640...a little advise. ;)

Question

Hello Guys, I just came back from my test. I scored 640 ( q-49 , v - 30 ). For some reason I didn't do well on the verbal section. I was always more confident in English than in Quant. A bit dissapointed there. No biggie though...stuff happens

Whats even more crazy, I wasn't atall convinced that I did well on the quant section. My question is after how long should I schedule my retake ? I want to reach 700... nothing more nothing less

Any suggestions from this lovely forum ??? Thanks...

billyjeans · Answer

I would say 3weeks to 4 would be ideal. You have time to identify your weakness and practice a lot more.

bb · Answer

The minimum you can schedule your test is 31 days after you took one.

You definitely do not want to schedule your test more than 60 or 90 days out since you will start forgetting concepts, questions, and strategies. Are you applying for Round 3 this year or next year?

I would recommend to get a good verbal book and drill through concepts to make sure you cover up the holes in your verbal skills and then practice some verbal tests (verbal only), followed by a few full tests.

Your quant score is great, all you need is to raise your verbal score to 39 or 40 and you'll have a solid 720+

Allana25 · Answer

Thanks Guys...

I think I will schedule my retake in 4 weeks then. That should be resonable time to keep the momentum going. My only worry is that I hope I don't reduce my Quant score. I was not at all confident in the math section. Many questions went straight over my head. I am not saying that I didn't study. I put 70% time of my study time in Quant and 30% in Verbal. Could my 49 be a fluke...I averaged around 46 on my practise tests. Let me know what you think guys !!... Thanks again..

Forrester300 · Answer

Great work on getting 640 mate. 700 not to far away, thats a wicked score on quant. Keep up the good work.

JF

Allana25 · Answer

Thanks JF...

I am going to start studying from today. I will retake the test in 4 weeks. Lets hope for the best. My quant score bothers me. I did well but many questions went over my head. Did anyone else have the same experience ?

puipui · Answer

Why did u get only 640 (76%)? Just doubt the total score
I got 640 but Q48, 84% & Verbal 29, 53% Test on Jan

Allana25 · Answer

oh really... With 640, i got a total of 76%. ( V-30-56%) - (M-49-88%).. Gmat is getting mysterious

nink · Answer

GMAT is very accurate in evaluating your skill level. Standard deviation from one exam to another should be minimal as long as they are taken not too far apart from one another.

Therefore, concentrate on your verbal. Don't take another GMAt exam until you start seeing score that you like on GMATPrep CAT exam.

Allana25 · Answer

Thanks nink,

Based on suggestions from this forum, I have scheduled my retake for 23rd March. I will take a gmat prep test to see where I stand. I am trying to be positive. Sentence corrections and timing on verbal are my weakest areas. Thanks again

Allana25 · Answer

Hello friends,

My subject line from a month back was " a little advise " but honestly today I am a little devastated. " Little devastated " is actually an understatement. I almost had tears.

So like I mentioned in my post from a month earlier, on the real thing I had scored 640 ( Q 49, V 30 ) in Feb. I scheduled my test date for a month later, which is today. I worked hard. Identified my weak areas and kept solving questions. I was determind to get a 700. I took 4 practice tests in the last week. My scores are as follows...

Gmat Prep 1 - 630 - 15th March 
Gmat Prep 2 - 660 - 17th March
MGmat 4 - 670 - 19th March ( Q 46 V 36 )
Gmat Prep 2 - 690 - 21st March (Retake) ( Q 47 V 38 )

And today I got a 560 ( Q 40 V 27 ). I couldn't believe what I saw. I had a tear.

I havn't scored in this range before...I am not a nervous test taker. It was definately not nerves. I was not even tired. I was ok till the I saw a 560.

I just feel very low guys....thought I will share this with you all... My confidence is totally shattered...I don't even know if I have the strenght to do this anymore....

spgny · Answer

I have been in a situation before where my scores did not reflect my ability. It is a terrible feeling.

However, I firmly believe, you can tell a lot more about a person's character by how they react to "failure" , then how he/she reacts to success....

Hang in there..let it settle, then formulate a game that will take you to where you need to be.....

billyjeans · Answer

Sorry to hear about that.

But on the bright side, there will be a lot of room for improvement. You can aim to work on your verbal score, and retake a month or two. There are posts about how other people improved their verbals, try to browse thru them looking for tip.

spiridon · Answer

Well, according to your gmatpreps, u were around 650 strength, so maybe u should have postponed ur exam if u wanted to score significantly higher then ur first 640. Also, 640 is not that bad score as it might look on this forum because for some reason only 700+ scorers tend to be most active posters on here...

I had even worst expirience then yours. Was getting 710-750 on gmatpreps and on a test day i got 540! I was sure i did very good so i dont have an explanation what happened there. I felt like i was having a horrible nightmare and could not even find my car at the parking lot for like 20 minutes.
my confidence broken into pieces but one month later i was back in life with 690 and got admissions to both schools that i had applied to. so life goes on and now i worry about the tuition cost. problems never go away...

so, just suck it up, give it some time and move on. u can apply to schools with ur 640 and still be admitted or study more and retake

nevergiveup · Answer

Don't give up and don't lose hope! Opportunity is out there for the most prepared. You math seems dropped a lot more. Did you have to guess a lot of questions? Did your pace completely distorted?

BigObamaFan · Answer

Do you think that you fell off in the verbal section because you got worn out? I have heard that it is quite common for people who do not practice a bunch of full questions to get tired and fall off in the verbal.

spgny · Answer

Good point...I have been suffering from mental fatigue by the time I get to second half of Verbal...during your simulations, did you include AWA hour before? I have a feeling many do not and fail to realize this drains some of your energy and needs to be simulated.....

Allana25 · Answer

Thank you Spgny, Spiridon, eileen1017, BigObmaFan and others for your concern and posts. I feel better now after reading yours posts. Thank you so much. I felt I was better prepared than my earlier attempt. I had taken 2 weeks off from work to fully concentrate on my prep. There goes any vacation. A lot can be told about a person's character by how he/she react to failure...right on that Spgny....So I am just going to suck it up and fight on

Spiridon, your story is indeed shocking, yet inspiring that you are a fighter.Great work. When are you taking the Gmat again or did reach your goal. Yes Eileen, I don't know why my math score dropped so much. The lowest I got on any prep test was 46 and highest 49. I didn't feel tired or anything. Yes, for some reason I felt the first 6 question were easier than I have faced before. But I didn't feel I missed any of those. BigObamaFan, I didn't feel worn out. I was definitely a little tired from thinking continuously during the test, but that was normal fatigue. I didn't feel any excessive fatigue. All my practice tests were timed. I never wrote the AWA during my practice tests. I felt that I was able to cope well with fatigue when I scored 640 so didn't feel the necessity to practice AWA. Guys I definitely believe I deserve more than 560. As my confidence was shattered after my test I took another MGMAT test. I scored 660. Do schools penalize people for taking the Gmat multiple times. Do they always look at the highest score? What’s the maximum number I can take the Gmat before schools think I am insane

I think I will take the test n times till I don't get what I feel I deserve. How much prep time do you recommend from here on? Thanks all..

spgny · Answer

No matter how comfortable you feel your level of ability you need to factor in real test stress, normal for game day.

Seems like you already are familiar with the test location, etc...so stress will be reduced.

I would take it again.

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640...a little advise. ;)

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