Going for Round 3....Experiment....UPDATED

That is a pretty hard question for an opening question. Not too many visual clues about breaking down 5^10 - 1 into ((5^5) - (1)) ((5^5) + (1))

Well, I was looking for a different factorization and was expecting an exact number needs to be calculated for the answer. Seeing the answer choices can definitely help on this one. But I agree, it's not a very easy one to start off.

Yeah .. pray that none of us get something like this for Q1 - this would really throw anyone off ...... Its more the wasted time and shock effect on your overall composure ...

Actually, let all of us get this exact question or something very similar to it.

After a third look, the question is actually easy to solve

(5^18) - (5^8) = ((5^9) + (5^4)) ((5^9) - (5^4))

I happened to have the same first question as walker (took it last week, so I guess a couple days b4 him). Different numbers, but same trick. I agree that it's not the easiest problem to start out with, unless you can easily see the factorization. So to the rest of you about to take the test, I'd brush up on some of this stuff =D

710 (Q50, V35)

To sum it up - I FAILED

2 hrs later I am still in disbelief at my verbal score.....

AWA went smoothly again. I think I wrote killer essays with more than 500 words each as usual (who cares?). I just can't believe the number of keystrokes coming out of fingers during the AWA especially since I hadn't written an essay since the last time I took the GMAT.

Quant started smoothly with a very easy mixture problem. I saw just a few really hard problems. I thought I solved them except one on which I guessed. The only other problem I guessed on was the last one since I was running out of time. I did manage to read it though and it was an easy number properties problem, so it couldn't have affected my score. I must have missed somewhere else. Anyway, since 50 is what my true level on practice was, I was happy with that score.

Verbal - I am in utmost confusion....I scored 41 in my previous two attempts and in practice tests I consistently scored better than that. I was always pretty strong in SC and most of the time in RC. Most of mistakes were in CR but never as many as to completely kill my score. This verbal section seemed alot harder than the previous times I took the test. Which gave me the feeling that I was doing better than 41. I don't think this affected my focus much since the questions seemed so hard and I had to keep concentrated, but who knows. I was pretty confident on the SC. The RC passages were very very twisted but short and the questions didn't seem all that hard. The 4th passage which came at q34 was particularly hard as it was a science one with a lot of terminology. Seeing that passage that late again made me feel I was doing well up to that point. I couldn't have been more wrong.

When the question popped about seeing score, I had never felt better about it after taking a GMAT. Only to have my confidence crashed to pieces.....

I don't think I'll be taking the GMAT any more. I may though re-evaluate my strategy and apply to more lower ranked schools and maybe to at most 1-2 top schools. Despite how I was doing in practice tests and how much I felt sure I could score 750+ on the real test, reality is reality, and this certainly wasn't meant to be for me.


All in all, I had a 730 when I discovered and joined this club. So, number-wise, I didn't benefit from my time spent in here. Yet, I do not regret one second of it.
I am so grateful for getting to interact with so many of you and brush up and improve my quant and verbal skills. I have learned a lot from many people here, not just GMAT tips, but also life tips in general. So, I thank each and every one of you.
I won't have much time to spend in the GMAT sections any more, but I will be around and hope to keep this learning experience grow and most importantly keep in touch with so many smart and driven people.

God bless!

Hey CB, you did not fail by any standard. I am absolutely surprise to hear that you only scored a V35. I wish that you can actually see the results because I just don't believe that. Your previous 41 verbal scores were 90%+, it would be absolutely ridiculous for a test to claim to be fair and accurate and have that kind of fluctuation, especially after addition studying from a proven test taker.

I don't think your gmat score will be a determining factor for elite schools. Have fun with your applications, and enjoy the travel to various places.

ChineseBurned

First of all congrats! I think your motivation and determination to continue taking the test even after such great scores shows your drive to excel in life which is commendable. I have read many of your posts and greatly benefited from them as well as your AWA guide (which I religiously followed today and wrote what I think will be some pretty good essays) But like you said--- who cares about those right?

Your post definitely surprised me when I read your verbal description! I had the exact same experience as you did today. I scored a 36 in Verbal when I was consistently scoring between a 40-47 on GMATPreps. I felt the Verbal section was absolutely brutal! I have a close to 100% hit rate on CR in practice yet on the exam there were multiple CRs where I couldn't decide between 3 answers let alone 2! The SC also seemed to test concepts or grammatical concepts? unknown to me. The RCs were indeed short but compex and there was one monster science dozer that however I felt was actually easier than the others.

This brings up an interesting question to everyone. Have people experienced waves like this in the past on various sections of the GMAT. What I mean is, since the test questions from what I hear are changed monthly, is it possible we are experiencing a wave of "tough" verbal that will hopefully go away? I just hate to believe that I am really that bad at verbal but it was indeed a humbling experience that I will not forget...

Either way, congrats and best of luck applying. I hope to get close to your 730's on my next attempt next month (verbal permitting, of course )

Congratunation Chineseburned!
710 is my dream and 730 is my superdream.



