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xnickx
Joined: 29 Jun 2018
Last visit: 29 Mar 2021
Posts: 4
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 2
Location: United States (MA)
Concentration: General Management, Strategy
Schools: Darden '22 INSEAD Jan '19
GPA: 3.11
WE:Brand Management (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
08 Feb 2021, 19:57
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi All,
When I took my first GMAT prep test in Feb 2019 (OG Exam 1) I got a 710 (Q46 V42). I put studying on hold due to some personal issues, then started prep again in November of 2020. Prep was going very well, but after two months my practice tests scores started tanking. I studied harder but my mind would just go blank when I looked at quant problems. I sat for the online exam several days ago, and ended up getting one of the worst quant scores I've ever gotten and performing badly on both verbal and IR here are my Exam results:
As you can see for the first few months my Veritas tests lagged my OG tests by a huge amount, but both had an upward trend as I studied more, then both took a dive in January and crawled back up. I took all tests in 2021 under the exact conditions for test day - same time, same desk, same laptop, same screen, same amount of caffeine down to the mg, same amount of fluid morning of and night before, same 5 minute break between verbal and IR.
What went wrong :
In January I stopped getting enough sleep. Not sure what happened, but all of the sudden I couldn't sleep for more than 3-4 hours a night. I started making dumb mistakes on every exam and during my prep (misreading questions, making silly math errors), and getting "stuck" on quant where I just couldn't figure out how to start problems. Every time I took an exam it felt like my brain was in a fog, and I would need more time to get the questions right. My pacing was off and I couldn't focus. If I went too fast I made too many dumb mistakes, if I slowed down I would run out of time and have to guess too much.
I'm not sure where to go for here. I am targeting 760 and really thought I would get there at the end of December with 1 month to go before the test, but something happened and I cannot put my finger on it. Does anyone have any suggestions for a retake strategy? I've burned up all my OG tests as well as almost all of the OG 2021 questions so I think I will end up buying another test package, any advice appreciated.
When I took my first GMAT prep test in Feb 2019 (OG Exam 1) I got a 710 (Q46 V42). I put studying on hold due to some personal issues, then started prep again in November of 2020. Prep was going very well, but after two months my practice tests scores started tanking. I studied harder but my mind would just go blank when I looked at quant problems. I sat for the online exam several days ago, and ended up getting one of the worst quant scores I've ever gotten and performing badly on both verbal and IR here are my Exam results:
- 02/22/2019 OG Exam 1: 710 (Q46 V42 IR5)
- 11/09/2020 Veritas 1: 650 (Q41 V38 IR4)
- 11/14/2020 OG Exam 2: 710 (Q45 V42 IR3)
- 11/22/2020 Veritas 2: 640 (Q41 V37 IR5)
- 12/18/2020 Veritas 3: 670 (Q43 V39 IR6)
- 12/24/2020 OG Exam 3: 750 (Q48 V44 IR6)
- 12/31/2020 Veritas 4: 700 (Q46 V40 IR4)
- 01/09/2021 OG Exam 4: 670 (Q43 V39 IR7)
- 01/18/2021 Veritas 5: 680 (Q46 V38 IR6)
- 01/24/2021 Veritas 6: 690 (Q46 V39 IR6)
- 01/29/2021 OG Exam 5: 710 (Q46 V42 IR7)
- 01/31/2021 OG Exam 6: 700 (Q48 V38 IR8)
- 02/04/2021 GMAT Online: 680 (Q42 V41 IR5)
As you can see for the first few months my Veritas tests lagged my OG tests by a huge amount, but both had an upward trend as I studied more, then both took a dive in January and crawled back up. I took all tests in 2021 under the exact conditions for test day - same time, same desk, same laptop, same screen, same amount of caffeine down to the mg, same amount of fluid morning of and night before, same 5 minute break between verbal and IR.
What went wrong :
In January I stopped getting enough sleep. Not sure what happened, but all of the sudden I couldn't sleep for more than 3-4 hours a night. I started making dumb mistakes on every exam and during my prep (misreading questions, making silly math errors), and getting "stuck" on quant where I just couldn't figure out how to start problems. Every time I took an exam it felt like my brain was in a fog, and I would need more time to get the questions right. My pacing was off and I couldn't focus. If I went too fast I made too many dumb mistakes, if I slowed down I would run out of time and have to guess too much.
I'm not sure where to go for here. I am targeting 760 and really thought I would get there at the end of December with 1 month to go before the test, but something happened and I cannot put my finger on it. Does anyone have any suggestions for a retake strategy? I've burned up all my OG tests as well as almost all of the OG 2021 questions so I think I will end up buying another test package, any advice appreciated.
08 Feb 2021, 22:14
Kudos
Bookmarks
xnickx - I am sorry to hear that could not reach your target GMAT score. I recommend that you purchase the ESR to know exactly how you performed. My guess is that you went horribly wrong in your timing strategy while solving quantitative questions. You must have run out of time and therefore gotten a long string of incorrect questions towards the end of the test. Lack of practice could be a reason for the poor performance in the quant section.
08 Feb 2021, 23:30
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi xnickx,
I'm sorry to hear that Test Day did not turn out better. GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, most of your CAT score results - along with your Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (680 +/- a few points). You only had one result that was significantly higher (the 750) - and that's an outlier relative to the other 12 results, so we have to be careful about assuming that that result was reflective of your overall 'ability level.' You clearly handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but "your way" of approaching the Exam leaves you open to making certain types of mistakes.
While you've identified your sleep issues as a potential cause for your lack of improvement - and that could certainly be a big factor - we have to be careful about assuming that it's the only factor. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
1) Over the last 3 months, what type of study routine have you been following? How many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
I'm sorry to hear that Test Day did not turn out better. GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, most of your CAT score results - along with your Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (680 +/- a few points). You only had one result that was significantly higher (the 750) - and that's an outlier relative to the other 12 results, so we have to be careful about assuming that that result was reflective of your overall 'ability level.' You clearly handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but "your way" of approaching the Exam leaves you open to making certain types of mistakes.
While you've identified your sleep issues as a potential cause for your lack of improvement - and that could certainly be a big factor - we have to be careful about assuming that it's the only factor. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:
1) Over the last 3 months, what type of study routine have you been following? How many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
