Advice for a retake test in 25 days?

[Aspiring_MBA]

Hello All,

Various posts have been helpful to me, so thank you all! I am hoping to get more advice about retaking a test in 25 days.

It isn't a lot of time, but at this point, I have no more excuses to push back test dates, as I have been studying on and off for this test for the past 2 years!!
I took the test 1.5 years ago (November 2012) and scored a 580 (don't have the breakdown at hand) and need a better score for schools I hope to get into.

More recently, I ended up canceling a test I sat for on March 21, 2014 because I came back late from my break and got way off with timing (maybe psyched myself out?). This test is completely humbling, however, I really want to give it another shot after a month long break. I owe my score to a school I already applied for so have to take it in 25 days. In preparation of the March GMAT, I went through MGMAT Number Props, FDP, and Word Problems for math, used the 13th ed GMAT Review, and right before the test signed up for Economist GMAT Tutor.

My questions:
1. I've taken the two GMAC Practice Tests about 3 times... so any advice on whether I should keep taking this or should rely on other practice tests? This is a concern because I've scored higher on other practice tests but always lower on the GMAC ones.
2. Any advice on reviewing all of the material in the short timeframe? I've seen 30-day plans out there, but any ones you could particularly recommend would be great!

Here are my practice score breakdowns for when I was preparing for the March 21, 2014 test:
Jan 29, 2014 MGMAT - 560 (40Q, 28V)
Feb 13, 2014 MGMAT - 650 (41Q, 37V)
Feb 25, 2014 MGMAT - 690 (44Q, 39V)
Mar 1, 2014 VERITAS - 660 (44Q, 37V)
Mar 7, 2014 ECON TUTOR - 680 (48Q, 37V)
Mar 14, 2014 GMAC Prep - 640 (42Q, 35V)
Mar 18, 2014 GMAC Prep - 630 (43Q, 34V)

Thank you for your help, and sorry for the long post!

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Hi Aspiring_MBA,

Your situation has an interesting problem to it: since you don't have a recent Official GMAT score for comparison purposes, we have no way of knowing how accurate your recent practice CAT scores are. I'm hoping that you can answer a few questions; the extra info will help me to make some recommendations:

1) Can you go into a bit more detail about when you came back late from your break on your last Official GMAT? Which section was it? How late were you? How long did it take you to decide to cancel the score (did you do so immediately or did you wait until the end?)?

2) With your practice CATs, did you take the ENTIRE CAT every time? Did you ever skip sections or do something that was otherwise unrealistic (retaking a CAT, pausing the test, listening to music, eating/drinking during the exam, etc.)?

For the next 25 days, you should plan on taking 1 CAT/week, but don't retake any CATs that you've already done. You also need to make these practice CATs as realistic as possible (try to take them the same time of day as your real GMAT, etc.). Your prior scores show that you've got a pretty good understanding of the content, so as you review and do some new practice problems, you should focus on your accuracy and eliminating silly mistakes.

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

[Aspiring_MBA]

Hi Rich,

Maybe I shouldn't have cancelled the test, but I was really afraid that the score might be lower than my previous one of 580.

1. The AWA and IR sections were fine, and then I went for the break but came back about 6 minutes late, which still freaked me out. I tried to collect myself and told myself that I could recover the time, however, I remember some people emphasizing how important the first 10 and last 10 questions are, so felt I should still take the extra time for the first 10 even though I was late. Unfortunately, by question 20 or so, I looked at the time and was way off with about 30 mins or so left. And at that point, I decided I would have to cancel the test. I still sat through the entire test since I paid for it, so should at least see the questions... but I think I felt too defeated and exhausted to give the Verbal my all, although at times I tried to pick up the momentum. So I did wait until the end to cancel but mentally decided mid-way through Quant.

2. With practice CATs, I took the Quant and Verbal sections and only included the IR and AWA section once in my practice. I never skipped sections or paused the test when I stuck with the Quant and Verbal sections. But now that I think about it, I did drink coffee during some exams...

Also, I think getting lower scores on the GMAC Prep test scores scared me a bit, since those are supposed to be the most reflective of the tests. Are there other practice CATs that are most similar to the GMAC Prep ones you recommend?

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond Rich!!

[[email protected]]

Hi Aspiring_MBA,

With the additional information that you've provided, your 580 makes more sense. In real simple terms, the way that you went about taking the practice CATs was unrealistic, so you were not properly prepared for the Official GMAT when you took it. The Scaled Scores on the CATs show that you're pretty good at the content, when that's all you have to deal with. The Official GMAT requires you to do more than just deal with Quant and Verbal though, and that's where you ultimately came up short. Since you skipped the AWA and IR most times during your practice, you had not developed a sense for what the 8-minute break "feels like", so you mis-timed yours and came back late. You also weren't psychologically ready to deal with the stress of that situation, so things got worse.

This all leads to the solution: your practice MUST be as realistic (re: comparable to Test Day) as possible in every detail possible. If you're not properly prepared for the overall Test Day event, then you'll be less likely to succeed when you're working through it.

For practice CATs, GMAC offers 2 for free (which I assume you've taken) and 2 additional CATs (that you can buy for $40). If you've used all of the MGMAT CATs, then you can get a set through Kaplan (the Kaplan book includes a set of CATs - 5, I think). You're going to have to do a lot of work in a very short period of time, but I'll repeat something that I mentioned earlier - plan on 1 CAT/week. Taking lots of CATs is NOT the solution to your problem - building up your endurance and then testing it 1x/week to gauge your progress is what is best.

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

[Aspiring_MBA]

Thank you so much for your advice, Rich.

You're right, I didn't realize skipping out on the AWA and IR would make such as impact.

I took my "first" practice CAT yesterday after a while and got a 630 (45Q, 33V), so I have work to do. I'm hoping for a high 600.

I will probably buy those 2 CATs and will simulate the test as much as possible.

Any extra tips on dealing with the stress? It sounds silly, but the test has definitely psyched me out... and sadly, I think I actually fear the test (or at the least the score that will come after)!.