Completely dejected - Scored a 640 today

[kanagasu]

Hi guys,

I gave my gmat today and scored a mere 640. I thought I would most definitely score a minimum of 680 but not sure what happened. A big RC hit me really hard in verbal, and a Geometry prob which was rather weird and new hit me in quant. I unnecessarily wasted time instead of moving ahead and this costed me a lot. O.G is the BEST SOURCE no doubt, the more you practice OG the more insight you gain about the exam, and give as many GMAT preps as possible even if the questions repeat. I missed doing these two

I scheduled a retake on November the 2nd. I really hope I keep things simple and straight the next time on.

It would be great if experts here advice me how to move ahead keeping in mind that I have about 50 more days left.

[fujima26]

I understand the dejection, it definitely feels awful. Not trying to sound harsh, but really, one awful feeling is enough.

During your practice, where are your weaknesses? I'm sure you worked hard, hence you have a good sample size of questions to know where your weaknesses are. More importantly, practice 700+ level questions. In this respect, I don't think OG provides sufficient questions. Get 700+ level questions from other sources and practice. When you practice, google for the right answers when in doubt. The important thing here is to figure out the train of thought when doing difficult questions. Check my other post in the same forum, you'll find some good sources for practice. My score jumped from 490 to 710 in 4 weeks, I believe you can do it too since you start off in the mid-600s.

Hope this helps.

[kanagasu]

I understand the dejection, it definitely feels awful. Not trying to sound harsh, but really, one awful feeling is enough.

During your practice, where are your weaknesses? I'm sure you worked hard, hence you have a good sample size of questions to know where your weaknesses are. More importantly, practice 700+ level questions. In this respect, I don't think OG provides sufficient questions. Get 700+ level questions from other sources and practice. When you practice, google for the right answers when in doubt. The important thing here is to figure out the train of thought when doing difficult questions. Check my other post in the same forum, you'll find some good sources for practice. My score jumped from 490 to 710 in 4 weeks, I believe you can do it too since you start off in the mid-600s.

Hope this helps.

You are an inspiration indeed mate. Thanks for your views.

Initially I was very good at CR's and decent at Rc's, but was facing problems with SC's. But a week before the exam the things changed drastically, RC's and CR's were my vilans while with SC's I was a champ. I dont know what had happened. I even cried when I was getting down the staircase of the examination center building. I felt like hitting myself. I think my weak areas now are CR's and RC's though I am good at Quant not really sure what happened during the exam

Need advice on how to go ahead

[fitzgerald23]

I felt I made a similar mistake on some quant problems when I took the GMAT last week. Two of the main culprits were in geometry and you really just have to move on. Both were DS problems and I knew the basics for both, but simply could not determine if it was something where you needed both or each were sufficient. I just wasted time for no reason when the bottom line was I was going to just guess regardless. I think it cost me at the end when time forced me to move much quicker than necessary.

I never had significant problems with CR, but RC has always been a villain for me. Taking the test itself I felt very strong about what I did and when I got my verbal score back I was sure I nailed it. What worked best for me on test day with these type of questions was to narrow each question down to two choices and then thoroughly examine them. If you feel SC is now a strong point you can save yourself time by going quickly through those questions so you can take more time with the others on the test. There were definitely a few answers I changed from my initial thought when I went back and reread the question and pertinent part of the passage. I never did that on any practice exams and I think it really paid off here.

Id buy the Manhattan book for RC. I didnt care much for their methods here, but they do a good job of explaining the question types you will see, how often you will see certain types, and certain keywords and phrases that might help you. What I found best about the book though was the sample passages which were more useful to me than the OG ones because I think they were harder. Im not sure if that book also gives you access to 6 Manhattan exams, but I highly recommend purchasing a book that does if you have not already. I found their Verbal much more difficult that the real test and I think, if anything, that helps on test day.

Id echo what others said about practicing harder problems than the OG. I went through the OG and Id say based on the Manhattan questions I had taken most in the OG were 600 level type questions. I think when I was done with my prep work I could answer everything in the quant section of the OG with no problem and most everything in the SC and RC sections. Getting the OG questions down is a must but when you start getting deeper into it youll do better on test day. I didnt realize it when going through it all, but the harder questions without a doubt helped boost my performance. Use these forums for practice as well, but always make sure you understand why you got something wrong. You'll probably start to see a pattern in the types of questions you get wrong and can fix it by test day.

