GmatPrep from 620 to 540 and actual GMAT is in 2 days :(

Question

Hi guys, I spent the last 3 months self-studying for the GMAT and just completed my second GMAT Prep CAT and scored a 540

. To put it bluntly, I was more than shocked... In my first CAT almost 3 weeks ago I scored a 620 and in 2 days from now is the actual exam in which I need to get a 600+ since I received an conditional offer from my dream business school (dependent of a GMAT of 600+ till 15th of June). The dream is obviously over... GMATPrep 1: 620 (47Q 17Mistakes, 29V 20Mistakes) GMATPrep 2: 540 (42Q 14Mistakes, 23V 14Mistakes) I took the test at the same time as the actual GMAT will take place (11 am). I just took the second CAT in order to play it safe that I 'll get a 600+ score because since the last CAT I was purely working on verbal and, strangely enough, I got an even lower score... I'm literally on the verge of depression. What can I do now? Any piece of advice? Thank you in advance

ENEM · Answer

Review what went wrong thoroughly.... Don't take any more practice CATS. And take the exam anyway. Sometimes it's possible that out of stress you might have not performed your best in your last CAT. Rest well before your actual exam. All the best, you'll do great!

Shiv2016 · Answer

You have been working on GMAT for 3 months. So it might be possible that you just exhausted yourself. It happens with all of us :-D

The person who got 620 was you and the person who got 540 was also you. So that shows you are pretty close to your target score. But because the final date is coming, you are may be nervous (making silly mistakes). Just relax and work on your strong areas. Review the test and solve the questions you got wrong. Just stay confident. Good luck.

drexxie · Answer

Thank you for the words of cheer!

Yes I have to take the GMAT in 2 days - it would not make much of a difference. It is really depressing to see such a drop just right before your exam... I really hope I can get in the range of 600 on test day..

abhimahna · Answer

Hi drexxie , Don't do anything. Just calm down and revise your error logs/strategies. Make sure you are very relaxed while appearing for exam. Just focus on each question and don't rush while answering anything. Think of the positive and positive will Happen. ALL THE BEST.

bb · Answer

Hi  drexxie  - how did you do? How did the test go? What did you end up getting?

Mkrishnabdrr · Answer

Hi  drexxie ,
How was your real gmat experience and your gmat score? Hope you met your target.

chan287 · Answer

how much did u finally score ?

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drexxie · Answer

Hi, actual GMAT was another 80 points drop (460, Q33 V20, IR 4)

To be honest, I was panic-stricken and also pretty nervous on test day so I think that might have also added to this score. To cut a long story short, below my experience from the two important parts. Quant: This part started really bad. I was able to solve the first 2 questions but then a pretty tough word problem (one of my weak areas) appeared which I had no clue to attack, so after around 3 mins puzzling over this problem I guessed and moved on. However, this particular problem threw me out of my rhythm (all concepts I knew suddenly vanished) and I completely lost my cool during the next 5-10 problems which I mostly guessed or rushed through... The upshot was that towards the end of the first 25 questions I got extremely easy problems which I was able to solve in ~40 seconds and at this point I already zoned out and, what is more, at question 37 I had over 13 mins. left. :/ Verbal: After knowing that I bungled the job in quant and that it was impossible to score ~600, I still decided to give my best in verbal. The first half of verbal I did, in my assessment, pretty good and received pretty challenging SC and RC questions, nevertheless, the second ~20 questions I was out of mental power and also pressed for time so that I ended up rushing through the last 10-15 questions (mostly easy questions to my surprise). On balance, I was expecting a ~550 score but was shocked to see a 460 popping up... In addition, I had the impression that the questions both in quant in verbal were quite different from what I was used to in my prep (OG, Manhattan and Magoosh), that is, more confusing and knotty... Can this be true?!? Fortunately, I received a two months' grace from my business school to retake the GMAT until 1st of September. I really need a good strategy to achieve 600+ now

since I'm confident that my level is on no account in this range (460-540) but rather around ~600+ but due to work (10 hours a day), stress and anxiety I think was way below my level and expectations. Still, can work, stress and some unfortunate guessing explain a 160 points drop in 3 weeks? Do you have some advice for me in terms of strategy and further prep? Thank you guys! Btw. I canceled the score!

BSatishK · Answer

Hi can you please let us know which bschool you are targeting ?

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Mkrishnabdrr · Answer

Hi, I guess you should join an online course apart from studying from plain books. Moreover, make the most out of gmatclub tags to practice concepts. Slowly moving up from 500 level questions, to 600, and finally to 700.

drexxie · Answer

Thank you guys for your words of cheer and advice,

I just bought the Enhanced Score Report and will analyze my weak points. Furthermore, I bought the e-gmat course to renew my attempt to beat the gmat. I'm planning to spend 2-3 hours a workday + complete weekend for my study from now on and will give the gmat a new shot end of July or mid-August.

M23A · Answer

As you prepare for you next attempt, you need to practice letting go the question that you don't know how to solve more quickly. You should be able to recognize that you can't solve the question at around 30 seconds and then just pick a random answer choice. You can not afford to wait 3 minutes to skip a question. When you are doing practice problems at home, treat them as official problems, meaning, if you are stuck, then you need to move on. This is a critical element that some test takers will overlooked.

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GmatPrep from 620 to 540 and actual GMAT is in 2 days :(

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