Bombed the GMAT 580, need to hit back suggestions required.

[ajay_extc_2011]

HI Team,
I recently gave the GMAT and scored a poor 580(Q43 V 27), my target score is 700+. Plan to now apply to all the EPGP programs at the IIM A/B/C next year . In all the of he mocks that I gave the average was between 660 and 690(gave only 2 serious mocks 2-3 days before the main exam), didnt score so low in any of the GMAT mocks. All mocks I gave were without IR and AWA. The concentration was too low during the main test especially after AWA and IR. I went through is MGMAT all 5 quant books, E-GMAT for Verbal and IR.Studied for 3 months about an hour on weekdays and 3-4 hours on weekends.
My expereinces during the test day
The test was schdedulde at 9 am woke up at 5.45 am, was not feeling good.In the days before the gmat was sleeping late and waking up late. Suddenly waking up early on the test day might have cuased the whole body clock to go for a toss.Reached the center at 7.45 am , no one was there at the test center .I had to roam a lot that might have caused some stress . Finally was called in at 8.45 the formailites were done and was GMAT started at 9.00 am. AWA was easy but my eyes were straining not sure whether the to strain or not practisung AWA.Same with IR questions seemed to be easy but was feeling stressed . When I started with Quant had a feeling that I was making a lot of mistakes, as was getting very easy questions, in the between started getting difficult questions felt good but they might have taken a lot of time and I had to guess easy questions at the end. Might be this cuased a drop in the overscore, would like to point out here that i solved all the questions for GMAT Advanced Quant and OG 11. Not sure why the I got such a low score. Need to know what went wrong with my quant? was it that I was tired did a lot of errors.
Verbal also felt the same the passages,CR and SC seemed to be very easy, still went on answering. Was behind time in the middle got a tough passage and guessed all the answers in the passage. By the end tough passage question 31 had lost all comprehension skills, and was doing a lot of guessing at the end,

Based on the above summary identified some of my shortcomings are as below and want to advise also on the below point
1) Concentration for long time how to adapt to be alert for the 4 hours of the test, how do i built in the stess in my everyday work?
2) I have already completed studying most of the sudy material and figured out now that strategy is an issue, how do I learn again everything with the strategy.
3) Do I take a coaching or not take a coaching?
4) I am already 31 can one crack the GMAT at 31 is it my age ?
5) How many months I need to give before a reattempts, I can study max 1 hour 30 minutes on weekdays and 5 hours on weekends.
6)Mocks which one do I take and how many do I give, how do I time them?
7) Any other suggestions on how I can improve my score

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Hi ajay_extc_2011,

With the information that you've provided, you've already defined "what went wrong" - you weren't properly prepared for the FULL GMAT.

Skipping sections on a practice CAT (the AWA and IR) means that you took a test that was 2.5 hours long (instead of 4) and didn't test your endurance skills. Shorter tests usually lead to higher scores, which explains why your practice scores were so much higher than your Official GMAT scores. The eye strain and other physical factors that you experienced on Test Day are a direct result of staring at a computer screen for 4 hours; since you did not train to face that "problem", you weren't ready for it when it happened. Taking 2 CATs in the final days before your actual GMAT likely "burned you out" a bit.

As far as Test Day itself, you didn't plan your routine around Test Day, so the lack of sleep and different "start" to your day could have absolutely affected your performance. Also, I'm curious why you arrived at the Test Center over an hour early? That extra time might have been better used (sleeping). Having to guess on a bunch of questions at the end of each section means that you likely got those questions wrong - that also cost you points.

Before retaking the GMAT, you have to make sure to train in a realistic manner. You MUST take FULL length CATs (no more skipping sections) and you must try to make your CATs match the Official GMAT in as many ways as possible (take the CAT at the same time of day, away from your home if possible, on a desktop computer with a mouse, etc.). Plan to take 1 per week. Since you admit to not having much strategy, you might benefit from taking a GMAT Course (with a teacher or self-study). There are plenty of options to choose from so do some research and find the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

Your age is not a factor in any of this. Thankfully, the GMAT is a standardized, predictable exam, so you can crush it. Business Schools also don't care if you take the GMAT more than once, so doing so is not a big deal.

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

[ajay_extc_2011]

Thanks for your advice . I had one question regarding endurance how do I build my endurance during the daily practise of an hour? I have already done og so what next should I practise ? And how soon I should give gmat again?

[[email protected]]

Hi ajay_extc_2011,

The one hour sessions that you're doing during the week won't test you in the same way that a FULL-length CAT will (for obvious reasons). However, enough of the aspects of Test Day can be mimicked:

1) Study from the computer, not from a book. Staring at a computer screen and transferring information to a pad is a big part of Test Day. Studying from a book eliminates too many of those aspects.
2) If you're studying in the evening (e.g. after work), then you're likely going to be a little fatigued anyway, so the "mindset" will be close enough for you to measure how well you perform when you're getting tired. You can also use a timer to measure how long each question is taking you (just don't get too fixated on the timer).
3) Focus on repeatable "steps"; when the brain gets tired, the "routine" itself has to take over. If you're doing work in your head, then that's a BIG problem because that's not a routine. Get in the habit of taking notes regardless of the situation. Stay organized, label your work, etc.

If you're looking for new books.... since you used the OG11, you might consider using the OG13/OG2015 (they're the same book) and/or the subject specific OG books (there are 2 - one for Quant and one for Verbal). Computer-based resources will likely benefit you more though, since they will test you in the same fashion that the GMAT will test you.

As far as when you should retake the GMAT.... are you on any particular deadline(s)?

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