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May 1212:00 PM EDT
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Make the most of your break with the most realistic GMAT™ prep. Take up to $700 off select products.
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In Episode 4 of our GMAT Ninja CR series, we tackle the most intimidating CR question type: Boldface & "Legalese" questions. If you've ever stared at an answer choice that reads, "The first is a consideration introduced to counter a position that...- May 14
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Most GMAT test-takers are intimidated by the hardest GMAT Verbal questions. In this session, Target Test Prep GMAT instructor Erika Tyler-John, a 100th percentile GMAT scorer, will show you how top scorers break down challenging Verbal questions..
08 Jul 2020, 07:22
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Received my GMAT online score results yesterday and some of my worst fears were realized with an purely middling, no mans land score of 660 (44Q, 36V). I had taken official practice tests the previous two weeks and scored 680 both times so this was a poor performance for me, particularly in verbal where I almost always score at least 38.
I guess I'm just trying to figure out if it's just time to call it quits. I was looking at MBA programs in the 20-30 range so my scores are below average everywhere. I've spent a total of 10 months preparing, including 2-3 hours a day every single day since late February. In the leadup to this last exam went perfectly and I felt amazingly confident and still produced a poor result with a particularly poor verbal score. I've complete Target Test Prep and probably done every question in their program 2-3 times hitting all the accuracy benchmarks, I've done every OG problem multiple times - I'm completely out of study material at this point. I started with a baseline score of 590 (36Q, 35V) and after so much hard work have improved a measly 70 points with almost a year's worth of dedication.
I had fully intended on applying in Round 1 this fall but I just don't think it makes sense anymore given my poor test score. It seems despite my best efforts I just don't have it in me to achieve a 700. Other than venting, I was hoping to get any advice people have on when you know it's time to just move on and accept the result. Just hard to swallow what feels like a significant personal failure and a year's worth of wasted investment.
I guess I'm just trying to figure out if it's just time to call it quits. I was looking at MBA programs in the 20-30 range so my scores are below average everywhere. I've spent a total of 10 months preparing, including 2-3 hours a day every single day since late February. In the leadup to this last exam went perfectly and I felt amazingly confident and still produced a poor result with a particularly poor verbal score. I've complete Target Test Prep and probably done every question in their program 2-3 times hitting all the accuracy benchmarks, I've done every OG problem multiple times - I'm completely out of study material at this point. I started with a baseline score of 590 (36Q, 35V) and after so much hard work have improved a measly 70 points with almost a year's worth of dedication.
I had fully intended on applying in Round 1 this fall but I just don't think it makes sense anymore given my poor test score. It seems despite my best efforts I just don't have it in me to achieve a 700. Other than venting, I was hoping to get any advice people have on when you know it's time to just move on and accept the result. Just hard to swallow what feels like a significant personal failure and a year's worth of wasted investment.
08 Jul 2020, 20:02
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Hi dddhhh82,
First off, a 660/Q44 is a solid Score, so it could be enough to get you into Business School. Depending on the specific Schools that you plan to apply to - and your OVERALL profile - you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement.
There's a Forum full of those Experts here:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/
It's also worth noting that 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 recent CAT score results - along with your Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 670 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also leave yourself open to making certain types of mistakes.
Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
1) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies?
2) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
3) What Schools are you interested in?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
First off, a 660/Q44 is a solid Score, so it could be enough to get you into Business School. Depending on the specific Schools that you plan to apply to - and your OVERALL profile - you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement.
There's a Forum full of those Experts here:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/
It's also worth noting that 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 recent CAT score results - along with your Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 670 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also leave yourself open to making certain types of mistakes.
Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
1) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies?
2) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
3) What Schools are you interested in?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
09 Jul 2020, 06:12
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Thank you for your input. I think largely much of my frustration seems to come from how little progress I seem to have made despite hundreds of hours of study. In regards specifically to your questions:
1) I took an in-person GMAT prep course of my city of residence last fall, which while helpful was not in depth enough for me to progress to my goal scores. I sat for the GMAT once in February and it was frankly a disaster - I felt woefully unprepared and was sick with a bad cold the entire week leading up to it and immediately cancelled my score following that exam (I think it was around 600ish). After a week to get healthy and reset, I then switched to Target Test Prep full time in late February. I basically completely neglected verbal until mid-May, I'm naturally pretty good with SC and RC but my weakness is CR. These mocks were all official mocks and taken legitimately.
2) 5/16 - 660 (44Q, 36V) zero study for verbal at this point
6/5 - 650 (46Q, 34V) had some big time time management issues on Verbal here
6/12 - 680 (41Q, 41V) finally the verbal breakthrough I was looking for, but tried the whiteboard thing for Q and suffered significantly with time management
6/26 - 670 (44Q, 38V) taken about 5 days before my exam
GMAT ONLINE: 660 (44Q, 36V)
I realize my score deviation here indicates I would get basically exactly what I got, I suppose I'm more at a loss why there is seemingly no improvement despite continued hard study. I rarely get verbal problems wrong in practice and was surprised with only a 36V after finally feeling like I broke through to the 40 range. I would've been satisfied with a 680-690 and felt like on a good day I'd get that, but rather seemed to perform on the low end of my abilities.
3) Looking mostly at schools in the 20-30s range such as Vanderbilt, Emory, UNC, CMU, PSU.
1) I took an in-person GMAT prep course of my city of residence last fall, which while helpful was not in depth enough for me to progress to my goal scores. I sat for the GMAT once in February and it was frankly a disaster - I felt woefully unprepared and was sick with a bad cold the entire week leading up to it and immediately cancelled my score following that exam (I think it was around 600ish). After a week to get healthy and reset, I then switched to Target Test Prep full time in late February. I basically completely neglected verbal until mid-May, I'm naturally pretty good with SC and RC but my weakness is CR. These mocks were all official mocks and taken legitimately.
2) 5/16 - 660 (44Q, 36V) zero study for verbal at this point
6/5 - 650 (46Q, 34V) had some big time time management issues on Verbal here
6/12 - 680 (41Q, 41V) finally the verbal breakthrough I was looking for, but tried the whiteboard thing for Q and suffered significantly with time management
6/26 - 670 (44Q, 38V) taken about 5 days before my exam
GMAT ONLINE: 660 (44Q, 36V)
I realize my score deviation here indicates I would get basically exactly what I got, I suppose I'm more at a loss why there is seemingly no improvement despite continued hard study. I rarely get verbal problems wrong in practice and was surprised with only a 36V after finally feeling like I broke through to the 40 range. I would've been satisfied with a 680-690 and felt like on a good day I'd get that, but rather seemed to perform on the low end of my abilities.
3) Looking mostly at schools in the 20-30s range such as Vanderbilt, Emory, UNC, CMU, PSU.
