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camsimp1818
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First Practice Exam = 450...am I completely SOL?? 09 Mar 2014, 13:27
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Background - I've been enrolled in Veritas for about a week and am finally catching up to the material. We've covered arithmetic so far but not much else. However, I hadn't taken a base exam and I'm told that's an important place to start. So I gave it a cold run:

I took my initial exam this morning = 450 (ouch)

Now I feel like I just wasted my $$ and that there's little hope of getting a score that will get me in to a good school. Granted I'm in tax season (I'm a CPA) and my head feels like it's in a cloud, but that's still a lousy score. While I understand that I can (will) improve as I move along, is there much (if any) hope of getting >650 or even breaking 700?

Any input would be appreciated.

Gracias!
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luckyducky7
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First Practice Exam = 450...am I completely SOL?? 09 Mar 2014, 15:50
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I don't think you're SOL! I took the GMAT 2 yrs ago (using a self-guided Manhattan course) and I followed their advice taking practice tests every few weeks and got a 540 on my first one. Personally, I was really frustrated testing myself without having covered a lot of the material yet. I studied for about 4 months and got my official score up to a 640 (still not happy which is why I'm taking it again now).

My new strategy 2 years later has been to go through all of the materials FIRST, then start taking the tests. I took my first practice this weekend and got a 620 - still not happy with it, but at least it's a better basis to start from, knowing that I have gone through all of the material.

I guess the one upside to taking consistent tests without having learned all of the material is that you will be used to the time constraints which I definitely struggled with this weekend.

Don't give up so easily! You have a lot of material to get through and your score will improve as you learn more. Good luck!
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TGC
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First Practice Exam = 450...am I completely SOL?? 11 Mar 2014, 04:08
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camsimp1818
Background - I've been enrolled in Veritas for about a week and am finally catching up to the material. We've covered arithmetic so far but not much else. However, I hadn't taken a base exam and I'm told that's an important place to start. So I gave it a cold run:

I took my initial exam this morning = 450 (ouch)

Now I feel like I just wasted my $$ and that there's little hope of getting a score that will get me in to a good school. Granted I'm in tax season (I'm a CPA) and my head feels like it's in a cloud, but that's still a lousy score. While I understand that I can (will) improve as I move along, is there much (if any) hope of getting >650 or even breaking 700?

Any input would be appreciated.

Gracias!
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Hi there,

This thread is all about 'GMAT experience= real exam'.

For suggestions and advise please post in relevant forum. Moving topic to relevant forum

Rgds,
TGC!
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KyleWiddison
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First Practice Exam = 450...am I completely SOL?? 12 Mar 2014, 11:41
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Definitely do not give up right now! The purpose of the first take is to get it out of the way and gain some understanding for how the GMAT works. People see dramatic improvements from their initial take because there is so much preparation that has to take place before you can maximize your score.

Getting to 650+ is possible but will require a lot of effort (I think ~100 point increases are somewhat standard and ~200 point increases are much more rare). You also have to recognize that there are various factors that can torpedo your initial score, in addition to the personal factors you noted. Lots of the test itself is brand new (i.e. Data Sufficiency) and those areas will really throw you off. Your quant skills will be super rusty, but they will get better over time. Timing can be a silent killer - if you run out of time, your score will get crushed.

Be realistic with yourself. How have you done on standardized tests in the past (or even tests in general)? If you have done well in the past you should have some confidence that you can perform well on the GMAT, but realize that to perform well you will have to work really hard.

Best,
KW
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First Practice Exam = 450...am I completely SOL?? 23 Mar 2014, 13:28
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the diagnostic test result is usually weak. That is why you must study so hard. Your final score matters so don't give it so early or you will not succeed in such a challenging test like the GMAT!