GMAT in 1 week! Can't improve Verbal...

Question

Hi all,

Thanks for the taking the time to read my post. Furthermore, I should thank everyone at GMATClub for all the resources you have provided to me (i.e. Math Genius "Bunuel", VeritasPrepKarishma, BB, mikemcgarry, etc.).

My GMAT is approaching (1 week away), and I have yet to improve on my Verbal scores. I've studied extensively with MGMAT Strategy Guides, OG Books, eGMAT (Free Videos), BTG Resources, and GMAT Club resources; however, I have still succumbed to failure...

MGMAT Scores:
CAT 1: Score 680 (Q47 V 34 IR 3.8)
CAT 1: Score 670 (Q46 V 33 IR 4?)

I found the passages of the Verbal portion to be a little bit easier; however, the Quant was a lot more comprehensive. IR was quite tricky!

Here are my GMATPrep Scores
GMATPrep1: Score: 650 Q50 V28 IR8 (Completed on Oct-18th)
GMATPrep1: Score: 640 Q48 V29 IR8 (Noticed a few repeated questions... and of course all questions in IR is the same) (Completed on Oct-25th)

GOAL ON G-DAY: 720 (Content with anywhere >670)

Both tests were conducted in exam environment i.e. 8 minute breaks, no pausing, earplugs, etc. Moreover, they were conducted during the time and day of the week I should be writing the exam.

Clearly, with one week left I know that huge improvement is likely not a possible outcome... Finally, it is also clear that I have yet to grasp the concepts of Verbal (RC and CR - not too bad on SC thanks to MGMAT SC BIBLE! 8-)

). My goal is to become a competitive candidate for Canadian Schools i.e. Queen's, Toronto, McGill, etc. (good thing the GMAT does not encompass the entire application profile!)

I would like to ask what are some of your strategies for the last week given that you were weak in verbal? I take notes for RC and also Pre-think for CR. I have also changed my studying strategy for the past week to focus on my Strengths and Weaknesses, and Timed Practice.

Thanks a ton,
Hopeful to be a "GMATAnnihilator"

). My goal is to become a competitive candidate for Canadian Schools i.e. Queen's, Toronto, McGill, etc. (good thing the GMAT does not encompass the entire application profile!) I would like to ask what are some of your strategies for the last week given that you were weak in verbal? I take notes for RC and also Pre-think for CR. I have also changed my studying strategy for the past week to focus on my Strengths and Weaknesses, and Timed Practice. Thanks a ton, Hopeful to be a "GMATAnnihilator"

GMATAnnihilator · Answer

As part of my studying, did I mention that I am blasting some "All I Do is Win" by DJ Khaled and "Mama said knock you out" by Lil Cool J?

JTuquero · Answer

Here are some general tips on prepping for the GMAT one week before the exam:

-Cover the last of new topics and concepts. Start reviewing what you have already learned with practice questions and simulation tests.
-Alternate between taking sim tests and reviewing strategy. Be sure to simulate actual test conditions as much as possible. Take full-length tests to get accustomed to timing. It can be exhausting, but you don’t want your first encounter with the format to come on test day.
-Focus on good sleep and exercise habits. If you don’t already have a solid sleep routine, begin one as soon as possible so that you are well rested for the test. Light exercise may help with nerves as well.
-For tips on RC: https://gmat.economist.com/search/blog_ ... prehension
-For tips on CR: https://gmat.economist.com/blog/tag/critical-reasoning

And finally, continue playing those songs! Anything that'll get you pumped and keep your confidence high is crucial.

Best of luck.

Jessica

Best of luck. Jessica

GMATAnnihilator · Answer

Thanks for the support Jessica, I really appreciate it.

I really feel that the goal is possible. It's the slightly negative thoughts that are slowly degrading my self-esteem. I need a way to keep up my confidence! One of the best advices were BB's "10 Tips to Improve Your Score & App With NO Extra Studying"!

JTuquero · Answer

No problem. I'm glad you found that thread; those tips are on point and helpful.

