Hi
I am really disappointed with my GMAT score of 600(Q44/V29, ESR attached) which I got in my 1st attempt yesterday. This was the new 30 min shorter version of the exam. I really did not expect such a low score after preparing intensely for almost 4 months. I am really upset and broken with my score now and I really need an expert help to guide me through this and help me get my target score on my 2nd attempt.
My target score: 700 or above.
My target school: ISB, SMU, NUS, RSM
Brief description of me:I am an Engineering graduate (Information Technology) from an average Indian University and have 6 years of work exp. of application/software support and maintenance spread out in three different IT companies.
I started my preparation last year in June 2017 by enrolling in a GMAT coaching institute which conducted regular classroom sessions on weekends(since I only get time on weekends and had to choose weekend course) but it was not a continuous effort until October. I decided to get more serious about my preparation and set myself a target date of December end. I had already completed the
OG,
OG VR, and
OG QR by October end and I also use to practice from Veritas Prep free question bank for the tough questions. Since I am a working professional so I get time only after work. I use to give around 3 hrs a day on weekdays and around 6hrs on weekends.
Unfortunately, due to some personal issues, I had to leave my preparation in between and I did not study anything till mid of January 2018. I started my preparation again in mid of January and started to pick up from where I had left.It was way harder than I imagined because I had lost the touch from verbal and quant topics so I started from scratch again by practicing 2hrs quant and 1hr verbal daily. I also bought the
egmat verbal online course to build by verbal as my verbal was not a strong area.
My study plan from mid of Jan 18:-Around 3 hrs a day on weekdays(including Quant and verbal both) and around 6hrs on weekends
-I use to give Gmat club quant test on weekends.
-I took a leave of 2 weeks before the exam so that I can concentrate on my exams fully without worrying about office work.
My study material:-
OG 2017, VR and QR
-
egmat verbal online course and question bank
-Gmat club question bank and test
-GMAT CR Reasoning Grail 2017
My weak/strong areas-Quant was a strong area for me as I am from an engineering background. However, I had some tough time initially with DS questions, especially with inequalities.
-Verbal was really a challenge for me from starting of my prep. I was able to get hold of RC and CR as I got used to the tough questions from these topics and later I found CR and RC interesting. I always use to struggle with SC. 2 mins was just not enough for me to apply all my knowledge of SC rules and chose one option out of 5. Even after learning all the rules and idioms I always to get stuck with 2 options and almost always chose the wrong one.
last 2 weeks before the exam, I had taken leave from office to concentrate only on my exam and also bought GMATPrep exam pack 1 and 2 both. I had a plan to give 6 official mock(2 free and 4 bought) during last 2 weeks (one in every 3 days) till my final exams.
My Mock results:1st: 600 (Q48 V25): this was my 1st official mock, so I was a bit nervous.
2nd: 640 (Q49 V27): I was a little more confident in this one.
3rd: 660 (Q49 V30): I was improving my verbal day by day.
4th: 680 (Q50 V32):
5th: 710 (Q49 V37): This was really a confidence booster for me.
6th: 640 (Q48 V31): I am not sure what really happened in this one.
Exam day experience:I was really nervous the night before the exam and I could not get a good night sleep but somehow I was not feeling very nervous when I arrived at the test center. My exam was scheduled for the early morning 9:00 AM and I arrived 45 mins early. After the verification formalities, I sat for the exam. I chose the order of exam as Quant-Verbal-IR-AWA.
I thought I was doing my quant part of the exam good enough to score at least 49.
I took a break after the quant part and had my snacks and went to the washroom and came back for the verbal part. I was shocked to see that I had already wasted 2 mins of my test since I was not able to keep the track of time of my break. These were very crucial 2 mins for me and I started to panic thinking that I only have 63 mins left for 36 questions. I had to rush with initial 8 to 10 questions to make up for those 2 mins. I did the RC part better that CR or SC. For the SC part, I had doubts about the few questions so I had to guess them and move forward with the exam. CR was way tougher than I had imagined. Finally verbal was done and then I gave the IR and AWA part. I was not expecting below 660 but when I saw a score of 600, I was devastated.
I really need an expert advice on how to achieve my target score. I hope to get some good inputs and tips on how to improve my weak areas. Please help me.
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17 Apr 2018, 12:16
