Double failure: 530!!Really demotivated for a potential third attempt.

Question

Hey guys,

I have been an “unofficial” member of the forum, but now it is time to share my GMAT experience and try to get some advice on how to improve.

I have been studying for quite a while - 8 months - and at this point I’m really afraid that the excessive study might be the key issue. I want to believe that I don’t have a problem with the content since my gmat prep results ranged between 660-740 and the 660 was in the weird Gmat prep exam #3. I'm not a native nor a genius so I took sometime to learn all the concepts in English and get used to all the math stuff that I didn't see in ages.
 
I gave the GMAT my first try in November and the second in December (approximately 5 weeks later). I didn't submit both results but I had 530 on both exams – I don’t recall the split but on the first I had Q35 and on the last I had Q40. My verbal score was ridiculously low. At this point my first question is, I had the exact same result, do I have a problem with the content or not?

From the first exam to the second I mainly practice my pacing only with official questions and took the empowergmat to learn more strategies on how to diversify my approach to the problems. Yet I manage to have a pretty low score on the Q section. I totally understand my low score on the first attempt as I was really stressed and panicked a couple of times, ending to guess the last 10 question on the Q section and an entire RC passage. However, I can't understand the second result.

During my studies I basically exhausted all the official problems, I have been through the MGMAT CATs and books, took the e-gmat verbal and, as mentioned, the empowergmat for Q.
I know that this situations is pretty unique – and I’m not proud of that – but do you have any advice for me? I’m a little bit lost right now, I don’t know what to do to improve, as I said I don’t believe that I have a problem with content - or do I? - but on the exam everything is different and when I read things that I’m not understanding, seems that I lose the focus and I need to re-read 2 or 3 times to get the point - even in the IR section this happened to me.

The truth is I have been under a lot of stress, as I’m starting my own company and I want a pretty decent score above 700 but I managed to dedicate a lot of time to study during the week and weekends. Since June my life is only work + study + gym. Additionally, I tend to sleep on average 7h per night.

Thanks for your time!
P

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Obviously it's a little strange that on practice tests you are scoring so much higher that you are on actual tests. Are you doing something different? pausing the practice CATs? not doing the AWA when you practice? something else along those lines?

Beyond that, one thing that jumps out at me is that you keep using the word content. That jumps out at me because, while knowledge of some basic math and grammar rules or concepts is required in answering the questions, the GMAT is not really a test of content. It's more a test of skill in applying logic and using resources to achieve aims and find solutions.

That's something that seems to get many people. For instance, a normal math test basically tests knowledge of math concepts and ability to apply them. The GMAT quant section, on the other hand, basically assumes you know all the concepts and uses those concepts merely as building blocks for tricky questions. So memorizing formulas and doing things like that does not get one very far on the GMAT. One has to develop certain skills, as one would in becoming proficient in playing any game.

So possibly you would benefit from seeing the test more in this way and by playing it more as you would a game, maybe a logic game. This sounds even more right when I read that you wonder if you prepared too much. Seems to me that one can maybe seek to memorize too much stuff, but that one can only benefit from playing a game more and developing more skill in playing that game.

So a change in perspective or approach could be all you need to score above 700. I have seen this type of thing happen, changes in approach and attitude leading to an immediate score increase.

Another thing to consider is getting more sleep, especially soon before the test. Lack of sleep could be contributing to the difficulty you have had with focusing.

Also, psychological factors such as worries, anger, fear or some kind of resistance to test taking can conflict with focusing on test questions. So by becoming more self aware you can figure out what you might have going on that would keep you from focusing. For example a kid I talked with was somehow angry that he was even taking tests, and so would lose track or zone out during RC passages.

In any case, there is every reason for you to be confident that you can score higher. Beyond the fact that you have scored much higher on practice CATs, the way of the world is that skill can always be increased and problems can always be solved. Where there is a will, there is a way, and you just need to figure out what, in this situation, that way is for you.

ZuKi · Answer

Hi there,

Thank you very much for your input. I totally understand your point and I agree with everything, although I'm still going through some deep analysis to understand what and how I need to change. 
To answer your questions I have replicated the exam as much as possible, taking a full CAT properly timed.

Cheers

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ZuKi,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as hoped. Between exams, your Quant DID improve from a Q35 to a Q40 though, so you were clearly making some progress there. Whatever problems you had in the Verbal section continued to occur though. When a Test Taker experiences the type of score drops that you're describing, the likely explanations fall into one of two categories:

1) Something you were doing during your studies was NOT realistic, so you weren't properly ready for the specifics of Test Day.
2) Something about about Test Day itself threw you "off" and affected your performance.

If you can answer a few questions, I can probably help you sort out why your study results aren't lining up with your Test Day results:

1) When you took your CATs, did you take the ENTIRE CAT every time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you ever take your CATs more than once?
3) What time of day did you take your CATs and what time of day were your Official GMATs?
4) Did you ever do anything during a CAT that did NOT match how the Official GMAT is administered (skipping sections, pausing the Test, listening to music, eating/drinking during the Exam, using a laptop computer instead of a desktop computer with a mouse, etc.)?

5) How often do you visit these Forums to review practice questions? 
6) How long did you use each of the GMAT resources that you described?

7) How many CATs did you take in the week before your Official GMAT?
8) How did you sleep the night before each of your GMATs?
9) How long is the ride to the Testing Center?
10) Did you have a pacing problem on Test Day? Did you have to rush through a bunch of questions just to finish (and if so, then approximately how many?) Did you leave ANY questions unanswered?

Thankfully, the GMAT is a standardized, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to CRUSH it. Also, since Business Schools don't care if you take the GMAT more than once, retaking the GMAT is not a problem. Before going back in and retesting though, we have to figure out what went wrong so that we can fix it.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

ZuKi · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thank you so much for coming back to my post! Btw, I really enjoyed the empowergmat course, really helped me in the Q section to diversify the approach and better understand how the exam works. However I did improve in the Q section, I'm still far from my target.

Please find bellow my answers to your questions.

Cheers

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ZuKi,

The extra information that you've provided is helpful. There are a number of choices that you made during your studies that likely hurt your performance on Test Day (and gave you an unrealistic sense of your abilities). I'll address them in the order that you mentioned them:

1) Studying 8 hours a day is NOT a good idea. There's a point at which the human brain gets too tired and you would not have properly retained anything. Doing that much studying in the last 2 weeks before your GMAT likely caused you to "burn out", so you were too tired to perform well on the Official Exam (and you probably did not even realize it).

2) Any time you retake a CAT, you are likely to see repeat questions, which makes the CAT "easier" to deal with. As a result, your pacing and scoring were artificially "improved/inflated" so your score results were not realistic. By extension, you didn't have an accurate measure of what you were supposed to be working on to improve.

3) Time of day IS a factor when taking the Official GMAT. If you train well at a certain time of day, then THAT is the time of day when you should take your GMAT. Since you can schedule your GMAT only at certain times of day, you usually have to adjust when you take your CATs to match your Official Test Time. That did not happen in your case.

4) Doing anything unrealistic during a CAT tends to make the CAT result unrealistic. If you saw ANY of the CAT questions in these Forums BEFORE you saw them on a CAT, then that too is unrealistic and made the CAT easier.

Over the Course of 8 months, you've likely developed some "bad habits." It's going to take a certain amount of time to get you out of those habits and practicing correctly. With this new round of studies, you MUST emphasize realistic practice and focus on consistency. With two Official 530s, we have to assume that that is your current ability level. To score in the high 600s/700s, you're going to need to make some serious changes to how you approach this Test.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

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Double failure: 530!!Really demotivated for a potential third attempt.

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