GMATT73 wrote:
Can somebody please offer me some advice?? I recently took 10 weeks off work, enrolled in a Kaplan course, attended every class, completed every problem on the online syllabus, read every book in print about how to attack all problem types, took over 20 practice CATs (including 9 Kaplan CATs and the ultimate practice exam), faithfully participated in the online GMAT club, and even went as far as getting extra tutoring practice from my Kaplan instructor. All my practice CATs were in the 600-700 range. Assuming that I was well within range of at least a 650, I registered to take the official test and showed up an hour early to review my notes one last time. In short, I felt fully confident.
Then came the real test. I was faced with problems far more complicated than anything Kaplan had ever taught in the classroom. Multiple step combination/permutation problems. Tricky data sufficiency, fully underlined sentence correction problems, back to back reading comprehension passages, and malfunctions in the test timer during the breaks (the administrator had to reset the test after every five minutes between sections????). I applied some strategic guessing and did my best, nevertheless. Then came the greatest shock of my life: Q35/V36 570 overall. I almost broke down and passed out from disbelief. What a blow! What an embarrassment!!
At first I considered taking it out on Kaplan and requesting my money back, but so many people swear by their services. Then I pondered the possibiliity of a glitch in the test`s score. Could ETS have made a mistake? Finally, I assumed the administrators were somehow sabotaging me during the breaks. All said and done I am mortified. I can`t even tell my friends and coworkers my real score.
What happened?? After all that effort, money, and sacrafice, I am considering throwing in the towel. I have to work 50 hours a week and application deadlines are around the corner, not to mention I`m not getting any younger. The pressure is intense and has started taking it`s toll on my physical/psychological well being. Maybe I`m just one of those people who simply aren`t cut out for business school.
I just don`t know what to do. I would sincerely appreciate any advice from someone with a similiar experience as mine. Please!
Thank you.
GMATT73
i have faced similar case. when i took gmat 3 yrs back, in the begining of the verbal section, i switched off the power by mistake, by my feet. the administrator restored the test, and i finally got 560...45 Q, 23 V.
my verbal was quite good in practice tests and my confidence was also high....
i think it's the timer that has been the cause of ur score. trust me....i too am not out of the pain of getting a 500 score but the fact is that no one will endorse the truth until we fight and try again till we ourselves, by good chance, prove it....thats the pity of this game.
as for gmat being tough... i will tell u one thing...the math part that u found tough may be from the experimental questons. Also it so happens that when u get nervous, u see easy questions as tough. it will take u some time to realise that the sum of ur nervousness and bad luck (timer problem)..got u this 570....
come on, once more....and what is with the ppl around....u wont get smaller if u get ur desired score even on the 10th attempt. as for age and time limitations, i too am facing them. the settling attitude in life should be that u use ur last drop of blood toward the attempts for realising ur goal...whether u realise ur goal is not the big question....but that...did u put in ur maximum....ur last bit....
sound useless....ok, i stop here.