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gmattering
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:43 am
hi all, i just took gmat this morning. disappointing score of 580 (Q -36,44% / V - 34,68%)
It was indeed a disappointing experience because i overshot the break time!! i have read posts by some Earthlings that said they exceeded the break time and i though it would never happen to me. of course, Murphy's Law played its part and it did!
I exceeded the break time by 9mins for the first break i got after the 2 essays. I dont know if this issue is common among gmat takers - i would recommend monitoring the time closely . I didnt - i went down to the cafeteria in the same building to grab a quick bite and somehow, i must have thought 8mins were 8hours! and the worse part is the test centre is located at the 30th level of the building and the lift was rather slow and there are quite a number of Earthlings boarding and getting off the lift and worst, i took the wrong lift (in the builidng, there are specific lifts serving different levels) at another section - reason is it is the first time i went to that building and i wasnt familiar with the environment.
The shocking thing is it happened in the 2nd break too, abeit to a lesser extent. After the slip up, i told myself never to screw up the break time. on the 2nd break, i helped myself to a bun and went to the gents to touch up. i was very sure i didnt exceed the time limit till i went back to the centre and saw the worried look on the centre officer's face (who had warned me to come back on time on the 2nd break) and i asked her "did i exceed the time" - of course, i had expected the answer to be NO .. till i went to my terminal and there is a message box telling me i have exceeded the time limit by 2mins
the first break slip up upset me the most (9MINS!). of course, i am not trying to justify my low quant score by saying it's because of this incident - my quant score was never strong to begin with - but what i am very sure (because i had experienced it personally) is it affected my morale considerably. i'm not sure if there is any way to recover lost morale in that span of time but i just lost it. i suppose that's why they say a small army with high morale can beat off a much larger army that is disorganised and has low morale / battle spirit.
Maybe to those who has not taken the test and who are planning to take it, pls dont fall into the same situation and dont go off too far from the centre.
That aside, i am planning to retake it and since the majority of you have high quant scores (>40), would like to seek your advice
--------------------------
Verbal - quite comfortable in this department, really need to speed things up ( i ran out of time towards the end and random-guessed ard 8 qtns )
Quant - has always been my achille's heel. as a result, i have put in quite a bit of effort in quant revision. I think the quant on actual GMAT is indeed harder than that on gmatprep and comparable to Manhattan GMAT quant (though many said Manhattan GMAT quant is harder). the problem i've realized after taking the actual gmat is the quant qtns are most of the time presented in a different format that is unfamilair to me, though they are tested on same concept i have studied but in another format, that is, i do the qtns based on pattern and format recognition. Hence, when the same concept is tested in different form, it really throw Earthlings who are not strong in the quant theory (myself) off the line ..
i am using :
1) Manhattan GMAT Number Properties
2) OG 11
3) EZ Solution Word problem
4) Kaplan GMAT 800
Reason why i purchased just Manhattan GMAT number properties is obviously due to cost constraint and i feel that the test is largely focusing on this area and of course, i need it to access the Manhattan GMAT CAT. the same reason for buying the ez solution- word problem is quite big on gmat quant.
Can anyone advise how should i go about improving my quant score. how to best study efficiently to get at least 40 for quant?
i will have at most 1.5mths to go as the deadline for 2010 intake for my desired program is end march.
Thanks in advance
It was indeed a disappointing experience because i overshot the break time!! i have read posts by some Earthlings that said they exceeded the break time and i though it would never happen to me. of course, Murphy's Law played its part and it did!
I exceeded the break time by 9mins for the first break i got after the 2 essays. I dont know if this issue is common among gmat takers - i would recommend monitoring the time closely . I didnt - i went down to the cafeteria in the same building to grab a quick bite and somehow, i must have thought 8mins were 8hours! and the worse part is the test centre is located at the 30th level of the building and the lift was rather slow and there are quite a number of Earthlings boarding and getting off the lift and worst, i took the wrong lift (in the builidng, there are specific lifts serving different levels) at another section - reason is it is the first time i went to that building and i wasnt familiar with the environment.
The shocking thing is it happened in the 2nd break too, abeit to a lesser extent. After the slip up, i told myself never to screw up the break time. on the 2nd break, i helped myself to a bun and went to the gents to touch up. i was very sure i didnt exceed the time limit till i went back to the centre and saw the worried look on the centre officer's face (who had warned me to come back on time on the 2nd break) and i asked her "did i exceed the time" - of course, i had expected the answer to be NO .. till i went to my terminal and there is a message box telling me i have exceeded the time limit by 2mins
the first break slip up upset me the most (9MINS!). of course, i am not trying to justify my low quant score by saying it's because of this incident - my quant score was never strong to begin with - but what i am very sure (because i had experienced it personally) is it affected my morale considerably. i'm not sure if there is any way to recover lost morale in that span of time but i just lost it. i suppose that's why they say a small army with high morale can beat off a much larger army that is disorganised and has low morale / battle spirit.
Maybe to those who has not taken the test and who are planning to take it, pls dont fall into the same situation and dont go off too far from the centre.
That aside, i am planning to retake it and since the majority of you have high quant scores (>40), would like to seek your advice
--------------------------
Verbal - quite comfortable in this department, really need to speed things up ( i ran out of time towards the end and random-guessed ard 8 qtns )
Quant - has always been my achille's heel. as a result, i have put in quite a bit of effort in quant revision. I think the quant on actual GMAT is indeed harder than that on gmatprep and comparable to Manhattan GMAT quant (though many said Manhattan GMAT quant is harder). the problem i've realized after taking the actual gmat is the quant qtns are most of the time presented in a different format that is unfamilair to me, though they are tested on same concept i have studied but in another format, that is, i do the qtns based on pattern and format recognition. Hence, when the same concept is tested in different form, it really throw Earthlings who are not strong in the quant theory (myself) off the line ..
i am using :
1) Manhattan GMAT Number Properties
2) OG 11
3) EZ Solution Word problem
4) Kaplan GMAT 800
Reason why i purchased just Manhattan GMAT number properties is obviously due to cost constraint and i feel that the test is largely focusing on this area and of course, i need it to access the Manhattan GMAT CAT. the same reason for buying the ez solution- word problem is quite big on gmat quant.
Can anyone advise how should i go about improving my quant score. how to best study efficiently to get at least 40 for quant?
i will have at most 1.5mths to go as the deadline for 2010 intake for my desired program is end march.
Thanks in advance
