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Got pinned by the GMAT badly (GMAT prep 690, actual GMAT 640

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Got pinned by the GMAT badly (GMAT prep 690, actual GMAT 640

by Sach14 » Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:31 pm
Hello everyone,

This is my first time on this forum and I apologize in advance if I am breaking any rules. I gave my GMAT on 11/23 after 2 months of preparation and I got a 640(Q47, V31). I was scoring 700+ on the Veritas practice tests and got a 690 a day before the test on the GMAT prep. After being upset for the entire weekend I am here beacuse I want to fight, and I want to BEAT THE GMAT!!

A little background:

Material used: Veritas

Practice test 1: 640 (Q44, V34)
Practice test 2: 670 (Q47, V35)
Practice test 3: 700 (Q49, V37)
Practice test 4: 680 (Q49, V35)
Practice test 5: 710 (Q49, V38)
Practice test 6: 720 (Q49, V40)
GMAT prep : 690 (Q49, V35)

I gave my GMAT back in 2010 when I was applying for my Masters and I got the same score back then (640 - Q49, V29). But this time around I felt my preparation was much better, I felt more confident tackling the harder questions. The Veritas material help me develop a good head-set to tackle different categories of questions. So after working harder and feeling way more confident than the last time, I was Shocked and could not believe my eyes when I saw the same 640 on my screen. In that instant I felt the last 2 months have been a waste and I haven't achieved anything. Some of the practice test scores may be artificially inflated as I skipped the AWA section in a few of them. But I was consistently scoring a 49 on quant and I have no idea why I couldn't do the same on the actual test.

Anyway I want to get out of this negative spiral and I want to plan a new strategy. I will be retaking the exam in the first week of January. All you GMAT veterans and assassins out there, please help me out. Some of the questions I have right now are :

1. Is the Veritas material sufficient?
2. How do I make an accurate assessment of my skill level and score range.
3. Should my preparation now be oriented towards doing as many questions as I can for each topic?

Apart from this if you guys have any other advice from your personal experience please do share. Thank you in advance.
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by [email protected] » Tue Nov 26, 2013 1:38 am
Hi Sach14,

Based on what you described, there are a number of factors that likely contributed to your 640 score:

1) On practice CATs, skipping any sections and/or retaking a CAT can lead to unrealistic, "inflated" scores. By your own admission, you did that on a number of your practice CATs, so without some more specific info, it's tough to say if any of those practice scores was truly realistic.

2) Taking a CAT the day BEFORE your GMAT was a BAD idea. You likely "burned out" a bit and your performance on Test Day suffered. If you took any additional CATs in the week leading up to your GMAT, then that would have added to the burn-out.

3) There could have been some additional factors on the day of the exam that could have thrown you off a bit, but your post didn't go into too much detail, so I can't point to anything specific.

As to your questions, here's my advice:

1) I have no idea if your current resources will be sufficient for you to succeed. There's some argument to be made that every Test Prep Company has helped some people to successfully prep for the GMAT. The measure/value of a resource is if it helps YOU to achieve your goals. If you're not convinced that your current material is enough, then invest in some new material.

2) To assess your current level, I'd suggest that you take a full length practice GMATPrep CAT (including Essay and IR) under as-close-to-Test-like conditions and post back here with your results.

3) Volume is not necessarily what you need to improve. I think that there's a "quality" over "quantity" argument to be made. If you are, in fact, "stuck" at a particular scoring level, then learning new tactics is how you will get "unstuck." Doing lots of questions in the same fashion as you've been doing them will likely not change your end score.

If you have any additional questions, then feel free to contact me directly.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
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by Sach14 » Tue Nov 26, 2013 7:30 pm
Thank you for your reply. Let me try to provide more information regarding my preparation.

1. In the week leading to the GMAT I gave 2 practice tests. The last one was a full length GMATprep test which I took a day before the actual exam. I got a 690 on this one.

2. In terms of preparation I finished the Veritas books about a month ago and I had been giving practice tests in the last one month at the rate of 1 per week. After each test I analyzed my results and then focused on the weak areas.

3. Although I did skip the AWA, I simulated test conditions by locking myself in my room and by ensuring I do not get disturbed for the duration of the test. I assumed that skipping one 1/2 hour section would not really affect or inflate my scores.

4. On the test day, I had a good night's sleep the night before and felt quite fresh. Though I would admit I was nervous and very tense as this exam is very crucial for my plans (like in the case of a lot of people). I was not as relaxed as I would be in a practice test. Also, I have been thinking in detail about how I approached the questions during the actual test and I realized I went back to my old methods of answering questions and did not use the strategy described by Veritas. Those strategies gave me a lot of confidence because I was able to logically break down even the hard (700+) questions. I took that confidence to the test center but did not use the strategies.

I will take a full length practice test this weekend and post my results here. I will also keep posting about my new preparation regime.

Thank you once again for your advice.
[email protected] wrote:Hi Sach14,

Based on what you described, there are a number of factors that likely contributed to your 640 score:

1) On practice CATs, skipping any sections and/or retaking a CAT can lead to unrealistic, "inflated" scores. By your own admission, you did that on a number of your practice CATs, so without some more specific info, it's tough to say if any of those practice scores was truly realistic.

2) Taking a CAT the day BEFORE your GMAT was a BAD idea. You likely "burned out" a bit and your performance on Test Day suffered. If you took any additional CATs in the week leading up to your GMAT, then that would have added to the burn-out.

3) There could have been some additional factors on the day of the exam that could have thrown you off a bit, but your post didn't go into too much detail, so I can't point to anything specific.

As to your questions, here's my advice:

1) I have no idea if your current resources will be sufficient for you to succeed. There's some argument to be made that every Test Prep Company has helped some people to successfully prep for the GMAT. The measure/value of a resource is if it helps YOU to achieve your goals. If you're not convinced that your current material is enough, then invest in some new material.

2) To assess your current level, I'd suggest that you take a full length practice GMATPrep CAT (including Essay and IR) under as-close-to-Test-like conditions and post back here with your results.

3) Volume is not necessarily what you need to improve. I think that there's a "quality" over "quantity" argument to be made. If you are, in fact, "stuck" at a particular scoring level, then learning new tactics is how you will get "unstuck." Doing lots of questions in the same fashion as you've been doing them will likely not change your end score.

If you have any additional questions, then feel free to contact me directly.

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