470 after second attempt. Need advice

Question

Dear members,

I failed GMAT again. My history of GMAT-taking (I am non-native):

1) Real GMAT, 8 January 2018: 570 (Q35, V32) 
====(break)=====
2) GMATClub tests (June-July 2018 ranged between Q47-Q49)
3) Manhattan GMAT 690 (Q47, V37)
4) 5 GMATPreps: GMAT 640-680 (Q47-49, V31-35)
 5) Real GMAT, 31 July 2018: 470 (Q39, V16)

I will take another shot in one month. Will be happy to hear advice and feedback.

P.S. I was very surprised when I saw Q39 score. All that I saw was very easy questions, and I can tell with certainty, that mostly I answered right. I had mixtures, advanced geometry, combinations, overlapping sets questions. And I am still sure that I answered them correctly, without any doubt. I guessed only on 3-4 questions, some of which did not make any sense and some of which involved American-style division (I only know how to divide numbers Russian-style).

DavidTutorexamPAL · Answer

Hi  Terabyte ,

I'm sorry you didn't hit your target score, this is never a fun experience, especially after having put so much effort into it.

On the bright side - and in your case this is a very big bright side - your current GMAT score is far lower than any of your CATs (and also your previous GMAT). This is highly suspicious and to help you debug, I would appreciate the answer to a few questions:
1. Could it be that you just had a very bad day? For example, did you cram too much into the last week and arrive tired/out of focus to the exam? Did you maybe sleep poorly the day before or were you maybe super stressed for other reasons?
2. Is it possible that you made a string of errors at the start that you had difficulty recovering from? (This could explain why all the questions you received were 'easy')

Furthermore, I suggest you purchase the  ESR . Especially now that GMAC has updated the format, the ESR can provide useful information such as your success rates in different parts of the test. Once you purchase the ESR, send it over to us  here  and we'll help walk you through its interpretation as well as suggesting next steps for you to take.

Best of luck!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Terabyte,

I’m sorry to hear about how things went with your GMAT. However, before providing specific advice, I’d like to learn some more about your situation with the GMAT.

1) Please list the dates on which you’ve taken any practice GMATs, the total scores, and the quant, verbal, and IR scores, as well as how you were feeling while taking the tests. Also, please tell me where these tests came from (ex: mba.com).
 
2) Please describe how you studied. How many hours a day did you study and for how many months? What resources did you use?
 
3) To what programs will you be applying? What are the deadlines for these programs?
 
4) By when would you LIKE to take the GMAT? By when MUST you take the GMAT?
 
5) How many hours a day, on average, can you study between now and your next GMAT?
 
6) In your opinion, how prepared were you for the GMAT? It's important that you answer this question as objectively as possible.
 
7) Is there anything else that I should know? Anything else you’d like to tell me?

Once I learn some more about you, I can provide some more detailed advice.

Terabyte · Answer

Thank you very much for your reply.

1. Well.... anyway I had a very bad day. Yes, I slept badly and I was stressed, but so did many of test-takers. I prefer to not make any excuses.
2. I don't know. Probably, it is possible

Terabyte · Answer

Thank you very much for your reply.

1. To be honest, now I am very tired and frustrated to list all of them, but I had taken GMAT CAT evert 3-5 days since second week of July. Scores from official GMAT Prep ranged from 640 to 680, and I do not care much about IR and AWA.

