Hello everyone,
I have been poking around the forums here and everyone seems to have solid advice. I am hoping that you can assist me in my particular predicament.
I took the GMAT August 31 and scored a 590 (Q35, V36). This score is marginally better than the GMAT Prep 1 diagnostic that I took in mid-June (540, Q33, V31) to gauge my starting point. It is as if I did not do any preparation at all and I am highly discouraged at the moment. Oddly though, I scored a 7 on IR, and my MGMT IR scores were nowhere close to that. The most "prep" I did for IR were the sections on MGMT CATs, GMAT Prep, and skimming the MGMT book for 20 minutes a day prior to the exam while cooking dinner. I also scored a 6 on the essay, as expected.
I am also even more discouraged by the fact that I scored a 690 (Q43, V41) on GMAT Prep 2 six days before taking the actual test.
And even more discouraging is the fact that I prepared diligently and felt that I started really hitting a stride two weeks before the exam with regard to Quant. Some of the more challenging questions in the OG flummoxed me, but suddenly, I started getting these questions correct and understanding clearly why and how.
My practice test scores have been all over the place:
- 540 (Q33, V31) diagnostic... time as a major issue here and I randomly guess on last few Q and V
- 610 (Q35, V39); a reset of Prep 1 taken 2 weeks later, timing again on Q an issue
- 680 (Q42, V40); Prep 1 three weeks later
- 640 (Q39, V38); MGMT CAT1 one week later (timing also an issue.. was way ahead of time curve on V, then fell behind, but miraculously got 6 of last 7 right in quick reads and guesses... I like to tell myself that this is a sign that I instinctively understand the problems.. what really hurt me here overall was SC performance, which is odd, because it is my strongest area.. got only 1 CR wrong)
- 640 (Q40, V37); MGMT CAT 2 one week later (was really annoyed with this one because I was in the 99%-ile for V almost the entire test, then got the last six wrong... timing was an issue.. I recall being close to/on schedule, but started panicking a bit by looking at timer near the end.. and kind of lost focus, though my Q timing was fine);
- 610 (Q38, V35) MGMT CAT 3 one week later (was kind of in a weird, relaxed mood this test.. think of the main guy in Office Space... and was aware I was just winging it on verbal)
- 640 (Q35, V41) Prep Test 2 the next day, because I was annoyed with my previous day's approach.. timing was fine
- 690 (Q43, V41) Prep Test 2 one week later, and one week before the GMAT... timing was fine.. had a minute to spare on each
Just a few notes: Sure, the Prep tests were reset. But I do not think that had much of an impact... I did not even analyze or review my answers on the first attempt at Prep 2, and the second time I took Prep2, the Q questions were almost all new (and for those that weren't I didn't know if I got them wrong or right the previous week). Also, my second attempt at Prep2 was only a few days following my a-ha moments on Q (highest score yet), and was before I started having more success in the OG (i.e. higher number problems that I did not attempt yet). With regard to the MGMTs, timing was the primary reason for my struggles. After redoing some of the MGMT Q answers, I often just put my hand to my head and said, "what? how did I not see that! It's so obvious!"... before viewing and reading the answers. I also logged my mistakes, with a thorough dissection of problem elements and how to think (I think this really helped me towards the end of my "preparation"). Also of note, I religiously used the MGMT guides and OG... made flashcards... made a list of key principle things I learned and to do (again, I think this list started helping me towards the end).
Now for the test itself: I actually stopped by the center twice to get a feel for the area and to peek inside the windows... I even did some practice questions outside one week before the test to actually visualize and practice doing GMAT work in the area! So, I knew what to expect there. I ate my usual healthy brain food breakfast and brought snacks that I usually ate on breaks.
