over-confident - under-evaluate - failure 610 (50, 23)

Question

I thought this test should be easy by now. Too bad!! Either something is wrong with me or I had bad luck. Essay part went fine. I wrote a lot. I was sure each essay had at least 400 words. I had about 3 mins extra on every essay. The Quan was sooooo easy. I got 1 combination and 2 probability. When I got to question 37, there were about 10 min left so I took like 5 mins on the last question just for the hell out of it. I was laughing the whole time, saying ETS must be joking around here. Verbal is what shocked me. SC was different from what I used to encounter. CR was hard. The bad thing is that I got 2 back-to-back RC passages and then 2 back-to-back boldfaces. What the heck!!! Anyway, that did screw up my timing strategy but I still manage to finish the test on time with 1 min spare.

I don't want to blame anything but myself. I would say I faced some really bad situation too. I had stomachache badly during the test even after I went to the restroom for 15 min during the first break. I couldn't get concentration on RC passages.

Anyway, I am applying to University of Washington for MBA full-time. I will talk to the school to see if they think the score is OK. If not, I may have to retake the test before March 15 or I will wait until next year. Another alternative is to apply to MBA/MIS program in UW which is not too bad because 610 should get me in just fine.

For my conclusion, 610 is NOT ME. A 23 in Verbal is no way a right number!!! Even though I have learned English only for 6 years but it is still not the case. I can do better than that.

700Plus · Answer

Sorry to hear your situation.If health was the issue, why not take test again in a week.Just a thought.

Good luck.

700Plus · Answer

I realized you have actually scored 50 in quant.You are correct, if your score is about the average for the univ,it may not make sense to retake gmat and risk the already assured high quant.

qhoc0010 · Answer

I am not sure about University of Washington with its average GMAT score. Just probably around 680. But I will see if there is "any chance". Because 3rd round is more difficult. That is why I got to call the school on Monday to see what they are going to say. I am very sure I can take it again and still have 50 or 51 in Quan.

HongHu · Answer

I'm shocked to hear this qhoc. I was sure you would get a higher score than this. However on a second look, I see your math is actually great. From what I head a good math score counts a lot.

Also if you want to retake the test I'm sure you can get a better score too.

(I'm now second doubting myself too.

Oh well, no matter how well I would do I'll have to do it.)

Anyways good luck with your talk with the schools!

Oh well, no matter how well I would do I'll have to do it.) Anyways good luck with your talk with the schools!

qhoc0010 · Answer

I know I fail to concentrate. I scored even higher in Kaplan test. Anyway, this is my first time taking it. This is no big deal to me. It is just a test and I get this one free because the military pays for me. Next one will be out from my pocket

twixt · Answer

Qhoc,

I experienced a similar disappointment when I took the test for the first time 3 months ago. Quant part was rather easy even if I probably did a mistake among the 1st 10 questions and only scored 49. On the verbal side, timing screwed my chances up. SC was not looking like the ones I used to solve, RC was doable but tough and on top of that RC was awful with also a back to bak RC experience. I finished the verbal part with 30 seconds left and scored 31 for a total score of 650, at least 50 points below my objective.
If you go through all the posts of these threads you will notice that we are not just 2 to have this hard time especially on verbal. There are several ways to explain that : bad luck, bad concentration and context (previous night, overall noise, 1st cat test...). I prefer to consider that I was not ready enough cause if I were whatever the questions or the the guy close to me who was reading loudely all the questions, I would have cracked the verbal too. 
To conclude, if you want to score 700 just target 750, if you are aiming 750 target 800.
Hopefuly this site is also full of great experciences of guys who did not give up after a 1st failure and finally defeated the beast : they all are inspiring examples !

maaverick · Answer

I'm more than sure you deserve a higher score. If the quality of your posts on this board were to be the indicator - you should've cruised to 700+. Anyway, there's not much you can do about it - contact your target school and check. Be very sure though, that schools sometimes are reluctant to over-emphasize the importance of GMAT and might suggest you to apply with your current score. However, if you feel that a higher GMAT is important (considering other aspects of your application), DO retake the test even if it means that you'll have to shell out the exam fee from you pocket.

Good luck with your apps! I'm more than sure you'll get into a school of your choice.

Paul · Answer

qhoc, I'm sorry to hear about your verbal experience. Your math is just great and if I had something to say, I would tell you to definitely re-write the exam. From your explanations, I was sure that you could do better and I totally agree with you that 23 is NOT representative of what you can get. Once again, depending on how much time you have ahead of you, consider re-writing it seriously and worst comes to worse, just post-pone school a year(if you can). Spending from your pocket should not be a big deal and I'm saying all the above because I know you can do better.

