The GMAT beat me - 570 Q33, V37

[agresj]

Interesting side note: I feel confident that my AWA will be a 5.5-6.

That said, I felt great through the AWA section then hit the wall at Quant. I ran out of time on the section. Does anyone know how they score unanswered questions against you? I'd be interested to see how poor my performance really was.

It was like they saw me coming. The first and most every quant question thereafter was in one of my two weak areas. I don't think I saw one ratio problem! In any event, I'm disappointed with my score because my MGMAT practice scores were averaging about 670 and I was hoping for a magic 30 point boost somewhere...

I'm looking for any avenue to not have to take the test again. I'll take math classes at the community college, I'll wait another year for more work experience, I'll start a charity (which, if I could, I should anyway...) Standardized tests have been my nemesis since the PSAT.

Or, maybe I'm just not supposed to get my MBA...

Anyone care to weigh in?

[money9111]

Unanswered questions are the worst thing that can happen to you on the exam...

I say take the exam again but first work on timing....if you can get a 37 verbal score again with a math score of 40 (which may be the case if you just fix your timing) you'll do great...

do not let this stupid test get in the way of your plans

[DAYNE]

how often did you study for quant (the mgmat books and og problems)?

don't give up

[agresj]

money - thanks for the response.

Dayne - I didn't study as much as I could (or more aptly, should) have. I had a week off of work and studied Sunday-Thurs all day/every day and took the GMAT on Friday. I also had taken some prep classes but didn't do as much of the required work as I should have.

Whatever I had learned sure as hell evaded me when I sat down to take the exam, or so it seemed...

In any event - I'm planning on studying and refreshing the material for a couple months and taking it again at the end of August/early September...

[Patrick_GMATFix]

This is the reality of the GMAT. Only 1 in 10 people get 700, but about 1/2 of the people who post in this part of the forum get a 700. 700 is actually a very difficult score to get. Thank you for sharing your story; it's good to have perspective.

Having said that, if this 570 was your first attempt, you should really consider retaking. My advice is to forget about 3rd party questions (Qs from MGMAT, Veritas, Knewton, GMATFix...) and focus on mastering official questions, especially Qs from GMATPrep. This means (1) take weekly practice tests (2) review your tests (3) take topic specific drills and keep a log of your progress (4) study solving strategies and review your log

There is pretty much a consensus that GMATPrep has the best practice questions because they're recent GMAT questions, written by GMAT writers. Although the software has only 2 tests, it contains over 1,200 questions. In my practice, those test-takers who invest the time to master these perform better on average. If you need a system to maximize GMATPrep (practice by topic, log your work, track your performance...), have a look at the Solutions Engine.

Best of luck!
-Patrick