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18 Mar 2016, 02:29
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Hello guys,
Firstly, sorry for the long debrief, I am just writing to share my GMAT experience and possibly use this as a platform to assist some test takers who may experience the same thing I did in my test.
A little background information about me. I am a native English speaker and I graduated in 2009 with a major in Economics and minors in Finance and Mathematics. I also hold a Masters in Finance.
My prep entailed MGMAT guides, Powerscore LSAT LR, GMAT club math book, Veritas SC free lesson and e-gmat free webinars.
I started prepping beginning of November and dove into a CAT straight away. Scoring 660. Over the course of 3 months I went through the MGMAT Guides and the OG problems relevant to the different sections. I also used GMAT Club extensively for solutions and many thanks to Bunuel, VeritasPrepKarishma and Carcass for their quick and easy to understand approaches for various quant problems. Below are my CAT scores.
GMAT Prep 1 - 660
GMAT Prep 2 - 750 - 1 February 2016
GMAT Prep 3 - 760 - 1 March 2016
GMAT Prep 4 - 750 - 8 March 2016
My test was scheduled for 8 February but couldn't take it then because my test center was undergoing renovations, and I was not informed about this so I arrived at the test center to find that I couldn't take the test. Pearson did reschedule my test but the only available date was the 15th of March. (Oh yes I live in Cape Town, South Africa). This derailed me as I was prepared to be done with the test. I took a week off after the 8th of February and started studying again on the 15th of February. The study was quite routine, mainly based on revision and keeping the concepts fresh. I was pretty confident as I had gone over my study materials at least 3 times.
Now lets jump to test day, I slept my usual 6.5 hours and I walked to the test center, which is about 45 minutes from my apartment. I was pretty calm and confident and just ready to get the test over and done with. The essay was pretty routine and I managed to type a pretty solid essay in 15 minutes. I even had enough time to review it twice. This boosted my confidence and I waited for the clock to wind down before I moved on to IR. I had personally not studied much for IR apart from the CATs I took. The section was much easier than the GMAT prep exams I took and I managed to finish it just in the knick of time. I did dump 3 questions, which I found confusing. IR was done and I was feeling good. I took my break, drank my energy drink and got back to my desk with 2 minutes of the break left.
I didn't read the instructions on the 2 question types in quant and I simply let the clock run down before I started. In my head I kept saying, "you are a quantitative person, this is your section so don't mess it up." This, as you will read futher turned out to be my biggest mistake. The first question was quite routine and I managed to do it in a minute but the second question was a tricky NP problem and this is where the problems started. My head started playing tricks on me and since I am a quantitative person I started to put more pressure on myself to get this question correct. I ended up spending too much time on it and still wasn't sure what the answer was. From here on out I just somewhat lost my confidence and my brain started freezing. My strong section was turning out to be a nightmare. My timing was lost too as I continually tried to get questions correct and found it hard to just guess and move on, something I found easy in my practice CAT. Before I knew it I was out of time and had to guess the last 10 questions. The clock ran out just as I submitted my last guess. I was totally gutted, I had messed up and I knew it.
I took my break and went to the bathroom. I was still very down and thinking about how I completely sabotaged myself in Quant. Now this part here is what I think I would like to share with forum members. I knew I stumbled terribly but I needed something to get me back up. I am huge Beyonce fan and I watched her Superbowl performance earlier this year, in which she stumbled during a dance routine. Instead of looking flustered, she got back into character and looked more focused and she was hitting her moves harder than before. As I looked at myself in the mirror I started staying, "come back like Beyonce, otherwise you will really get a crappy score." This was weird to someone in the bathroom but the result of this small statement was my best Verbal score yet. I was focused, determined and I had completely put my quant failure behind me. The verbal section was definitely routine but by question 7 I got a BF question which was hard, but I had put myself in the zone with my bathroom mantra and I simply used POE and guessed. This happened for 6 more questions and a particularly confusing RC passage which I didn't understand. I managed to finish the verbal section with a minute to spare and I filled the survey at the end of test. Then my score came up. To be honest, I was quite surprised by the Verbal score but hardly shocked by quant. I am planning to take the test again so I can get this monkey off my back; I keep going over my quant and this is frustrating me since I know I can do much better than 42.
In conclusion, I want to say that if you have a strong area in the GMAT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT put unnecessary pressure on yourself. You will end up scoring well below your level and this will only disappoint you and leave you with tons of regrets. Also, if you do stumble, find something motivational to say to yourself and totally forget your mistakes. If you dwell on the past you won't be able to focus on the question in front of you and this will only exacerbate the situation and lead to more and more mistakes.
Firstly, sorry for the long debrief, I am just writing to share my GMAT experience and possibly use this as a platform to assist some test takers who may experience the same thing I did in my test.
A little background information about me. I am a native English speaker and I graduated in 2009 with a major in Economics and minors in Finance and Mathematics. I also hold a Masters in Finance.
My prep entailed MGMAT guides, Powerscore LSAT LR, GMAT club math book, Veritas SC free lesson and e-gmat free webinars.
