GMAT Strategy

Hi All,

I took the GMAT the second time yesterday and scored 590 45Q, 27V.
My previous score was 530 18 months ago.

My scores on Manhattan were as follows:
CAT 6 22/02/2012 680 Q47 V36
CAT 5 20/02/2012 720 Q47 V42
CAT 4 19/02/2012 610 Q40 V34...lack of time mgmnt. missed last 10 questions on Quant

GMAT prep2 21/02/2012 690

However I skipped the essays on all the above practice tests since I was more keen to focus on the content.

Is it because I skipped essays , my scores dropped significantly?

For verbal, I have used the right material as suggested by many on this forum: RC99, Powerscore Bible, Manhattan SC guide.

Please help me figure out what went wrong. I am shocked and confused.

Thank you.

essays have no effect on your actual GMAT score, but not doing the essays is looked very poorly upon by the admissions committees.

and if you're going to shell out $250 to take a damn test, might as well do it right and maximize your chances of getting into the school you want to get into, right?

Hi Ashim
I did not mean I skipped the essay on actual GMAT.I skipped them in practice test.

I practised essays separately and eventually did attempt them on the real GMAT to the best of my abilities.

I realized towards the end of the test (Question 27 onwards in Verbal) that I was too stressed out to keep the same level of focus and efficiency that I had kept on the practice test.

Hence, I just wanted someone to second my thought on whether it is a bad idea to skip essays while solving practice test

I did the exact same thing in practice, and it was detrimental to my test score (I believe). I learned that it is difficult for my mind to immediately switch from analytic writing to a math focus. I didn't practice AWA once and scored much lower in the quant section than I think I should have. Also, my timing in quant was WAY off due to my mind not switching modes effectively (and test anxiety, etc...). I found myself with five minutes left and six questions to do.

Some schools do look at what you actually have written in the Essays(they do are sent along with the score), so it is detrimental to skip those essays. Its preferable to practice with all the sections and mindful that there is a break betweene AWA and the quant section.

I would suggest you to simulate the break and try to relax, then go for quant in your practice tests.

After surfing for a while came across a very insightful article from Manhattan
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ent-wrong/

@samareshgupte, skipping anything in hopes of filling the gap in the future is nothing more than lying to yourself. There are two ways the things you skip now can be enacted in the future:
- some one does this for you
- something pressurizes you to do this

As you won't be allowed to keep companion for taking GMAT's AWA section in exam, I will turn to the second possibility. Think, you are relaxed and eager to write your practice GMAT but willingly reject completing AWA section. Is something wrong with your decision? Yes! By rejecting to complete AWA you admit that either it's not a necessary section of GMAT or this is something which can be made by itself or you don't want the consequences of doing AWA be put on your doing math and verbal sections. Again by POE (process of elimination) and because AWA is required for GMAT and this cannot be made by itself you need to put good 5-6 paragraphs for each essay composition in order to get an above average score for AWA, I conclude you don't want to have bad consequences of doing AWA on your completing math and verbal sections. It's like you never plan for a tire change in a long and responsible car journey to your desired place. Bummmm, your tire is gone - AWA shows up and you need to complete this section. What will happen? You will be stressed out and have to complete AWA.

Morale - do not do GMAT CAT without completing AWA section in your practice session.

Cheers,
pemdas