Has this happened to anyone before?

Question

This is my first post on this forum and I didn't expect the content to to be this!

This was my best preparation and I am really disgusted with myself and with what happened on the test day. Before we go over with that, here are my scores on my practice tests:

GMATPrep 1 -don't remember the split ( sometime early august) 710
GMATPrep 2 (Q46, V48) (08/14/2011) 740

Manhattan 1: 08/09/2011 51 39 730
Manhattan 2: 08/13/2011 51 42 760

Knewton: Q V
Diagnostic GMAT 07/05/2011 at 10:19PM 47 36 680
Practice GMAT #1 07/24/2011 at 01:53AM 44 39 680
Practice GMAT #2 07/24/2011 at 02:20PM 46 30 630
Practice GMAT #3 07/28/2011 at 03:03AM 49 37 710

I stopped doing their tests because their scoring algorithm is not up to the mark, and it’s very de-motivating. For example in the GMAT #3 I got 4Q wrong on the quant and 4-5 on the verbal and still got a 710! On the bright side the questions are pretty decent.

My exam was at 1:30 pm so took the day off from work (btw- I couldn't take a single day off from work to prepare for my exam, so I had to slog after work and during the weekends) and reached the center at 12:45 after a long drive. I was fully energized as usual because I had so much confidence that I was going to crack the exam. I knew if I did my quant section well then I was going to get a score above 750 for sure. I used to get 6-8 questions wrong in quant in my practice tests out of which all of them were because of silly mistakes, I just kept telling myself that I had focus and read the entire question, not get too excited if it was easy, and always solve the prompt for data sufficiency questions.

Here’s what happened - The proctor signed me in and there it was. I started my test, and since I had practiced writing a few essay’s this section went off pretty smoothly. I finished both my essays with 2-3 mins remaining. Took the break as usual, and kept reminding me how I had to re-read the questions for quant. I am so bad at this, I usually read the question quickly and get too excited if I know how to solve it and end up making silly mistakes. So went back to my test after the break, started the quant section and boy this was a killer. Even though I had to guess a couple of questions I finished this section with 7-8 mins to spare. I was thrilled to bits after I finished my quant section and I decided to take the second break, Believe it or not, I was jumping in the bathroom with excitement because I knew I had pretty much aced the quant section and I knew that my favorite section of the GMAT, critical reasoning, was up next. I promptly went back to my cubicle on time and then started the verbal. BLANK! BLANK! BLANK! I did not apply a single grammar rule, as a matter of fact did not apply any rules for any of the questions. I don’t know what the F*** I was doing - staring at the bloody monitor. It was too late when I realized what was happening, I was on the 35th question and I had 17 mins to spare. At that time I realized either the test was too easy or I had screwed it up. I mean really?? 35th question with 17 mins left! I meticulously took the next 10 mins to finish the last 5 questions and there it was (Q50  V26 ) 640. I thought I was going to collapse in the testing room. I was barely able to get up and walk out. The lady at the front desk handed me the print out of my result, and as I walked out I tore those two sheets into tiny pieces and dumped it in the bin.

Has this happened to anyone before? It’s been 2 days now and I am sitting here at work still trying to ask myself why I lost focus and concentration during the second half. I think this has been the biggest blow to my confidence in years. I need some serious help guys. I don’t have confidence to do anything in life anymore. 
P.S: I remember getting a better verbal score on both my prep tests. I don’t know what seriously happened on the test day.

All suggestions are welcome!!

-Holla

BM · Answer

The disparity does seem wide, but tell us more about your preparation. Did you take all of the CAT's under realistic test conditions (AWA, time constraints, breaks, etc.)? Which guidebooks did you use to prepare for the verbal section? Did you eat or drink anything to maintain your energy for the verbal section? And how did you feel mentally during the verbal (please be very specific here)?

The answers to these questions will provide a better idea of what happened. I don't want to speculate on your situation just yet, but here are some common trends that trouble test takers (I'm not, of course, accusing you of such things).

