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03 Sep 2020, 10:18
Kudos
Bookmarks
Yeah, you read the title right! I'm just as confused as you guys are when I saw my score after my first GMAT exam so I appreciate any tips or advice you guys have for me as I start over the whole studying process.
Quick recap, I started studying for GMAT at the end of June and booked my exam for the end of August. Considering that I've been in Canada for over 10 years and have my undergrad in Pharmacology with a 3.9 GPA with a strong background in math, I thought this would be an easy ride.
I took a diagnostic exam and got 620. I thought to myself that it's not bad and I can improve it to 700+ in a month or two. I took the official GMAT practice test a few weeks later and got a 650, then another 2 weeks after and got a 690. 2 weeks before my exam I took 2 more exams and got 710 and 740 under the real exam conditions. These two exams gave me the confidence that I should be able to score 680-700+ in the exam too. Well, I was wrong!
Fast forward to the exam, I was doubting my answer for every single question. I felt like I was writing a completely different exam lol and once I got the score... yeah it was 580. I was shocked and confused and as a matter of fact, I still am. Has this happened to anyone ever? and can you guys please help me out?
Thank you,
Quick recap, I started studying for GMAT at the end of June and booked my exam for the end of August. Considering that I've been in Canada for over 10 years and have my undergrad in Pharmacology with a 3.9 GPA with a strong background in math, I thought this would be an easy ride.
I took a diagnostic exam and got 620. I thought to myself that it's not bad and I can improve it to 700+ in a month or two. I took the official GMAT practice test a few weeks later and got a 650, then another 2 weeks after and got a 690. 2 weeks before my exam I took 2 more exams and got 710 and 740 under the real exam conditions. These two exams gave me the confidence that I should be able to score 680-700+ in the exam too. Well, I was wrong!
Fast forward to the exam, I was doubting my answer for every single question. I felt like I was writing a completely different exam lol and once I got the score... yeah it was 580. I was shocked and confused and as a matter of fact, I still am. Has this happened to anyone ever? and can you guys please help me out?
Thank you,
03 Sep 2020, 22:31
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Mohsenafra,
I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. When these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
Studies:
1) Did you take the At-home GMAT or did you take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
2) How many hours did you typically study each week?
3) What study materials have you used so far?
4) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
Goals:
5) What is your overall goal score?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
If you took your GMAT at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. When these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
Studies:
1) Did you take the At-home GMAT or did you take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
2) How many hours did you typically study each week?
3) What study materials have you used so far?
4) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
Goals:
5) What is your overall goal score?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
If you took your GMAT at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
04 Sep 2020, 09:01
Kudos
Bookmarks
EMPOWERgmatRichC, Thank you very much for your reply.
so here goes the answers to your questions:
1) I took the GMAT at the test facility
2) I work full-time from home but I tried my best to squeeze in 2 hours of studying during the week and 3-4 hours on weekends. there were days when I just didn't have the motivation with all the COVID stuff happening, but overall I was as consistent as I could be. However, during the first few weeks, I had no idea how to study but I really got it together towards the last four weeks and that's when I started scoring 700+ on the practice tests.
3) I bought the 6th edition Manhattan Prep books but I also used Veritas, the official GMAT website, and the GMAT forum for more questions.
4) July 25th: 610 ==> Q:46; V:28; IR:7
Aug 18th: 630 ==> Q:45; V: 31; IR:4
Aug 20th: 690 ==> Q:48; V:37; IR:8
Aug 27th: 740 ==> Q:49; V: 42; IR:3
Aug 30th: 710 ==> Q:48; V:40 ; IR:3
Aug 31st: 690 ==> Q:48; V:35; IR:3
And I wrote my exam on September 2nd.
5) My target score is anywhere above 710.
6) I'm not applying for an MBA for at least another 2 years. I was hoping to get GMAT out of the way so I can focus on the rest of my resume.
My top 5 schools are Harvard, Stanford, Booth, Insead, and University of Toronto in no particular order.
Thank you again for helping me to figure out where I went wrong.
so here goes the answers to your questions:
1) I took the GMAT at the test facility
2) I work full-time from home but I tried my best to squeeze in 2 hours of studying during the week and 3-4 hours on weekends. there were days when I just didn't have the motivation with all the COVID stuff happening, but overall I was as consistent as I could be. However, during the first few weeks, I had no idea how to study but I really got it together towards the last four weeks and that's when I started scoring 700+ on the practice tests.
3) I bought the 6th edition Manhattan Prep books but I also used Veritas, the official GMAT website, and the GMAT forum for more questions.
4) July 25th: 610 ==> Q:46; V:28; IR:7
Aug 18th: 630 ==> Q:45; V: 31; IR:4
Aug 20th: 690 ==> Q:48; V:37; IR:8
Aug 27th: 740 ==> Q:49; V: 42; IR:3
Aug 30th: 710 ==> Q:48; V:40 ; IR:3
Aug 31st: 690 ==> Q:48; V:35; IR:3
And I wrote my exam on September 2nd.
5) My target score is anywhere above 710.
6) I'm not applying for an MBA for at least another 2 years. I was hoping to get GMAT out of the way so I can focus on the rest of my resume.
My top 5 schools are Harvard, Stanford, Booth, Insead, and University of Toronto in no particular order.
Thank you again for helping me to figure out where I went wrong.