I just have one more, general tip for exam day: Don't forget to create your test bubble. This is to basically create peace within your environment and in which you’ll remain until the end of the test. Give friends and family advance notice that any conflicts or problems will have to wait until after the test. Let them know how important the test is for your career and future, and ask for their help in advance.

Best of luck!

Jessica

GMATAnnihilator · Answer

Thanks Jessica!

rajthakkar · Answer

What score u got??I am on same path....any advice?

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rajthakkar,

You mentioned that you're on a similar path to the one mentioned in the original post, but you haven't offered much in the way of specifics:

1) How long have you been studying?
2) How are you scoring on your practice CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
3) What is your goal Score?
4) When is your Official GMAT?

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

GMATAnnihilator · Answer

Actually...I scored an abysmal 560 (Q40, V28, IR 7, AWA 6). I'm taking my 2nd attempt on February 9th.

This time, I studied using the MGMAT Elluminative Live Videos. I hope I achieve a higher score... Now, I look at questions much differently e.g. for RC, I pre-think a quick one-word summary after each paragraph. Furthermore, I review every question thoroughly even if I had gotten it right (getting all the juice out of each question).

It's been two/three months since my first attempt... I took GMAT Prep Test 1 again (a little more than 2 months after my first real GMAT exam) and scored a respectable 700 (Q50, V34, IR 8). Now this may be inflated; however, I did forget the answers to all the questions and how questions were asked. I plan to take the second practice test this weekend (under GMAT conditions obviously) and hope to maintain ~700. That said, my goal is to score 670 on the actual GMAT!

Moreover, I have started my MBA applications...

Do you have any last minute tips for me?

As usual, thanks again!
Wish me luck!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi GMATAnnihilator,

The significant drop in Quant Scaled Score can only be due to a few things, so even though it's been a few months, I'm hoping that you can answer a few questions:

1) When you took your CATs, did you do the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) How many CATs did you take in the last week before your GMAT?

3) How did you sleep the night before your GMAT?
4) How long was the ride to the Testing Center?
5) What time was your GMAT?
6) Was there anything unusual or surprising about Test Day?

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

GMATAnnihilator · Answer

Thanks for the quick response Empower!

1) When you took your CATs, did you do the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)? 
Yes always the entire CAT. I even used earplugs to stimulate the exam. That said, thanks for reminding me to get some earplugs!
 2) How many CATs did you take in the last week before your GMAT?  
I believe 1. I believe that I took 1 CAT a week before the GMAT (same time). I'm curious if I was burned out from studying the day before.
 
3) How did you sleep the night before your GMAT? 
Can't exactly remember. I would say the sleep was so-so that day.
 4) How long was the ride to the Testing Center? 
1.5 hours.
 5) What time was your GMAT? 
12:00pm on a Saturday. This time it is 12:00pm on a Monday. I think if I take the weekend off or the day before off I will be more rested. It's also during a work day when my brain is functioning at a "bigger capacity" lol. 
6) Was there anything unusual or surprising about Test Day? 
I thought the Math questions were a lot harder; however, that may of been my nerves kicking in. I don't have much trouble with most of the Q's on the study guides and GMATPrep.

Thanks again!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi GMATAnnihilator,

The extra information that you've provided is useful; it helps to point out some of the factors that could have brought down your performance on Test Day:

1) Doing too much in the last few days before your Official GMAT can lead to burn-out. If you took a CAT some time in the last 2-3 days before your Test (or did any other strenuous amount of studying) then a drop is possible. The interesting factor here was that the decrease only occurred in the Quant section. With your Verbal Scaled Score, this result might also mean that you're dealing with the Verbal section in a consistent way (which means that you're consistently tired). Finding a way to 'bump up' your energy level for the last section of the Test could help you to score higher in that section.

2) A Saturday Test Date is probably the worst day to take the GMAT (for most Test Takers) Assuming that you have a "normal" Monday-Friday schedule, by the time you get to Saturday, your brain is likely too tired to perform at a high level. Since the GMAT has so many questions that don't have a "safety net" (DS, anything Verbal), you will NEVER know if you made a silly mistake. With enough little mistakes, your score drops and you won't even know it's happening until the very end when you see your Unofficial Scores. The Monday Test should yield a better result.

