Screwed my Gmat.. 620 it is!! be kind to read & reply

Oh it was brutal. I hated it...

I coped with it be staying focused on the goal. Honestly, at that point it wasn't "Get into school X" the goal was "break 700." I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I wanted to prove to myself that I had the ability to get over that first hurdle in order to legitimize my chances of getting into a top program to myself. Most people take this test more then once. Don't feel defeated.

The gmat is horrible... it torture... I think I started studying for it in September of 2011, and took it for a 3rd time in February of 2012. So, around 5 or 6 months of Studying on and off... Believe me, I understand how you're feeling. Just stay focused on the goal, once you achieve the score you're trying for, it'll all be worth it.

Verbal wise, which part is the most difficult for you? MGMAT SC guide is the best for sentence correction. For RC, I think it's all about which strategy works for you... mine was always read slowly, read once, and don’t get lost in the notes you take There is also always this strategy but it didn't work for me... For CR, treat it like a logic problem, here are some great tips on CR. The key is, figure out which type of problem it is... and then use common sense.

If the issue is a lack of an overall grasp of the english language, your best bet may be reading daily papers and magazines like the wall street journal, ny times, the new yorker, and business week.

Hi Swarman, first off, congrats on the very high quant score. It sounds like you just need to get your verbal score up a little and that 700 is within sight.

For the verbal, I'm a little confused, though. It seems that RC is your weakest topic, but you've been taking steps to get better at it. The idea of writing down key points and high level summaries of each paragraph is a good one, but don't get bogged down in too much detail. A couple of words suffice. You can also practice without writing anything down, just noting the key elements in your head. This saves time and helps maintain focus during a long exam, but it's not necessarily easy for everyone. With a little practice you might find it easier than writing down notes, or you might decide it's not an efficient strategy for you.

As for the timing, you mentioned that you had 15 minutes for the final 8 questions. If you do the math, you'll see that you're right on pace for a 41 question/75 minute exam (in fact slightly AHEAD of the pace!) If you break the exam down into 5 sections of 15 minutes, you need to answer 8.2 questions in each block! It sounds like you might have panicked a bit. Obviously, panicking can negatively affect your score. Some people overperform on the exam and get a score higher than any of their practice tests. Similarly, some people underperform. It's not the end of the world, but it sounds like you're well positioned to do better on this exam than your score indicates. If you want to take it again, keep up the quant and just resist the urge to panic on verbal. You should see your score rise significantly if you can maintain control of your nerves during the exam. It's just like another practice test, be confident in your abilities and you'll be happy with the end result.

Hope this helps!
-Ron

Yeah highwyre237..

You are right.. I think i need to work on my Verbal from the start.. RC/SC/CR.. everything irrespective of my comfort level with these.. For all these i did try ManG's you know. Yet i dunno.. how should i get to work on my basis.Do you know of something else which might help? And certainly i need to revive my reading habits, been quite outta touch..

Hi Ron,

Thanks alot bud for cheering me up. You are the first person who made me realise that i did well in something atleast!!

Actually Ron, during my practice for RC i would simply remind those points and then get to business. And my memory would help me cut down the answer options from 5 to 2.. the closest match ones and i would fall for the prey! So basically the strategy of jotting points and everything was directly tried on the D-Day.. Which dint suit me needless to say. I need some more text to go through.. more concepts which can help me lay strong foundation at RC, can you suggest me something??

And darn that timing, when i saw i had 15 questions for 8 minutes , i was still chilled out.. until when i saw the next question appear as a RC- the FOURTH RC, which i did not expect honestly speaking at all and which certainly made me panic . quite alot!! Do you think Its feasible to reach around 700 with whtevr i have told u??

Thanks alot Ron!!

i might sound rude, but you are responsible for ur unexpected performance....First of all never take xam if ur not scorn what u want to score...nd u must conform ur consistency only aftr takn three cats frm different test prep houses.....
Another mistake that u did was that u changes ur strategy just before the xam....that nailed the coffin...how can u change ur strategy just few days prior to ur xam.....
Dnt lose hear gear up n take xam in another month and half's time....

Consider kudos if my post helps!!!!!!!!!!

Archit

If you have time and you are confident that u can increase by 40-50 points, then you should retake it. Otherwise, you can end up like me. I was in the same boat too. Scoring good in preps and then on D day 610. I took it again and scored even worse. I was devastated that day but then I pulled all my energy and focused on my essays, and all others parts of application process. I can tell you today, out of 3 schools. I have nailed 2 already and waiting for the last one. So dont get dissapointed. GMAT is not the end of the world. Keep it up

@Archit143, that wasnt exactly the kinda soft words I was looking for :D. I was getting what i expected in my mocks around 670. Yet you are right about the fact, that I shouldn't have changed my strategy on the D day// *sigh*

@ideafactori-Seriously?? Thats truly awesome From where all could you get the good news? (if you dont mind sharing) Best of luck with all your applications!