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05 Jun 2017, 09:44
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Disappointed with my verbal score. 
Since last 4 months, I had been working hard for GMAT and especially Verbal. I was able to solve the questions during practice and the mock correctly in the allotted time. In spite of that, I scored poorly in the real GMAT today scoring a mere 29 in verbal
Total - 660 (Q50, V29)
I come from a background in which I not only am not a native English speaker but also studied in a Hindi-medium school till X Board. Though it was a challenge at the beginning, I was determined to strike it out as my weakness. I was doing self-prep for quite some last year but didn't see my scores improving in mock (in the verbal section). So, wanting to leave no stone unturned, I joined a classroom coaching this January and went through the materials and classes to improve my verbal score. During last 4 months, I learned a lot and felt my concepts getting clearer on Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension. I gained confidence in verbal and it was evident in my score and practice as well. In my two mocks, I scored 720 and 680. I feel that I improved since then only to find my score on the test day as a mere 660.
About Test
During my quant section, I felt the problems bit easier than the questions I had practiced. I was confident of doing well in Quant and was charged to excel the Verbal. I started my verbal and, to my surprise, it seemed not so hard for me. I did get a bold face question when I was at around 8-10 question number. Thinking that I am doing well, I kept on solving one after another. The issues in the questions at the real GMAT seemed quite obvious to me as I was solving them. I was following the best practice of taking a test - keeping calm, taking notes in RC, eliminating the wrong answer option, using the scratch pad well, etc. RC was weak for me but even that seemed solvable to me as I was able to understand the passage and how the transitions are happening or what is the author's point of view.
I am totally clueless now, not knowing what exactly went wrong. I am not sure whether retaking will help since It seems to me that I messed up something during my exam, but don't know what it was. Will more preparation help, because I think that I simply messed up during the exam and what are the chances that it will not happen when I retake?
Any guidance will be really helpful.
Since last 4 months, I had been working hard for GMAT and especially Verbal. I was able to solve the questions during practice and the mock correctly in the allotted time. In spite of that, I scored poorly in the real GMAT today scoring a mere 29 in verbal
Total - 660 (Q50, V29)
I come from a background in which I not only am not a native English speaker but also studied in a Hindi-medium school till X Board. Though it was a challenge at the beginning, I was determined to strike it out as my weakness. I was doing self-prep for quite some last year but didn't see my scores improving in mock (in the verbal section). So, wanting to leave no stone unturned, I joined a classroom coaching this January and went through the materials and classes to improve my verbal score. During last 4 months, I learned a lot and felt my concepts getting clearer on Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension. I gained confidence in verbal and it was evident in my score and practice as well. In my two mocks, I scored 720 and 680. I feel that I improved since then only to find my score on the test day as a mere 660.
About Test
During my quant section, I felt the problems bit easier than the questions I had practiced. I was confident of doing well in Quant and was charged to excel the Verbal. I started my verbal and, to my surprise, it seemed not so hard for me. I did get a bold face question when I was at around 8-10 question number. Thinking that I am doing well, I kept on solving one after another. The issues in the questions at the real GMAT seemed quite obvious to me as I was solving them. I was following the best practice of taking a test - keeping calm, taking notes in RC, eliminating the wrong answer option, using the scratch pad well, etc. RC was weak for me but even that seemed solvable to me as I was able to understand the passage and how the transitions are happening or what is the author's point of view.
I am totally clueless now, not knowing what exactly went wrong. I am not sure whether retaking will help since It seems to me that I messed up something during my exam, but don't know what it was. Will more preparation help, because I think that I simply messed up during the exam and what are the chances that it will not happen when I retake?
Any guidance will be really helpful.
05 Jun 2017, 12:39
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi kppk,
First off, a 660/Q50 is a strong score (it's right around the 80th percentile overall), so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Depending on the Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of them here:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admission ... tants-124/
If you took just 2 practice CATs during your 4 months of study, then that might help to explain why your score dropped a little bit - you weren't 'used to' taking the FULL GMAT under realistic conditions, so any little differences between Test Day and how you practiced could have cost you a few questions (and a few points). In addition, GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your 2 CAT score results are in range of your Official Score - and they all show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 690 +/- a few points).
If you'd like to know a bit more about your Verbal performance, then you might consider purchasing the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn't provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong (and what you should specifically work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
First off, a 660/Q50 is a strong score (it's right around the 80th percentile overall), so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Depending on the Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of them here:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admission ... tants-124/
If you took just 2 practice CATs during your 4 months of study, then that might help to explain why your score dropped a little bit - you weren't 'used to' taking the FULL GMAT under realistic conditions, so any little differences between Test Day and how you practiced could have cost you a few questions (and a few points). In addition, GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your 2 CAT score results are in range of your Official Score - and they all show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 690 +/- a few points).
If you'd like to know a bit more about your Verbal performance, then you might consider purchasing the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn't provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong (and what you should specifically work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
05 Jun 2017, 17:29
Kudos
Bookmarks
Good news is you have one half of the test settled and that your command on the language is fine. You just are just getting lost in the nuances. The bad news is there is no easy way to fix this. If you're a native speaker that speaks the language on a day-to-day basis, it can be extremely helpful since much of it is ingrained in your memory - you know how and when to use what terms and words purely on the basis of memory but it can be a daunting task otherwise. It also didn't help that you studied in a Hindi-medium school till the 10th grade. That basically means your head is wired to think in Hindi and then modify it to English as you go along.
Of course, for a non-native speaker and a relative newcomer to the language, a V29 (and your post) is excellent so don't be too hard on yourself. The disappointing thing is that the best way to fix this is to read high quality English based books. It's what I would call a "permanent fix" since your vocabulary and grammar will improve greatly. But, that said, I used the word disappointing because this takes some time and will probably not fit your timeline.
So here is my suggestion: get a few verbal oriented books - I would recommend Manhattan's guides and SC Grail. I found them both to be useful and to the point. In the meantime, start watching English movies/tv shows. Watch something you find enjoyable and do it at first with subtitles and then, without. Just make sure these movies have proper conversations in them as opposed to just being a comedy. The idea here is to ingrain the language in your head so you can see and learn what major patterns are without stressing your brain too much. It's also a much healthier way of learning than simply looking at your textbook. Movies I would recommend: the Martian, King's Speech, Skyfall and Interstellar. Also watch Game of Thrones if you're okay with the content.
Ya it seems a bit out there but try it. You're having fun and learning. What's the harm?
Of course, for a non-native speaker and a relative newcomer to the language, a V29 (and your post) is excellent so don't be too hard on yourself. The disappointing thing is that the best way to fix this is to read high quality English based books. It's what I would call a "permanent fix" since your vocabulary and grammar will improve greatly. But, that said, I used the word disappointing because this takes some time and will probably not fit your timeline.
So here is my suggestion: get a few verbal oriented books - I would recommend Manhattan's guides and SC Grail. I found them both to be useful and to the point. In the meantime, start watching English movies/tv shows. Watch something you find enjoyable and do it at first with subtitles and then, without. Just make sure these movies have proper conversations in them as opposed to just being a comedy. The idea here is to ingrain the language in your head so you can see and learn what major patterns are without stressing your brain too much. It's also a much healthier way of learning than simply looking at your textbook. Movies I would recommend: the Martian, King's Speech, Skyfall and Interstellar. Also watch Game of Thrones if you're okay with the content.
Ya it seems a bit out there but try it. You're having fun and learning. What's the harm?