2. I spent about 5-6 hours per day for the last two months. Before that I was spending 1-2 hours for several months, preparing for my January exam

3. I am applying for several programs, including MIT, Columbia, and Wharton. I know that it may sound odd or even funny, but I still think (and hope) that the GMAT is not as good predictor of MBA experience as GMAC wants to be. Nothing more, nothing less than bureaucracy

4. The only possible date is 3rd of September

5. I don't think that studying more than two hours a day can make any difference. So, 2-2.5 hours. No more

6. I really think that I was well prepared and after Quant section, I was thinking that I scored at least 46

7. I am aiming for 650, and I really think that I deserved that score.

Thank you.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Terabyte,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as hoped. The information that you provided about your practice CAT Scores is remarkably similar to what you provided about your studies in the last few months of 2017 - and both attempts resulted in a much lower Quant Scaled Score when you took the Official GMAT. Since this has now occurred twice (once on the 'old' version of the GMAT in January and again with the current/shorter version), there are clearly some aspects to how you study and/or how you face Test Day itself that are keeping you from scoring higher. The drop in Verbal Scaled Score also implies some potential issues with how you handle the overall Verbal section.

From your last couple of posts, I think that you might be feeling a bit 'burned out', so I suggest that you take a few days 'off' to try to clear your head. We can discuss your work thus far - and the type of adjustments that you need to make going forward - later on this week. You can feel free to contact me directly if you would prefer to discuss all of this privately.

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

Terabyte · Answer

Hi! Thank you for your reply.

Yes, that is true. But now I've found that it is because of scoring algorithm of the actual GMAT. It punishes a lot and inadequately if you missed "easy" question. I will attach my ESR report by the next post

Terabyte · Answer

Dear experts and members,

Here is a part of my ESR report:

Quant: 
 https://preview.ibb.co/eCp0Qe/g1.png 
 https://preview.ibb.co/gRnyBK/g2.png

My comment:  It looks like I missed no more than 7 questions, but GMAT almost always gave me easy questions, and then it said, that I have poor Quantitative reasoning. What I've found here is that even though I scored 47-49 on GMATClub tests, scoring algorithms are different. And this difference made a huge impact on my overall score. If GMAT had given me more hard questions, my score would be higher. First 10 questions is not a myth for me anymore.

Verbal: 
 https://preview.ibb.co/dWU6yz/g3.png 
 https://preview.ibb.co/fAic5e/g4.png

My comment:  I remember that I was out of time. Looks like I need to improve not my reasoning skills, but my time-management and performance under pressure.

DavidTutorexamPAL · Answer

Hey  Terabyte ,

The two most striking things about the part of your report that you posted are:
1. In the Verbal section your success rate significantly decreased as the section progressed and (even worse) you made mistakes on even the easy questions.
2. In the Quant section it looks like you got too many easy and mid-level questions wrong at the start of the exam, and even though you improved as it progressed, this simply wasn't enough.

Have you encountered issues of timing and focus before?
Specifically, when you took your CATs, did you take them in the same way as you took your actual exam?
Did you take an entire CAT (consisting of all 4 sections or at minimum both Quant and Verbal), without pausing (except for the 8 minute breaks) and without using any supplemental material?

Terabyte · Answer

Hi,

1. Yes, I have problems with timing in Verbal. Since I am non-native speaker and I learned English less than 2 years ago, I need more time to read and comprehend. I always had that issue and my strategy was to guess questions #27, 29, 31, 33, 35. I had timing issues in the previous attempt also, but somehow managed them

2. Looks like yes, that is true. I missed the first two questions due to stress and anxiety. And, probably, one more during the middle of the exam. I will spend more time on the first 10 questions on my next shot.

About CATs - I don't care about IR and AWA sections. My focus is only Quant and Verbal

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Terabyte,

I still think that it would be advisable for you to spend a couple of days 'away' from the GMAT, but we can discuss your ESR now if you like. To provide the proper analysis, I'll need to see your FULL ESR though. You can feel free to PM or email it to me if you like.

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

Terabyte · Answer

Thank you very much! I will PM my full ESR to you

Terabyte · Answer

Dear members and experts,

Thank you all for your support and replies. During a couple of days after the exam, I heard several times that it is impossible to gain 150+ points in one month.

If my score will increase by 150+ points after one month, I promise to write a debrief here. Even though I am not a good test-taker and not the smartest person in the room, I am still never-give-upper

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470 after second attempt. Need advice

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