3) 1.5 hours is a long ride to the Test Center, which can lull your senses. There's nothing we can really do about the length, but once you get to the facility, you should do some type of light physical activity to 'wake up' before you enter the Test Center.

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

GMATAnnihilator · Answer

Thanks Rich! I really appreciate the response. Wish me luck! :-D

I'm hoping that this will be the score I need for my applications, which are due some time in March.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi GMATAnnihilator,

If your applications are not due until March, are you taking the GMAT now so that you can take it AGAIN (if needed) in a month's time?

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

rajthakkar · Answer

Hey rich,
I took the GMAT yesterday and it turned out to be disastrous.I scored a poor 640(Q46V31) in the test(had to randomly attempt last 3-4 questions in both the sections).On the test day there was tremendous noise as some furniture work was going on on the very other side of the wall I was facing.After completing my Essay and IR, I complained for the same and the lady at the center tried to convince the workers to stop the work.However the workers didn't agree and kept working.I couldn't comprehend some simple questions and had to re-read those questions sometimes twice or thrice.Which resulted in shortage of time.

When I talked with the Pearson Vue guys, They told me that an incident has been raised against this issue from the center itself and they would revert me back within 3-5 working days.The assessment center owner has assured me of rescheduling the Exam without any extra cost.I am confused with this scenario and have got upset with this issue.Any advice regarding this?How should i tackle with them?Should I register an complaint in GMAC?

One more issue is that I have opted to report the scores to the schools I had decided to apply in.My mind was not working at all after this things happened and i just clicked "report" don't know why.

Moreover,I had taken sleeping pill for the first time on the night before GMAT and even though after taking it,I was wide awake till 1 AM. I had to wake up at 5 and drive to the center for 3 hours.During the exam I was not able to concentrate.Moreover was doing well but after first 20 questions when i faced second RC which was 4 para long,i lost my pace.Ultimately I had to choose random options for last 5 questions.This same happened in both the sections.I can't believe this as I was able to complete manhattan's last 2 mocks within time limits.

I am confused what is responsible for the bad scores? Noise or drowsiness caused by sleeping pill.In how much time I should retake the exam?I have been studying from last 5-6 months for the exam and I have taken all the MGMAT Mocks and GMAT PREP exams.Although out of these exams, I only took 2 full length tests and attempted only quant and verbal sections for the other tests including GMATPrep.The scores are as below.

GMATPrep #1 (09.11.2014) - 600(Q46V27)
GMATPrep #2 (24.11.2014) - 620(Q48V27)
MGMAT CAT #1(14.12.2014) - 590(Q41V31)
MGMAT CAT #2(21.12.2014) - 600(Q42V32)
MGMAT CAT #3(05.01.2014) - 620(Q45V31)
ECONOMIST CAT (09.01.2015) - 650(Q45V34) 
VERITAS CAT #1(12.01.2015) - 690(Q48V37)
MGMAT CAT #4(18.01.2015) - 640(Q43V34)
MGMAT CAT #5(25.01.2015) - 660(Q44V36)(Full length)
MGMAT CAT #6(26.01.2015) - 690(Q44V39)(Full length)

Please help me with how to proceed ahead.The center has accepted its fault and is helping me with getting my exam rescheduled.Also,Is there any chance of my score completely getting removed from my profile?Will this score carry a negative impact?Although I am aware that only high scores are considered,these scores might cause a negative impact on my profile?

When should i take the next date?I feel pretty prepared but my confidence has drown to the lowest after whatever happened.Althoigh i have 4 months of time,I feel I might lose my pace on preparation.I am targeting for 730+

Posted from my mobile device

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EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi rajthakkar,

First off, a 640/Q46 is a good score (it's just shy of the 80th percentile) and it might be enough to get you into Business School. I understand the difficulty that you faced on the actual Exam (due to distractions), so I agree that you probably could have scored higher.

