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Officially feel like a failure!

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Officially feel like a failure!

by nehas8 » Mon Jun 09, 2014 6:54 am
I took the GMAT the first time January 2012 and though I thought I was prepared (having spent about 2-2.5months), I got a disappointing 460. Not wanting to give up, I decided to give myself some time and since work experience is of importance for any reputed MBA Program, I decided to focus on my career and when the time was right to retake the test - and with better preparation. With the intension of beginning my MBA in Fall 2014 (this year), I decided to retake the GMAT in October 2013 and well, in spite of spending more time on preparation etc., I ended up scoring a sad 500. I'm not aiming at getting into any of the top 30 schools but a decent school with a decent ranking is what I'm aiming toward. To make myself feel better, I applied for the full time MBA Program with Internship at Loughborough University in UK and got accepted. I am still bent upon going to school in the US (I'm from Canada so its closer to home for me than UK). But, after two terrible attempts I've lost all confidence in myself to be able to score well at all! I officially feel like a failure and need help! BIG TIME!!!

Anybody with any sort of input or help would be awesome!


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by [email protected] » Mon Jun 09, 2014 11:09 am
Hi nehas8,

Some Test Takers need more time than others to improve on the GMAT. That's not a bad a thing. In situations such as yours, it's important to do some analysis of the situation. How did you go about studying before these 2 attempts at the GMAT? Whatever those processes were, they did not help you to achieve your goal. Maybe it was the amount of time or maybe the resources you used or maybe a variety of other factors, but you have to define those details so that we can make the necessary adjustments to help you improve.

What is your goal score?
When would you like to retake the GMAT?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
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by VivianKerr » Wed Jun 11, 2014 1:30 am
Hi there,

So remember that the GMAT tests one thing: how well do you know how to take the GMAT? To get a good score, you need to master three areas: 1) content, 2) pacing, 3) strategy. So your scores are nothing to be ashamed about! They simply reflect your abilities in these three (super specific) GMAT-centric areas! The GMAT is very learn-able if you are following a study schedule that works for you. Before you attempt the GMAT again, I think you need to be honest with yourself.

1) CONTENT. How well do you know what the GMAT tests? I mean, can you tell me when to use "that" versus "which" on Sentence Correction? How to tell an RC "Inference" question from an RC "Function" question? Can you identify an unstated Assumption in a CR in less than 1 minute?

2) PACING. What pacing benchmarks were you using? Were you consistently finishing each section with 1-minute to spare? What specific types of questions bogged you down? What was your "stress meltdown" strategy? Did you do pacing drills 2-3 times a week (minimum)? Were you leaving questions blank?

3) STRATEGY. Did you have a written out, practiced strategy for EVERY GMAT question type? (Step 1...Step 2...Step 3). Or did you just willy-nilly panic your way through? How did you utilize your scratch paper to maximize your organization? Did you follow process of elimination or belabor answer choices?

Once you've really assessed WHY you got the scores you did, you can decide (1) what your target score is, and (2) what you realistically need to do to get there. The GMAT is NOT an intelligence test and you CAN do it, but you'll have to face some home truths first. :-)

Good luck!
Vivian Kerr
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Former Kaplan and Grockit instructor, freelance GMAT content creator, now offering affordable, effective, Skype-tutoring for the GMAT at $150/hr. Contact: [email protected]

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