Also, I should note that I lost 1:15 heading into Q coming back from break... I know what you think "oh, well that's it!" No, I wasn't rattled... I like to think like Michael Phelps... things don't go according to script: be mentally ready for everything. I was. Read the problem. Kind of knew where it was going. Made an educated guess. Second and third were no sweat. I checked about question ten and I saw that I was on track. But for some reason, towards the 20s I saw that I was getting a bit behind (3minutes)... but I didn't feel as if I were rushing.. and I knew that I didn't see many DS questions yet. And I finished with a bit of time to pick the last question apart pretty thoroughly (which I am confident I got right). Verbal felt fine... feeling very positive and happy I was almost done... I felt that I saw all of the questions clearly and made educated guesses on really only two. Timing again was not an issue... last question selected with <1min to spare. And then I saw the score screen...
It is also very discouraging because a friend of mine who struggled to increase her score and had unsatisfactory scores on MGMT tests scored a 690 on the real thing, her highest... and I've read many cases where people scored their highest on the real test. I am just so discouraged because I started seeing the Q section extremely well in the past two weeks... and verbal has usually been there. I always envisioned succeeding during my prep and when thoughts of failing popped up here and there, I dismissed them, saying "you are not trending in that direction and you are understanding it more and more."
I do admit that I did not sleep the 8 hours that I wanted and have been getting because I couldn't fall back to sleep at 7am (only got 6.5)... felt physically awake but so-so mentally. It was a very overcast and humid day.. so meh, not unusual for me.. got to the test center... still felt meh, but then once I got into that room, went through the steps, boom... wide awake.. the essay really got me going.
For those of you familiar with NYC... you know those two-way cross avenues i.e. 34th and 57th... and the traffic cops that stand on the median yellow line in the middle of the street... yeah, I kind of felt like that during the test.. except the traffic was going 50mph in each direction... and kind of struggled to put together competent thoughts/strategies at times. Even during my practice exams... same thing. Following the practice exams are usually the worst.. my stomach was severely irritated for a few days after taking one of the MGMTs... and I am usually in a very worked-up/hyper/weird/floating above reality state whenever finishing a practice test (does anyone else have this happen?) I'm not sure that it's a hinderance since I have made improvements from test-to-test (for the most part) and have been getting strong. I never feel this way doing practice problems... and I often sit for a long time doing the problems (sitting and concentrating on complicated things for a long time is my bread and butter).
I have since worked on my approach a bit:
- not getting excited or hyped (psyched up) before doing a CAT
- trying to stay calm
- telling myself the test is no big mystery and it's stuff you've done before
I took a MGMT CAT yesterday and got a 630 (Q 42, V 35), but there are a few wrinkles... on quant, I did not get worked up or panic and felt that I did well. Aside from a few goofs and dumb mistakes here and there, I felt that I was close to hitting Q 44. BUT... verbal was a complete disaster as I hit the 30%-ile during the test... something I never thought I could do even if I tried! How can I stop my slide here? (because it's clearly an issue, as seen on the real GMAT).
In early August, I was a true verbal assassin... any CR question I saw I got correct. On my first MGMT CAT, I only got 1 CR incorrect (all 700-800 questions... but score did not reflect 40s because I oddly tripped up over SC). On my second MGMT CAT 2... I was 99%-ile the entire time aside from a panic death spiral at the end. Truthfully, aside from the GMAT Prep questions, which did not seem too difficult compared to MGMT, I have not been the same since on Verbal.. and I can't figure out why. I saw this posted somewhere here, which got me thinking, when I was killing CR verbal questions on the CATs, I seriously felt like I was struggling/fighting with the answers (when in the OG I can get it almost immediately, on most). Since then, I have felt that all verbal questions were easy and was doing really well, even on the GMAT, when I truly was not. And on the last CAT, I even got some 500-600 CRs wrong (unheard of for me) and on almost every question I got wrong, I changed from right to wrong, or had the right answer in my final two.
SO... does anyone have any tips, strategies, advice on how to overcome such a drop on the GMAT? Does anyone here/know of anyone who has overcome such a drop? Am I not being honest with my practice or not preparing correctly, or not doing something that I should be doing? Not being realistic?
How can I rebound on Verbal? Relax? I've worked very hard to pull up the Q.. and a high V, which I confidently feel is within striking distance, can put me over the top. 680 is my goal, but I am greedy and want to hit Q 44, V 42 for a 700.
Any insight would be sincerely and deeply appreciated!