1. False Confidence -  Sometimes people retake the GMATPrep over and over again until they see a nice score, ignoring how repeat questions inflate their performance. Skipping the AWA and taking longer breaks also factor into this. Avoiding or expressing anger at practice tests that display less flattering scores is also related to this phenomenon. 
 2. Excessive Practice Tests  - CAT practice is important, but it does not replace solid study and preparation, which comes from guidebooks. CAT practice does not qualify as effective study, nor does it supply the necessary tools during the actual test.
 3. Burnout -  Many suffer from study burnout from preparing too long alongside family, school, or work obligations.
 4. GMAT Fatigue -  Just about everyone feels somewhat tired by the time the verbal section shows up. That's why taking the breaks and eating snacks or energy drinks is a good idea. Taking deep breaths and looking away from the screen also helps.
 5. GMAT Anxiety -  This is mental, though it's directly related to the above four points. The main point here is to just remain calm in order to stay in control.

These are a few ideas the I thought of just now. There are probably other factors others could list. At any rate, I am not suggesting that you succumbed to these problems. If you did, though, then we can probably find a solution. At the very least, this post hopefully helps you to figure out what happened.

bharathholla · Answer

I forgot to add that this was my second attempt at the GMAT. My first attempt was on 02/22/2011 with 10-15 days prep. I just wanted to get a feel of the exam and the test conditions. I did this for both my GRE and SAT just so that I don't freak out on test day. I scored exactly the same on my first attempt 640 (Q39, V38).

I took both the GMAT prep tests the second time since I had already taken them once before and this was way back in Feb, but honestly I didn't remember any answers when I took it now. I probably saw a few (3-4) repeated questions but that’s about it. I might want to add that I took a little more than 8 mins (10-15) break between my quant and verbal section during the practice tests but nothing more than that.

Preparation:

After my first attempt I took a month off from studying because I had to attend a lot of Sales calls at work and we were bringing in new clients on board. After things got a bit slow at work I joined the Knewton online course. This was really good, I attended every single class, did every single hw and the extra hw questions. My instructors Adam and Bridgette were awesome so I pretty much loved attending every class. I also had all the Manhattan Prep books, so after every class at Knewton I made sure I finished that concept in the MGMAT book and solved those questions on the OG. This was pretty much a ritual for 2 months till the course finished (on June 28th). By then I had finished reading everything from Manhattan, and had finished the OG 12.

I still had 1.5 months for my exam, so I decided to do some extra questions and ordered the Quant and the Verbal second edition books. These books sort of reinforced all my fundamentals and the best part was I could answer 80% of the CR questions even without looking at the answer choices. I would just read the question first, then the argument after which I would just brainstorm my own answers to the question and most of the times it would be one of the answer choices.

I started revising 2 weeks before my exam, started doing a lot of questions (especially the ones that I was a little weak in) that were posted on gmatclub and other forums. I had prepared tons of notes for SC, number properties etc., so I made a point to read my notes at least 2-3 times a week. Along with this as I had planned I would give 2-3 tests per week. But I stopped giving prep tests one week before my test. Like you see above my last test GMAT prep2 was on 08/14/2011. During the last week I just revised the OG12, all incorrect questions from my Knewton class and went through the Manhattan SC and number properties books for one last time. I also made sure I solved 10 questions under each SC, CR, RC and 20 questions in quant each day during the last one week.

This was my preparation from May 9th till last week. Honestly, I started freaking out one week before my exam, but I started getting myself back in control 1-2 days before my exam. I was very calm, poised and relaxed when I woke up on 19th and was very excited to go give the test. One last thing I want to add - I gulped a 250mL can of RedBull before I started my test, but I don't recall any fatigue or stress during the exam, but I just don't know what happened during the verbal section.

BM · Answer

Thanks for the detailed reply. Now let's see what we can find here.

These factors inflated your score. Even if you don't perfectly remember all of the questions, you still may have solved them a few months ago - and that makes them easier to solve compared to a truly "fresh" question. And the extra rest time helped your performance. Perhaps I missed it in your post, but did you also do the AWA? Not to doubt your skills by any means, but the 48V on the fourth GMATPrep seems out of place once we look at the other verbal scores. I'm a bit strict on this, so please don't be offended when I state that the GMATPrep scores above are probably not reliable.

