Post Your Questions to GMAC Official Representative Here

Hello Rebecca,

Do you know if the 13th edition OG will have (and if yes, when?) a Kindle version, like the 12th editiod has?

Thanks!

The Kindle version is already available! Thanks for your question.

Thanks for the quick reply!

This is awkward, but now I know the reason why I didn't find it. Amazon.com says it's "currently not available", thus it didn't even pop up in searches. Do you know anything about what's the reason for this?

See here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008846CAC/ref ... le_ext_tmb

(I could only navigate to the kindle edition by taking a look at the preview offered at the print version's page, and then switching there to Kindle. It's otherwise unaccessible.)

Edit: I contacted Amazon and they said they don't know why it's unavailable and that I should contact GMAC about it.

Thank you for letting me know about this! I passed this onto our products department and they are looking into it. I will let you know as soon as I have an answer for you.

Are the IR questions in GMAT Prep Question Pack#1 the same ones as the IR questions to which OG13 give access? Thanks.

Posted from my mobile device

There is no overlap in IR questions in the GMAT Prep Pack and OG 13. Thanks for your question!

Hello! I wanted to give you an update. The IR percentile ranking chart is now available on mba.com here: https://www.mba.com/the-gmat/gmat-scores ... means.aspx

Thank you!

Please be advised that due to our severe storms in the Washington, DC region on Friday night, you may experience issues using Essential Prep and GMAT Focus.

The web address (www.essential-prep.com) used to access Essential Prep is currently unavailable. For users who cannot access the program while our systems are down, please use this temporary alternate web address: https://204.232.133.251/

The web address used to access GMAT Focus is also unavailable. For users who cannot access the program while our systems are down, please use this temporary alternate web address: www.gmatfocus.startpractice.com

Once our systems are working again, the temporary address will be disabled. Users will then be able to access the tool using the regular www.essential-prep.com address.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thank you!

GMAC,

I took the GMAT in Nanjing, China yesterday, and after posting my experience, another GMATClub member suggested I post here. I have re=posted my original below, but to summarize, your Nanjing test center has serious problems, a situation occurred during my exam yesterday that was severely distracting, and until now, I have received no reply, explanation, or solution from GMAC or PearsonVue, and nothing for than an apology from your test center representatives.

I just finished taking the GMAT in China, and without a doubt, I can say that I am angrier than I have ever been in my life. Pearson Vue and GMAC have let me down.

A bit of background: I am an American, but I have been living in working in China since earning my BA in economics 5 years ago. I have been planning on taking the GMAT for quite a while, and over the past four months, have been studying intensely. This has required extreme sacrifice, as my job is busy and until about a month ago, required frequent travel. I was hesitant at first about taking the exam in mainland China. Without going in to too much detail, I can say that my five years in China has taught me that things can never be expected to go smoothly here even with the most mundane matters. I did not expect the testing center to be on par with what one might see in the US or other countries, but given GMAC and Pearson Vue's mission to create a level playing field by providing identical testing centers throughout the world, I did expect things not too be too far off par. Boy was I wrong.

Upon arriving at the testing center, which is located in an old, run down building with no air-conditioning (its about 90 degrees and 70% humidity here), I went through all the regular procedures--hand scan, signing NDA, etc--with the only difference being that the directions were given to me in Mandarin Chinese. I started the exam at the same time as about 6 others, who were also all taking the GMAT. IR and AWA went of without a hitch, then onto quant. I felt pretty good during all 3 sections, though was a bit annoyed that the proctor logged me back in after my first break, with 5 minutes still to go (after coming back in to the room after eating an apple I explained I wanted to sit at my computer for the remainder of the break, but we had a bit of a communication breakdown, or in typical Chinese fashion, probably just wanted to get me out of the way so she should continue doing whatever the hell she was doing).

Anyways, took my break after quant, and went into my stronger section--verbal Here's were sh*t hit the fan. I have been scoring consistently around V44 in my practice tests (Kaplan and GMATPrep) over the past two months, and consider it my strongest section. Since beginning my study back in May, I have never scored less than 42 on verbal. I went in pretty confident. About 7 minutes into the section, just as an RC question came up, some kind of commotion broke out just on the other side of the test center door, which was just about 5 meters behind me (as I was at the first test station in the room, right by the door). It sounded like a physical altercation, or at least an intense argument, was going on--perhaps with one of the other test takers involved. After about 1 minute of this I was properly incensed, and cupped my ears hoping it would soon be brought under control. It was not. The argument or whatever it was intensified and continued for ten minutes. I was, at one point, so angry I almost got up and went out there to lose it on someone, but of course I was on the clock and trying to stay focused (which also kept me from raising my hand). I was ecstatic when it stopped, as it was severely distracting. On with the test, I thought. However, a few minutes later, it picked up again and carried through the end of the test. I finished verbal, and at this point was angrier than I have even been in my life. I raised my hand, and the proctor, an early 20's girl who looked like a college student, came in, and before doing the BIQ's or reporting my score, I complained intensely. I asked her how they could allow this to happen in a Pearson Vue testing center, what the hell was going on, etc. and she told me to finish my BIQ's and she would explain.

