whenever i got time .

I used to lurk around on this forum sometimes . But guys like you , papgust ,harsh , and many others are really motivating elements here . I simply loved some discussions which you guys used to have and those used to set fire in me to study again . If not for some motivating discussions/buddies i wont have even been able to give GMAT. My job drove me to such a mad extent that i thought of forgetting GMAT forever . It was only when some of you guys mentioned somewhere that whenever you are not sure where you stand w.r.t GMAT give a test and thats what i did in Dec 2009 and Was really happy then . I thought to close this chapter now .

My study materials were not really focussed ones , i used to practise mostly from forums and MGMAT materials.Kaplan Maths , i did not find it worth , as it was too easy . I also had Kaplan Premier and practised some questions from the CD .

All i would say is what mistakes i did , you should not do the same. Always practise from official questions . I used to lurk out somewhere for any random CAT from any prep company . This is absolutely waste of time and hurting . Stick purely to official and keep your nerves under control during the test.

Best of luck to you , am sure you would come out really well.

Dear Rohan,

That was a wonderful debrief. I want to point out one thing bro...U are damn tired now..We could feel from your words.

U need rest. i remember u have been telling me abt ur hectic wrk !!

Give a shot in May end or in June..and everything will be fine!!

Ur GMAT prep 2 score is bit "strange". DanaJ got 770 with 50 Q & 47V. But u got 51 Q 42 V. I am of the opinion, verbal is scaled higher than Quant. Now I am not sure abt how to equate..!

Any one can share some thoughts?

Rohan..thx man for throwing a pep talk at us( papi &harsha included)..

"All i would say is what mistakes i did , you should not do the same. Always practise from official questions . I used to lurk out somewhere for any random CAT from any prep company . This is absolutely waste of time and hurting . Stick purely to official and keep your nerves under control during the test. "

Well said Rohan....That was the true way of understanding GMAT!! Guys make a note of this valid point!!

iamcste wrote:If I were you, I would really focus now on putting stellar application. I would say even in IT we do face certain situations when you use your business aptitude, dive deep and search for those situations and give it a shot! all the best...Also as govi said, certainly all adcoms are aware of Ivy instittutes in the world and IITs are no exception...so man raise yourself, be optimisitc and i am sure you will get through.

@Iamcste...

Rightly said..very convincing... IT is certainly a Business Function.I dont see SAP & Business as a different entity.
Given rohan's credentials,Kellog's should open doors!

Hey Rohan,

I have a feeling that you could reach the 750 mark if you put some extra effort in verbal. Your math is just amazing. I used to admire your solutions that you post here and wonder why i'm not able to think like that

If you think that you can easily score more than 700, then you should go for it. I guess you'll need to work more on verbal this time.