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Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
24 Mar 2015, 00:15
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Hello guys,
I finally took the GMAT for the first time couple of days back. I'd been preparing on my own for quite a while now and couldn't wait to get the GMAT over with and move on with my life. In the last month of my prep, I pretty much did nothing except prepare for the GMAT and even took a week off work in the last week to prepare.
Unfortunately, my GMAT went all wrong. I got a score of only 620 (Q37, V38). During my prep, I've had considerable help from the users of this forum and I wish to thank them for that, especially EMPOWERgmatRichC, GMATPill and DmitryFarber. Their sage advice helped me numerous times during my prep. Now, after this debacle, I'm at a crossroads. Whether to try again for the GMAT and or to move on to the GRE.
I took the MGMAT CAT tests and GMAT prep prior to my actual GMAT and got scores of 640, 650 and 660 in the MGMAT tests (with my quant score usually around 44) and 660 in GMATprep which I took the day prior to my GMAT. I hear there's a +-40 point difference between GMATprep and real GMAT but in my case it went down by 40 from my prep score. I was so ready to get the GMAT over with and move on with my life. I had put a lot of things on hold for this and after getting my score, I feel pretty dejected and not sure if I should retake the GMAT or not. I've seen the threads where folks both improved and got lower scores on their subsequent attempts at the GMAT. I'm sure I want to go for an MBA.
However, I don't want to put my life on hold again, put in another month or two of prep time and efforts and then see myself with the same or lower score. I'm considering preparing and taking the GRE instead of the GMAT as it plays to my strengths (being strong in verbal). I did take a practice GRE exam couple months back and felt more comfortable with it. But it could just be that I'm bitter after my recent GMAT experience and maybe I'm running from it and here I seek the guidance from the good folks here.
My target score is 700. But going into the GMAT, in my heart I would've been satisfied with a 690, maybe 680 even. I'm not sure about my target schools yet but I think it'd be European schools with 1-year programs like ESADE, Bocconi etc. as I do not wish to go for a 2-year program. I'm naturally strong in verbal though not so in quant. Though in general I don't like Math, I can still do it and be pretty good at it if I keep at it.
Ultimately, my question is, should I put my life on hold, prepare for another month or two and retake the GMAT? Or should I accept that the GMAT is not my sort of animal and prepare and try for the GRE instead?
I'll provide a little background below and try to keep it brief.
It was first experience with the GMAT and going into my prep, I didn't really have an idea what kind of an animal GMAT was. I knew GMAT quant tends to be on the harder/tricky side however I just didn't know what to expect. Looking back, I believe if I had an idea what it entailed, I might have gone for the GRE.
As for the GMAT and my prep, looking back, here are the list of things I now realize I did wrong:
Things that went wrong with my GMAT
1. I took the week off work prior to the GMAT and fully immersed myself in studies. So much so, that my days ran into each other and I couldn't even keep track of dates anymore. I was thinking my exam was on Saturday but on Thursday I realized that it's actually tomorrow (on Friday). This rattled me and I couldn't put on the finishing touches on my prep.
2. I lost 1.5 minutes on the quant section and 50 seconds on verbal due to taking breaks longer than 8 minutes. I'm a very slow eater and couldn't keep track of time as the center didn't have a clock in the break area and they didn't allow me to wear a watch. Going into quant, I panicked for a bit but then took 20 seconds to calm down and proceeded to do quant to the best of my ability. In fact, I wasn't anxious or nervous at all during the GMAT save for this little hiccup.
I got quite a few sub 600 questions mid way through quant but I didn't let it rattle me and got two 650-700 level questions at the end which I had no idea how to solve. I spent too much time figuring out the second-last question that I didn't have any time left for the last and had to guess on both.
3. Pain. I suffer from sciatica due to a disc bulge and due to constant sitting, my sciatica was triggered during verbal. I tried to keep it from distracting me but still I believe I could have done better on verbal if I wasn't in pain.
Things that went wrong with my prep
1. I tried to study on my own. I've mostly been able to study on my own for stuff however looking back now, it could have been a mistake as I had no idea what sort of animal the quant on GMAT is. I even hired a tutor in the last month to go over my problem areas but it didn't help much.
2. I prolonged my prep. I stretched out my prep over a period of 5 months and at times felt burned out and in the end couldn't wait to get the GMAT over with and move on with my life.
3. I didn't study verbal/I studied verbal. This one is a bit weird. I'm naturally strong in verbal and didn't even touch it until the last month. I scored 41 in verbal section in my first GMATprep exam relying just on intuition and gut feeling. In my last month of prep, I started studying verbal and it quickly became apparent that my weakest area is SC. I'm a native speaker and before the GMAT, I had no idea what a gerund is. I just knew if something was wrong and how to fix it but had no idea why it is wrong. I started going through GMAT verbal in my last month and I think I just got confused between what I knew by instinct versus what I studied in the books. In the end, I got V38 in GMATprep the day before my GMAT and that's what I ended up with on the actual GMAT.
