Last 3 days

So checking your answers is purely psychological but it does have an impact on your score because it gives you a sense of security and a sense of certainty. So I would say that While the test algorithm does not take this into consideration, you are likely doing better than you would’ve done if you were not peeking. Doubting yourself and dealing with second thoughts is distracting on the GMA but it’s part of the test experience and learning how to deal with it.

I would highly recommend avoiding any peeking and any pausing if you take any more tests. You cannot do either one of those and you need to understand and you need to experience how it feels to slug through the entire test.

My suggestion for you would be too not worry yourself out too much but focus on testing flow. Make sure your timing is clear and you have a clear understanding of where you need to be at every minute of the test and that you stay loyal to your timing strategy and that you are prepared to abandon questions you don’t know how to solve. I would prepare my checklist for a sentence correction and anything else you use. I’ll do all last-minute checks and make sure you don’t improvise or do anything new on the actual test day. Make sure it’s a very boring day with a very boring breakfast and you’re wearing your usual boring clothes And you are prepared for the exam. At this stage you want to protect your score and make sure your score as high as you did on the practice tests.

PS. Don’t worry too much if you don’t get a ton of sleep the night before. Everyone is super nervous the night before and everyone does not get good sleep. Hopefully the test is at the time of your peak productivity and I would highly recommend on the test you don’t worry about how you performing. You will not know and there’s no reason of point and worrying about it.

Interesting… I’ve taken my test over a decade ago so slightly dated experience 😂 but I was not confident in the verbal section at all. I felt constantly like I was failing. Every question was 60/40 or maybe 50/50 and I felt like I was just guessing a question after question after question. I thought I bombed the test. It did ended up being V42, which is a fairly high verbal score but I’ve experienced a very high-level of uncertainty during my test. I hope you get the more experience but I think there’s no guarantee for that. So if you do get my version of the test, don’t worry about how you’re doing. Your answer on the question right now has nothing to do with your previous answer and the next question is not something you need to worry about either. But, if you do get an easy test, that would only be better.

Posted from my mobile device

Hahaha if it wasn't for you or the other pros from GMATC, I doubt I would've scored as high as I did! I think I can attribute some of my confidence on the Verbal section to the "Hardest 100 SC" threads, etc. on this forum. Overall, I think the OG practice Qs are fairly representative of what I saw on test day. The "cheat code" is if you practice meaning from those hardest questions, that might be the difference between two answers for a concept that I forgot the rule on. I only did ~10-25 of those hardest questions, will probably do them all before my next attempt since I'm pretty sure my verbal mistakes were SC...(please GMAC let me see ESR so I can study again).

Fair to say the official mocks best represent the actual exam compared to the other mocks out there.



If you're taking it Online, consider keeping a spare marker next to your eraser in case your primary one runs out. Perhaps see whether you can get some time off work or a reduced work load.

-contact: gmatknight site | gmatclub dm

Hi Eksha22,

One tip I have for you is that after tomorrow, do not take any more practice exams and, furthermore, start winding down your studying. Remember, you want to be fresh for test day!

I got a 640 today. V35 Q42
I am devastated
I have never ever scored a Q42
I don't know how this happened

The ESR may help provide some insight. If you share it here, people may give some specific suggestions as well (may want to wipe any personal info off it first).

-contact: gmatknight site | gmatclub dm

First and foremost, it's alright. Everyone has bad days, and it seems you encountered one during your GMAT. Remember, the GMAT is an exam that allows for retakes.

Your mock scores have been impressive. However, I'd advise against saving the test to verify accuracy. This can not only skew the scores but, more importantly, mock exams should emulate the real testing environment. Habitually second-guessing accuracy could be detrimental in the long run. It's crucial to concentrate on the present question and manage your time efficiently, without getting overly concerned about the overall accuracy.

As for your current score, given that you've already achieved a 700 previously, this just seems like an off day. Don't let it weigh you down. Approach the remaining mocks with the same seriousness as the real exam, and when you sit for the actual GMAT, ensure you're both optimistic and relaxed.

Hi Eksha22,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. 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) I remember that you took the GMAT back in 2022. How long have you studied for this 2nd attempt? How many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
3) 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)?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

If you took this Official GMAT at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. 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.com
www.empowergmat.com

Eksha22 - just saw your post. Sorry!

What do you think went wrong?
Did you run out of time or you felt the test went well and you didn’t do anything differently than usual?

Hi bb

I took the test online and the Procter started asking me to my laptop and be in frame etc after the first question came on screen. I got really agitated and lost around a minute there. Post that, I just kept trying to recover the lost time. I could not comprehend the statements properly. I had to guess one long RC. I score 35 in verbal. I am not sure what happened in quants. I completed the test 10 minutes early. I realised that the questions were getting easier from somewhere in the middle of the test. Q 42 was v surprising though since I have never scored so low in quants.

I am planning to reattempt the test in 3 weeks. I have exhausted almost all OG verbal questions. What source do you suggest? What approach do you suggest for quants? I am planning to practice questions topic-wise and then mixed batch in the last week. Do you have any suggestions for me?

Hi,

Thanks for your reply

1) I remember that you took the GMAT back in 2022. How long have you studied for this 2nd attempt? How many hours did you typically study each week?
I started my prep in June. I studied for around 4-5 hours on the weekdays and maybe more on weekends from August after my workload was comparatively lighter. I can now dedicate around 3 hours on weekdays. (I am planning to take the test in 3 weeks)

2) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?

I bought e-gmat course and revised the topics from there. I practiced verbal by filtering OG questions in GMAT club forum quiz. I have pretty much exhausted that. For quants, I mostly practiced questions from MGMAT and OG (on GMAT CLUB)
I attempted official mocks 1,2,3, and 4

3) 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)?

I took my mocks on the weekends. So there was atleast a 7 day gap between the mocks. Except the last two. They were just 2-3 days apart. My scores were 740 V40 Q50
760 V46 Q49
760 V42 Q50
730 V41 Q49
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to? I wish to apply to ISB. I haven't explored other options yet. I wanted to get a better score first. My my main focus is on ISB. I was waitlisted last year.

I wish to reattempt the test in 3 weeks. What approach do you suggest for this last stretch?

Yes, I think I got too nervous after the Procter incident I have mentioned in my reply to bb.
What approach do you suggest for the last stretch? I am planning to take the test in 3 weeks

Hi,

I took the test online. ESR is not available.

Hi Eksha22,

Since you are interested in at least one highly-competitive School, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement (and the more time that you have to act on that advice, the better). There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

I've sent you a PM with some additional notes and questions.

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

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com
www.empowergmat.com