EMPOWERgmatRichC wrote:
Hi ZulfiquarA,
I'm really sorry to hear about all of the issues that you faced leading up to (and including) Test Day. That must have been an incredibly frustrating overall experience, so I completely understand how unhappy you are about the entire situation. That having been said, you shouldn't give up on any of your big-picture plans just yet. The GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam - and you've learned enough from this one experience to know that you should plan differently for your next attempt. In the short term, I suggest that you take a little 'time off' to clear your head. The GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so it will be waiting when you're ready to restart your studies.
While all of the various issues and distractions that you faced certainly would have impacted your performance on the Official GMAT, we have to be careful about assuming that those were the only factors. 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 also help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals. I want to reiterate that you don't have to answer these questions right away (you can take that time-off and then come back to all of this later on).
Studies:
1) How long have you studied in total? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far? 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)?
Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Hello Rich,
Thankyou for understanding my case. I have also thought this through whether I have been putting too much emphasis on lack of sleep for my low score but I can't find any other factor for such major discrepancy. I took 3 days off and have started studying/practicing again for my second attempt.
I am sharing the information you have asked for below:-
Studies:-
1) I studied for around 3 and a half month before taking the test. This includes studying the content, practicing the questions and taking the mock tests. As for week, I would have studied for around 14 hours and over. I put in around 2-3 hours daily on average.
2) For most part I used only the GMAT
OG guides. I picked up the Manhattan guides in the final week after knowing they include tips and properties I didn't know earlier. I already knew some of the tips they mentioned through self analysis of my studying but I was completely oblivion of the number properties such as consecutive numbers and divisibility. Brands of Mock tests were Manhattan, Veritas Prep, GMAT prep kit.
3) Manhattan Mock test on 1st January- 450 (Q34-V18)
Veritas Mock 1 on 10th April- 540 (Q40-V25)
Veritas Mock 2 on 15th April- 590 (Q43-V28)
GMAT Prep 1 on 21st April- 620 (Q45-V30)
GMAT Prep 2 on 26th April- 440 (Q43-V11). I guessed all the questions on Verbal as I had to travel to the city for COVID test.
Real GMAT Score on 29th April- 370 (Q32-V11)
Goals:-
4) My score was between 600-650 which I was very confident to achieve.
5) I was planning to apply in September-October when applications are open for the 2022 session. The school I was planning to apply was "Vienna University of Economics and business". Coming from a Graphic background I was very interested in their MSc in Strategy and Innovation Programme plus it is overall an ideal choice.
Thankyou.
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05 May 2021, 11:27
