490 - Q28, V28 - January 2006
480 - Q32, V24 - March 2006
630 - Q44, V32 - October 16, 2010
I took the GMAT (again) today. Although I have improved quite a bit, I'm a bit heart broken. Before I dive into that, let me give some background info.
Education: Two time high-school dropout. I also failed 18 classes in high school in additition to dropping out twice. Recovering from this for the GMAT was a pain in the buns. Anyway, I graduated HS a year late, but only after attending two high-schools simultaneously. Correct, that's not allowed, but I managed to do it anyway. I then went to a community college for a couple of years and later attended the state university where I got Bachelors and Masters degrees in Accounting.
Work Experience: I worked at a small accounting firm for 2 years as an auditor and have worked at a Big 4 firm for the last 3 years as a risk management consulltant.
GMAT Experience: I took the GMAT cold in January 2006 and scored a whopping 490 (I think it was Q28 V28). I just showed up and took the test. It was a disaster. I didn't even know what an integer was. Being a loser throughout high-school really showed on this test. It was so bad, I didn't even know I was performing badly. However, I had great rapport with the faculty at the University I attended and they asked me to take it again, which I did and the second time I got a 480 (Q32 V24). Anyway, due to my relationships with the school and the fact the Firm I worked for sponsored a large piece of the Accounting program I was accepted in the MS Accounting program anyway. I had no trouble with the program at all.
Fast forward 4.5 years. I'm ready for a career change - I'd like to get into Management Consulting and realize that I'll need a top MBA to succeed in this field. So, I brushed up on the basics. I didn't really have a study plan. I just worked problems from this website, the
OG guide, and the
MGMAT # Prop Book. I studied here and there over the course of about a year, but with little direction and no intensity. I'd go months or so without looking at anything, and would then study a bit. Kind of all over the place. I took the week before the test off and studied all week. Again, not focused on a specific area, just kind of all over in general.
I took 5 tests the 2 weeks before the test: I got a 690 on 4
MGMAT tests (although I went over time on 3/4 of them). I was feeling pretty good about the test. The night before the test, I reviewed screenshots from GMATPrep 1, which I had taken about 5x and had scored a 780 on (on my 5th attempt). I just walked through these problems as I already knew how to do them and didn't want to think much the night before the exam.
I woke up, ate a proper breakfast and was on my to the testing center. I drank a bunch of coffee and was feeling like a champion. I told myself not to care about the AWA - just breeze through it...don't think too hard. I didn't feeling challenged by the AWA at all - I breezed through it without using any energy. My goal was just get a 4.0 or better on the AWA. I'd guess that I got a 5.5, but who knows.
Then the Quant. I was so worried about timing that I just raced as fast as I could. If I didn't figure out the problem almost immediatley, I eliminated, guessed, and moved on. Not a good strategy when taken to an extreme. I completely lost track of time and was racing through WAY to fast. I finished with 19 minutes left. i thought to myself, "$hit...what did I just do?!?!" Anyway, it was too late.
Then came the Verbal, my lifelong arch enemy. It wasn't going so bad at first, but then I started dwelling in poorly I assumed I had done on the math. I started to panick during the test. At one point, all I could think was "fu**, I blew it...I can't belive I fu**ed the math like" after that I completely lost focus. I couldn't even read anymore. I was having a battle just not to get up and quit. I was thinking to myself "either get it together, or go home, but don't just sit here." It took my about 10 minutes to calm down. I was doing very bad with timing and I had lost my focus. I just started to race through it as fast as I could. I felt like I was having a really hard time with a question types. I just wanted the test to end...I was already heart broken.
Then the score came up:
630 - Q44, V32
To my surprise, I had done much better than I actually thought that I did, but nonetheless, I had not done well enough. Also, I don't think 630 is bad score, but it won't tale me where I want to go. So, I'll be back at it for attempt #4 in about 6 weeks and then that's it.
georgeorge
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16 Oct 2010, 23:14
