Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Nov 1811:00 AM PST
-12:00 PM PST
Join us in a live GMAT practice session and solve 30 challenging GMAT questions with other test takers in timed conditions, covering GMAT Quant, Data Sufficiency, Data Insights, Reading Comprehension, and Critical Reasoning questions.
Nov 2211:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence Excel in timed test environment- Nov 23
11:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Attend this free GMAT Algebra Webinar and learn how to master the most challenging Inequalities and Absolute Value problems with ease. 
Nov 2510:00 AM EST
-11:00 AM EST
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors.
28 Nov 2024, 04:44
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hope you're all having a wonderful Thanksgiving. While many of you are celebrating with your family and enjoying the holiday spirit, I'm here to share something a little different - my failure.
I failed. There's no sugarcoating it. After 4 months of preparation, sleepless nights, countless sacrifices, I walked into the GMAT testing room full of hope and determination, only to walk out with a crushing 375.
375. A score I never thought I'd see, not after putting my heart and soul into this process. I used the GMAT official prep, TTP, GMAT Club religiously. I studied 2-4 hours every single day. I sacrificed my time with my family and friends, telling myself it would all be worth it in the end. I've taken practice tests, analysed mistakes, and worked on my weaknesses. At one point, I even scored 725 on a practice test, and even at my worst of the worst I scored 425. I thought I was on the right track. But on a test day, everything fell apart.
Was it stress? Was it timing? Was it me overthinking? Honestly, I don't know. I don't understand how or why this happened, and right now, it's a storm of emotions - anger, confusion, frustration, disappointment, and yes, heartbreak.
So here's the truth: this score doesn't sit right with me.
The GMAT is a tough exam. Everyone who's taken it knows that. But what's tougher is picking yourself up when it knocks you down. I'm still processing this blow, but one thing I know for sure: I am not giving up on my dreams, and sure will not settle for less.
I'm writing this not just to vent, but to remind anyone out there feeling like a failure, that you are not alone. Failing sucks. It hurts in ways I can't even describe. But it's also a part of the journey. It doesn't matter how many times we fall; it matters how many times we get back up.
Right now, I don't know what my next step is. Retake? Rethink my approach? Pivot to something else? I'll figure it out.
To everyone else who's struggling or doubting themselves after a low GMAT score, remember: you are more than a number.
I failed. There's no sugarcoating it. After 4 months of preparation, sleepless nights, countless sacrifices, I walked into the GMAT testing room full of hope and determination, only to walk out with a crushing 375.
375. A score I never thought I'd see, not after putting my heart and soul into this process. I used the GMAT official prep, TTP, GMAT Club religiously. I studied 2-4 hours every single day. I sacrificed my time with my family and friends, telling myself it would all be worth it in the end. I've taken practice tests, analysed mistakes, and worked on my weaknesses. At one point, I even scored 725 on a practice test, and even at my worst of the worst I scored 425. I thought I was on the right track. But on a test day, everything fell apart.
Was it stress? Was it timing? Was it me overthinking? Honestly, I don't know. I don't understand how or why this happened, and right now, it's a storm of emotions - anger, confusion, frustration, disappointment, and yes, heartbreak.
So here's the truth: this score doesn't sit right with me.
The GMAT is a tough exam. Everyone who's taken it knows that. But what's tougher is picking yourself up when it knocks you down. I'm still processing this blow, but one thing I know for sure: I am not giving up on my dreams, and sure will not settle for less.
I'm writing this not just to vent, but to remind anyone out there feeling like a failure, that you are not alone. Failing sucks. It hurts in ways I can't even describe. But it's also a part of the journey. It doesn't matter how many times we fall; it matters how many times we get back up.
Right now, I don't know what my next step is. Retake? Rethink my approach? Pivot to something else? I'll figure it out.
To everyone else who's struggling or doubting themselves after a low GMAT score, remember: you are more than a number.
28 Nov 2024, 10:21
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hey rosyln ,
Take a moment to sit back and breathe. Life is a series of ups and downs, and this is just one moment in your journey—not the end of it. I've been in your shoes, feeling all those emotions you're describing. But here's the thing: that moment didn’t define me, and this won’t define you either.
I remember the frustration, the self-doubt, and the overwhelming urge to question everything I did. But over time, I realized that it’s not about how hard we fall; it’s about how we pick ourselves up. With perseverance, I took the GMAT, adjusted my strategy, and ultimately achieved a good score.
You’ve got this, and when you do, it’ll feel even more rewarding because you didn’t give up. Keep pushing forward—you’re on a journey, and this is just one chapter of it.
Take a moment to sit back and breathe. Life is a series of ups and downs, and this is just one moment in your journey—not the end of it. I've been in your shoes, feeling all those emotions you're describing. But here's the thing: that moment didn’t define me, and this won’t define you either.
I remember the frustration, the self-doubt, and the overwhelming urge to question everything I did. But over time, I realized that it’s not about how hard we fall; it’s about how we pick ourselves up. With perseverance, I took the GMAT, adjusted my strategy, and ultimately achieved a good score.
You’ve got this, and when you do, it’ll feel even more rewarding because you didn’t give up. Keep pushing forward—you’re on a journey, and this is just one chapter of it.
mcelroytutoring
Expert
Tutor
Joined: 10 Jul 2015
Last visit: 15 Nov 2025
Posts: 1,204
Given Kudos: 282
Status:Expert GMAT, GRE, and LSAT Tutor / Coach
Affiliations: Harvard University, A.B. with honors in Government, 2002
Location: United States (CO)
Age: 45 (10 years and counting on GMAT Club!)
GMAT 1: 770 Q47 V48
GMAT 2: 730 Q44 V47
GMAT 3: 750 Q50 V42
GMAT 4: 730 Q48 V42 (Online)
GRE 1: Q168 V169
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Expert reply
Updated on: 30 Nov 2024, 19:46
Originally posted by mcelroytutoring on 28 Nov 2024, 18:51.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 30 Nov 2024, 19:46, edited 16 times in total.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 30 Nov 2024, 19:46, edited 16 times in total.
Kudos
Bookmarks
You had a bad day...it happens to the best of us. All you can do is make some adjustments to your prep methods, keep working hard, and try to stay positive.
For every "I earned a top 10% score!" debrief, there are many more stories of failure--most of which will go untold, for obvious reasons. This "survivor bias" tends to overstate how easy it is to improve your score, and warps our perception of how difficult graduate-level standardized exams such as the GMAT, LSAT, and GRE truly are.
The same goes for the ubiquitous yet deceptive corporate marketing that uses extreme outlier examples (250 to 780!) to suggest that improving your GMAT score by hundreds of points is doable and/or realistic, rather than acknowledging the truth, which is that such an improvement is possible but highly unlikely: most test takers will not improve more than one standard deviation on the GMAT Focus (currently 88 points).
To be specific, the math tells us that only 15.87% of students will improve their test scores more than one standard deviation, and only 2.25% of students will improve more than two standard deviations, meaning that a whopping 82% of students will improve by 88 points or fewer.
If you're curious, one standard deviation on the LSAT (scored from 120-180) is 10 points; one standard deviation on the GRE (scored from 260-340) is 18 points.
In addition, tutors like me will often take the exam frequently, and yet only share/verify our top score(s), giving the impression that these scores were earned with ease--when in reality, it took us years or even decades (and many attempts) to achieve that level of mastery.
Anyway, kudos to you for sharing your story, and good luck on your retake: GMAC has officially removed the 8-test lifetime limit, so your only remaining limitations are money and time.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. It's not over yet!
-Brian
p.s. You should post images of your ESR / score report if you would like more specific advice.
For every "I earned a top 10% score!" debrief, there are many more stories of failure--most of which will go untold, for obvious reasons. This "survivor bias" tends to overstate how easy it is to improve your score, and warps our perception of how difficult graduate-level standardized exams such as the GMAT, LSAT, and GRE truly are.
The same goes for the ubiquitous yet deceptive corporate marketing that uses extreme outlier examples (250 to 780!) to suggest that improving your GMAT score by hundreds of points is doable and/or realistic, rather than acknowledging the truth, which is that such an improvement is possible but highly unlikely: most test takers will not improve more than one standard deviation on the GMAT Focus (currently 88 points).
To be specific, the math tells us that only 15.87% of students will improve their test scores more than one standard deviation, and only 2.25% of students will improve more than two standard deviations, meaning that a whopping 82% of students will improve by 88 points or fewer.
If you're curious, one standard deviation on the LSAT (scored from 120-180) is 10 points; one standard deviation on the GRE (scored from 260-340) is 18 points.
In addition, tutors like me will often take the exam frequently, and yet only share/verify our top score(s), giving the impression that these scores were earned with ease--when in reality, it took us years or even decades (and many attempts) to achieve that level of mastery.
Anyway, kudos to you for sharing your story, and good luck on your retake: GMAC has officially removed the 8-test lifetime limit, so your only remaining limitations are money and time.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. It's not over yet!
-Brian
p.s. You should post images of your ESR / score report if you would like more specific advice.
