GMAT first try 480

Question

I think i probably scored the lowest score in the history of GMAT, i studied for 4 months 4 hours a day and kept doing number properties, inequalities over and over again but could not even do a single question on the test. I know i am not good in quant but 26 is just too low.

i scored 480 Q26 V27 and feel so miserable that i am seriously thinking of quitting Gmat. I answered all the question pack 1 questions and gave two mock tests before the actual test but test day is test day. i remember my hand was shaking so bad when i saw the first problem and after the last question i checked the clock and it said 8 mins to go. i think my strength lies in verbal but after completing the quant i just felt like killing myself so bombed the verbal section as well. I personally think it was stress because if i see those question right now i think i'd be able to do them easily but my guess is as good as yours.

I went in thinking this just prep and knew from the beginning that scoring more than 610 is going to be god's gift but 480 is just not acceptable.

GMAT prep 1 - 560 
GMAT Prep 2 - 580

I feel as if someone is screaming 'failure' in my ear.

probably this topic is going to get merged but i just felt like sharing a bit.

PS - This website has taught me a lot and i hope someday i will be able to contribute to it.

thank you.

devilbart · Answer

Wow man.. Your problem isn't much about your quant capabilities or anything... Its more about your confidence.. Go easy on yourself and trust that you can do it...

Like the saying goes, those who think that they will fail and those who think they will win are both correct.

Take a break and re start for prep #2

If i can crack it, then anyone can crack the GMAT.

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi mb9252,

While you're probably not feeling too good right now (which is understandable), you're not the first person to score lower than they wanted on Test Day, so let's look at all of this as a learning experience and figure out what you can do differently next time to score higher.

If you can provide a bit more information about how you studied, then I'll be happy to advise:

1) Did you really study every day for 4 months (or were there "chunks" of time that you didn't study?)?
2) What resources did you use?
3) Were those 2 CATs the only CATs that you took?
4) What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on those CATs?
5) Did you take the Essay and IR sections on those CATs or did you skip them?

I'd also like to know a bit about the lead-up to Test Day and Test Day itself:
1) When did you take your last CAT?
2) What did you do the last 3 days before your GMAT?
3) How did you sleep the night before your GMAT?
4) What day/time was your GMAT?
5) How long was the ride to the Testing Center from your home?

Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level. Clearly, some adjustments to your approach will have to be made before you retest - this will require some more time and some new resources. Since Business Schools don't care if you take the GMAT more than once, there's no harm in doing so.

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

mb9252 · Answer

1. the last two months i studied like there is no tomorrow. i started 4 months back but the last two months was really when i got into the groove. there were days when i studied 6 - 8hours a day. Maybe should not have done that.

2. i joined this coaching place which i think was a big big mistake because its not easy to learn with 50 other kids who know all the answers right off the bat. afterwards i studied through private tutoring (only verbal ) and that lady was really good she taught me so much that i can't really thank her enough; rest i studied on my own.

3. those were the only CATs i took.

4. The scores were Q41, Q38

5. i did the IR section but not the AWA. During the exam i was ok doing the AWA it did not really bother me that much.

Lead up to the test. -

1. I took my last exam 5 days before the test.

2. last three days i did the practice questions from gmat prep question pack 1.

3. I slept very well the night before the test. Had a very good breakfast as well.

4. The exam was on Wednesday at 1pm.

5. the exam center was 20 mins away from my place.

I think its the mental block i think i need to take a few days off and start again.

mb9252 · Answer

I think i need to take some time off and start again. I think its more of a mental block than anything.

Thank you for your words

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi mb9252,

With the extra information that you've provided, I can point out a few areas that you'll need to improve on:

1) From what you've described, you spent 2 months of real study time on this process. Most Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent, focused study before they hit their "peak" scores, so it might be that you just haven't studied enough.

2) Studying 6-8 hours a day isn't something that you should do too often. IF you do decide to put in a lot of study time on one day (on a Saturday, for example), then it's important to "break up" your studies into pieces. For example, after doing 2 hours of work, you should take a break, then come back to your studies a bit later.

3) 2 CATs in 2 months is not enough. As a general rule, you should plan to take a FULL-LENGTH CAT every 1-2 weeks, so that you can measure your progress and work on fixing the little things that go wrong as they happen (as opposed to trying to fix everything all at once on just a couple of CATs).

4) When taking CATs, you MUST make the experience as realistic and test-like as possible, otherwise the score result will probably NOT be realistic. Skipping the AWA means that you took a shorter Test, and didn't have to deal with the full fatigue/endurance issue that affects people on Test Day.

You've learned a lot about this process, so you should use that knowledge to your advantage. Certain aspects of what you did helped you, while certain aspects did not. You can now make a more-informed series of decisions with how you continue to study. The GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a high level. You just need the right resources and you need to put in enough time.

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

GMATPill · Answer

Keep your head up. To help you get in the right psychological mindset, read the tips here regarding extreme positivity:

https://www.gmatpill.com/about/studying- ... trategies/

Get the mental battle right and you're halfway there. Good luck!

