Stale mate

[Tryingmybest]

Hi Guys,

First of all I want to thank everybody in this forum for their valuable contributions.
Well , I took GMAT three times so far here is a brief Back ground of it

I attempt: 530 Q 39 V 25 .September 08

One of the major reasons for my failure is that 5 min of my time in Quants is taken in Break. Basically ,this is what happened . I completed my second essay AWA, then I had 5 min left. I asked the supervisor in the center whether I can take a break now so that the remaining 5 min will be included in the total break. (I was under the wrong notion that the Actual break between AWA and Quants is 5 min. )
She said yes and typed some password and I took a break.
When I came back and started answering my first question , I saw the clock on 69 min and few seconds. I panicked. The Supervisor called GMAC ,but it was all in vain. This had a tremendous impact on my performance. Hence the poor score of 530.Well, I also blame myself for lack of Practice before exams.

II attempt: 640 Q 49 V 28 .Dec 08



Well many thanks especially to Logitech and Cramya.I really liked your approach in solving Quant problems. Logitech you really kept this forum alive with your postings man( from sep 08 to Dec 08)!! Thanks and congrats on your 730.Believe me or not , I prepared only Beat the GMAT problems and pumped my score from 39 to 49.

III attempt day before yeaterday:March 09

I cancelled the score, I was so tired with tight work schedules , I could not get past 3rd question in Verbal.

I hope this wont be considered negative by the admission officials. I am trying to go for the final attempt and I am going to give my best shot this time.

Just a general tip , for those who think MGMAT math is lengthy and slightly off of actual GMAT - Please change your opinion. I think the math in my last attempt was lengthy and solving MGMAT would have helped me a great deal.There were totally 4 problmes for me from Probability & Statistics. So please dont ignore this area.

Please give me tips and suggestions for a better performance next time and do comment on my cancelled score. Thanks!!

[VP_Jim]

Thanks for posting your story!

I wanted to add something about you seeing four probability and stats questions: this was most likely because you scored so well on quant. If you aren't scoring above 80th percentile on quant, as long as you know the basics of those areas you will be fine. Higher scores might see more/harder questions.

Anyway, a 110 point improvement is awesome. I don't think the cancelled score will really affect anything - just don't do it again! Between now and your next test, focus almost 100% on verbal. Do a handful of math problems just to keep your skills up, but improving from a 49 to a 50 is a lot tougher than it sounds! Focus instead on your weakness.

Happy studying!

[Tryingmybest]

Jim-Thank you very much for your inputs!!

[cramya]

Tryingmybest, Thanks for the kind words.

640 is a good score.

Jim hit it right on the nail.With more focus on the Verbal side I am sure u will cross the 700 barrier.

Just give yourself 2-3 months if possible so that u get the time to improve and validate that improvement.

Good luck; hope to see ur 700 debrief soon!

Regards,
Cramya

[Tryingmybest]

Thanks Cramya!!

I am thinking to go for the next attempt in 60 to 75 days.