And most importantly dont get too down. A 640 is a pretty good score especially since it does not sound like you dug into harder studying materials or deeper into some of the concepts. Im sure you will do fine. Just stay loose and dont get too nervous on test day. Schedule it for a time that works best for you and just make it part of your regular day. Good luck. im sure you will do fine.

[CaseNX]

kanagasu,

Hang in there. At this point I think the test is mostly mental. For example, correctly handling a question that kills your confidence, or knowing when to move on even if you know you could get the right answer with a few more minutes. I see many posts on here by people that are shocked by an official score that is far below their practice scores, and I think that most of these cases are the result of insufficient mental preparation.

The OG has questions similar to the real test, but they may not prepare you sufficiently. The MGMAT course was much more helpful for me because it is designed for people who want to score 700+. I think the questions, both math and verbal, are more difficult than the real test, but I must say they prepared me damn well for the real thing. I was prepared for hell, so I was pleasantly surprised when it felt more like purgatory.

I focused on the advanced strategies in the 8 MGMAT books, and then I took the MGMAT practice tests. I found them to be quite a bit harder than the real test. Also, their practice tests provide a detailed analysis of your weaknesses. I found it to be very helpful. It showed me exactly what I needed to study.

Anyway, I've already written a lengthy debrief of my experience, the link is in my signature, so read it if you haven't yet. Let me know if it's helpful or not, and I'll take a crack at whatever questions remain.

[kanagasu]

@fitzgerald23
Thanks a lot mate for those kind words. Yes I do have the Manhattan RC guide, but the worst part was that I didn't go further after studying the first two chapters. Time wasn't sufficient at all for me, I couldn't manage time with both work and study. I will for sure take your advice in concentrating more on harder problems.

Cheers,
Suresh

[kanagasu]

@CaseNX

I read you post already and yes it was quite informative.

I gave 5 Mgmat CAT's and was scoring consistently between 660 and 700. In my first GMAT Prep I scored 600 and in the next one I scored 680. I also have all the 8 mgmat guides, but the worst part was that I couldn't cover them because I had no sufficient time. Now I realize that may be I should have postponed the exam. But can't think of it much now. As you said "At this point I think the test is mostly mental" is absolutely true.. I must come out of it mentally.. only then I believe I can go beat the gmat. Do you have anymore advice to give? Especially regarding RC's... how do you think one most approach RC's and prepare for them?

[CaseNX]

RC is a challenge in that there is no clear formula. Besides the insights I mentioned in my post, I don't think I found many tips. RC can definitely be frustrating when it's not clicking. One thing I forgot in my post...for RC, read the initial question before reading the passage. This will give you a head start on that first question, and that may help you on 1-3 questions by the end of the verbal section.

Taking notes while reading did not work at all for me, not at all. It took more time and I kept missing the full picture because I'd stop to write every 10 seconds.

The ABCDE thing really helped me with the whole verbal section.

I think it is also best to read very closely that first time. This helps with getting that first question right as well as giving you a better understanding for subsequent questions. I'd rather read once than scan twice. Trying to laser in on the relevant section didn't work for me. Often I had to give up and read the damn thing all over again.

I guess the best advice I have on RC is to read closely that first time and don't try to analyze much as you read. I found all of that multi-tasking stuff to be disruptive. I'd miss details while trying to back-burner analyze.

As for the test in general, I have to again stress the mental component. As I said in the post, the mental games will kill you. Why waste energy and focus trying to figure if you're getting hard problems yet, or looking for bolded questions, etc? All that should exist is the question in front of you and the timeclock. You cannot go back, therefore, previous questions absolutely do not exist. If you EVER start thinking about a previous question, you are only harming yourself.

With all that said, you gotta be confident going into the test. Be prepared. Know that you know this stuff. And know that you're going to forget some stuff that you know you know. It's ok. Forgive yourself. You can't move forward until you let go of the past. Yep, the GMAT is personal...

[kanagasu]

@CaseNx

Nice insight thanks mate. Will definitely do my best next time on.