sam2016 wrote:
Hello all,
I have
given GMAT 4 times until now (in terms of effort, 3 times since the 1st attempt was given without a single day of studying). My scores are as follows –
440, 550 (Q37 V28), 610 (Q43 V31) and 590 (Q40 V31).
The last attempt of 590 was yesterday. Needless to say, I cancelled my score.
In each of my last 3 attempts, I wasn’t surprised with my score since it was proportional to my efforts as well as what I had scored in my mocks. In fact, I hadn’t even given sufficient mocks in the last 3 attempts.
In 2015 when I had got a 550, I had joined a physical coaching class in my city. I studied sincerely but my prep was not focussed (more of quantity than quality). Also, I realised that the book heavy approach was not for me. Last year in 2016, when I had got a 610, I had subscribed to EMPOWERgmat. I was quite happy with the course (especially Quant), but I will admit that I didn’t complete the course and did not take full advantage of it.
This time I hired a private tutor (Kalyan Chamarthi) for online one on one sessions. Started my sessions from the start of July. I am pretty happy with his coaching and I must admit that he really pushed me. I studied really hard, practised a lot of questions (only from OGs), maintained an error log, analysed my mistakes properly, gave 6 mock tests. Basically, followed a proper study plan. Plus having scored 680 & 670 in mocks, I feel a score of 590 is surely not in line and that I can do much better than that.My mock test scores were as follows:
Mock 1 - 520 (Q36 V25) – 30th Aug, 2017 (GMATPrep Default EP)
Mock 2 - 630 (Q44 V 32) – 11th Sep, 2017 (GMATPrep Default EP-Reset, so I did see a few repeat questions)
Mock 3 - 600 (Q42 V31) – 16th Sep, 2017 (GMATPrep EP 1)
Then I practised for 2.5 weeks before taking the next mock and my score did increase
Mock 4 - 680 (Q48 V35) – 4th Oct, 2017 (GMATPrep EP 1)
Mock 5 - 670 (Q45 V37) – 7th Oct, 2017 (GMATPrep EP 2)
Mock 6 - 640 (Q48 V30) – 10th Oct 2017 (GMATPrep EP 1-Reset, so I did see a few repeat questions)
OGs completed - Quant (half
OG 10 and 3/4th
OG 2016), SC (
OG 11 &
OG 10 & half
OG 12), RC (
OG 11 and 3/4th
OG 2016), CR (
OG 11 &
OG 2016)
Exam day performance – I was feeling pretty relaxed and confident. I started the test with Verbal. Honestly, I found verbal questions to be slightly tougher than the one in mocks and
OG. I had to slightly rush towards the last 5 or 6 qs (That has always been my problem in both the sections). But it wasn’t that I randomly guessed on all 5 or 6.
Quant, I found to be much easier than what I have faced in mocks. In fact, I found the quant in mocks tougher compared to
OG. So, I was also wondering that how come I am getting easy questions (or so I thought). Again I had to rush slightly in the last 5-6 questions. However, one big mistake that I did was, when I reached the last qs, I had 1 minute left. Just when I finished solving it and was about to hit submit, the time got over. So, I don’t know if I got penalised because of this.
I have literally poured money on the preparation of this exam. In fact, I would like to mention that I have also taken a sabbatical from my job since mid-August for preparation of GMAT. GMAT has taken a toll on me financially as well as emotionally.So, I am really confused now as to how much more should I try. I am going to speak to my tutor after a couple of days since he is out of town.
I have to anyhow apply this year in R2. Do you all think I should retake? If yes, then by when do you think I should give my GMAT? Ideally, I aim to get into top 25 US schools or the top 2-3 Canadian schools - My target score is 700, but then if I don't retake then I know I won't be able to target those schools with a 610. I sincerely need your advice as to what different should I do (I am literally clueless right now!!). I have also attached my ESR if that is of any help. Btw, I am from India (30 years, Non-IT male, Real estate sales background)
Hey Rich,
Thanks for the revert. Here are my replies.
1) No. Simply because now that we can choose the order of the sections, I started the actual exam with Verbal followed by Quant, IR and AWA. In my mocks also, I started with the same order except that I skipped IR & AWA. In fact, this is what my tutor suggested me to do. I understand this was not acceptable earlier because our brains need to get trained to handle the mental drain that AWA & IR will cause before we even start with the important sections of Quant and Verbal. But why should this be a problem now?
2) Yes, I took them at home. But I kept it as realistic as possible. I wasn't in my comfy home clothes but I wore what I would be wearing for the real exam. I even wore earphones during the mocks.
3)My actual exam started at 5 pm. I did not take the mocks at the exact same time but I took all of them in the evening @ times between 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm
4) No. What I ate, what I drank, the break time was exactly as per the real exam. Except as mentioned before I did not take IR and AWA.
5) There were just 2 resets from the 6 mocks I took before the real exam (the scores were 630 and 640 respectively). And yes I did see a few repeat questions on them. Surprisingly, my highest scores of 680 and 670 were not resets. So except for the 2 resets, I did not see any repeat questions at all.
One thing I would like to point out Rich is a pattern that I noticed in my last 3 attempts, which includes the one this year. In 2015 when I scored 550, I had taken 2 weeks leave from office. Last year in 2016, when I got 610, I had not taken a single day leave. And this year when I scored 590, I took a 2.5 months sabbatical from my job. In both 2015 and this year, since I wasn't working, GMAT was the only thing on my mind and it made me very stressed. I had stopped all other activities during the respective leave/sabbatical. On some nights, I wasn't able to sleep. Whereas last year, I was not that stressed, I continued my daily routine and I guess that showed in the score.
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18 Oct 2017, 07:15
Enhanced Score Report.pdf [391.05 KiB] 
