First take 12/8/11, 620

[Whaler78]

My goal is 90th percentile. I was pretty disappointed and couldn't figure out what went wrong. I was 86 percentile (49) in Q and 40 percentile (26) V, combined 70 percentile at 620. Frankly, I'm perplexed. I did 5 MGMAT....My worst MGMAT V score was 60 percentile, which was my first. Second test was solid 70 and continually increase to 81th in V a night before the test(47Q 36V, amounts to 90th, 690). I would've liked to think that those 6 exams and results weren't by luck...By 2nd MGMAT, I was 76th percentile at 620.

MGMAT1: 46Q, 30V = 620, 76th percentile
MGMAT1: 47Q, 31V = 640, 80th percentile
MGMAT1: 48Q, 33V = 670, 89th percentile
MGMAT1: 45Q, 34V = 650, 84th percentile
MGMAT1: 47Q, 36V = 690, 90th percentile

GMAT1: 49Q, 26V = 620, 70th percentile
GMATn:<- Guess there'll be more....



Obviously, I will have to do more in V and slightly more in Q.

[essaysnark]

Whaler78 -- this is unlikely to make you feel much better -- but in the grand scheme of things, a 620 is a good score!! Anyone who breaks 600 is a hero in our book.

This is a really hard test and we know how stressful it is - and, now that you have this experience under your belt, you have so much valuable information about the test itself!!! It's very common for people to do quite a bit worse in the "real" test than in the practice sessions, just due to how unfamiliar everything is, and all the distractions and often really bad fluorescent lighting and shuffling of everyone around you etc etc etc.

Spending some more time on practicing those verbal problems will likely make a tremendous difference for you. Just a few points boost on the verbal side can really increase the overall score dramatically. It looks like you're doing everything right!! Taking the test once more (or even twice more if necessary) will not hurt you at all in the process, so just chalk this up to a very valuable learning experience that gave you important feedback and don't be discouraged - we often see people make huge strides from Test 1 to Test 2!!!

And of course, you're in the right place - BTG has great resources - be sure to check out all those verbal problems posted here and walk through your solutions with others in the forums - it is often a great help.

Good luck on Test #2 and please keep us posted on your progress!!!
EssaySnark