- R
I have been poking around the forums here and everyone seems to have solid advice. I am hoping that you can assist me in my particular predicament.
I took the GMAT August 31 and scored a 590 (Q35, V36). This score is marginally better than the GMAT Prep 1 diagnostic that I took in mid-June (540, Q33, V31) to gauge my starting point. It is as if I did not do any preparation at all and I am highly discouraged at the moment. Oddly though, I scored a 7 on IR, and my MGMT IR scores were nowhere close to that. The most "prep" I did for IR were the sections on MGMT CATs, GMAT Prep, and skimming the MGMT book for 20 minutes a day prior to the exam while cooking dinner. I also scored a 6 on the essay, as expected.
I am also even more discouraged by the fact that I scored a 690 (Q43, V41) on GMAT Prep 2 six days before taking the actual test.
And even more discouraging is the fact that I prepared diligently and felt that I started really hitting a stride two weeks before the exam with regard to Quant. Some of the more challenging questions in the OG flummoxed me, but suddenly, I started getting these questions correct and understanding clearly why and how.
My practice test scores have been all over the place:
- 540 (Q33, V31) diagnostic... time as a major issue here and I randomly guess on last few Q and V
- 610 (Q35, V39); a reset of Prep 1 taken 2 weeks later, timing again on Q an issue
- 680 (Q42, V40); Prep 1 three weeks later
- 640 (Q39, V38); MGMT CAT1 one week later (timing also an issue.. was way ahead of time curve on V, then fell behind, but miraculously got 6 of last 7 right in quick reads and guesses... I like to tell myself that this is a sign that I instinctively understand the problems.. what really hurt me here overall was SC performance, which is odd, because it is my strongest area.. got only 1 CR wrong)
- 640 (Q40, V37); MGMT CAT 2 one week later (was really annoyed with this one because I was in the 99%-ile for V almost the entire test, then got the last six wrong... timing was an issue.. I recall being close to/on schedule, but started panicking a bit by looking at timer near the end.. and kind of lost focus, though my Q timing was fine);
- 610 (Q38, V35) MGMT CAT 3 one week later (was kind of in a weird, relaxed mood this test.. think of the main guy in Office Space... and was aware I was just winging it on verbal)
- 640 (Q35, V41) Prep Test 2 the next day, because I was annoyed with my previous day's approach.. timing was fine
- 690 (Q43, V41) Prep Test 2 one week later, and one week before the GMAT... timing was fine.. had a minute to spare on each
Just a few notes: Sure, the Prep tests were reset. But I do not think that had much of an impact... I did not even analyze or review my answers on the first attempt at Prep 2, and the second time I took Prep2, the Q questions were almost all new (and for those that weren't I didn't know if I got them wrong or right the previous week). Also, my second attempt at Prep2 was only a few days following my a-ha moments on Q (highest score yet), and was before I started having more success in the OG (i.e. higher number problems that I did not attempt yet). With regard to the MGMTs, timing was the primary reason for my struggles. After redoing some of the MGMT Q answers, I often just put my hand to my head and said, "what? how did I not see that! It's so obvious!"... before viewing and reading the answers. I also logged my mistakes, with a thorough dissection of problem elements and how to think (I think this really helped me towards the end of my "preparation"). Also of note, I religiously used the MGMT guides and OG... made flashcards... made a list of key principle things I learned and to do (again, I think this list started helping me towards the end).
Now for the test itself: I actually stopped by the center twice to get a feel for the area and to peek inside the windows... I even did some practice questions outside one week before the test to actually visualize and practice doing GMAT work in the area! So, I knew what to expect there. I ate my usual healthy brain food breakfast and brought snacks that I usually ate on breaks.