Pls do not go away from Gmat forum! Your experience and tips are rather than useful for us!

CB - time to focus on the essays I think, 730 puts you in reach of every top school in the world. I have a lot of respect for your persistence, and if you demonstrate the same for the application process, you will be choosing between 2-3 offers, laughing at the time when u got 710 on the 3rd attempt.

Good luck.

I forgot to wish those of you yet to take or re-take the GMAT Good Luck! You are going to need it no matter how prepared you are. If anyone who has gotten a spectacular score cannot attribute it at least partially to luck, then they must be a little stuck up and rather ungrateful.

Regarding the verbal section, it's really weird how it burned three of us here in the span of a couple of days and in the most shocking of ways (Walker, sebycb976, and now me). I don't know what to think about it. I basically have no explanation....never will. What I know for sure is that today my verbal skills are 2 times better than they were when I took my second GMAT, and about 10 times better than when I took my first GMAT. I have learned alot and I am grateful for that.
I too saw several CR questions where at first I was torn between 2 and even 3 choices. That made me re-read them carefully, think again, and at the end I was sure I caught the trap and nailed the question. That's what was happening on some RC too where I had to read twice some of the passages until I completely understood them, which I thought I did. That is why I was saying that despite feeling the section was harder than previous times, I still thought I was doing well. It kinda felt like pushing my verbal limits.....and that felt encouraging. Alas, not today, not this time.


My issue essay topic today was something along the lines of "Education has traditionally focused on the differences rather than the similarities among people and nations and has thus created destructive problems for humanity." During the exam, I of course did not have time to think much about it and give examples other than cliche stuff like wars, religion, racism, different languages/cultures. But now it made me think about this board, about what we are doing here. How we come together from all over and different parts of the world, overcome differences in locations, languages, cultures, and interact in most intelligent and efficient and honest ways. And help each other with no reservations. Help each other not just with the GMAT stuff, but with education, career, and life advice. But most importantly, help each other learn and grow as human beings. For a blunt comparison, think about the time you'd spent and what you'd learn watching tv, or being online or on other message boards where you check out your hobbies or simply socialize.
This here is so much bigger than that. For me personally, I can say that people on this board not only help me learn new things, but they also motivate me to want to learn more and more, they motivate me to try to keep improving any way I can on any skill I have. Hell, if it wasn't for this board, I wouldn't have retaken the GMAT even once. They motivate me to want to get an MBA and eventually advance my career. Most importantly, though, they make me THINK. Something that most people around me in real life do not.

Keep thinking and keep learning from each other!

Bravo! Nothing to add....

All the best with your application process! I will try to overtake you in the B-schools forum

Hi CB,

two 730s and a 710 is nothing to be down about. It just proves that you are consistently in the top 7% of all gmat takers.

ALL of your scores are higher than medians of ALL the top schools out there.

See you in the application forums!

Congratulations chinesebird!

you had decent score in previous attempts so nothing to worry.

I have given my third attempt too couple of days back with a pathetic 670.i had 680 highest score so far. Surprisingly i faced same issue with verbal (got 34). During the exam i was super confident that i definitely reach 40+ as i never performed like that in the real exam or even in Prep Tests. I got very easy RC and SC. This score is less than my previous score when i just guessed one RC. Maths i definitely felt difficult this time with a parabola question for 1st question. Anyways, i burnt out all my energy to gmat and i am not even confident now whether i can get into any good colleges.

-SV6

so guys..any tips on how to deal with CRs???

that is my weakness too..

Chineseburned,

Saw your update on 700 Clubbers with your first GMAT Score... I am sure you think that score is better than your latest one...But honestly it depends on how you look at it.
An increase of 10 points from 30 to 40 in Quant is not even close to an increase of 1 point from 49 to 50 (not inviting arguments from clubbers). The slope is very steep...Not much room for error....You got a lot done in Quant. Thats a fabulous score!

Regarding your Verbal, I can see lot of reasons.
1. The test algorithm itself has a standard deviation of 100. Go check out the MBA.com guidelines. The algorithm has a high margin of error.
2. Skill Atrophy...Quant is very inviting to practice...takes away all our valuable time and tends to reduce our focus on Verbal and overtime could take its toll on our verbal score
3. A couple of silly mistakes (could be SC or the damn RC) in the first few questions , honestly Verbal is very subtle to notice your mistakes on the way....In quant you atleast know your answer doesnt match the given choices/you have no clue...but with verbal...it's a mirage

Present your case to schools emphasizing the progress in Quant. Tell them that could achieve a '50' and that you did it. They will understand...Apply to top schools...Let them know that you can take challenges well and accomplish what you want...

Actually I see a lot of improvement both in score and maturity... Numbers dont necessarily mean much..It depends on how one interprets them. Think about it....Believe me buddy, you did great! Just think about presenting your case in a matured manner to the adcoms...

Most of my students (would) consider a 720-730 a resounding triumph. When a student of mine gets such a score, it makes my day, so don't give the GMAT another thought!