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Power Outage during test - Is there anything I can do?

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KillerGMAT
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Power Outage during test - Is there anything I can do? [#permalink] New post   17 Feb 2018, 18:40
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Hello Everyone,

Just finished my first GMAT and scored a 640 (Q48, V29). While this score is only 20 points off my highest CAT, I was aiming for a 700+ and disappointed in my Verbal score. I had initial problems with Verbal but after some work I consistently raised it to 35-38 range in the last 5-6 CAT's. I scored a 38 a week ago. I did as I planned on Quant, and if Verbal had done its part I would have had my score. During my Verbal section, which I started first, I was doing pretty well (I think) until around question 23 the power went out. It was only for a few minutes but it happened to be during a monster RC passage about biology. It completely threw me off as I pretty much quickly guessed on the next 4 RC questions and from there the questions got really easy and I felt like my score was just going downhill really fast. I'm really frustrated because I would consider a V35 a bad score, so a 29 is just a stab in the heart.

So my question is this: Does the power outage somehow affect the algorithmic scoring? Is there something that can be done, like writing to GMAC? I am not going to take the test again since it's already application time and I have been studying for 4 months. At this point it's too late. Just wanted to see if I can squeeze anything out of this situation.

Thank you. Gonna go black out.
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Re: Power Outage during test - Is there anything I can do? [#permalink] New post   17 Feb 2018, 20:33
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KillerGMAT

Here are my two cents:
a. GMAC maintains standardized test conditions for each and every student who gives the test,
meaning any of student who faced any abnormal circumstances like power outage does in fact
hinder ability of his / her performance. The experience that you received at test center seems to
be counted as one of these and surely should be reported back to GMAC. I am hopeful (most likely)
you will get a free reattempt and boost up your verbal score this time.
b. Get an ESR to know what actually happened. In this way you doubts will be realistic and assist in taking
you more rational decision.

The B schools always look at your BEST score, so hopefully you shall be good to go even for you reattempt.
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abhimahna
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Power Outage during test - Is there anything I can do? [#permalink] New post   17 Feb 2018, 21:24
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I agree to your point that you want to go for applications now and stop working on Gmat but if you report it back to GMAC team, they may give you another chance to appear for the exam at zero cost. But this would again mean you have to get your current score cancelled. If you feel you can do better and get an improved score and this won't delay your application process, go ahead. But as you mentioned you just got 20 marks below your Mocks , I am afraid whether you will see further improvement.

Tough decision. :)
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Re: Power Outage during test - Is there anything I can do? [#permalink] New post   18 Feb 2018, 00:51
Thank you for the replies. While I got only 20 off my highest score my CAT's were highly inconsistent. On some CAT's I did better on verbal and others better on quant (35V/47Q or 38V/44Q) but overall a 29 verbal is about 6 points off my average verbal score.

If I were to retake the test, would it be possible to do it as soon as possible, like next weekend? I actually accepted my score, since I thought it's better to just apply with what I got. What if I retake and do worse, will my other score note count? I am actually applying to master of finance programs, not MBA's, so the application criteria is a little lower My concern at this point is that I am really burnt our from studying, but if it is possible for me to retake next weekend without any affect on my current score, I would most likely accept. Thank you for any insight.
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Re: Power Outage during test - Is there anything I can do? [#permalink] New post   18 Feb 2018, 02:04
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Hey KillerGMAT ,

Here are the answers:

If I were to retake the test, would it be possible to do it as soon as possible, like next weekend?

Reach out to customer care and they can help you know the latest availability.

What if I retake and do worse, will my other score note count?
Once that score is cancelled, you cannot reinstate it.

It's a tough decision and if you think you are not very sure and GMAT is not that important, skip it and move on.

All the best :)
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Re: Power Outage during test - Is there anything I can do? [#permalink]
18 Feb 2018, 02:04
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