Got beaten.... 580 (Q33 V36). Retake time!

[connster]

Hey guys,

my first post here and I'm telling you all about my lowly score from today's exam! I had been lurking on this forum during my studies. I honestly don't know how I went wrong but I went seriously wrong, as this score is lower than any of my latest practice tests.

My background:
24 yo female with a background in finance. Been working for 2 yrs and hope to get into a Sept09 program. I have always been good with numbers!

My "strategy" (if you can call it that):

- January: took a GMAT class over 1.5 months offered by a university here in Vancouver. The teacher was good and I think the class was good too. It helped get me started and I knew I had a lot of work to do.
- mid-Feb - March: only studied sporadically. My resources:

Material provided by the prep class
OG 11
OG Quant and Verbal
MGMAT Geometry, Number Properties (a weakness of mine), Equations, and Critical Reasoning
This website.
- my first practice test was by Princeton and I scored 580. Not bad, I thought, considering I had barely started studying.
- second practice test, after some studying: GMATPrep1 620
- third practice test, after more studying: MGMAT 670 (Q45 V36)
- around early April, I really did start to study. I can't tell you approx how many hours I studied/week but honestly, it wasn't a lot (I work full time, plus I am very active in endurance sports/races)
- last 2 weeks of study, I had off from work because I am changing jobs. I went for a 5 day vacation where I brought all my books with me an studied on the plane (3hrs) and each night (1-2hours). The daytime activities definitely put a damper on my studytime though
- home for the last 3 days before the exam, I studied for 10-12hours each day!!!!
- final CATs: MGMAT 650 (Q45, V34), GMATPrep2 680 (Q45 V36 - st like that).

I really did think that would score somewhere between 640-680. And it looked like my Q was fairly consistent. You can imagine my surprise when the screen popped up and it said 580 and even MORE surprised at Q33!!!!! I kind of thought the Q was easy while doing it... but I had no idea at all that I was doing THAT poorly.

Anyways, I came home and cried for an hour and I wondered how on earth I am going to ever make it into an MBA program since it's obvious that I am incapable of doing math. Then I set up my Wii (which I had made myself not set up until after the exam) and played some games, and I am in better spirits but now left wondering how I can prep for my retake. I'm not in a rush to get it done.. I may wait until September to retake. However, how should I approach this? I think I should start the Q from scratch with the MGMAT books and take some more CATs.

Thanks everybody for reading this and for your advice and encouragement!!

[wawatan]

cheer up connstar....a 580 is just 20 points away from a 600 and that would make you score at the 80 percentile! which means you would beat 80 percent of the people taking the gmat. actually i think a 580 is a pretty good score so don't be too sad! if you are unsatisfied you can always take the test again good luck studying

[sumidi]

AAh bugger! I am yet to take the GMAT and I have just started studying and I think I am in the same boat as you....I feel that I have always been good with numbers but even while doing the practice questions I kinda feel I need alot of time to do questions and even after all that I STILL get it wrong.

Firstly check to see if its enough for you to get into the school you are trying to get into. If you are not then I think you should give it another go if not just to give you a better chance to get into your b-school then at least for you personal satisfaction.

Sumi

[christi]

Hello,

I am in a similar boat. I took the GMAT yesterday and when I got my score I was so upset! I ended up getting a 540 (Q42, V23)!!! SOOO BAD! My practice test scores were higher. I took a PR course and studyed for about 2 months.

I am planning on retaing the exam and this time will do things differently. What I believe went wrong for me was the level of anxiety I built in my mind. I need to be more relaxed and tell myself that it's just a test, I know the material and to breathe!

Secondly, I have to remember to guess on a Q problem if I'm not able to solve it within a few minutes. There were a few problems that I took forever working on, and in the end still had to guess. As I continued through the section I was running out of time and had to guess on a few questions.

Then, when I started the verbal, I was shaken up because I had guesses on a few math problems. That was a huge distraction for me.

Lessons Learned:

1. RELAX! Know that I know what to expect in the exam, I will be sure to take it easy and not get too worked up over it

2. If I can't solve a problem, it's better to guess and move on. Save that time for another problem that requires it.

3. Once I select an answer, I will NOT DWELL on it! It's over and now I will have to focus on the question in front of me.

Good luck everyone

[christi]

Hello,

I am in a similar boat. I took the GMAT yesterday and when I got my score I was so upset! I ended up getting a 540 (Q42, V23)!!! SOOO BAD! My practice test scores were higher. I took a PR course and studyed for about 2 months.

I am planning on retaing the exam and this time will do things differently. What I believe went wrong for me was the level of anxiety I built in my mind. I need to be more relaxed and tell myself that it's just a test, I know the material and to breathe!

Secondly, I have to remember to guess on a Q problem if I'm not able to solve it within a few minutes. There were a few problems that I took forever working on, and in the end still had to guess. As I continued through the section I was running out of time and had to guess on a few questions.

Then, when I started the verbal, I was shaken up because I had guesses on a few math problems. That was a huge distraction for me.

Lessons Learned:

1. RELAX! Know that I know what to expect in the exam, I will be sure to take it easy and not get too worked up over it

2. If I can't solve a problem, it's better to guess and move on. Save that time for another problem that requires it.

3. Once I select an answer, I will NOT DWELL on it! It's over and now I will have to focus on the question in front of me.

Good luck everyone