Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Apr 2808:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
22 Mar 2016, 14:09
Kudos
Bookmarks
First of all, I want to thank all of the helpful folks on this site. I've used it for a long time, but I've never posted until now. I took the GMAT for the second time last Friday, March 18th and was seriously disappointed with the score. I got a 680 (Q42 V41) after getting a 690 (Q42, V42) in December 2015. I ultimately decided to cancel the 680. Since my Q42 in December was the 50th percentile, I felt like I could get some "low hanging fruit" by focusing my efforts on basic quant concepts, but my strategy clearly didn't work.
Between December and March, I exclusively studied quant, using video lessons from Magoosh and the OG / OG Quant review. I also used questions from the Gmat Prep Pack. Prior to my most recent test, my GMAT Prep practice scores were 700 (Q45, V40) and 710 (Q44, V42). The official test quant questions felt much harder than Gmat Prep.
I've never been a natural at quant and I have to say that I don't have a ton of confidence in my quant abilities. Because of this, I worked really hard on the fundamentals. I spent a lot of time on basic concept review and solving OG / OG quant review problems. I learned to solve just about every question in the OG / OG quant review in well under 2 mins (most of them in more than 1 way). I always timed my practice, and I kept a meticulous error log but struggled to find any common mistakes aside from really stupid mistakes (12+6 = 16, or 1/5 of 20 equals 5). I definitely understand the quant concepts, but I really struggle to apply them to new material, especially when it's presented in a tricky way under timed conditions. I really figured that if I could confidently solve all of the OG / Quant review questions, I would be in a good place to improve my score, but on the actual test the questions felt foreign and it seemed like I was guessing more often than not.
Based on my undergrad transcripts and lack of quant related work experience, I have no chance of getting into the schools I want with a Q42. At this point I'm wondering if I've exhausted all of the resources / hit my peak. I would have loved to have hit a Q47 - 48 but after this last experience it seems like I'm light years away from that. Any suggestions are very much appreciated! Normally I would just accept my score and move on but for some reason I'm having trouble letting this go..
Between December and March, I exclusively studied quant, using video lessons from Magoosh and the OG / OG Quant review. I also used questions from the Gmat Prep Pack. Prior to my most recent test, my GMAT Prep practice scores were 700 (Q45, V40) and 710 (Q44, V42). The official test quant questions felt much harder than Gmat Prep.
I've never been a natural at quant and I have to say that I don't have a ton of confidence in my quant abilities. Because of this, I worked really hard on the fundamentals. I spent a lot of time on basic concept review and solving OG / OG quant review problems. I learned to solve just about every question in the OG / OG quant review in well under 2 mins (most of them in more than 1 way). I always timed my practice, and I kept a meticulous error log but struggled to find any common mistakes aside from really stupid mistakes (12+6 = 16, or 1/5 of 20 equals 5). I definitely understand the quant concepts, but I really struggle to apply them to new material, especially when it's presented in a tricky way under timed conditions. I really figured that if I could confidently solve all of the OG / Quant review questions, I would be in a good place to improve my score, but on the actual test the questions felt foreign and it seemed like I was guessing more often than not.
Based on my undergrad transcripts and lack of quant related work experience, I have no chance of getting into the schools I want with a Q42. At this point I'm wondering if I've exhausted all of the resources / hit my peak. I would have loved to have hit a Q47 - 48 but after this last experience it seems like I'm light years away from that. Any suggestions are very much appreciated! Normally I would just accept my score and move on but for some reason I'm having trouble letting this go..
22 Mar 2016, 22:24
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi JAG45,
First off, a 690 is a fantastic score (it's just shy of the 90th percentile overall), so you should apply to any Business Schools that interest you. The Q42 would likely be a 'red flag' at highly competitive Finance Programs, but it likely wouldn't hurt you at any other Program. As such, a retest might not be necessary. This sounds like something of an Admissions issue, so you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of them here:
ask-admission-consultants-124/
1) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
2) When are you planning to apply?
While I think that you could absolutely improve your Quant Scaled Score, the fact that your two Official GMAT Scores are essentially the same means that you continue to 'see' (and respond to) the GMAT in the same ways as before. This implies that you've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take time to fix (and replace with new 'good habits'). You seem to understand that you're prone to making silly mistakes and THAT is a big part of your problem. At higher and higher levels, the GMAT becomes really 'sensitive' to little mistakes - with a Q41/Q42, you made a bunch of little mistakes on a variety of gettable questions and you likely missed out on a lot of 'strategy-based' points. The speed with which you could make the necessary adjustments and improve will depend on how flexible you are to learn and practice some new Tactics.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
First off, a 690 is a fantastic score (it's just shy of the 90th percentile overall), so you should apply to any Business Schools that interest you. The Q42 would likely be a 'red flag' at highly competitive Finance Programs, but it likely wouldn't hurt you at any other Program. As such, a retest might not be necessary. This sounds like something of an Admissions issue, so you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of them here:
ask-admission-consultants-124/
1) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
2) When are you planning to apply?
While I think that you could absolutely improve your Quant Scaled Score, the fact that your two Official GMAT Scores are essentially the same means that you continue to 'see' (and respond to) the GMAT in the same ways as before. This implies that you've likely developed some 'bad habits' that will take time to fix (and replace with new 'good habits'). You seem to understand that you're prone to making silly mistakes and THAT is a big part of your problem. At higher and higher levels, the GMAT becomes really 'sensitive' to little mistakes - with a Q41/Q42, you made a bunch of little mistakes on a variety of gettable questions and you likely missed out on a lot of 'strategy-based' points. The speed with which you could make the necessary adjustments and improve will depend on how flexible you are to learn and practice some new Tactics.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
23 Mar 2016, 05:45
Kudos
Bookmarks
Rich,
Thank you for getting back to me. I appreciate your insight. I am targeting Ross, Fuqua, and Darden. I'd like to apply in the fall for R1. Based on my undergrad transcript (3.2 GPA with a C in calc), and the average Gmat scores for those programs, I assumed that a Q42 just wouldn't cut it. I'll take that up in the admissions forum however, and get their feedback.
Regarding the test, I absolutely felt that I "saw" the exam in the same way both times I took it. Unfortunately, I've been prone to quant mistakes for as long as I can remember and the time pressure really exacerbates those mistakes. It seems like in order to improve, I would have to re-wire my thinking. If I decide on a retake, would you recommend some time away from the material before diving back in? Thanks again for your help!
Thank you for getting back to me. I appreciate your insight. I am targeting Ross, Fuqua, and Darden. I'd like to apply in the fall for R1. Based on my undergrad transcript (3.2 GPA with a C in calc), and the average Gmat scores for those programs, I assumed that a Q42 just wouldn't cut it. I'll take that up in the admissions forum however, and get their feedback.
Regarding the test, I absolutely felt that I "saw" the exam in the same way both times I took it. Unfortunately, I've been prone to quant mistakes for as long as I can remember and the time pressure really exacerbates those mistakes. It seems like in order to improve, I would have to re-wire my thinking. If I decide on a retake, would you recommend some time away from the material before diving back in? Thanks again for your help!
