Dear All,
I would appreciate some valuable and informed suggestions with regard to both GMAT.
My GMAT journey has been the most daunting experience by far. I understand some of you may find my GMAT experience rather ridiculous but I have decided to say it as it is and seek some expert opinion rather than perish with an eternal sense incompetence.
I started my GMAT prep way back in Feb 2012. Though I used GMAT club posts to chart my way forward, I must admit I put in half hearted effort and not surprisingly, scored a pathetic 350 (Q-14 and V-8) on the April 2012 exam. Disappointed would be an understatement. But then, with some soul searching, I realized I didn't assess the gap between the test's requirement and my then abilities objectively. I postponed my MBA plan further to 2013. (I am a 34 year old, finance guy and was working in Singapore then) I moved to India late last year to take care of my father's business as he wasn't too well.
Started my preparation again in October, 2012 after I set the GMAT date to 21nd December, 2012. This time around I was pretty disciplined and started with Quant prep - followed bb's advise of starting from scratch with learning the basics - using
MGMAT quant books. Took a trial test a month later and my quant score hit 40. Moved to Verbal prep while I stayed in touch with Quant by practicing few problems a day from OC 13. Verbal score improved to around 27 to 29. As my target score was 650, I was confident that I could reach that score with some expert help. So started following Buenel's post and also bought
GMAT club tests. Must admit those tests proved really useful as the questions shattered my confidence, making me realize that even though I learned the basics, I haven't really learned to apply the concepts when they were tested in veiled questions. But eventually it did help me learn a great deal. My confidence rate kept increasing.
But, alas, I fractured my right hand just two days before the exam in a silly accident. My right hand ring and little fingers were tweaked around 120 degrees. Both the fingers were tied to middle fingers in an effort to make them gain normalcy. But i didn't give up. Emailed GMAC all my medical reports and got my date rescheduled to April 9th as doctor advised me not to use my hand for at least 3 months. I focused on work. But made sure I stayed in touch with GMAT by using flash cards and other reading stuff from GMATclub iphone and ipad apps.
Took the test on April 9th. Scored a pathetic 520 (Quant-38 and V-23) Again I turned to bb's post on how to improve from 38 to 44-45 and started working immediately as time was running out. Heard good reviews about
e-gmat so bought their package. Must admit it helped gain a thorough understanding of concepts. So clear were their explanations that I got almost all the questions right in SC when I tried questions from
OG later. But RC and CR proved to be an uphill task for me. But with consistent effort, I managed to do well. Took GMAT prept test and scored 640. Since i got closer to my target score, I scheduled my exam on the 29th of May and had already applied to my schools, informing them that I would be submitting my GMAT score on the 29th May itself.
But, even in my third attempt I scored the same 530.
I am sorry this post is turning to be a longer one. So let me get to the point. When I sent my resume for review to schools, I almost always got positive feedback encouraging me to submit my application. But after this dismal performance, I am not sure if schools would view my application positively. Because I remember one of bb's posts where he mentioned not to go for more than 3 attempts as it would be viewed by schools as obsession with GMAT. So I need advise on the following points?
1. Even though I feel completely drained with this GMAT experience, somewhere in me there is still hope to give one last try. Is it advisable to take the exam a fourth time? Will schools perceive so many attempts adversely?
2. If you think I still could try, would you please provide me with solid advise on where I could be going wrong. Because I am completely clueless why I always fail miserably in my actual exam. So miserable that I don't even get to my practice exam scores? What I do know is that I do well in CR and RC while practicing questions but always get it wrong in full length tests. What could be the reason with this strangeness?
3. Also, in the event that I go for another attempt, I want to make sure I cross the 700 barrier as it would be pointless to stay below that range even after 3 attempts. So kindly help me here.
I apologize for the lengthy post. I know people usually post their success stories with long posts but here I am with a gloomy story. Yet I realize many have gained from this amazing community so I am posting this with lots of hope and looking forward for some solid advise. Kindly help.
Thanks for your time and patience.