I started prepping beginning of November and dove into a CAT straight away. Scoring 660. Over the course of 3 months I went through the MGMAT Guides and the OG problems relevant to the different sections. I also used GMAT Club extensively for solutions and many thanks to Bunuel, VeritasPrepKarishma and Carcass for their quick and easy to understand approaches for various quant problems. Below are my CAT scores.
GMAT Prep 1 - 660
GMAT Prep 2 - 750 - 1 February 2016
GMAT Prep 3 - 760 - 1 March 2016
GMAT Prep 4 - 750 - 8 March 2016
My test was scheduled for 8 February but couldn't take it then because my test center was undergoing renovations, and I was not informed about this so I arrived at the test center to find that I couldn't take the test. Pearson did reschedule my test but the only available date was the 15th of March. (Oh yes I live in Cape Town, South Africa). This derailed me as I was prepared to be done with the test. I took a week off after the 8th of February and started studying again on the 15th of February. The study was quite routine, mainly based on revision and keeping the concepts fresh. I was pretty confident as I had gone over my study materials at least 3 times.
Now lets jump to test day, I slept my usual 6.5 hours and I walked to the test center, which is about 45 minutes from my apartment. I was pretty calm and confident and just ready to get the test over and done with. The essay was pretty routine and I managed to type a pretty solid essay in 15 minutes. I even had enough time to review it twice. This boosted my confidence and I waited for the clock to wind down before I moved on to IR. I had personally not studied much for IR apart from the CATs I took. The section was much easier than the GMAT prep exams I took and I managed to finish it just in the knick of time. I did dump 3 questions, which I found confusing. IR was done and I was feeling good. I took my break, drank my energy drink and got back to my desk with 2 minutes of the break left.
I didn't read the instructions on the 2 question types in quant and I simply let the clock run down before I started. In my head I kept saying, "you are a quantitative person, this is your section so don't mess it up." This, as you will read futher turned out to be my biggest mistake. The first question was quite routine and I managed to do it in a minute but the second question was a tricky NP problem and this is where the problems started. My head started playing tricks on me and since I am a quantitative person I started to put more pressure on myself to get this question correct. I ended up spending too much time on it and still wasn't sure what the answer was. From here on out I just somewhat lost my confidence and my brain started freezing. My strong section was turning out to be a nightmare. My timing was lost too as I continually tried to get questions correct and found it hard to just guess and move on, something I found easy in my practice CAT. Before I knew it I was out of time and had to guess the last 10 questions. The clock ran out just as I submitted my last guess. I was totally gutted, I had messed up and I knew it.
I took my break and went to the bathroom. I was still very down and thinking about how I completely sabotaged myself in Quant. Now this part here is what I think I would like to share with forum members. I knew I stumbled terribly but I needed something to get me back up. I am huge Beyonce fan and I watched her Superbowl performance earlier this year, in which she stumbled during a dance routine. Instead of looking flustered, she got back into character and looked more focused and she was hitting her moves harder than before. As I looked at myself in the mirror I started staying, "come back like Beyonce, otherwise you will really get a crappy score." This was weird to someone in the bathroom but the result of this small statement was my best Verbal score yet. I was focused, determined and I had completely put my quant failure behind me. The verbal section was definitely routine but by question 7 I got a BF question which was hard, but I had put myself in the zone with my bathroom mantra and I simply used POE and guessed. This happened for 6 more questions and a particularly confusing RC passage which I didn't understand. I managed to finish the verbal section with a minute to spare and I filled the survey at the end of test. Then my score came up. To be honest, I was quite surprised by the Verbal score but hardly shocked by quant. I am planning to take the test again so I can get this monkey off my back; I keep going over my quant and this is frustrating me since I know I can do much better than 42.
In conclusion, I want to say that if you have a strong area in the GMAT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT put unnecessary pressure on yourself. You will end up scoring well below your level and this will only disappoint you and leave you with tons of regrets. Also, if you do stumble, find something motivational to say to yourself and totally forget your mistakes. If you dwell on the past you won't be able to focus on the question in front of you and this will only exacerbate the situation and lead to more and more mistakes.
18 Mar 2016, 21:07
Kudos
Bookmarks
V47 is seriously impressive. Are you going to retake? My GMAT experience was my first standardized test and it taught me that it was a race to get as many as you can correct while ensuring you try all of them.
720 is still a great score and most people could study for years and not score a V47.
720 is still a great score and most people could study for years and not score a V47.
18 Mar 2016, 23:48
Kudos
Bookmarks
WayneHam. Thank you, I am definitely going to retake the test. I have been so bitter about how my performance dropped in quant. Largely due to silly errors and bad timing.
I personally won't rest until I know I have given an allround "best of my ability" performance in Quant and Verbal.
I honestly have to try and maintain the Verbal level while going through quant to get back into my routine.
I personally won't rest until I know I have given an allround "best of my ability" performance in Quant and Verbal.
I honestly have to try and maintain the Verbal level while going through quant to get back into my routine.
