Got 540 in Gmat .... Can some help me ? plz

[sanjeevkunal]

Hi
This is for the first time i am writing in a public forum. Something compelled me to write here. I am very sad and disheartened at this point of time. Just some time back i got 540 in Gmat and that too for the second time. First time i didn't prepare well. so the first time score didn't disappoint me much. But this time i prepared. i can say i prepared really well. I was scoring around 650. In the GMAT Prep tests i scored 670 and 690 just few days back. These scores really boosted by confidence. I thought i was ready to take my second attempt.
Every thing was going well today. AOA was good. IR was not that good but still ok. Quant was very well. Leaving 2 or 3 questions i answered all question confidently. at that point of time i was pretty sure that if i perform verbal in the same way as i perform in the Prep test i will easily score around 670. I started the verbal section. First question Sentence Correction. I just want to mention here that I took e-gmat course for Sentence correction and after that my accuracy improved a lot in prep test. But today in actual GMAT i was not able to figure out the questions properly. Somehow all question were looking tough. I was not sure of the answers. I started taking more time than usual and started running out of time.I had to guess questions to keep in time. My score 49 in Quant and 16 in verbal. total score 540.
All my hard-work has gone in vain. I was not expecting such a low score again. Can anybody tell me, why verbal questions in Main exam were so difficult as compared to the GMat prep test or OG 13 etc.What possibly went wrong today ? And how can i rectify my errors? i want to again give GMAT in 1 month. Please help me.

[vivektiwari1985]

Sanjeev,

First of all do not get disheartened. Remember this is a competitive exam and you are bound to have an off day. All I can say is put it behind and look forward. I got 580 (Q: 48, V: 24) in my first attempt and here is what I did.
Firstly, I got GMAT off my head completely for good ten days and that helped. Then, regrouped myself and sat down for preparations again and this time made a clear plan of action. I solved every single question in the GMAT official guide and reviewed the incorrect questions. This way I solved over 800 GMAT questions. At the same time I also referred to Kaplan's GMAT 800 (8th edition) which helped me clear my basic concepts and gave me some good practice. Finally, after a month or so I started taking practice tests every two days. After taking a test I would religiously review the entire exam touching upon accuracy, speed and most importantly pattern of mistakes I made. I would go back to my books and practice more. I consistently scored 620+ in my practice tests and only once got a score of 680. But I kept at it. Finally on the GMAT day I just cleared my head and took the exam in a very relaxed state of mind and landed with a 690 (Q:49, V:35) within two months of my first attempt.
While this may not be a superb score it was very satisfying for me because I did not stop trying. So keep at it, focus, make a plan and stick to it. I am certain you will do well. All the best. Hope this helps.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

All my hard-work has gone in vain. I was not expecting such a low score again. Can anybody tell me, why verbal questions in Main exam were so difficult as compared to the GMat prep test or OG 13 etc. What possibly went wrong today ? And how can i rectify my errors? i want to again give GMAT in 1 month. Please help me.

First of all, your hard work has not been wasted. Your earlier practice tests indicate that you know the content.

It sounds like things aren't going well for you once you get into the testing center.
What's your state of mind in the test center? Are you nervous/anxious? If so, you may just need to work on some strategies for remaining calm and focused during the test.

If you're interested, we have a free video on dealing with test anxiety: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1252

Cheers,
Brent

[Jim@StratusPrep]

Yes, sounds like test day gitters to me. Get back on the saddle and you will be just fine. The experience you had will help you a bunch in your next attempt. Keep your head up.

[sanjeevkunal]

Thanks vivek. This is really inspiring. But can you please tell me whether the verbal questions in real GMAT were of same difficulty as the questions you practiced or they were some what difficult?

Sanjeev,

First of all do not get disheartened. Remember this is a competitive exam and you are bound to have an off day. All I can say is put it behind and look forward. I got 580 (Q: 48, V: 24) in my first attempt and here is what I did.
Firstly, I got GMAT off my head completely for good ten days and that helped. Then, regrouped myself and sat down for preparations again and this time made a clear plan of action. I solved every single question in the GMAT official guide and reviewed the incorrect questions. This way I solved over 800 GMAT questions. At the same time I also referred to Kaplan's GMAT 800 (8th edition) which helped me clear my basic concepts and gave me some good practice. Finally, after a month or so I started taking practice tests every two days. After taking a test I would religiously review the entire exam touching upon accuracy, speed and most importantly pattern of mistakes I made. I would go back to my books and practice more. I consistently scored 620+ in my practice tests and only once got a score of 680. But I kept at it. Finally on the GMAT day I just cleared my head and took the exam in a very relaxed state of mind and landed with a 690 (Q:49, V:35) within two months of my first attempt.
While this may not be a superb score it was very satisfying for me because I did not stop trying. So keep at it, focus, make a plan and stick to it. I am certain you will do well. All the best. Hope this helps.

[sanjeevkunal]

Hi
ya i was a bit anxious when i went for the exam but once the exam started i was quite relaxed. Also could not figure out when quant was ok why blunder happened in verbal? I felt the verbal part in GMAT quite tougher than verbal part in GMAT prep. This is the point that pinching me the most. Please help.

All my hard-work has gone in vain. I was not expecting such a low score again. Can anybody tell me, why verbal questions in Main exam were so difficult as compared to the GMat prep test or OG 13 etc. What possibly went wrong today ? And how can i rectify my errors? i want to again give GMAT in 1 month. Please help me.

First of all, your hard work has not been wasted. Your earlier practice tests indicate that you know the content.

It sounds like things aren't going well for you once you get into the testing center.
What's your state of mind in the test center? Are you nervous/anxious? If so, you may just need to work on some strategies for remaining calm and focused during the test.

If you're interested, we have a free video on dealing with test anxiety: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1252

Cheers,
Brent