GMAT Strategy

I took the GMAT today with the intention of improving from my previous score of 540. I breezed through the essay section (my background is in journalism and English teaching), but then the math section hit me like a brick wall. Unbelievably I was stumped by the first few questions, which were completely new concepts to me. And I knew I had done poorly when, around question 34, I had a quadratic equation!

I was so discouraged by my obvious failure that I cancelled my test without even starting the verbal section. I felt all the more discouraged knowing that I've spent the last two months, every Saturday, studying math at the Princeton Review. I'm not trying to knock on Princeton Review, but the actual GMAT questions seemed very unfamiliar to what I studied. I bombed the test, and my self-esteem was reduced to dirt.

However, I just had one of those "light-bulb" moments, like a paradigm shift. This test has become a personal demon of mine, and I've decided I'm going to take this test as many times as I need to succeed. I'll take it ten times if I have to, and that will relieve the pressure to have to absolutely succeed the next time around. I know that's alot of money to fork out, but there's no cost to beating your personal demon! Plus, it can't be as bad as that Korean woman in the news who failed her drivers license test 775 times.

I'll take this test once a month this year until I reach something around a 700. I'll be known at the test center as the "local," the 31-year-old who turned down dates to study math, but come hell or high water I'll get that grade. Plus, once I get a 700, I doubt schools will be asking why I had to take it so many times. And if they do, maybe they'll view me as positively persistant.

Firstly i'm sorry to hear about your eh what shall i say.... case!!!

BTW why did you cancell the exam you had paid for it and moreover you'll never know the outcome until you finished it!!! What if 75% of the questions you've answered are correct and being an english teacher you could have aced the verbal!!! Atleast in the future try to avoid that.. If you feel discouraged, take a minute, close your eyes and say to yourself "I'll Not Quit"..

Good luck with your studies and i hope you achieve your target very soon!!!

Thanks hk. You can definitely call it a "case," although I do tend to be somewhat dramatic in my writing sometimes (chances are I'll still find time for dates - and may not take the test every month).

But I do think cancelling my test was a wise decision. There's no way I could have answered 75% of the math questions correctly if I got a quadratic equation in the upper thirties when I should have been seeing probability-type questions. So what's the highest score I could have obtained? I didn't want to risk having a lower score than the one I already have on my permanent record.

By the way, does anyone have any experience with having to explain to a school why he took the test many times? There seems to be a stigma against taking the test too many times, but I'm not convinced retaking multiple times reflects that poorly on you, especially if in the end you're able to get a high score.

Since schools will only be able to see your latest three scores, it would not have mattered if you received your score. You had nothing to lose! Either you do well and don't have to take it again, or you do not so well and have to take it again. If you're planning on taking it as many times as you can, then be sure to see the score every time! There are SO MANY stories of GMAT-takers who felt horrible about their scores, but decided to go through with it anyway and scored surprisingly well.

But I do applaud your determination. I'm in the same boat as you. I am going to put as much time as I need to to get a good score. You only get to do an MBA ONCE! Why rush things?

the test @$250 a pop you're going to be broke before you can take the test once too many.

from your practices, what did you notice you did wrong? it might be worth investing that $$ into some practice CATs and analyze your weaknesses.