Need Help-Took Gmat Twice. Stuck at 550

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gmat4abhi: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 1; Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:14 pm

Need Help-Took Gmat Twice. Stuck at 550

by gmat4abhi » Tue Aug 12, 2014 1:21 am

Hi,

I have been studying for the past 5 months after my gmat attempt last year.

In my first attempt i scored 530 and in second attempt i scored 550. However I always scored between 650 and 700 in gmat prep as well as veritas prep exams. My quant scores ranged between 42 and 48 and verbal between 30 and 35 on practise exams. On my final GMAT prep practise exam i scored 650; i took the test a day before final GMAT.

But in the GMAT exam my verbal score remained consistent at 23 and quant remained consistent at 42,in both the attempts, but my score improved from 530 to 550.

Kindly please assist how to proceed further to improve my scores.I would like to know how to frame my strategy to know to correct my understanding for verbal and quant.

Thanks
Abhishek

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Source: Beat The GMAT — I just Beat The GMAT! | Tue Aug 12, 2014 1:21 am

GMAT/MBA Expert

[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; Followed by:511 members; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Tue Aug 12, 2014 12:08 pm

Hi Abhishek,

These types of score drops usually point to an inconsistency in your studying (you studied a certain way that did not match the specifics of Test Day).

I'd like to know more about what you've been doing over the last 5 months:

1) What resources have you been using to study (Courses, Books, etc.)?
2) What were your practice CAT scores for each CAT (include your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)? List them out with the date that you took each.
3) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT every time (including Essay and IR) or did you ever skip sections?
4) Did you ever take any of these CATs more than once?
5) What time of day did you take your CATs? What time of day did you take your GMAT?

6) How did you sleep the night before your GMAT?
7) How long did it take to get to the testing center?

Thankfully, Business Schools don't care if you take the GMAT more than once. Before you retake it though, we need to fix whatever inconsistencies are occurring.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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varung79: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 38; Joined: Tue May 20, 2014 6:38 am; Thanked: 3 times

by varung79 » Fri Aug 29, 2014 8:21 am

You are nearby to your success dear....

all you have to do is think beyond preparation...carefully watch my signature!

The trouble with too many people is they believe the realm of success always lies within their exam preparation & hard work and not with his or her Manager

TestPrep....Practice....Exam...LOL...www.controlledexams.com

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ceilidh.erickson: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2095; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pm; Thanked: 1443 times; Followed by:247 members

by ceilidh.erickson » Wed Sep 03, 2014 9:37 am

It's always a bad idea to take a practice test the day before the real test! It's too mentally exhausting to do two days in a row - you were probably just drained.

Big disparities between practice tests and the real test often come down to one of the following issues:

- Unrealistic practice test conditions. If you were taking practice tests untimed, or hitting pause, or taking longer breaks than on the real test, then you weren't mentally prepared for the pressure of the real thing.

- Anxiety. Unfortunately, this affects a lot of students on test day. Extreme anxiety is something that you would want to discuss with a doctor, but moderate anxiety can be managed on the GMAT. It can even be helpful! Instead of thinking "omg I have to do well, omg am I failing??" just channel that energy into "I'm so excited! This is Game Day and I'm going to crush it!" That way, the adrenaline helps you to focus, rather than crushing you (easier said than done, I know).

Here's some more information on managing test anxiety: https://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/m ... niques.cfm

Good luck!

Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education