My Botched Attempt at 700+ (Kinda Long)

thanks

Also, i wanted to comment on your writing skills. They are great.... keeps the reader engaged.
i am sure they will come in handy for your apps!

Cheers!

I'm with you. Retaking on 30 sep. good luck!

I would retake if I were you. You know what they say "If first you dont succeed, try try again"

I'll be retaking by end Sept as well! I feel encouraged that I'm not alone in my retake journey. My score was worse. I got a 510 Q31 V28 after scoring 640-720 in my practice tests, with no score below 35 in verbal. In fact only a 35 in my diagnostic and consistent 40-42 after. I don't even know how I got a 28 perhaps it was the nerves (was very very nervous) and the two sleepless nights before the test.
I hope to break the 700 barrier in my next attempt.

If you guys do start the CR thread, count me in!
For quant, I've started the gmat club tests. Very challenging indeed! I'm getting low scores but I actually feel happy learning from my mistakes! Surprising!
Best of luck to us!!

Hi Frank,

Sorry to hear about your terrible day on the way to your test. Just remember that each day starts anew. Although I'm far from an expert, I think you should re-take as well and focus on your timing. For me, timing was the most important element in my preparation for the GMAT. Note that timing doesn't necessarily mean to work quickly all the way though (as I had originally done with verbal, leaving me with 7 mins to spare but only an average score).

It sounds from your debrief that you've already pinpointed where you could improve (nerves and timing). Just know that feeling nervous is entirely normal on test day, no matter how much you try to prepare yourself for it (I had a few seemingly humorous situations myself in the hours before my test - ever sit in an elevator by yourself for 5 mins and wonder why it's taking so long to get to your floor? oh right, push the button... ) .

Is there any way you can reschedule for one closer to where you live? 21 miles is an awfully long way to travel for your test. If there's nothing closer, maybe you can get a hotel room near your test the night before so that you don't have to travel as much on d-day.

Good luck on your retake!

(not sure why my post got deleted when i tried to edit one word)

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Thank you for your support! I really do appreciate it.

Unfortunately, I live in Ithaca and attend Cornell. You'd think that with two colleges in Ithaca that Pearson would have a test center since there is such a large student population. But no. No one comes to Ithaca. There is a facility in Binghamton but that place is scary. The facility in Syracuse is really nice.

Thank you! A 670 is a really good score. SC seems to be the easiest to improve. Good luck to you!

Hey Franklin,

Just my two cents:

Keep your confidence up on your second go-around. The first time I prepared, I worked through three books and completed about 10 practice exams. I scored 650 and 680 on the first two, and over 700 on the rest. These were the same exams that my brother practiced with. We scored roughly the same on these practice exams and he ended up with a 740 on test day. I felt confident going in.

I scored 600 on my first attempt. I was a bit sick but I wrote anyways. I thought being sick wouldn't affect me much, plus I didn't want to lose my stupid $300. I pretty much ended up in a mental mess during the test. I took me four and a half minutes to finish the first Quant question, then I started thinking about being behind on the timing, then I started thinking that I shouldn't have sat to write the test while being sick, then about how much work I put into prep, etc. It was a disaster and I was devastated afterwards.

I knew right away that I would re-take the test, but I didn't feel confident at all. I went through all of the prep material again, and started ordering and purchasing all sorts of practice exams. I scored well on all of the practice exams, as I did during my first prep, so I really didn't know how to gauge my capabilities. Needless to say, I was very nervous when I wrote the second time. It ended up going well though. I just stayed calm, and ended up with 750, which was on the high end of my practice scores.

I guess what I am trying to say is that the practice tests seem to be pretty accurate. If you can legitimately score over 700 at home, you can probably do it on test day. Don't let one bad day mess you up too much. Stay confident and you will do well.

Cheers

Thank you! I really appreciate the support. Kudos to you!

Good luck pal!!! Retake the test, I'm sure you'll score higher.

AT least 90% of retakers score higher!!!!