I feel I might have done better if I had given verbal as much focus as my quant or if I had not studied verbal at all.
I finally took the GMAT for the first time couple of days back. I'd been preparing on my own for quite a while now and couldn't wait to get the GMAT over with and move on with my life. In the last month of my prep, I pretty much did nothing except prepare for the GMAT and even took a week off work in the last week to prepare.
Unfortunately, my GMAT went all wrong. I got a score of only 620 (Q37, V38). During my prep, I've had considerable help from the users of this forum and I wish to thank them for that, especially EMPOWERgmatRichC, GMATPill and DmitryFarber. Their sage advice helped me numerous times during my prep. Now, after this debacle, I'm at a crossroads. Whether to try again for the GMAT and or to move on to the GRE.
I took the MGMAT CAT tests and GMAT prep prior to my actual GMAT and got scores of 640, 650 and 660 in the MGMAT tests (with my quant score usually around 44) and 660 in GMATprep which I took the day prior to my GMAT. I hear there's a +-40 point difference between GMATprep and real GMAT but in my case it went down by 40 from my prep score. I was so ready to get the GMAT over with and move on with my life. I had put a lot of things on hold for this and after getting my score, I feel pretty dejected and not sure if I should retake the GMAT or not. I've seen the threads where folks both improved and got lower scores on their subsequent attempts at the GMAT. I'm sure I want to go for an MBA.
However, I don't want to put my life on hold again, put in another month or two of prep time and efforts and then see myself with the same or lower score. I'm considering preparing and taking the GRE instead of the GMAT as it plays to my strengths (being strong in verbal). I did take a practice GRE exam couple months back and felt more comfortable with it. But it could just be that I'm bitter after my recent GMAT experience and maybe I'm running from it and here I seek the guidance from the good folks here.
My target score is 700. But going into the GMAT, in my heart I would've been satisfied with a 690, maybe 680 even. I'm not sure about my target schools yet but I think it'd be European schools with 1-year programs like ESADE, Bocconi etc. as I do not wish to go for a 2-year program. I'm naturally strong in verbal though not so in quant. Though in general I don't like Math, I can still do it and be pretty good at it if I keep at it.
Ultimately, my question is, should I put my life on hold, prepare for another month or two and retake the GMAT? Or should I accept that the GMAT is not my sort of animal and prepare and try for the GRE instead?
I'll provide a little background below and try to keep it brief.
It was first experience with the GMAT and going into my prep, I didn't really have an idea what kind of an animal GMAT was. I knew GMAT quant tends to be on the harder/tricky side however I just didn't know what to expect. Looking back, I believe if I had an idea what it entailed, I might have gone for the GRE.
As for the GMAT and my prep, looking back, here are the list of things I now realize I did wrong:
Things that went wrong with my GMAT
1. I took the week off work prior to the GMAT and fully immersed myself in studies. So much so, that my days ran into each other and I couldn't even keep track of dates anymore. I was thinking my exam was on Saturday but on Thursday I realized that it's actually tomorrow (on Friday). This rattled me and I couldn't put on the finishing touches on my prep.
2. I lost 1.5 minutes on the quant section and 50 seconds on verbal due to taking breaks longer than 8 minutes. I'm a very slow eater and couldn't keep track of time as the center didn't have a clock in the break area and they didn't allow me to wear a watch. Going into quant, I panicked for a bit but then took 20 seconds to calm down and proceeded to do quant to the best of my ability. In fact, I wasn't anxious or nervous at all during the GMAT save for this little hiccup.
I got quite a few sub 600 questions mid way through quant but I didn't let it rattle me and got two 650-700 level questions at the end which I had no idea how to solve. I spent too much time figuring out the second-last question that I didn't have any time left for the last and had to guess on both.
3. Pain. I suffer from sciatica due to a disc bulge and due to constant sitting, my sciatica was triggered during verbal. I tried to keep it from distracting me but still I believe I could have done better on verbal if I wasn't in pain.
Things that went wrong with my prep
1. I tried to study on my own. I've mostly been able to study on my own for stuff however looking back now, it could have been a mistake as I had no idea what sort of animal the quant on GMAT is. I even hired a tutor in the last month to go over my problem areas but it didn't help much.
2. I prolonged my prep. I stretched out my prep over a period of 5 months and at times felt burned out and in the end couldn't wait to get the GMAT over with and move on with my life.
3. I didn't study verbal/I studied verbal. This one is a bit weird. I'm naturally strong in verbal and didn't even touch it until the last month. I scored 41 in verbal section in my first GMATprep exam relying just on intuition and gut feeling. In my last month of prep, I started studying verbal and it quickly became apparent that my weakest area is SC. I'm a native speaker and before the GMAT, I had no idea what a gerund is. I just knew if something was wrong and how to fix it but had no idea why it is wrong. I started going through GMAT verbal in my last month and I think I just got confused between what I knew by instinct versus what I studied in the books. In the end, I got V38 in GMATprep the day before my GMAT and that's what I ended up with on the actual GMAT.
