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Just did the GMAT, got 500

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by prada » Thu Nov 08, 2012 4:03 pm
Hey Guys,

I just did the exam for the first time ever and got
Q31
V27
Total 500

Now the good news is I think I could have easily done better, to what extent Im not sure.
- I probably answered 2-3 questions on IR before I realized I could use a calculator. I wasnt even familiar with this section, its new and my books didnt mention it. By bad I know
- In the Q section I literally didn't answer 2 questions due to time
-In the V section I was highly pressured due to time in answering the last 4-5 questions and the last 2-3 were random guesses all together.

During the test I felt a lack of mental stamina was impacting, so that too is something I want to better prepare.
In the OG guides all always found lower scores in Sentence Correction and Data Sufficiency.

My questions are
A) How much could not doing 2-3 questions at all and randomly guessing another 3-4 impact my score? Could my score have varied very little or could it have made a say 50 point difference?
B) Based on my score where should I focus more? Id be quite content to go from 500-590 in 40 days and again a part of that I think I can acheive by being better prepared and answering ALL questions.

Thanks for your help guys.
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by ivyctor2010 » Thu Nov 08, 2012 11:36 pm
Speed here is as important as accuracy, and what I could sense is you did not take many mock-GMAT exams too, which reflected in your real exam. Lots of practice for both Q and V is required now.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Nov 09, 2012 7:21 am
Quote from the Official Guide:

There is a severe penalty for not completing the GMAT test.

If you are stumped by a question, give it your best guess and move on. If you guess incorrectly, the computer program will likely give you an easier question, which you are likely to answer correctly, and the computer will rapidly return to giving you questions matched to your ability. If you don't finish the test, your score will be reduced greatly. Failing to answer five verbal questions, for example, could reduce your score from the 91st percentile to the 77th percentile.


I'm not exactly sure how much 2-3 missed questions affected your score, but pacing is obviously important. If you're interested, we have a free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by Jim@StratusPrep » Fri Nov 09, 2012 8:57 am
Goal #1 finish the exam
Goal #2 get as many questions right as you can while accomplishing goal #1
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by prada » Sun Nov 11, 2012 8:55 am
Thanks for the advice guys. Yes Brent the video was helpful. Reading through some posts here I think I made a mistake with the mindset of trying to get all answers right and thus spent too much time on a few questions (which I might have goten wrong anyways). I think this time I will better pace myself and take an educated guess if I can't resolve it.

My plan is 5 weeks to redo the exam. I think I should fine tune sentence correction and data sufficiency sections for 2-3 weeks and then just practice pacing and timing with mock exams for the last 2 weeks. For SC I see many people recommending OG SC book. Any recommedations for tips and strategies for DS?

Thanks
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