640 Today (Q48, V29) - Need Advice for next steps/attempt

[3gmater]

Folks,

I took the GMAT for 3rd time today and surprisingly, as has been the case with my previous attempts, I scored a dismal 640. I don't feel as depressed as I was after my previous attempts.
I need some serious advice about the next steps that I need to take. Before I ask any questions, I will provide some details about my background and about my gmat history.

Past Gmat Scores:
1st attempt: 550 (Q48 V18) AWA 4.5
2nd attempt: 600 (Q48 V25) AWA 5.5
3rd attempt: 640 (Q48 V29) AWA (expecting no less than 5.5)

My prep scores:
* MGMAT (670, 720, 720)
* PR (670, 680)
* GPrep (710, 740, 760, 770) - The last two scores are inflated because I had practiced these tests during my previous attempts.

Profile:
*About 5 yrs of work exp in manufacturing and consulting(current job)
*BS in ME (GPA 3.4) and MS in IE (GPA 3.6)
*Professional certifications in quality, project management etc
*Lots of extra curr. in undergrad, especially sports (university and national level) and event management
*Can obtain strong rec. letters from employer
*Currently working on a business plan (to test my enterprenurial acumen)
*Current Job: Consulting (Manufacturing, operations mgmt. & strategy development). Non-profit company affiliated to the fed govt.
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Somehow I feel I am not a good 'real-gmat' test taker, however I worked really hard this time to address all the inefficiencies. I was really confident to score a 90th percentile this time, a fact bolstered by my good prep test scores.
After today's test, I was flustered after seeing the result. I was anticipating a 38-42 in Verbal, after the test, but a score of 29 smoked all my aspirations. I have seen a huge discrepancy between my "actual score" and my practice test scores during each attempt. I have spent significant amount of time (and money ) on gmat, however I still haven't achieved what I aimed.

I think I can improve my score, if I take the test again. However, I feel that "4th attempt" will make the adcom frown, provided they even consider my application. Besides, 4th attempt will need some prep time (I started my Gmat journey in Jul 07) that will really test my patience and eventually the prep will control my life.

I plan for a part-time MBA in the bay area, with eyes on Haas's EWMBA program starting fall-09 (and I do not wish to compromise on my choice).
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My questions:
* Is 4th attempt a valid option to get closer to the high gmat cut-off for Haas? (provided I improve my score)
* What is the probability that, with my current score and profile, I can make a good application and that Haas can accept me in the "part-time" program? (If yes, then can someone recommend me a good apps consultant, who can significantly increase the chances of my acceptance?)
* Do I still dream about Haas, after 3 failures? (I will still do, no matter how much ever unrealistic I may seem )


Thank You in Advance.

Regards,

-3G

[3gmater]

Anyone?
Stacey, VP Team, Experts et al......

I have a week to decide whether I should re-appear (4th attempt) or whether I should take a calculated risk and move ahead with apps. Working full-time(sometimes on wknds too) and giving the rest of my time to GMAT has literally made me stay away from a lot of other 'gainful' activities. I still have the steam for a 4th shot, but will it be worth it (even if I improve my score by 40-50 points)?

Rgds,

-3G

[aim-wsc]

640 is something that reminds me the Jack GMAT story: https://jc-gmat.blocked/2006/10/jac ... piled.html

Congrats, I dont think it's a bad score. After all GMAT is not the only thing in the MBA application. & looking at your profile I am sure you can make a great application.

[ajaypatil_am]

Hi 3gmater,

I know some of the consultants in Bay Area can PM you the contact details if u want.640 is a very good score for ur profile i would say go ahead with the apps.

Aim - read ur "Jack GMAT story" some months back really nicely written...There are many many people who get 400 - 640 score even after giving the test multiple times so if some of them are still aiming top 10 schools would u still suggest them to go ahead for application process with their current score or should one should re-take the GMAT......

I think the decision depends on individual's confidence level...and how far he/she can keep his/her GMAT interest alive..

Let me know your inputs on this..

Thanks,
Ajay

[3gmater]

Thank You Aim, Ajay.

The question remains......will GMAT deter me from an admit to a part-time program @ Haas?
{I know GMAT is not the only thing.....however 640 is towards the lower side for Haas even if I have a fairly good story to tell about myself in the apps}

Haas is the only school I have targeted/dreamed of...ever since I began my gmat journey and I really want to achieve this dream. In fact I moved into the bay area....assuming that I can get through Haas true!
I am ready to trot the painful path (of prep) once again.....if a 640 has a very less probability of an admit.

any comments/insightful suggestions will surely help.

thanks.

-3G

[aim-wsc]

Yes, I agree with you 3G.
Probably you should take the GMAT again. You should score higher in quant.
But I would take it only if I see some significant improvement in your preparation level.


But dont change your name to 4G then

[lion147]

Thank You Aim, Ajay.

