From 690 to 580--Where from Here?

[seankerry]

Hi All,

Bear with me as I'm still reeling a bit from my bombed score. Study plan and scores for the past 5 months outlined below:

Study Materials:
-MGMAT 10-week course (ending in October) and accompanying materials
-OG 13
-OG Verbal & Quant Guides (2nd Ed.)

Study Plan:
-Followed the 10 week outline provided by MGMAT as well as additional OG questions.
-Average study 1-2 hrs on weeknights (after work)
-Average study 3-5 hrs on weekends

Exams:
MGMAT CAT 1: 600 (8/10) (Q: 35, V:37)
MGMAT CAT 2: 600 (9/29) (Q: 37, V: 35)
MGMAT CAT 3: 610 (10/13) (Q: 40, V: 34)

At this point, I decided to put a strong focus on Verbal, as I found I was making some very elementary mistakes and thought that could be the best way to boost my score quickly.

MGMAT CAT 4: 640 (10/24) (Q: 38, V: 38)
MGMAT CAT 5: 620 (11/17) (Q: 36, V: 38)
MGMAT CAT 6: 690 (11/22) (Q: 44, V: 39)

After the final MGMAT CAT, I was pretty ecstatic--thinking if I could just shore up a few quant and verbal mistakes, I could easily hit my target score of 710+. However, I decided to take a few other practice tests before my 12/5 test date:

Princeton Review Free GMAT (11/28): 650
KAPLAN (11/29): 640
GMAC (12/2): 640

So as you can see, significant decreases from the last MGMAT CAT. I chalked up the differences mostly to less-than-ideal testing conditions (in-laws house has no wifi so I was plugged into an ethernet connection in a freezing room). I still felt confident that either a few questions here or there could boost me up to above or around a 700 or maybe a 630 on the low end. I did not want to retake the exam, but based off the CAT scores I knew it wasn't out of the question.

Official Test (12/5): 580 (Q: 33, V: 37)
Lowest quant score of any exam and lower than my trending verbal. The lowest of ANY score I had achieved during my prep time. My question now is--where do I go from here? I've already been through the full 10 week MGMAT course, which I found helpful, but definitely did not see my return on investment. I've seen a significant number of people have had success with the EMPOWERgmat course--is that worth the investment? Do I purchase a number of additional CATs from a site like 800score.com and review those? I'm at a loss right now--has anyone had this experience and been able to regroup and "right the ship"? I'd like to think I can turn this around in a 1-2 month timeframe--any suggestions for a quick turnaround? I'm still a bit shellshocked...

Thanks,

[[email protected]]

Hi seankerry,

First off, Business Schools don't care if you take the GMAT more than once, so that's not a big deal. Also, you've shown that you have a really strong ability in the Verbal section, so you'll likely only need to do some "maintenance" to keep that skill up.

What you'll have to do is change the way you "see" Quant questions, learn and practice some new tactics and work on your organization.

I'm hoping that you can answer a few questions though:

1) When schools are you planning to apply to? And when?
2) During your practice CATs, did you take the ENTIRE test (including Essay and IR)?
3) Was there anything about Test Day that was different, or surprising, relative to your practice CATs? Think hard; the little changes can sometimes greatly affect one's performance.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[seankerry]

Hi Rich,

Thanks--I had already told myself that taking the test more than once was not out of the question, so the fact that I have to regroup and reattack the exam is not shocking--the drastic score difference has left me a little rattled though.

To answer your questions:

1. I'm based in Chicago and due to job and family situations, I'm only looking at part time programs. Kellogg and Booth are the only two schools I will attend (Ross is a possibility if a few factors fall in place), as I don't think the return on investment from schools like Loyola or DePaul is worth it. Looking into summer or autumn 2014 start dates--basically depends upon when I get that 710+.

2. For the practice CATs, I split about half and half on doing the entire test vs just the quant and verbal. That said, I don't feel like there was any fatigue factor involved with the 1 hr AWA and IR sections, I actually like the IR section as I feel it's kind of a good warm-up for the quant.

3. Differences on test day (some of these may be out of scope of what you're asking):
-Felt the quant section was not as heavy on Algebra, specifically factoring, as all of the Practice CATs were. I buckled a bit at first when the questions came up Num. Property and Exponent heavy.
-The screen in the exam room is FAR from your seat. On the practice CATs I had usually held a finger to the screen during RC questions as I jotted notes--was not able to do this during the exam. Also felt like I had to lean forward a little to be actively "into" the exam.
-Usually took the practice CATs with a pen and paper--the markers given during the exam were pretty poor quality and I had to rewrite alot and switch between pens.
-The verbal SC felt more difficult than the MGMAT CATs, without a significant number of clear "breaks" to choose between different groups.

Thanks,

Sean

[[email protected]]

Hi Sean,

Based on the additional information that you've provided, I can offer some extra insight:

1) The schools you're considering are remarkably competitive. Each will "want" you to to score considerably higher on Quant side of the GMAT. It's also worth noting that the GMAT is just one piece of the application process; for competitive schools, you're going to need to have a great overall application, so be sure to put the necessary effort into each piece.

2) Whether you believe it or not, fatigue affects everyone. Your practice CATs will only provide accurate information IF you treat the CAT as if it were the real thing. Skipping sections, pausing the exam, etc. creates an unrealistic scenario and an unreliable result. On future CATs, you MUST take the whole thing and do so in as-close-to-test-like conditions as possible.

You've mentioned that you have 1-2 months of time to study, but can you be more specific than that? What deadline(s) are you on? How much time can you commit to studying each week?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[seankerry]

Hi Rich,

1. I definitely realize they are competitive, very much so. I believe I have pretty solid recommendations in place as well as some good contacts from former students of both schools that can help me in the application/interview process--though at this time, the score is what matters.

2. I have the ability to commit at least 1.5-2 hrs per weeknight and fairly unlimited (to a degree) time on weekends to study. The main deadline I am on is my wife is due with twins in early April (so most likely late March), and I know after they are born the amount of time I'll be able to commit to the GMAT will be cut SIGNIFICANTLY.

Thanks,

Sean

[[email protected]]

Hi Sean,

I've sent you a message with some notes on your situation and some suggestions.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich