All things which could go wrong..went wrong ..600

Question

Returned back with a pathetic 600( 48 Q / 25 V). Never got this score in any of my prep test.
I went to test with an expectation of at least 680 but got royally screwed up. Things started to show sign from yesterday itself. My test was Saturday 8 am. I am late starter and I could not get appointment any other time except 8am . Could not sleep even for an hour for whole Friday night. Kept turning in the bed whole night. Finally got rid of the bed 5 am , took a warm shower but still had the nauseating feeling. Almost threw up in morning . Well still tried to keep myself going. Thought it was going to my day. Went to test center , signed up...wrote essay peacefully ..Quant was ok . By the time I finished Quant, I had a feeling that I am losing much of my concentration . Probably being whole night awake was taking toll out of me. When I started Verbal , the first 2-3 SC questions , I was not able to even understand what the sentence is .I am sure I got those wrong. Still SC was easy part. The RC's were killer. I kept reading and reading ..just try understand. Man, I was so helpless ! . But I felt Verbal was bit tough.
Anyway at the end I knew I screwed up. But still went to report the score just to see how I did.I was thinking in the 640-660's. But 600 was a rude surprise.

Lessons Learnt:
1. Have a GOOD sleep before the night . I knew this but I just couldn't sleep . The sheer pressure and anxiety kept me awake...whole night!
2.If you are late starter in the morning, don't schedule for 8am slots. I didn't have any choice.
3.After 2-3 test, don't always believe your GMATprep scores much. I usually got 700's in later part of the study.Probably because most of verbals got repeated.
4. Don't overdo GMAT. I made it a big thing and succumbed to pressure.

Prep Scores
GMAT Prep( 620 August)
GMAT Prep( 650 October)
Manhattan 1 590
Manhattan 2 650
Manhattan 3 670( untimed)
Manhattan 4 680
Manhattan 5 700
GMAT Prep( 700 2 days before exam)
GMAT Prep( 710 1 day before exam)

Anyway I am so disappointed and depressed. Lot of things were at stake. I even sent my family(wife and son) back home(India) for couple of months so that I could study here. I am planning to leave US for good in March. And wanna make one more try before I leave but lots needed first to boost my morale which is at bottom low now.
I am not targeting US Business Schools. I am looking for exec management in India in IIM's . That surely means, I need to retake.

Advice? Word ? Inspiration....? Badly needed!

eschn3am · Answer

I'm sorry to hear about the test ashkrs. Keep your chin up though. It sounds like you just succumbed to pressure/nerves the night before. Try rescheduling the test for a late morning slot and really tire yourself out the day before. Go to the gym or for a long bike ride to get your mind off the test and make it easier for you to sleep the night before. Before then just keep on working at verbal and you'll do fine!

It's just a temporary set back, certainly not the end of the road!

It's just a temporary set back, certainly not the end of the road!

GMATBLACKBELT · Answer

Well first thing. Congrats on that math score! Thats very impressive. I have to admit I am rather suprised. You always seemed to do very well on the forum.

Although the same thing happened to me back in Oct. I think we all underestimate the verbal. Its different in the test setting. I reccomend the paper tests for verbal. These tests give you less time than you would normally have on the CAT for CR's and SC's. For RC's try and do the first 3 in 6min or 4 in about 7 1/2 min. After that continue to answer the problems on the paper within 1min to 2min. Repeat for new passages. If you find yourself too familiar with those RC's in the papers, I reccomend getting your hands on some OFFICIAL LSAT material. Those RC's are killer. CR's are also hard.

I agree with eschn3am. Keep it up man. You keep doing the right thing, eventually the right thing will happen. I predict your next score will def. be 700's.

Best of luck.

solaris1 · Answer

There's someone else who posted a very similar experience to yours - lack of sleep = good quant section + terrible verbal section. So I think that's to blame here.

Your test scores certainly show that you can do better, just schedule another appointment and remember to adjust your sleeping/waking patterns at least 2 days before the exam.

You've taken the GMATPrep 4 times, so you may not be able to get much else out of it, but schedule a MGMAT test 1 week before your test day at the exact same time as your GMAT appointment. If you have an 8am appointment, take the MGMAT CAT at 8am as well.

