Reflection on my first attempt today

Question

I took my first GMAT today and got a score of 690 (Q48, V37, IR8), which was very close to my first 2 mock scores (680 and 670 respectively). I took the first mock a month ago and thought I would improve over the course of 1 month, but was rather disappointed to see that the score only improved by 10 points. But taking into account the fact that the Prep website was down yesterday and I couldn't practice and review my mistakes before the test, and I only slept 3 hours last night due to anxiety, I was overall pretty content.

That being said, a score of 690 is not enough for my dream schools. I'm planning to retake in 2 weeks' time, and was hoping to get at least 730+. My gut feeling after getting the result was that I made some stupid mistakes in Quant at the start, since I was able to tell immediately how to solve each question. For verbal I struggled a bit at the start, and was dealt easier questions towards the end which dragged down my score. I will post my ESR once it's available and I will need some help to analyse my mistakes.

Any tips on how to improve my results are greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

abhinav770 · Answer

Correct me if I am wrong, but I would go out on a leg and say that you either spend too much time on some 700 level questions or, more often than not, get those questions wrong. In order to change this you ought to: Get your basic concepts right. The more you work on your basic concepts, the better would be your accuracy on a typical 500-600 level question or a 600-700 level question, questions which you'd encounter only in the first 20-25 minutes of the exam and not again (hopefully

). Understand exactly where you go wrong while solving a difficult problem. When you get an idea of what mistakes you make while solving a problem, work on those specific problem areas and, eventually, improve. Cheers!

nilsinelabore · Answer

Thanks for the reply.

I finished all 4 sections with about 3 minutes each to spare, and I could tell that towards the end I was dealt easier questions. I didn't really feel the heat for both quant and verbal, and though I did spent very long on a few particular questions, I was able to make up the time from other questions. My strategy was to be as meticulous as possible, always double checking before moving on to the next question. At times I thought I'd run out of time but to my surprise that was not the case. I guess I will need to take a look at the ESR to find out where went wrong.

abhinav770 · Answer

Until you get your ESR, I'd suggest revisit your mistakes. To do that you may either go to your Error Log or the solutions to the mock tests you gave prior to the test (not the GMATPrep ones, doing that will inflate your score when you retake these mocks). In case you didn't take any other mock other than the GMATPrep, take rest today - revise all concepts tomorrow and take one of the free mocks from Veritas Prep/Manhattan/or any other course provider. From their solutions try and understand where you (generally) go wrong. By the time you are done with this analysis, you'll get your ESR as well and you'd get the timing information from it. 
From where I see it, it is the wrong answers to the difficult problems which have restricted your score.

AkshdeepS · Answer

Following links may help you to score better : 1. https://blog.targettestprep.com/how-to- ... -on-gmat/# 2. https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/tag/qu ... -wisdom-2/ 3. https://gmatclub.com/forum/sentence-cor ... l#p1863058 4. https://gmatclub.com/forum/should-i-ret ... ml?fl=menu

AjiteshArun · Answer

I don't think it's a good idea to change your approach on the day of the exam, and becoming more careful is definitely a change in approach. Were you doing this in your practice tests as well or was this just during the actual exam?

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi nilsinelabore,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. Before providing specific advice, I’d like to learn more about your situation with the GMAT. I have some questions:

1) How many practice GMATs did you take? Please list the dates on which you’ve taken any practice GMATs, the total scores, and the quant, verbal, and IR scores, as well as how you were feeling while taking the tests. Also, please tell me where these tests came from (ex: mba.com).
 
2) Please describe how you studied. For how many hours a day did you study and for how many months? What resources did you use?
 
3) To what programs will you be applying? What are the deadlines for these programs?
 
4) By when would you LIKE to take the GMAT? By when MUST you take the GMAT?
 
5) For how many hours a day, on average, can you study between now and your next GMAT?
 
6) In your opinion, how prepared were you for the GMAT? It's important that you answer this question as objectively as possible.
 
Lastly, you may find this article about
 how to score a 700+ on the GMAT  helpful.

Thanks!

nilsinelabore · Answer

Hey, thanks for the questions. Here are my answers:

1. I took 3 mock tests, all official CATs from mba.com. The 1st one was on July 4th, one month before my test. I got 680, Q47 and V36. Did my 2nd test on 2nd Aug, 4 days before the test and got 670, Q47 and V35. My last mock was on 3rd Aug - thought I'd take another test before the exam to get my confidence up since I was under the impression that I underperformed for my second mock. But I was really anxious so it ended up even worse, and I got 620, Q46 and V29.

2. I started on 1st March, and I initially planned to study for 3 hours every day and it was soon occurred to me that this method was not sustainable, since I had to work during the day and after 2 weeks I was getting really exhausted. So I resorted to studying 3 hours each day during the weekends. I wasn't really taking it seriously at the start as I thought I still had time, and I took some holidays in between, including a 2 week trip to the US. After I came back from the US I realised I still had a lot left and as soon as I booked the test, I studied at least 1 hour every day during the week and 3-4 hours each day for the weekends. I used the OG, online question pack and GMAT official verbal book, plus Manhattan guide for SC, CR and Quant, as well as Ron's videos for some weak areas.

3. My dream school is CBS, and its first round's deadline is on 3rd Oct. But since CBS uses a rolling admission system, even 3rd Oct is a little risky. But 690 is definitely not enough for CBS so I'd need another attempt and a higher score, else it doesn't matter the round since I'll have little chance.

4. My 2nd attempt is scheduled next week, 30th Aug.

5. I'm currently doing 2 hours every day during the week, and 4 hours during the weekend. I tend to cram before the test, and for my 1st attempt I must have put in 8-10 hours each day for the last 3 days.

6. I don't think I'm prepared for the 2nd attempt to be honest. I have been doing some quant questions from GMAT official since my first attempt and it was rather disappointing. I kept making stupid mistakes, and I'm feeling that I've lost my focus. I have no idea how to improve on my verbal, since I've pretty much finished every question that's available from GMAC, and it's still not showing progress.

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