I feel I might have done better if I had given verbal as much focus as my quant or if I had not studied verbal at all.
30 Mar 2015, 10:16
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi GhostA
I'm sorry to hear about exam day. Based off your note, I would agree that several factors affected your performance. Whether you should retake the exam is based on a number of factors as well. Which business schools are you targeting, and have you contacted their admissions staff to determine the average GMAT score of accepted students? Also, when do you plan to apply?
To decide whether to take the GMAT, you will need to weigh your motivation, time availability and realistic assessment of how much you can improve. I saw that you are considering taking the GRE as well. Yes, more and more business schools are accepting GRE scores. But keep in mind that preparing for the GRE requires time and effort as well. You may be better off continuing your momentum on the GMAT and building on the familiarity you have.
Here are two blogs that broke down the GRE and GMAT exams. Take a look. Hopefully this will help as you decide your next steps.
Choosing between the GRE and GMAT part 1: https://econgm.at/nzx6gK
Choosing between the GRE and GMAT part 2: https://econgm.at/5VA40p
Hang in there, and keep us posted on your progress!
Jessica
I'm sorry to hear about exam day. Based off your note, I would agree that several factors affected your performance. Whether you should retake the exam is based on a number of factors as well. Which business schools are you targeting, and have you contacted their admissions staff to determine the average GMAT score of accepted students? Also, when do you plan to apply?
To decide whether to take the GMAT, you will need to weigh your motivation, time availability and realistic assessment of how much you can improve. I saw that you are considering taking the GRE as well. Yes, more and more business schools are accepting GRE scores. But keep in mind that preparing for the GRE requires time and effort as well. You may be better off continuing your momentum on the GMAT and building on the familiarity you have.
Here are two blogs that broke down the GRE and GMAT exams. Take a look. Hopefully this will help as you decide your next steps.
Choosing between the GRE and GMAT part 1: https://econgm.at/nzx6gK
Choosing between the GRE and GMAT part 2: https://econgm.at/5VA40p
Hang in there, and keep us posted on your progress!
Jessica
30 Mar 2015, 12:18
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi GhostA,
A 620 is an above-average score, so while you did not perform up to your goals, you might still be able to get into Business School with this score and a strong enough overall profile. Based on some of your prior posts, you seemed to know that you were not performing at the 700+ level, but you wanted to take the GMAT anyway.
GMAC has publicly stated that the score that you earn on your Official GMAT is within +-30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in your practice CAT scores, your Official Score is in range of your practice scores (albeit at the lower end of the range). Keep in mind that the accuracy of CAT results depends heavily on how YOU choose to take the CATs. The more realistic and 'test-like' you make those experiences, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. If you deviate from the standard Test Day 'event' (skipping sections, pausing the CAT, taking it at home, taking it at a different time of day from your Official Test time, etc.), your scores can deviate too.
Taking a CAT the day before your Official GMAT was NOT a good idea; you might have expended too much energy on that CAT and hurt your performance on Test Day. From what you described about your last week of studies before your GMAT, you probably WERE burning out.
Before retaking the GMAT (or switching over to study for the GRE), you might want to discuss your situation with an Admissions Expert. There's a Forum full of them here:
ask-admission-consultants-124/
You'll need to provide the names of the Schools that you're planning to apply to and a more detailed break-down of your overall profile, but the Experts there should be able to offer some perspective on your situation.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
A 620 is an above-average score, so while you did not perform up to your goals, you might still be able to get into Business School with this score and a strong enough overall profile. Based on some of your prior posts, you seemed to know that you were not performing at the 700+ level, but you wanted to take the GMAT anyway.
GMAC has publicly stated that the score that you earn on your Official GMAT is within +-30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in your practice CAT scores, your Official Score is in range of your practice scores (albeit at the lower end of the range). Keep in mind that the accuracy of CAT results depends heavily on how YOU choose to take the CATs. The more realistic and 'test-like' you make those experiences, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. If you deviate from the standard Test Day 'event' (skipping sections, pausing the CAT, taking it at home, taking it at a different time of day from your Official Test time, etc.), your scores can deviate too.
Taking a CAT the day before your Official GMAT was NOT a good idea; you might have expended too much energy on that CAT and hurt your performance on Test Day. From what you described about your last week of studies before your GMAT, you probably WERE burning out.
Before retaking the GMAT (or switching over to study for the GRE), you might want to discuss your situation with an Admissions Expert. There's a Forum full of them here:
ask-admission-consultants-124/
You'll need to provide the names of the Schools that you're planning to apply to and a more detailed break-down of your overall profile, but the Experts there should be able to offer some perspective on your situation.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
