I just Beat The GMAT!

I've been a lurker on this forum and thought I would share my experience, since hearing from others has been so helpful to me.

I first took the day on April 5th and I earned a disappointing 650 Q 38 (51%), V41 (92%). I was EXTREMELY nervous during this first shot at it, and could literally hear my heartbeat-- it was so loud I couldn't concentrate. I put in a great deal of study time, and scored 680, 710, 720, 700 on the GMAT Prep practice exams I'd taken before then, so a 650 was really disappointing. But, I realized that nerves played a big role in my doing so lousy, since I was so anxious, I couldn't really concentrate. I was amazed that my quant score was a 38, since quant is my strength and I was scoring in the high 40s on all practice tests. During the test, I was so nervous about time, that on the math section, I ended up with 10 minutes left at the end of the section -- time that could have been used more wisely to answer earlier questions, on which I guessed since I felt pressed for time. I know we've all heard this, but the lesson to be learned here -- relax! Pace yourself! So much of this is mental, and we can really set ourselves up for failure if we psych ourselves out!

So, I scheduled to take the test again. I will admit that in the month since I last took the test, I didn't actually get in any real study time. I am getting married in a few weeks and have had some big projects at work, and have found myself maybe just looking at the material once a week for about an hour. I couldn't wait for GDAY, because I felt that I was barely holding on to the information I learned before. I probably set myself up for failure, but by the time I realized how much of the info I forgot, it was too late to reschedule. The lesson here is if you reschedule the test, be sure you continue studying for it -- give it at least an hour a day. And don't schedule the exam at a time when you have a lot of other stuff going on.

So, GDay. Let me just say that I spent most of the day arguin with my fiancee over wedding stuff, so I didn't exactly put myself in the right frame of mind for the test. But, ten minutes before the test, I took a deep breathe and tried to relax. I completed the AWA's -- piece of cake. I even realized that I felt a lot more relaxed than last time, maybe because I haven't been paying much mind to the GMAT, maybe because I already had experience taking it. During the quant section, I was CONVINCED that I was doing miserably. In the middle of it, I was very close to ending the test and cancelling my score. I thought, "why put myself through this for another 2 hours? I'm obviously not prepared!" and I was beating myself up for not studying in the last month. But, I continued, convinced that I was performing much worse than last time. This time I only had an extra five minutes by the last question -- again, time that I could have used to work through some questions that I guessed on. I took my eight minute break, and felt defeated, but I was adamant about finishing the test. However, I felt SO defeated that I didn't really give verbal my best shot. There were many, many questions, which I didn't really think through and simply guessed on, because I felt it wouldn't make a difference. Nonetheless, I felt much more confident during verbal than during quant (again, ironic, because quant is supposed to be my strength.) I went through verbal with about 5 minutes to spare.

When the "cancel score" screen popped up, I was tempted to cancel, but decided to keep the score. Then, 680 popped up. 680?!? Q47 (78%), V37 (80%), overall 86%. I could not believe it! I am disappointed that my verbal score dropped from 92% to 80%, but overall I am pleased with my score. If I had not psyched myself out and had made a better effort on verbal, I am sure I would have reached the coveted 700 score.

My message to you is, once you get the preparation and data you need, you really have to prepare yourself mentally to be relaxed and not let this exam psyche you out. I would have done better on both tries if I had done this. and DO NOT cancel your scores -- you already paid for the test, so you might as well see how you performed to know what areas you can improve on. You might just be surprised with the results (as I was!).

So, that's my rundown. Thanks for listening!

"During the quant section, I was CONVINCED that I was doing miserably. In the middle of it, I was very close to ending the test and cancelling my score. I thought, "why put myself through this for another 2 hours? I'm obviously not prepared!" and I was beating myself up for not studying in the last month."

Was it because you felt the quant questions were nothing like the ones you had seen in OG/Gmat Prep? Or was it the lack of preparation or both? Whatever the case congrats...

That's a great question. It was a combination of a few things. First, I did feel like many of the questions looked different than the ones in OG and other prep guides. The data sufficiency didn't seem too different, but I felt that the word translations/problem solving ones looked way different. Then like 2 times, they threw in a super easy question about adding fractions or something and it didn't seem like a good sign. I did feel a BIT unprepared, but I think I felt that way because some of the stuff looked so different.

I was really aiming for a 700 and thought I wouldn't stop until I get one, but I feel like a 680 might be it for me. I think I'll spend the rest of my money and resources towards strengthening other areas of my applicant profile.