GMAT Prep 2 disaster

Yes, GMATPrep tests are generally the most reliable indicator of your progress... and I'm not sure what a 130-point drop says. Unless your 680 was inflated somehow (though I'm not sure how this would happen--I don't even think that you can pause the GMATPrep software), then it's probably safe to say that you somehow behaved a little bit strangely on your most recent GMATPrep.

In a way, it isn't hard to explain what happened on your last GMATPrep: for some reason, you got a little bit sloppy, and missed a bunch of questions that you wouldn't normally miss. Careless errors on the GMAT are an absolute killer, because of the adaptive algorithm: the test is giving you a score based on which questions you miss, not necessarily on how many questions you miss. So if you make a few dumb mistakes early in a section, you'll see more easy questions, and you'll be in a pretty deep hole quickly. It's possible to climb out of that hole, but your margin for error is gone at that point.

I'd be willing to wager that if you go back through your test (and you probably already have!), you'll find 3-6 questions on each section that make you want to barf, because you have no idea why you missed them. And a handful of bad errors in the wrong places is all it takes to send your score plummeting, unfortunately.

What I don't know is why you missed those questions. Nerves, maybe? You know that you're approaching your test date, so you tried to be a superhero, and started rushing through the questions without carefully re-checking your work? You can miss all the hard questions you want on the GMAT, but you can't afford to miss the ones that are easier for you... and I'll bet that if you commit yourself to taking just a little bit of extra caution on the questions that are easier for you, your score will float back into the 600s.

I hope this helps. Good luck on your exam!
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Hi Ninja,

Thanks a lot for your reply . Be careful and stealthy... That is what you are saying.

I have a question :-

How to review the 2 exams in gmat prep software ? I can't see the questions. Please help me ..... i badly want to review my tests.

Thanks a TON

listen to today's recorded session of e-gmat conducted by rajat.
it was for : how to revive mock
check out recorded session

Once you have logged of the test session...there is no way , i personally think to revisit those quesiton, You can ofcourse revisit your test scores.
Before closing the test window, you must have got a warning regarding that.
Maan my advise to you forget everything.....its just matter of few days, concentrate only on basics. I mean solve sub 600 and medium level question to boost your confidence. Be a time watchdog. I think you have a time algorihm with you , that you stick to
However, i will post the most commonly followed (as per MGMAT)

Quant time remaining
1 75
6 65
11 55
16 45
21 35
26 25
31 15
36 05
37 02

Verbal

1 75
6 65
11 56
16 47
21 38
26 29
31 20
36 11
41 02

Hope that helps!!!!!!!!!!!!!

consider kudos if my post helped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wouldn't freak out over it too much. I actually had a similar but exact opposite experience. Prior to my first attempt at the real thing, here's what I had:

GMATprep1: 680 (Q45, V38)
GMATprep2: 720 (Q47, V42)

The actual exam: 600 (Q32, V40)

To say I was devastated is a laughable understatement after how much effort I put into this thing.
My biggest shock was my Q score. I was consistently scoring Q44~48 on my MGMAT CATs and did about the same on the gmatprep.

To score so embarrassingly low relative to what I thought I was capable of left me in a catatonic state for a few weeks, but I've made up my mind to give it another go (just for the kicks, if nothing else.)

Regardless, my main point is, all the practice CATs out there (esp GMATprep) are incredibly helpful tools as prep material, but it doesn't always provide an accurate reflection of how you might do on the real thing. I would say don't worry about your second low score and just trust that you'll be able to perform up to your abilities on the real deal. The worst thing you can do is start freaking out about it right before your exam. As someone who choked so badly, I cannot stress how important your mindset is on test day.

All that being said, I totally sympathize with your worries given that I am still wrestling with this seemingly never-ending GMAT battle.

All the best of luck to you and I really hope you do well!

Archit,

The time algorithm looks great on paper and theory, but to be honest no one needs to tax their brain by memorizing these complicated set of numbers. That is too much extraneous information. Once you are in the exam and doing the problems, all that time table goes out the window, at least in my experience.

Instead, we need something simpler. Here is what I find easier to do on the exam. Let's say I just finished question number 23 on the exam in the quantitative section, then I know I have 14 questions left and because I have 2 min per question, the time remaining should be roughly around 28 min. I glance at the clock and adjust my pace accordingly. If it is anywhere from 26 to 30 min, then I don't do anything different.

Another comment is that if you are targeting a Q50 or Q51, then your last six or seven questions will be all hard. This means that an average of 2 min per question at the end will not cut it. In fact, I would recommend to leave 3 min per question because most of those questions from Q30 to Q37 will be challenging and will require some insight. This means that in the middle of the exam you will need to fly through the easier questions, you would have to do several in 30 seconds. In my opinion, this is the only way to get a high score.

This is obviously less of an issue if you are scoring say from 50th to 90th percentile in the quant, in that case leaving 2 min per question for the last 5 or 6 questions would suffice.

Cheers,
Dabral

With all respect to your thoughts, but it is working for me. I just note it down in a paper and keep it infront of the screen and refer to it ever 5 question..I mean its all upto your comfort......I agree that it may not work for all. again you must know how to use. Once you find that you are more than 2.5 min behind the schedule......remem in next 5 question you will have to skip one so as to match up to the schedule. So one must know hoe to use it.
again, it may not work for all, Bottom line , One must have certain type of time algorithm to stick to.

Regards
Archit