Repeat questions wouldn't have been a problem with the Knewton and Manhattan tests, but did you take extended breaks here as well?

With that said, your preparation looks great. The main problem, I think, came on test day. And we can further narrow that down to the verbal section (you math performance was almost perfect, so no problems there). You put effort into verbal study, so you should have a decent command of the concepts by now.

To be honest, it seems that things went smoothly until you met some resistance on the verbal section. For whatever reason, this shocked you during the actual test and you didn't fully recover from this. This was a mental breakdown, then. I'm more convinced of this when I compare the 26V to your 38V from first GMAT attempt.

I'm not sure what caused this. Even if the GMATPrep made you extremely confident, it by no means should entirely account for the verbal score. I suspect that the first few questions bothered you and then you couldn't let that go. That not only distracts you from the task at hand (the question in front of you), but also saps your confidence and thinking ability.

And now to two minor issues. Have you experimented with Red Bull before test day? In other words, did you use during your practice tests? If you're not used to it, it may have caused you to crash. A lot of time passed from when you drank it to signing in, situating yourself, the AWA, the first break, the quant section, and the second break. And did you take the day before the test off and relax, or did you study hardcore? If you studied much on that day, it probably adversely affected your score (GMAT burnout).

But enough of my speculations. What do you think? Any other ideas or information?

bharathholla · Answer

I was just going to give up on this and I’m glad you replied. No you’re absolutely right. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t doubt my GMATPrep scores. Maybe it was a fluke but compared to my other tests I almost got the same number of questions wrong. Like I said the Knewton scoring algorithm is not up to the mark, so it always gives you a low score irrespective. I wish GMAT Prep saved the score and the split, but from what I remember I definitely got both of them above 45 and my verbal score was better than math. I did not do the AWA with any of the GMAT Prep tests, or with any other tests. I just wrote a couple of essays all by themselves. But I heard most of the guys on the forum did not practice writing essays along with their actual GMAT Prep tests so I didn’t either. (I agree this was a mistake!)

Yes, I did take the extended breaks in almost all the tests and for one test I remember doing the Quant in the morning and then continuing with the verbal in the evening.

I didn’t bank on any of my test scores to give me confidence, to be honest I just used these practice tests to get a command over finishing the test on time. Even now when I think about my exam I can fairly recall what happened during the quant section, but I can’t recollect anything from the second part of the test. You are right I hit a few difficult questions at the beginning of the verbal section and after that I don’t recall anything. Just to make sure my preparation was good, last evening I did 10 questions under each SC, RC and CR from this forum that I have never encountered, and I did fairly well got almost 80% of them right. I know this is not a good indicator but right now I am stuck in a dilemma. I don’t know whether I should write the test again or just give up. I have exhausted my prep materials, and the practice tests that I take now definitely cannot gauge my ability to do well in the main exam. All I wanted was a 40 or above in verbal, and the score turned out to be worse than my first attempt.

I am very glad that you are staying with me on this, but honestly I just wish you were in my shoes so that you could feel what I am experiencing. I cannot stop thinking about the exam, and I know it’s not the end of the world or anything but this test just tore my confidence apart. I have started to get a feeling that you cannot achieve anything through hard work.

Finally to the last part. No, I never tried RedBull during any of my practice tests. I mean I used to drink it on and off so that it helped me study after a tiring day at work, but never tried it during any of the practice tests. No, I did not take a day off. I did not take a single day off throughout the course of my prep. I wanted to come into work before my exam because I wanted to stop thinking about the exam, but things were a bit slow so I went back home in the afternoon and just relaxed and went through my notes.

I need to ask you another favor - Since I have already exhausted all my prep work what do you suggest I do in terms of preparation? Should I redo everything? Or get new materials? Where do I practice writing tests?

Let me know if you have any more thoughts or idea. Who are you? Are you some sort of a counselor? Thanks a ton for dissecting my prep work and my exam.

-Holla

BM · Answer

Nah, I'm not a professional advisor or anything like that! I'm just an average person who struggled just like most people on the GMAT journey. Thanks for the complement, though.

