Hi GmatClub,
I wanted to share my experience and ask a question of the MBA community here.
I first took the GMAT in-center back in November of 2019, when global pandemics and quarantines were things only seen in sci-fi movies. After 3 months of prep, I had a bad case of test day anxiety and scored a 670. I immediately canceled my score, since my strategy had been to cancel anything below 700. I meant to take the holidays off and start studying again in January, but work caught up with me and I left the GMAT alone for a few more months, and started studying again in June of 2020. (For anyone who is planning to retake their exam after an unsuccessful first try, I highly recommend not taking such a long break; you forget a substantial amount in a few months!)
Since most of the city was shut down anyway, my life from June-August consisted of working 8-6, and studying until 10 every weekday. I spent almost all of every Saturday studying, and took breaks on Sundays. I was weak in Quant, so my entire focus was there. I utilized
eGMAT and
Manhattan Prep for the material review, and
eGMAT's scholaranium for drilling topic-specific questions in quant. Halfway through my studies, I came across the
GmatClub tests, which I highly recommend for quant. They've got difficult questions and a built-in system for adding questions you got wrong to create your very own "
error log," with lists of questions you got wrong. This makes it very easy to go back and drill questions you weren't getting right. I would review the questions I answered incorrectly or bookmarked, but then leave them there for a few days/week and then revisit it, so that I could tackle it again and see if I could answer it correctly that time around. Toward the last week, I made myself some flashcards to review formulas/common arithmetic/concepts. I found this to be a good way to go over all the material, reinforce topics, and test yourself. I took a practice CAT three days before (Official GMAC test) and scored a 730 (Q47 V43). This was good for my confidence.
I took the GMAT online September 2nd, and I was feeling great. I signed in 30 minutes before the exam (which is when the window opens) and took pictures of my desk as prompted. They make you take a picture facing your desk, away from it, and one to each side. I cleared my room of all notes/materials and just had two bottles of water, my whiteboard, two dry-erase markers, and my eraser. Once you sign into the exam, a little window appears that shows yourself as your webcam records you, with a buttons to "chat with the proctor" or access your online whiteboard next to it. Everything else on the screen looks very similar to what you'd see at a testing center. The structure is fixed to Quant -> Verbal -> Optional 5 min break -> IR.
I finished the Quant section and felt relatively confident; I was relieved since this was my problem section and I felt I did well. All I had to do was crush verbal and IR. 2 minutes into my verbal section, disaster struck. A popup chat window opened, and my proctor said that my webcam went blank and that I needed to show my desk. I misunderstood her (the text read something like "your webcam went black, can you show desk") and thought I needed to restart my webcam. I unplugged my webcam and plugged it back in; the little window that previously showed my own face recording now went fully black, and remained thus for the rest of the exam. I was freaking out. I moved my webcam around and pointed it at my desk, but my own window was showing a black screen. However, my proctor messaged me that she could see my desk, and that I was good to go. I looked at the clock and panicked; 7 minutes had passed during all of this. 9 minutes total had passed, and I had completed 1 question. For the next few questions, and especially during the first RC passage I came across, I couldn't stop freaking out. I thought this whole test must surely be a bust, since there was no way I would finish this in time. I must have re-read that passage 3x. After that RC section, I took another 30 seconds to just close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. What had happened had happened, and I just had to power through this. I rushed through the exam, really not stopping to second guess a single question. I was solving SC questions faster than I ever had during any practice test. I read RC passages faster than usual, looking for main ideas more than anything. I only really spent meticulous time on CR questions, since I couldn't think of ways to speed that up. Somehow I finished the section with 2 minutes to spare; I must have gone faster than I should have.
I took the break before IR, since I really needed to calm down. It was still very much in my head, but I decided to push through IR as if it was a new test. After all, I didn't lose any time for IR since the clock would reset. I finished the section, skipping 2 as I had originally planned. The test was over and I was told I'd get my score in a week. I was furious, discouraged, and scheduled an in-person exam for September 24th, since I believed there was no way I could have performed my best.
2 days later, I got an email saying my score came out. I opened it since I had to know how I did, and couldn't believe my eyes. I had scored a 740 (Q49, V42) with a 7 in IR. In my last few practice tests I was scoring between 710-730, so this was so much better than I had expected going into the test, and miles beyond what I hoped for after it. My GMAT journey had finally come to an end, and I could finally start devoting my attention to essays.
However, I had a nagging thought that I couldn't get out of my head. I still have my in-center exam scheduled for the 24th, and don't know whether I should retake this or not. I want to meet certain round 1 deadlines in early October, and want to spend September working on my applications. That said, I know I can score in the 700's now, and am wondering if schools have any kind of bias toward in-center vs Online GMAT exams. I know this year they would definitely take the GMAT online, but what happens next year? (I'm expecting this year's admissions cycle to be extremely competitive, and I'm only applying to a few M7 schools this year; next year I may expand that to include top 15 schools) Would they still take GMAT online for next year's admissions cycle? Even for this year, with testing centers opening up, would they give the same credence to the GMAT Online, given that it somehow doesn't feel like a "full" GMAT Exam, with the AWA and standardized testing center regulations? If there is such a question on validity, would it be worth it to retake the exam and secure a good score in-center while the material is fresh in my mind?
I know there are many factors that go into retaking an exam, but my question is purely on the merits of the GMAT Online vs an In-Center exam. Let's assume that with the rest of my academic, professional, and extracurricular background, a 740 would make me competitive at top Bschools. I would love to hear what the community here thinks. Thank you for your time and good luck to everyone!
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05 Sep 2020, 23:00
