Hello GMAT Clubbers,
First of all, Sorry for the flashy title.My intent was just to draw your attention.
Really Need your advice here.I gave my GMAT 2 days back and scored 650(Q47, V34).I was targeting for 720+ and considering my mock test performance, I was pretty confident(Well, before the exam) that I will score well.
My Profile:
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I am a female, non-native speaker working as a software engineer in a multinational company in India.So, I was hoping to score 720+ to get into a good
college.
I want to first iterate the things which I feel went wrong during my preparation and on the exam day and then the areas where I really need your inputs. So this is for sure going to be a marathon post. Please bear with me.
Things,which went wrong on the test day:
-----------------------------------------------------I used to be an extreme case of exam phobia(Vomiting before the exam, not able to eat anything, not able to sleep one day before the exam, anxiety etc etc). And considering I was giving a standardized test almost after 5 years of finishing my college, I knew these things would happen.I tried to remain calm though(But it didn'tt help).
On the test day this is what I feel went wrong:1.I hadn't practiced AWA much(Had written 2-3 essays in couple of mock tests and was able to finish on time). On the test day, I spent 16 mins just on
reading the prompt and writing the first para. I was left with only 14 mins to write the 3 assumptions and final conclusion + review. I had only 3 mins to
review and I realized that I had made way too many spelling mistakes. That lowered my confidence a little.
Lesson learnt: Practice writing 5-10 essays before the test.
2. The initial IR questions were a bit tough and I spent way too many mins on solving those questions.By the end of the section when I had around 6 mins left, there were still 4+ questions to solve. ( FYI, I was already prepared for this situation.While practicing the IR questions from OG13, I had decided what kind of questions I will attempt and what questions I will guess and move on.
However, on the test day , I went all blank).3. During the first break, I had some snacks and came back to the test room in 4.5 mins. While the proctor was entering the username and password on the screen, I was expecting that first some un-timed screen will come and then the quant section. However, the quant section immediately started. I kind of got scared there a bit.
4. I spent around 12 mins in the first 3 questions and that was enough to reduce my confidence level to close to ZERO. After that I completely forgot about
all the strategies I had designed while studying and started solving the questions in a hurry.
5. During the second break, I calmed myself a lot and finally started the verbal section. I am a slow reader(though I improved a lot during these 4
months, but that was not enough) and struggled a bit in the middle of verbal section. However, I was able to cover it up and finish the section on
time.Although, I realized after getting my score that the guesses were not intelligent but random and because of this my verbal score suffered a lot.
6. While studying and giving mock tests I had always used white papers and pens for rough work. The erasable sheets and marker made me uncomfortable. Many times during the quant section, I was not able to recognize my own handwriting.
This was about the test day.
Things,which went wrong during my preparation:
----------------------------------------------------------------1. I had given around 17 mock tests during my 4 month preparation.Yeahhhhhhh, you read it right "17".(3-times GMAT Prep1, 3 times GMAT Prep2, 2-times GMAT Prep3, 2 times GMAT Prep4, 6 MGMATs, 1 retake of
MGMAT 1) (I guess, I am the first case of retaking an
MGMAT, never read that
MGMAT had the option of reset in any debrief
). Still, I got nervous on the D-Day. This was a shocker to me, as unlike the other exams I have given in the past, for GMAT I was indeed much calmer.
2. During the first 5-6 exams(GMAT Prep +
MGMAT), my performance was pretty low in Verbal.It usually hovered around 30-32 in all those 6 tests, I knew that I was weak in verbal(since in the first GMAT prep I had scored 540(Q44, V21). But, somehow, I was so busy preparing for Quant that I didn't pay much attention to the area where I was making most of mistakes in Verbal(CR, RC or SC).
3. The tests, in which I did analyze the areas in verbal where I was making most of the mistakes, I could not recognize any pattern and every time I scored
low in different topics in verbal.(Sometimes it was CR, sometimes SC and many times RC).
4.A month before the exam, since I had given GMAT Prep so many times, I had almost memorized all the question prompts. Though I had not seen the solutions to these questions during the analyses, I knew how to approach those questions.The test almost always looked familiar and this boosted my confidence during the mocks. Probably this was the reason, I got scared when I saw all unknown questions in the actual EXAM.
(Stupid me) 5.It has been always been a BIG problem for me to leave a question unsolved and this created a big issue during the mock tests. I didn't work on this factor in any mock test. Hence, sometimes I was able to finish the test on time and many times I had to mark random answers in the last 5-6 questions.
6. I was not really aware of the concept of
error log initially and started keeping it during the last 1.5 months of my preparation.
In Sept last week, when I had given retakes of GMAT Prep, I scored 700(Prep4), 760(prep3), 710(Prep1) & 720(Prep2). I was pretty sure that I have the
potential and I can score 700+, but I couldn't reflect my mock performance in my actual GMAT.Areas where I need your input:
-----------------------------------------I am planning to give GMAT again in 40-45 days. In quant I am pretty sure that I have no study gaps, its just the FEAR of giving the exam that made me drown.
1. What should I do to avoid having the exam day jitters?? How do I stay calm on the D-day?? (Have tried "This is just an exam, not the end of the world. I
can take it every month etc. They don't work
)
2. I have 2 issues with verbal section:
(1). I am a slow reader. How should I increase my speed?? If I try to study quickly, I sometimes can not capture the meaning, which for obvious
reasons in essential.
(2). Even though I read slowly, sometimes I have to read the same sentence twice or thrice to understand the meaning.(To me it looks a lot like poor
concentration issue, PLEASE ADVICE).
How do I work on this?? Should I take some online course to help me increase my verbal score???Which one I should go for??
I have been a bright student during all my school and college years.But apparently not really good with standardized tests. Considering all the mistakes I
have made during my preparation and on the test day, is it still possible for me to score 720+ in 45 days???
(If you see, I did manage to increase my score from 540 to 760.)
I know, these things vary from individual to individual.But do you see any pattern, which I can still improve in 40 days. I am planning to apply to 2-3 schools in January Round 2. So need a good score by Nov end.
Please Please advice.