Also, I should note that I lost 1:15 heading into Q coming back from break... I know what you think "oh, well that's it!" No, I wasn't rattled... I like to think like Michael Phelps... things don't go according to script: be mentally ready for everything. I was. Read the problem. Kind of knew where it was going. Made an educated guess. Second and third were no sweat. I checked about question ten and I saw that I was on track. But for some reason, towards the 20s I saw that I was getting a bit behind (3minutes)... but I didn't feel as if I were rushing.. and I knew that I didn't see many DS questions yet. And I finished with a bit of time to pick the last question apart pretty thoroughly (which I am confident I got right). Verbal felt fine... feeling very positive and happy I was almost done... I felt that I saw all of the questions clearly and made educated guesses on really only two. Timing again was not an issue... last question selected with <1min to spare. And then I saw the score screen...
It is also very discouraging because a friend of mine who struggled to increase her score and had unsatisfactory scores on MGMT tests scored a 690 on the real thing, her highest... and I've read many cases where people scored their highest on the real test. I am just so discouraged because I started seeing the Q section extremely well in the past two weeks... and verbal has usually been there. I always envisioned succeeding during my prep and when thoughts of failing popped up here and there, I dismissed them, saying "you are not trending in that direction and you are understanding it more and more."
I do admit that I did not sleep the 8 hours that I wanted and have been getting because I couldn't fall back to sleep at 7am (only got 6.5)... felt physically awake but so-so mentally. It was a very overcast and humid day.. so meh, not unusual for me.. got to the test center... still felt meh, but then once I got into that room, went through the steps, boom... wide awake.. the essay really got me going.
For those of you familiar with NYC... you know those two-way cross avenues i.e. 34th and 57th... and the traffic cops that stand on the median yellow line in the middle of the street... yeah, I kind of felt like that during the test.. except the traffic was going 50mph in each direction... and kind of struggled to put together competent thoughts/strategies at times. Even during my practice exams... same thing. Following the practice exams are usually the worst.. my stomach was severely irritated for a few days after taking one of the MGMTs... and I am usually in a very worked-up/hyper/weird/floating above reality state whenever finishing a practice test (does anyone else have this happen?) I'm not sure that it's a hinderance since I have made improvements from test-to-test (for the most part) and have been getting strong. I never feel this way doing practice problems... and I often sit for a long time doing the problems (sitting and concentrating on complicated things for a long time is my bread and butter).
I have since worked on my approach a bit:
- not getting excited or hyped (psyched up) before doing a CAT
- trying to stay calm
- telling myself the test is no big mystery and it's stuff you've done before
I took a MGMT CAT yesterday and got a 630 (Q 42, V 35), but there are a few wrinkles... on quant, I did not get worked up or panic and felt that I did well. Aside from a few goofs and dumb mistakes here and there, I felt that I was close to hitting Q 44. BUT... verbal was a complete disaster as I hit the 30%-ile during the test... something I never thought I could do even if I tried! How can I stop my slide here? (because it's clearly an issue, as seen on the real GMAT).
In early August, I was a true verbal assassin... any CR question I saw I got correct. On my first MGMT CAT, I only got 1 CR incorrect (all 700-800 questions... but score did not reflect 40s because I oddly tripped up over SC). On my second MGMT CAT 2... I was 99%-ile the entire time aside from a panic death spiral at the end. Truthfully, aside from the GMAT Prep questions, which did not seem too difficult compared to MGMT, I have not been the same since on Verbal.. and I can't figure out why. I saw this posted somewhere here, which got me thinking, when I was killing CR verbal questions on the CATs, I seriously felt like I was struggling/fighting with the answers (when in the OG I can get it almost immediately, on most). Since then, I have felt that all verbal questions were easy and was doing really well, even on the GMAT, when I truly was not. And on the last CAT, I even got some 500-600 CRs wrong (unheard of for me) and on almost every question I got wrong, I changed from right to wrong, or had the right answer in my final two.
SO... does anyone have any tips, strategies, advice on how to overcome such a drop on the GMAT? Does anyone here/know of anyone who has overcome such a drop? Am I not being honest with my practice or not preparing correctly, or not doing something that I should be doing? Not being realistic?
How can I rebound on Verbal? Relax? I've worked very hard to pull up the Q.. and a high V, which I confidently feel is within striking distance, can put me over the top. 680 is my goal, but I am greedy and want to hit Q 44, V 42 for a 700.
Any insight would be sincerely and deeply appreciated!
- R
