I have never done so poorly on a practice exam. I'm freaking out.

Question

Hey guys,

I have about a week and a few days until my exam. I just took a GMAT Prep practice exam and I just got a 27 on Verbal (Q47). I've been doing the Manhattan GMAT CAT and my Verbal has been ~40s peaked at 45 last test I took, which was a few days ago. I feel like I just took 100 steps forward and 1000 steps back. My first GMAT I got a 600 (Q40, V32) and that was with minimal studying and very ill prepared. Verbal is usually my strong suit. I honestly don't know what to do at this point.

StoicBread · Answer

Keep a positive outlook. Nothing worse than psyching yourself out a few days before the exam because of one lousy practice test. Review all of the questions you got wrong on the practice test and move forward.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi DjWater,

It might be that you just had a 'bad day' when you took this most recent CAT. I have a few questions about how you took your CATs though:

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)? 
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

As far as your 'big picture' goals are concerned:
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

DjWater · Answer

Hey Rich,
Sorry for the late reply, things have been hectic coming up the exam

1) Yes I did take the entire CAT with the specified 8 min breaks and everything. No extra breaks or pausing.
2) I was at my parents house, so not necessarily in a place that I usually take them ( I take them at work in an office on the weekends)
3) Yes I try to make things exactly like the real exam so I timed it to start exactly at the same time as my real exam
4) No extra pausing or time taken
5) I have taken a mgmat CAT more than once as a practice to get me in the rhythm of test taking.

Big Picture:
1) my goal score would be a 720
2) I plan on getting the gmat out of the way then building my resume and applying within the next 3 or 4 years 
3) Top 10 schools

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi DjWater,

Based on the date of your original post, you are likely just a couple of days from taking the Official GMAT, so you should NOT try to 'cram' in too much studying during these last few days (so NO CATs and NO all-day study sessions). You would be better served by doing some light review and getting some extra rest - so that you can go into Test Day calm and ready to work. Since you're not planning to apply to Business School for several years - which was a really smart choice on your part - you have plenty of time to earn the competitive GMAT score that you're after. You should post back here after you've taken the GMAT and we can discuss the results.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

DjWater · Answer

Hey Rich,

Unfortunately, I did not hit my goal at all. I'm quite disappointed with myself for getting a 660. This was my second attempt (first one being right after undergrad graduation and this one being one year later)

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi DjWater,

First off, a 660 is a strong score (it's right around the 80th percentile overall), so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Based on your prior posts, you're not planning to apply to Business School for several years, so you can continue to study and potentially score higher. With a bit of concentrated study and some new practice materials, you could conceivably retest in 1-2 months and score considerably higher.

1) What were your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on this GMAT?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

DjWater · Answer

Hey Rich,

They were 45Q and 36V which were pretty far off from what I was expecting based on the practice exams. Unfortunately, due to work, I have to postpone studying for the gmat all together until after june and look into studying for certain professional credentials.

Do adcoms look at how many times an applicant takes the GMAT? Would it affect my chances if I took it again, did not score well, and cancelled my score?

ccooley · Answer

Your schools would never know that you cancelled the score.

(from  here )

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi DjWater,

Business Schools generally don't care if you retake the GMAT (unless you keep taking it over and over with the same approximate results). If you cancel an Official Score, then no Business School will ever receive information that that result even exists.

If you can't realistically continue your studies until another 6 months from now, then you will need to give yourself some extra time to get back the skills that will fade during that time. You still have the advantage of time though - by thinking years ahead of when you'll submit your applications, you have plenty of time to hone your Test Taking skills and score higher.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

DjWater · Answer

Thanks for the advice Rich. You helped my worry about starting from square one again in six months. I guess now i just need to focus on the task at hand, research new gmat courses, and come back with a better view on the GMAT.

GMATPill · Answer

Most important is to review mistakes from your practice tests - regardless of what the score is.

We also offer an online practice test that you may be interested in: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... ctice-test

While students generally report scores within +-30 points of what they get on they get on the real test, take the opportunity to thoroughly review your mistakes and make sure you actually learn from them before you walk into that exam room.

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I have never done so poorly on a practice exam. I'm freaking out.

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