Timing Penalties = 40-70 less points than usual =( .... 700

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Just took the GMAT, and had a terribly disappointing experience :(

The site and the forum were a great help in my prep, and I believe that all the resources here helped me get as prepared as I could have been. The crap experience was just an unfortunate circumstance I did not anticipate and I know I could have done a lot better. I just wanted to thank you all for making this a great site before I started bitching about my test :wink:

I usually score 740 on the MGMAT CATS and higher on the PP and GMAT Prep CATS (2nd to last attempt I scored 770).

The first problem I had was losing track of time when I decided things were going a little too smooth in the quant and I started checking my answers. For some reason I didn't notice that this started racking up a bit too much time and I had to rush through the last ~8 questions and did not reach the last one...

At that point I thought I could still salvage my score with a good effort in the verbal.... but it was not to be. I estimated I spent less time than I had for the first break, I came back with 3 mins to spare the first break, but found myself staring at a 5 minute time penalty. I ended up rushing the rcs and the harder scs as a result.

The administrator thought I had time to spare as well, so I filed a ticket about the incident. However they told me that in all likelihood this wasn't going to accomplish anything...

I was expecting a much higher score given my scores on simulators that had questions using what I felt were harder concepts. I started studying about 1.5 months before my test. About 2 weeks into this I tried the GMAT Prep and got 740. Within the last couple weeks I could get 740 when I was tired and wasn't focused and the week of the test I got 770 and 760 on the last 2 sims I did before test day.

I just feel pissed off at myself, at the same time i feel half dead and tired...

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by beatthegmat » Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:47 pm
I'm sorry to hear about your experiences--but thanks for sharing your story in such detail.

I would definitely retake the exam--it seems like you are within reach of getting a 99th percentile score! It's certainly understandable that your concentration was thrown off from the screwed up timing penalty; hopefully your second GMAT sitting will go much more smoothly.

Best of luck!
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by ReQ » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:37 pm
Thanks, I'll certainly be trying it again. In a way the month break is good since it'll give me time to recoup my energy.

At the same time I do want to get my applications to school in and with the traveling I'll be doing over the next few months the timing is going to be a pain. This is why I didn't chuck the score even though I was tempted to.

I'll probably be concentrating on my applications for some time, I'll be trying to get into the LSE. It would be ideal if I can squeeze in a retake in time for the admissions to consider, but I'm not sure if that will happen. Stuff like this just has to happen when you can least afford it :roll: