EMPOWERgmatRichC wrote:
Hi UrsaMajor,
I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned - although this 630 is a nice improvement from your initial 500 back in April. When these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. 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) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
2) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
3) Are you application plans the same as they were back in April?
While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.comwww.empowergmat.comHi Rich!
Thanks again for the revert.
Here are my answers to the questions,
1) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?I had purchased the full
E-GMAT online prep (4 months access) in May. As per their recommendation I had started with verbal. But due to my faults I struggled to hit the daily involvement targets and also could not follow their pedagogy to seal in concepts (which were a bit debatable). However, I did finish their complete verbal module thoroughly, each and every test, lessons etc. by June
Focusing only on verbal first also took a toll somewhere I felt. Because my verbal was at a better shape than quant and also I had very less time for quant. And I panicked and rushed through the quant course later on (as I had only a month left). On the other hand, my verbal was idling in the background without much attention in the last month of intense quant.
Then again, I did complete the module by August 10th. And I now do know the concepts, tips and tricks for GMAT quant.
2) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?1st Mock – August 10th –
EGMAT SigmaX Mock – 640 (Q44 V33)
(Followed timer and test conditions strictly)2nd Mock – August 13th –
GMAT Club Tests Only Quant – Quant scaled score Q42
(Followed timer and test conditions strictly)3rd Mock – August 16th – GMAT Prep Official Mock 1 – 720 (Q50 V38)
(I did not follow the timer strictly for the quant section, paused the questions when I was taking longer than 2 minutes and solved it. Although I followed verbal timer strictly) 4th Mock– August 16th – GMAT Prep Official Mock 2 – 710 (Q49 V36)
(I did not follow the timer strictly for the quant section again, but did so for verbal)
That’s it. Those were all my mocks. I reviewed each and every question I was getting wrong, and there was no question that I did not know the concept behind. It was majorly a timing / pacing issue I believe.
3) Are your application plans the same as they were back in April?Yes, but they have changed slightly. One of the countries that I had mentioned has now become a top priority and with came some changes in my target schools.
All the schools I am now targeting have R1 deadline in November or later. Hence I feel a retake in October leaves me a cushion. But it all depends on how well I approach this re-attempt.
Looking forward to your reply.