JTuquero · Answer

Mb9252:

You've received a lot of good tips, so I'll just add one more. Your brain might've received a "shock" on exam day. Sometimes, when people enter exam day, they answer the first few questions wrong that they may have answered correctly otherwise. If you think this happened to you, you may have just needed to warm up your mind to answering GMAT questions on exam day. Try looking over practice questions that you ONLY answered correctly (if you go over ones where you made a mistake, this could effect your psyche and confidence level). This could warm you up for the test and get into the mindset of answering GMAT questions.

So, yes, take the full cat exams, sleep well, and warm up your mind on test day (if you need to).

Best of luck!

Jessica

mb9252 · Answer

hey everyone, it has been close to 70 day since i took the gmat. i am preparing for it again. i just went through all the tips which you have provided me with and am surely going to apply them. this time i think i am going to do a little warm up before going in. Thank you all very much for your kind words

thanks

thanks

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi mb9252,

I'd like to know a bit more about how you're planning this next round of studies and attempt at the GMAT:

1) Do you have an Official Test Date yet?
2) I didn't see this mentioned in any of your prior posts - what is your goal score?
3) What resources are you using during this round of studies?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

mb9252 · Answer

hey rich,

i haven't decided on the date yet but may second week sounds good. 
I have been doing all the questions from OG and Question pack 1 (400+questions) over and over again which is helping my confidence a lot. I have also bought the MGMAT prac tests and will be going over them as well starting tomorrow. 
I am also applying to B-schools (for masters in Fin/management) in my free time so hopefully i will be able to get into a good one by the end of august. 
My target score is around 650. that should be able to get me into a good college considering my overall profile.

I am going to book a test date only when i am able to score around 680 700 in my mocks because i don't want to waste another chance. It is actually very easy to get a spot because lot of people just back out/reschedule at the last minute so i should be able to get a date easily.

lets hope for the best man.

Thanks

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi mb9252,

A planned Test Date in the second week of May is likely too soon given the work that you still have to do. You should plan to take a FULL-LENGTH CAT in the next week or so; that way, we can gauge your progress and overall readiness for this next attempt. If the application deadlines are not until the end of summer, then you should be able to spend more time studying.

Re-doing old questions is fine, and the OG materials are great to practice with, but if you're just re-doing and re-doing work that you did before, then there's no way to know if you've trained enough to handle "new" material when it shows up. As such, you might want to invest in some new practice materials.

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

mb9252 · Answer

just finished some mocks. I am really worried because i am not at all improving. I have been doing new quant questions from this website and have also gone over all the mistakes from previous mocks. I am really really tired of GMAT.

Mocks Tests -

MGMAT 1 - 580 Q37 V33 
MGMAT 2 - 480 Q31 V26 
MGMAT 3 - 600 Q37 V35
MGMAT 4 - 550 Q39 V28 
VERITAS FREE MOCK - 510 Q33 V27
GMAT PREP 3 - 530 IR 3 Q32 V31 ( 1st RC i got was after 14 questions of CR and SC which is strange i think)

I really thought for a moment there that i was improving. I am still going to give the GMAT before may 25th (because of deadline) hopefully a miracle will happen.

one thing i noticed today was that whenever the quant section starts i get nervous and my hands start sweating and all i think of during the section is how to improve my score. in my last mock test (GMAT prep 3) i did only 17 questions correctly. I personally think it was due to timing issues. I wanted to get the first 10 questions right and because of that i ended up spending way too much time in the beginning. after that i had only 5 minutes left for the last five questions.

i really really want to improve my quant score from 33 to 45. I am going to give 3 more mock tests after today, hopefully on the G-day i will survive (chances are low but i am optimistic this time).

My biggest issue with verbal is that i always feel as if i am killing it, but i end up getting somewhere between 27-37 mostly.

i am going to give the remaining mocks in daytime because i usually study at night between 11 pm and 6 am. I want try the daytime now and see what happens.

P.S - I really appreciate the time and effort you guys spend to help me improve my score. A big Thank You for that.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi mb9252,

I think that you're about to make some bad choices, so I really hope that you can honestly answer a couple of questions:

1) If you do not score above 650 on Test Day, then how will your plan/timeline change?

2) If you do not have a competitive application by May 25th, then when you can NEXT apply?

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

mb9252 · Answer

Hi Rich,

The thing is my deadline is 25th and i really want to take another shot at this thing. the worst that could happen is that i am going to score in the range of 500 something. If i do then i will start from the scratch again and re-learn everything to get this GMAT out of the way.

first of all a score of 650 is going to be epic.

If i score less than 650 i am still going to send it to the universities. Hopefully my resume, essays, and recommendation letters are going to do the trick for me. The worst that could happen is they are going to reject me and say try again.

If i don't have a competitive application by 25th i am going to keep working on gmat and aim for the next round of applications (October/ jan)

I know i shouldn't go about these things like this but i really don't see any other way out at the moment.

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