My hands were shaking with anger as I went through the BIQ's. Reported my score, and my V37 was the lowest I have ever scored--including my first practice test before ever studying. I was literally shaking with anger through the verbal section, and praying, yes PRAYING, the argument would be controlled.

I complained with great intensity, but tried not to lose it on the 3 young girls apparently running this operation. All I got was an apology. The only explanation they gave was, "We're sorry...they were boys and we are girls. We couldn't control them." Typical China,

I told them I would be contacting GMAC, PearsonVue, and Nanjing University (where the test center is located). I have sent emails to all said parties, and I am waiting until tomorrow morning during business hours to start placing calls. I have never experienced this level of unprofessional-ism in my life. PearsonVue has severely disappointed me. I am angrier and more upset now than I have ever been.

Oh yes: results were Q44 V37 for 640 overall. Quant (not my strength) is right where it was on my last GMATPrep. Verbal was WAY off (disappointing because verbal has been the reason I've been able to score 710+ on last GMATPrep practice exams). I am well short of where I expected to be, though confident that PearsonVue/GMAC will have the level of professionalism to both figure out how the hell this happened, and provide a retest.

Don't take the GMAT in China. This country never fails to dive beneath my lowest (and constantly declining) level of expectation. Last takeaways: PowerScore CR Bible was great, Manhattan GMAT strategy guides for quant were very helpful, and I wish I had spent more time with my error log and on challenge sets, and less time just trying to get through various books.

Worst day I've had in years.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. A major storm has knocked out the email system for GMAC, including our customer care, which may explain the delay in reply. I have brought this to the attention of our test center managers. I will be in touch with you as I have more information.

Thank you Rebecca. Forgive my spelling and grammatical errors above; I wrote the post while shaking with anger. I have not been able to email US GMAC. All emails return an "unable to send message." I have contacted your Beijing office, but there are no English speakers there, and I am getting the run-around trying to file this complaint. I do hope you folks can look in to this, and make things right.

--Mateo

The "unable to send" messages you are receiving are due to our email sysem being knocked out by the storm. I apologize for the inconvenience. I passed on your message personally. Please be assured that we take these complaints very seriously. We will do our best to follow up as quickly as possible. Our email system was restored this afternoon, so please do try to send your message again.

I just spoke to our customer care team again. Please send your email to socialmedia@mba.com, and include your GMAT ID. We will look into this right away. Thank you!

Thanks for the thread I just realized i have to change my name as well . Having 5 days to go is a breather Thank god stumbled upon this thread .

@OfficialGMAT. thanks for info.

Hi Rebecca:

This is an awkward posting for me to post so please bare with me as I outline the below..

My GMAT experience over the past year has been a painful one. I would study hard and get decent scores on the practice tests and then come test day, my score would drop by 100-150 points. It absolutely sucked, broke down my confidence, and I began to have serious doubts about whether this was the correct path or not. While going thru some online material, I came across a line saying that you can only take the GMAT 5 times in one calendar year. I called GMAC to verify this given my test history but the customer support staff were not very helpful (sounded like they were reading from a prompt).

Anyways, can you please verify if the calendar year ends in September 2012 (based on my history below)? And then after the September date, I can 'reset/restart' the cycle?

Dates of Test taken:

1) September 2011
2) November 2011
3) December 2011
4) March 2012

If I'm understanding the GMAC polices correctly than between today and September X, 2012 I can only take the GMAT exam only 1 more time. But after September X, its the start of a new calendar year?

Thoughts/insights on the situation would be appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Cheers,
B

Hello, B! First, I am sorry to hear you are having trouble achieving the GMAT score you are aiming for. I do wish you the best of luck on your exam.

As for your question: It gets a little confusing, which is why the person you spoke to on the phone may have had to read you the answer from a prompt.

You are correct that as of September it will be the start of a new calendar year, so you will be able to take the exam again. However, you still will have taken the exam three times previously in that calendar year (the November, December and March dates). Your five time limit to does not reset in September. The five exam limit will always count backwards from the month in which you are trying to reschedule the exam. Does that make sense?

Please let me know if I can give you any more help.

Thank you!

I have enjoyed answering all of your questions about the GMAT exam! Remember, if you have any more, feel free to post them here!