The question remains......will GMAT deter me from an admit to a part-time program @ Haas?
{I know GMAT is not the only thing.....however 640 is towards the lower side for Haas even if I have a fairly good story to tell about myself in the apps}

Haas is the only school I have targeted/dreamed of...ever since I began my gmat journey and I really want to achieve this dream. In fact I moved into the bay area....assuming that I can get through Haas true!
I am ready to trot the painful path (of prep) once again.....if a 640 has a very less probability of an admit.

any comments/insightful suggestions will surely help.

thanks.

-3G

That is puzzling, it seems like something is going wrong in verbal part of the actual exam.

Is English your first language?
Are you running out of time in the verbal?
Are you guessing answers in the verbal?
Are you getting too nervous/stressed in the verbal section?
Exam day jitters?

I feel it must have something to do with the exam environment rather than the content as you're scoring pretty high on those practice tests.

[3gmater]

Hi Aim.

I hope I dont have to make it 4G

Lion,
Here are answer to your questions:

*Yes, I a non-native English speaker
*In the exam I was strained for time in both the sections, especially verbal - courtsey two huge RC's (maybe 80 lines each) with four 3-4 line questions each (both social science related)
*I was not nervous and did not have exam jitters (this was my 3rd attempt)
*I may have guessed 2-3 questions between 33-41 question range.

For my next attempt, I cannot assess myself based on the prep-test scores - they just do not predict my actual score. Besides I have blown-up all my tests and practice questions (courtsey my 3 attempts).

Although I was well prepared, I feel the difficulty level of Questions was well above the Gprep questions. I would say the questions were in line with the difficult Kaplan tests (not identical but difficult).

Some Exam Observations:

Quants: I faced a lot of tricky number property and geometry questions. Some of the DS questions were long in that they were 4-5 line questions. I also faced few questions that required long calculations....similar to MGMAT questions.

Verbal: RC's were huge. I may have answered more RC's than SC's or CR's. SC was OK....error/traps were identifiable in most of the questions.
CR was towards difficult side. I faced a BF question as my 38th question, which may be of above average difficulty. Most of the CR and RC questions were long & confusing..... and reading them took a lot of time.

thanks

-3G

[lion147]

Hi Aim.

I hope I dont have to make it 4G

Lion,
Here are answer to your questions:

*Yes, I a non-native English speaker
*In the exam I was strained for time in both the sections, especially verbal - courtsey two huge RC's (maybe 80 lines each) with four 3-4 line questions each (both social science related)
*I was not nervous and did not have exam jitters (this was my 3rd attempt)
*I may have guessed 2-3 questions between 33-41 question range.

For my next attempt, I cannot assess myself based on the prep-test scores - they just do not predict my actual score. Besides I have blown-up all my tests and practice questions (courtsey my 3 attempts).

Although I was well prepared, I feel the difficulty level of Questions was well above the Gprep questions. I would say the questions were in line with the difficult Kaplan tests (not identical but difficult).

Some Exam Observations:

Quants: I faced a lot of tricky number property and geometry questions. Some of the DS questions were long in that they were 4-5 line questions. I also faced few questions that required long calculations....similar to MGMAT questions.

Verbal: RC's were huge. I may have answered more RC's than SC's or CR's. SC was OK....error/traps were identifiable in most of the questions.
CR was towards difficult side. I faced a BF question as my 38th question, which may be of above average difficulty. Most of the CR and RC questions were long & confusing..... and reading them took a lot of time.

thanks

-3G

I wouldn't worry about your math too much, you got a very good score on that section. I expect you only need to lift your verbal score by 10-15 points to get over 700.

Someone here mentioned the verbal section is harder than it was a few months ago, this may explain some of your problems.


My tips:

Sentence correction - see the cheat sheet someone posted in the verbal section here, it's a brief guide but it covers everything you need to know.

Critical reasoning - Perhaps some practice on picking out the key points of arguments, i.e. the evidence, assumptions, and conclusion. (Unfortunately I haven't seen any books which allow you to practice just this but I believe it's a key skill). When you practice (i.e. you're not on a time limit), think to yourself (or write down) what the key parts are, no matter what the question is.

Reading comprehension - Practice speed reading, e.g. you could read a short newspaper article as fast as possible, think back to yourself what the key points were and then read it again slowly to confirm what you thought was actually correct, you may want a notepad to write down notes.

My old university had one tip for reading quickly, and that was rhythm. While reading a newspaper article, tap your finger or a pen on the page as you complete each line, you should aim for a constant rhythm. Once you get an even rhythm you can speed it up.

Also, I would read the question in reading comprehension first to get an idea of what it was looking for.

Other than that, for exercise, read a good newspaper everyday; when I say a good newspaper I mean something like the WSJ, not a tabloid newspaper! Also there's always science related questions, so it may be worth buying a science magazine to practice reading.

Good luck, I wish I could help more.

[gileyal]

Don't know if this is much consolation - but my friend got into ross with a 650. I definitely think you have a chance. Go write a killer application!