PS For those of you writing the exam soon, do not take "the math section was so easy" litterally

greenandwise · Answer

qhoc0010 I too am extremely surprised with your score. From your posts and especially from your answers to questions I thought a >700 would be easy for you. You know it just goes to show how much of a mental test this f@#in GMAT is! I think everyone in this forum and you also know that a 610 is not a judgement of your intelligence. What questions you get on the GMAT is about luck and in this situation you ended up being unlucky (it seems only in verbal because in quant you kicked ass!!!) If you need to do it again I know you will do better next time. What we all need to realize in this forum is that the GMAT, this test, it's like the wizard of Oz, a stupid man trying to make himself bigger than he is. I've noticed that most people who see it that way really do well on the test. My test is in less than a week and I hope that I can convince myself of that. Good luck qhoc0010, I'm sure things will go well for you!

FN · Answer

qhoc....wow...i am surprised...i know the level you are at...believe me I think you are 700+ caliber...do it again bro....regardless of what univ. wash says....

I think everyone has cold feet on the first test...just prepare on the verbal ...SC and CR...and RC! i think you can easily score over 750!

christoph · Answer

qhoc0010, i had the same experience as you had. i also scored a score of 23 in the verbal part and until now i just dont know how this could happen. i was relly confident for the verbal part and was very surprised about the result. i think i failed cause i underestimated the verbal part. nevertheless i will beat it the next time. good luck for your next attempt !!!

gayathri · Answer

qhoc, I am so shocked about your verbal score. I completely agree with you that 23 in verbal is definitely not you. Especially for someone who was capable of making up good CR questions! May be it was your bad health...

I think it may be good idea for you to talk to the admissions office and see what they think. I looked on their website and their avg GMAT is 669, considering that you have a 50 in math and if the rest of your application is good you should not have a problem.

But, I have to tell you this. I really like your attitude! You are absolutely right when you say GMAT is just a test. In the big scheme of things it does not matter. Its just a stepping stone to achieve your dream.

banerjeea_98 · Answer

Sorry dude ! Quite a surprise. If I were u I wud reject this score and go for another try. As a curiosity what were ur CAT scores in PP1, PP2 and Kaplans etc ?

HongHu · Answer

I did my second PP test today and I only got 31 for the verbal. I mean considering all the SC questions are ones that I've already done before. When I review the questions I found that I've got two of the SC wrong again, and all the CR right. Surprise surprise among the RC questions I got seven wrong. Two of the articals I simply did not understand at all. I mean I know that I didn't take it as seriously as the real test and didn't read the articles really good because I want to fasten my pace (I have about 10 minutes left in the end, and this is after a 5 minute interruption in the middle). But I was so confident about my RC abilities. Anyways I agree with you qhoc that concentration is really important especially for RC. Sometimes I feel although I'm reading the words, I'm not taking them in. On both PP tests I felt kind of unrest in the end, harder to concentrate. This is something that I would need to work on in the real test.

qhoc0010 · Answer

Yes, concentration is very important, HongHu. I hope I could learn that from someone else. Anyway, I think GMAC has changed some on the GMAT. SC was very different. I didn't see any SC that has anything to do with parallelism or tense... Also CR is more difficult just like LSAT. There was one question that asked which of the following statement will weaken one argument but not the other. I have never faced with this type of question before. So I agree that there were some "surprise" on this Verbal part. The only non-surprise part is that I got 2 RC back-to-back and 2 boldfaces back-to-back but it still sucks!!!

greenandwise · Answer

Honghu I found the same with the Kaplan tests. The first time around for Kaplan (I took it a few months ago) I got a 600 this time around I was only able to improve that score to a 660...personally I think that is pretty pathetic. Granted I did not remember most of the answers but still you would imagine that I would do significantly better on a test that I have already done before. Fact is Honghu when you approach tests that you have done before you approach them with the mentality that you already have done them and as a result you 1) Put a lot of pressure on yourself to do well and 2) Don't go through it as carefully. I mean think about it, those RC passages are hard to go through the first time around and reading them again is torture. Furthermore when I read questions that I have done before I do not analyze the question, I look at it and go, "What answer did I put last time, and was that answer right"...As opposed to "what is the answer to this question". Bottomline is don't worry that somehow that your practice test is going to be a reflection of the real test. It won't. I am sure now (from all the posts that I have read) that the best determinant of your score is going to be how you feel when you wake up the morning of the GMAT! Hopefully this Saturday I wake up feeling good!!!

FN · Answer

MY 2 cents.....agree with the concentration aspect of it...I took Kaplan Cat 3 and 4 and scored 700 on both..then I partied till late the night before i took the 5th CAT and scored 530!<-- same as my CAT 1 and CAT 2!

I got to admit, I thought I was doing very well in CAT 5, especially on the verbal, but was a bit shaken..........I even got SC problems wrong that I had right on CAT 3.....I am in a state of shock...was it that I either got lucky in the 2 tests or I must be really mentally off on when I took CAT 5.

greenandwise · Answer

Didn't know there were 5 CAT tests. Is the 5th one you took online or did you take the class or something?

FN · Answer

Yeah, i have access to their web

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over-confident - under-evaluate - failure 610 (50, 23)

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