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Unexpected result. Could use some help.

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nikhilgupta1991
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Unexpected result. Could use some help. [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2016, 12:17
I'm not a regular participant in the discussions on this forum but a very active follower.
I took my GMAT today and had a rather unfortunate experience. Could use some consolation though.
At the exam center, there was some kind of technical issue due to which the test was delayed for around two hours. Although according to GMAT policy, we were offered a provision to reschedule the test without any cost, I decided to stay there and finish the job.
In my GMATPrep tests, I scored 690 and 710, and therefore, since I paid a lot of attention on my weak areas since I took the latter, I was anticipating a 7XX score. Infact, before the test, I wasn't really confident about the IR section, and I actually thought that it is the section that is going to trouble me the most today.
Ground zero: AWA topic was easy. IR wasn't that intimidating. Then comes the QA section. To my surprise, I found most of the questions really easy. Infact, I had to pay a lot more attention to see if there is any catch in the question than to actually solve the question. In VA as well, the questions seemed a little easier than what I was expecting. There were a lot of noticeable low hanging fruits in the SC questions. The majority of CR questions were simply strengthening, weakening and assumption based. Only the final RC looked a little intimidating but I managed to get away with that as well. And at last, I was actually thinking that I nailed the exam and here I press the final submit button.
BOOM, 640(Q:48, V:30). Infact I scored an 8 in IR. I know that due to the unnecessary delays, the focus and stamina somehow got withered, but this score seems a little unfair, given that it wasn't the first time I was taking the CAT (took 2 official prep tests) and the questions in the test seemed rather easier than those I encountered during the practice.
Can anyone guide me what could have gone wrong? I am willing to take the test again next month and any advice is highly appreciated.
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Re: Unexpected result. Could use some help. [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2016, 15:28
It could be several things.
Questions you thought were easy in fact were tricky.
Stamina --you lost steam after awhile.
Did you take a practice test before and analyze your timing throughout the test? If not, take the gmatpill practice test and look at your timing chart to see if you ended up being slower over time.

For reading, did you lose focus after awhile? A retake is worth it, but max out your prep this time around.

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Re: Unexpected result. Could use some help. [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2016, 18:30
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Hi nikhilgupta1991,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. The likeliest explanation as to why that happened is the 2-hour delay that you described. Having to wait all of that extra time, while expending energy and dealing with whatever anxiety that you might have been feeling, would have certainly lead to some 'burnout' before the Test even began. That having been said, since you brought up your 2 CAT scores as reference, I have a few questions about how you took those CATs:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

It could very well be that you just had a 'bad day' (mostly due to circumstances that were out of your control), so you could very easily retest soon and score at a higher level. Since you have to wait 16 days though, we might as well use that time to hone your skills and define the exact areas that you need to work on.

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Rich
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Re: Unexpected result. Could use some help. [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2016, 22:54
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nikhilgupta1991 wrote:
At the exam center, there was some kind of technical issue due to which the test was delayed for around two hours. Although according to GMAT policy, we were offered a provision to reschedule the test without any cost, I decided to stay there and finish the job.
Which center was this, and why did you opt to stay? 2 hours is a lot of time.
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Re: Unexpected result. Could use some help. [#permalink] New post   11 Aug 2016, 01:00
Hi Nikhil,

That was bad luck. However, if you felt that your steam was lost in the two hours then you should have left.

Anyway, I do agree with GMATPill above that the questions that you found easy might have been tricky. You can easily find this out from your ESR. Please order your ESR and check it to find where you could have done better. You may post the ESR here as well to get some experts' comments. I think people can help you more after seeing your ESR.
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Re: Unexpected result. Could use some help. [#permalink] New post   11 Aug 2016, 05:08
Hi there,
Thanks for the invaluable advices,
As I mentioned, I did took a few practice tests to analyze my timings throughout, and as far as the timing is concerned, I did managed to stay ahead of the clock most of the time.
However, I did intentionally slowed mt pace later in verbal section. Can this go against me? I'm not really sure how a psychometric test works. And yes, I lost my focus during the last 7-8 questions of the test.
As far as my decision to stay is concerned, I thought that it was a shot worth taking. I thought that whether I reschedule the test or take it and get a not so good score, either ways I would have to appear for the test again.
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Re: Unexpected result. Could use some help. [#permalink] New post   11 Aug 2016, 16:56
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Hi nikhilgupta1991,

It’s certainly a possibility that your experience at the test center affected your performance on the GMAT. However, I would like some additional information about your GMAT scores and preparation, so I have a few questions:

1) Did you get your enhanced score reports? If not, could you do so and share the score breakdown from your GMAT?

2) Can you provide us with the dates and score breakdowns from your Official GMAT prep practice exams? When you took the practice tests, did you take them under realistic conditions (e.g. in a quiet environment, no extended breaks)? Did you complete the entire CAT, including the IR and Essay sections?

3) Describe your study routine. What resources have you been using to study? How many hours a day did you study and for how many total months?

4) What are the MBA programs to which you plan to apply? What deadlines are you targeting?
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Re: Unexpected result. Could use some help. [#permalink]
11 Aug 2016, 16:56

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