2nd GMAT in 2 months

Hi trangle1611!

What study materials did you use before taking your first exam? What was your your study plan like? Did you take GMATprep tests?
Please elaborate

I didn’t really have a study plan before the exam, I took the 2 free tests from Official Guide and 4 on Manhattan Prep and I scored around 680-690 during 1,5 month before my test. I was better on Verbal than on Quant during my preparation time, that’s why I decided to take the Verbal first, but I also know my weakness with Verbal is CR so I will work on tackling it this time around

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Hello, thanks a lot for your reply. I am planning to apply at the beginning of January (perhaps sending my application in mid-December) For Verbal, I got around 38-41 when I did my practice tests at home, but on the test day I believe I spent too much time on 2 CR questions which left me about 12-13 minutes to finish the last 15 questions, so I do need to work more on the time management aspect of it. I am planning to apply to HEC, ESSEC, ESCP Europe, emLyon and EDHEC. I got the CR Bible today and am planning to study a Quant book for the first 2 weeks of my 2-month preparation.

Hi trangle1611,

You seem convinced that over-committing to 2 CR prompts was ultimately the cause of your score drop. While you might be correct, it would help if we could rule out any other possible impacts on your performance/score drop. As such, I'd like to know a bit more about how you took your practice 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 when you took 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?

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

Hiii I always took the entire CAT whenever I do it at home, but the time of the day varied, most of the time I tried to do it at noon so I will finish at around 5pm. I haven’t done any exam twice, but in the 2 free mock tests of Official Guide they had the same IR questions.
On the actual test, I took my GMAT at 12.45 but the problem that day was that I did not bring my passport, and wasn’t admitted to the test till I borrowed a person in the building’s phone to call the test center to give me an extra 30 minutes and then called my roommate to bring a passport to me (my dorm was 30 minutes away and I wasn’t aware that as an international student, a driver license isn’t sufficient as an ID), also had no car and no money on my phone so it was a bit of emotional turbulence. However, I did take some pause at home during the test and I listen to some deep focus playlist while doing it. Another thing is that I always chose the traditional section order when doing it at home, but on my test day I decided to try something different and took Verbal, Quant, IR, then essay order. That’s about all the difference I can recall by now. Thank you!

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Hi trangle1611,

From what you describe about being denied entry to the Exam and scrambling to get your passport to the Test Facility - you likely experienced far more stress than you ever would have during your practice Exams - and THAT almost certainly impacted your performance. In addition, taking the GMAT in a 'new' order was probably not a good idea (since you had not trained for that order).

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your practice scores can become. Now that you've experienced the Official GMAT, you have to make sure that you take your CATs in a realistic fashion that matches up with what you'll face on Test Day (so take the FULL CAT - with the Essay and IR sections in the same order, take it away from your home, at the same time of day as when you think you'll take the Official GMAT, etc.).

Since there was so much anxiety on Test Day, it's likely that this score result was not your best work - and that you could score higher under better circumstances. As such, you could potentially continue to study as is and hit your score goal. Considering your lack of a formal study plan the first time, and the potential to pick up points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections, you might want to consider investing in a GMAT Course for this next attempt (either Guided Self-Study or instructor-led).

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

Hello,
Thank you, that's also what I think but I am struggling to find a daily study plan that works, and for now I still believe that self studying is possible and really don't want to pay for a GMAT course, but if you have any recommendation/suggestion it would be great also.

Hi trangle1611,

When it comes to studying for the GMAT, there are a variety of different options. Most GMAT Companies offer some type of free materials (practice problems, Trial Accounts, videos, etc.) that you can use to 'test out' a product before you buy it. We have a variety of those resources at our website (www.empowergmat.com). I suggest that you take advantage of all of them then choose the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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