LM · Answer

Just get GMAT out of your mind for a while and when you start preparing again, focus only on verbal. Quant, you can refresh again 2 weeks before the exam. 
But definitely you must try again. You were really helping a lot in the Quant forums.

CaspAreaGuy · Answer

Ashkrs,

Don't give up, man! Get some rest and register for the exam again. Your quant score is very good, and I bet your true verbal score is in the same area. You know it yourself. You know the reason why didn't get there this time, and you will surely avoid making the same mistake next time! Cheer up and good luck! :wink:

dominion · Answer

ashkrs,

I'm just going to level with you. If you take this hit "personally" -- close to heart, then you're making a terrible mistake which shows some real immaturity. Why am I being harsh? Because we both know if you had .5 hours of sleep, there's no way you were going to perform even suboptimally. You can't take your performance to heart. If you're doing a Q48 when you're on half an hour of sleep, your real ability is in the 49-50 range... EASILY.

Give us the debrief on Quant as well. Anything weird, etc.

Get up buddy,

W

buffdaddy · Answer

Ashkrs, I have seen the way you answer verbal Qs on the forum and that score does not reflect your ability in any way. I suggest re-book the test, take 3-4 days off and :food

the GMAT! all the best...

syd1976 · Answer

same story as mine 600 (Q: 48, V: 26)

8-t57708

Mine was a mix of both panic and strain.

This is how I plan to improve -

1) Study regular hrs
2) Practice verbal only after a thorough workout on quant (~ 30 qs). (This should simulate the real environment). I noticed that during practice sessions, I always used to practice verbal with fresh mind. I think you ought to give your mind some strain before starting verbal.

All the best. You can do it!

Tarmac · Answer

I would say the real problem is that you put too much pressure on yourself. That caused many complications, one of which was lack of sleep, which led to exhaustion, nerves, etc. You already have enough knowledge, you don' t need to be in solitude + send your family off, etc. You just need to relax and let the 700 come out.

I would schedule another test as soon as you can, but get back to your old life. Study for an hour here and there, just a few times a week.

I am not a morning person but I did fine with the 8am test, even though I had about 5 hours of sleep. I preferred just getting it over with rather than waiting around till 2 and being stuck in that room until dark. But if you didn't like getting up early like that, then by all means wait for an afternoon spot to open up.

Adam6378 · Answer

The main thing is you know what you did wrong. Don't feel sorry for yourself. Get back up and try again!

Also, don't let the exam scare you like that. Keep it in perspective. You have nothing to loose. It sounds like you have a great family and life. If you don't get into IIMs will it be the end of the world? No, you already have what really counts; a family who loves you. Now, just try your best and if it doesn't go as you planned then you know in your heart you tried your best and it just wasn't meant to be. I'm not saying to be totally casual and not prep hard, but just keep the exam in perspective-it will keep your nerves in line.

LM · Answer

I absolutely agree to this, in fact the family could give a great deal of moral support which might be better than just being in solitude.

ashkrs · Answer

Thank you all for your supporting words and some fabulous suggestions.
This test was real eye opener for me. And that score though initially gave me a huge setback but now I think I am carrying much less burden of GMAT in my mind. And it really feels good.
Lets see how it goes from here.
Thanks once again to all of you : eschn3am,GBB,solaris,LM,CapsArea,Dominion,buffdaddy, syd1976,Tarmac,Adam.

:-D

ashkrs · Answer

Debrief about Quant:
I felt it was probably little difficult from usual GMATPrep. I had many word problems which included interest , work problems, distance speed. Got some weird Geometry problems with some traps. There were couple of inequalities. No probabilities . No Permutation and Combinations. Algebra was pretty simple . Started with simple exponents and SD problems. At the end of quant, the questions became too tough and I had to guess couple of them at the because of shortage of time.I think that brought down my score from 50 to 48.

Verbal: I had a feeling that Verbal was far tough that any of tests which I have taken till date. It was far tougher that Manhattan and Kaplan. Manhattan is just not the a representative of your verbal score. I was so lost that now I don't even remember what kind of questions were asked.

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All things which could go wrong..went wrong ..600

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