Pearson is responsible for providing a reasonable and fair testing environment - when some outside force (in this case, workers in the building) disrupt the Test-taking 'experience', the result is often what occurred in your case: a free retest. There is nothing more to be done, so you should move on with your studies and retake the GMAT. Thankfully, Business Schools don't care if you take the GMAT more than once, so having more than one score in your file is NOT a problem. If you're ever asked about why you took the Test again, you have a legitimate reason.

There ARE some aspects to your story that are worth analyzing though, because I think you made some bad choices leading up to Test Day and your performance was likely hurt as a result:

1) Doing ANYTHING for the 'first time' right before your Official GMAT is usually a bad idea. While it's understandable that you were having trouble sleeping, taking a sleeping pill the night before the Test was not a good idea. This is something that you need to figure out before you retest. If you are going to use sleeping pills to help you sleep, then that's okay, but you need to do it more often so that you can figure out the 'mechanics' of it. When should you take the pill? Are you groggy the next day? Etc. There ARE other ways to help yourself sleep, but if anxiety is something that affects you, then you might need to look into other solutions (meditation, etc.).

2) The distractions on Test Day were not your fault, but if noise is a legitimate bother, then the Pearson Center will have some 'option' for this (headphones or earplugs). Just ask.

3) CAT results are only meaningful if you take the FULL CAT (including the Essay and IR sections). "Realism" has to be maintained - so the CAT has to be a NEW CAT (not one that you've already taken), you have to take the ENTIRE CAT, under test-like conditions, away from your home, etc. The more variables that differ from Test Day, the less realistic the CAT score is (and normally the score increases due to this lack of realism), so you won't know what your actual weaknesses are and what you should be focused on during your studies.

4) Your Official Score is right in-line with most of your practice CAT scores. GMAC has openly stated that the Official Score is within +-30 points of actual ability, so assuming that same variation in the practice CATs, your 640 makes sense.

Since your score goal is 730, and you've never scored at that level during your practice, you probably need more study time and possibly some new resources. You're actually not far from your goal, but you've been studying a certain way for so long that you have likely developed some 'bad habits' that are costing you points. Fixing the little mistakes should be a big part of what you focus on during this next round of studies.

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

GMATAnnihilator · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thanks again for following-up. Yes I have plenty of time. In fact the deadlines for applications are about 2 or 4 months from now, depending on the school; therefore, retake is a possibility.

I retook a full-length practice test yesterday, combined with a throbbing headache (stayed up late the night before to write an essay)... I didn't fair too differently.

GMATPrep Test #2: 680 (Q50 (noticed 1 or 2 repeated questions), V32, IR 8 (Repeated questions, so it doesn't count), AWA: Unknown, but felt good about it).

On Prep Test #1, I scored:
700 (Q50, V34, IR 8)

My target score is 680 on the real GMAT test (realistically, I'm probably getting 640/650 based on a 20 or 30 point inflation from the prep tests). It's next week! I plan to go over all the wrong questions on the GMATPrep today and the ones I flagged (even if I got them right). I can't seem to improve on Verbal; however it is much better than the V27 or V28's I had been getting before my first GMAT test. It's evident that 4 or 5 points on verbal can be a major leap!

Do you have any tips for this final week?

Thanks again Rich!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi GMATAnnihilator,

With less than one week to go before your Exam, you can't be expected to make any radical changes to how you approach the Test, so you should NOT attempt to cram in lots of study time. Keep the work at a reasonable level and put in some overall review. Remember that the Verbal section of the GMAT is as predictable and standardized as the Quant Section is. The types of patterns you'll see in the logic, grammar, wrong answers, etc. will be the same, so think about WHY the correct answer is correct in each question that you review. Those same "reasons" will show up on the Official GMAT, so you'll have another tactic to use on Test Day (if you can remember the patterns).

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

GMATAnnihilator · Answer

Thanks Rich! 1 week to go! I hope to do much better this time. I'll keep you posted if you are interested.

GMAT in 1 week! Can't improve Verbal...

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