shivenpatel112 wrote:
Hi all,
My first post on GMATClub (reviewed maybe 500+ posts to date). I apologize if I have left any critical information out. Thank you all in advance for your guidance.
I am a Project Engineer at a major Oil & Gas company in the US, looking to pursue an MBA to pivot my career path in a few years. I am an Indian Male (raised/went to Undergrad in the US), and have about 2 years of work experience.
I took the GMAT about a month ago and got a 680 (47Q 37V). I took the exam as Q-V-IR-AWA (the same as all of my practice exams). I struggled between accepting this as my final score and gearing back up for a retake of the GMAT. First, I would like to say GMATClub has been instrumental in helping me understand the aspects of the GMAT from different perspectives. However, one very concerning thing is as I seemingly began to learn "more,"
I did not see an increase from the time I took my first GMATPrep mock exam (November 2018 - scored 690) to in my real GMAT score (June 2019 - scored 680).
It was incredibly disheartening to see I did not increase my score from my first mock exam many months ago, even though I broke time apart to "target" weaker areas after 2 practice exams (namely SC and CR... or so I thought). I really drilled down on the types of errors to easily flag on SC, the types of questions you come across on CR. What's worse is my mock exam scores were improving. My RC was around the 80% percentile, which is what I scored on the exam. Consistently, I scored Q49 in my GMATPrep exams, and scored between V38-V42. My verbal score fell to 37, with my SC being the weakest section. Most shocking was my Quant score dropping from 49 to 47.
I have my ESR but cannot attach yet as I have not posted enough. NOTE: There was only 1 Geometry question, so I am not sure if the 0% should be taken as "he knows nothing about Geometry," just want to point that out. Still need to work on it for sure.
As I got closer to the exam date, I was scoring above my expectations (740 and 720). One thing that concerned me was the easiness of Quant in GMATPrep Exam 5/6. The anxiety grew as the test week approached, specifically for Problem Solving (thought to be a strength, but flopped on aspects like Geometry in the REAL GMAT -- 1 question -- and Statistics).
I took all 6 GMATPrep Exams, as well as 3
MGMAT Exams (significantly harder Quant section). Here is a breakdown of my timetable:
11/18 GMATPrep Exam 1: 690 (Q47 V38)
1/19 GMATPrep Exam 2: 670 (Q47 V36)
3/19 GMATPrep Exam 3: 710 (Q49 V39)
5/19 GMATPrep Exam 4: 740 (Q49 V42) *I really tried to understand what I did differently for Verbal, I just feel like I didn't do any "gimmicks," focusing on meaning/logic. That didn't last though...
6/19 GMATPrep Exam 5: 700 (Q49 V38)
6/19 GMATPrep Exam 6: 720 (Q49 V40)
2/19
MGMAT 1: 670 (Q45 V37)
4/19
MGMAT 2: 690 (Q47 V38)
5/19
MGMAT 3: 680 (Q47 V37) *Was heavily rushed as I took the exam during a bad time...
Now, with some self-awareness, I definitely realize the anxiety I built in my head put negative thoughts inside (regarding my PS skills). Seeing a Q47 after I was consistently score on GMATPrep (I scored Q47 on
MGMAT, which was said to be much harder than the actual GMAT)... I feel like nerves got to me. I do know I spent SEVERAL EXTRA MINUTES rechecking my initial 8-10 questions. This left me hurrying and in problems that required some more effort, I was unable to properly solve due (Ex. In which sets is the median > mean? and Algebra).
My ESR indicates I had very difficult questions for Quant in the "2nd portion" but then the difficulty decreased (assuming I got middle questions form Q10 to Q20 wrong at increasing frequency).
However, I am struggling to understand how to break the hump of 700, which I thought I had from my practice exams. I have attached my ESR... any and all advice would be so greatly appreciated!!!
I don't understand why you cannot go to a 700, Quant on the GMAT is very simple, at least simple enough to assure you a Q45, nevertheless, Look at these two posts of mine,
You situation is just like my own, I was at a 690, and then I broke the 700
MGMAT is more difficult than actual GMAT, which also means that it is more unrealistic than the actual thing.
Most GMAT DS problems can be solved without lifting the pen, saving u time on the actual test to do the PS problem, they donot want you to think beyond a point,
MGMAT on the other hand makes you solve stuff that is mostly asked in Q51 problems
You're prepared, stick to the official material develop momentum and strike.
I am working on a post on exam anxiety, I hope the moderators find it "up to the standards of community". Seriously, they even remove the posts that I posted to ask for help.
This can help
https://gmatclub.com/forum/beginner-to- ... l#p2313182This would help too (for confidence)
https://gmatclub.com/forum/my-second-gm ... s#p2332198To be honest with you I managed to screw up on the test. I was consistently scoring V42+ on verbal and Q50 in quant on practice test, I was hoping a 730+, but atleast I did not fall in 600's, I'd follow this plan if I were you. You're on the same boat as I was.
Please provide a like on my posts if you found them helpful, it takes nothing to leave a like but it makes posts available to many members who can benefit
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