Your preparation overall was excellent. You used the right material and practice tests, as well as commited yourself fully. It really is a shame that the verbal score doesn't show your true potential. You are definitely capable of a higher score. The first thing to do is take a week or two off from the GMAT. And that means a complete break. Don't even visit this website. After that, you will feel a bit better and can think more clearly and objectively. If you accept your score and feel more or less at peace with it, then it's perfectly fine to simply move on. However, if you truly feel that you can do better and that you're not satisfied, then one more attempt might be in order. One problem, as I hinted at before, was that you didn't properly train for the actual test itself. You had the concepts down for sure, but all those little imperfections during the CAT sessions add up. Lack of mental stamina and concentration were probably the main culprits during the actual test for you. If you do choose to retake, it's probably best to keep the preparation somewhat short. Otherwise, you risk a complete burnout. Your math skills are essentially complete, so you just want to maintain that level. The GMATClub tests are good for that. For verbal, it gets a bit tricky. I would re-read the Manhattan verbal books to make sure that all the concepts are fully covered (this time, though, skip the end-of-chapter questions to save time and energy). There's not much left for you in terms of question practice. LSAT questions for LR (GMAT CR) and especially RC willl help, so practice with those. For SC, I'm not sure. There's the Brutal SC document , but that doesn't have that many questions and it mostly just frustrates people due to its difficulty. We don't know how you performed on the AWA, so just review Chinesburned's post for now. In terms of test practice, you finished most of them. Try to find two (at most) new CAT's and use those toward the end of your study. And make sure to get the most value out of these! That means taking the test at computer desk, wearing outside clothes (no undershirt and pajamas with no shoes). Do the AWA essays and take the whole time to work on stamina. Take the breaks, but don't go overtime. Use a healthy energy source (almonds, gatorade, etc.) during the break. During this time, go to the bathroom, splash cold water on your face, and maybe stretch a little. Here's a list of the CAT's to choose from. Also, check out the links directly below in my signature space. Most of those links cover the information in this post in much more detail and should help you. And whatever you choose, I wish you good luck! :wink:

DevilDoggNC · Answer

@ bmillan01

Nice posts! Good on you to take the time to help the OP with some great pointers suggestions.

It's guys like you that make this forum what it is -- a fantastic resource!

BM · Answer

Thanks! I try to offer suggestions whenever possible, but I usually put in more effort when members fully engage me, as bharathholla has done. This member was open-minded and informative; that helps quite a bit. Fortunately, this is usually the case for those trying to solve a problem around here. And it's always great to see members such as yourself encourage others! :wink:

bharathholla · Answer

Thanks a lot bmillan01. I really appreciate your time and advise. You will be the first one to know whatever I decide to do from here; however, I think I should give it one one last attempt. And for this attempt I will try and focus on the key things that you have mentioned, most importantly to remain calm, focused and train for the exam. 
One last question I have 2 more unattempted CAT's from Knewton. You think this is a good test, even though the scoring algorithm is not upto the mark?
From here, I'm going to take a couple of week off from GMAT, and if I end up studying during this time it will be a bonus otherwise it will be a fresh start but back to square one!

Thanks again for your time and energy to explain all the intricacies of the exam. I'll definitely keep you in loop.

BM · Answer

I never used the Knewton tests, so I cannot provide a reliable answer here. The main flaws of Knewton seem to be (1) the algorithm and (2) lack of sufficiently difficult questions. The first concern can be safely ignored, as long as you don't score something extreme, such as an 800 or a 400. The second issue can be compensated with the GMATClub questions. Trust me, those 25 tests will push you to the max (prepare for pain and frustration).

It's crucial to distinguish CAT practice from question practice. The latter belongs to one's conceptual understanding and plays a complimentary role with the guidebooks. Practice tests, however, are there for you get used to the test and work on endurance, pacing, and so forth.

Another relaxation tactic is to not set too stringent of a goal for the verbal. Judging by your preparation and past scores, you're certainly capable of scoring a 40V. Physically prepare for a 51V, but mentally aim for a 40V. That way the pressure is off.

Also, you're first verbal score (38V) is actually quite good. Do you remember how you felt during the test or what you did during the breaks?

Keep us updated and have a nice break!

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