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30 Jul 2018, 04:44
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Today is a pretty bad day. I have my GMAT on 3rd of August. I scored a dismal 550 on the GMAT prep mock 2. I stared at the screen in shock, cried a little, the result seemed untrue. I have been preparing for GMAT for the past three months in a very dedicated manner. Solves 1000s of questions, worked on the core skills of meaning, prethinking and active reading, however, with just three days to go for the real exam and such low score, my confidence is shattered.
I wouldn't say that I was performing brilliantly on the MGMAT and Official mocks (570, 590, 610, 630, 650), however, the upward trend gave me some hope and I continued studying. I had saved the last GMAT prep mock for today but now I feel shattered. All this has been happening despite me investing 8 hours a day in studying.
I understand that I can't do an overnight miracle to my score. But I have thought of doing the following in the last 3 days
1. Reviewing all my mocks (I am making the most mistakes in SC, which is sad because this used to be my strongest point)
2. Revising Manhattan SC guide.
3. Making a note of silly mistake(I make so many of them on both Q and V)
4. Reviewing all the Quant concepts, formulas and the mistakes done in the past.
5. Practicing positive thinking so that I don't further degrade my score owing to stress.
I have always wanted a 700+ but these scores haven't been very encouraging. I have heard of incidents wherein my friends scored like a 710 on the real thing after scoring 650 or so on the mocks, but it's different for every individual. So I guess for now I'll review mistakes and hope for the best on the G day. If someone can advise me, which may help me maximize my score, please advise.
I wouldn't say that I was performing brilliantly on the MGMAT and Official mocks (570, 590, 610, 630, 650), however, the upward trend gave me some hope and I continued studying. I had saved the last GMAT prep mock for today but now I feel shattered. All this has been happening despite me investing 8 hours a day in studying.
I understand that I can't do an overnight miracle to my score. But I have thought of doing the following in the last 3 days
1. Reviewing all my mocks (I am making the most mistakes in SC, which is sad because this used to be my strongest point)
2. Revising Manhattan SC guide.
3. Making a note of silly mistake(I make so many of them on both Q and V)
4. Reviewing all the Quant concepts, formulas and the mistakes done in the past.
5. Practicing positive thinking so that I don't further degrade my score owing to stress.
I have always wanted a 700+ but these scores haven't been very encouraging. I have heard of incidents wherein my friends scored like a 710 on the real thing after scoring 650 or so on the mocks, but it's different for every individual. So I guess for now I'll review mistakes and hope for the best on the G day. If someone can advise me, which may help me maximize my score, please advise.
30 Jul 2018, 07:21
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Tanisha_shasha ,
I feel your pain... a low score a few days before the test can be a blow to your confidence.
But -- the fight isn't over yet!
First of all, it looks like this score is lower than every single one of the mocks you have taken so far, which makes it likely that you just had a bad day.
Specifically, did you feel that things were a bit different during this mock? (Things seemed easier, or harder, or you were more stressed). If so it could be a good sign that nerves played a big role in this exam, and suggests that your most important task towards the real exam is calming down, building your confidence and sharpening your focus.
A few specific replies to your suggested plan:
- Don't try reviewing *all* the material in the next few days; this is more likely to drain you out than to help you. Instead, look back at your error log and known problem areas and review them. You mentioned SC as a problem area - what changed from the start (when it was a strong area)?
- Silly mistakes are often a result of lack of focus, overconfidence, or sloppy work, all of which can be avoided. One simple hack is to verify your assumptions: right before jumping into exact calculations and right before hitting that 'next' button, make sure you answered the right question (you'd be surprised how many mistakes this causes....) , didn't miss any key words (like 'positive' or 'integer') and, if you have the time, verify your calculations. Also, make sure to write things down clearly on your sketchpad - it is much easier to fix 'mental calculation' errors when you can actually SEE them.
- Finally, and as you mentioned, take the time to review your exams. Give special focus to the big picture - what types of questions did you get wrong vs. right, and if you have the data, then how were your timings in general. If necessary, build a 'skipping strategy' for the exam: choose specific types of questions you know give you a hard time and skip them in advance. That will give you more time to focus on the things you are good at and so long as you don't do this too often, it can really boost your score.
Best of luck and don't give up!
I feel your pain... a low score a few days before the test can be a blow to your confidence.
But -- the fight isn't over yet!
First of all, it looks like this score is lower than every single one of the mocks you have taken so far, which makes it likely that you just had a bad day.
Specifically, did you feel that things were a bit different during this mock? (Things seemed easier, or harder, or you were more stressed). If so it could be a good sign that nerves played a big role in this exam, and suggests that your most important task towards the real exam is calming down, building your confidence and sharpening your focus.
A few specific replies to your suggested plan:
- Don't try reviewing *all* the material in the next few days; this is more likely to drain you out than to help you. Instead, look back at your error log and known problem areas and review them. You mentioned SC as a problem area - what changed from the start (when it was a strong area)?
- Silly mistakes are often a result of lack of focus, overconfidence, or sloppy work, all of which can be avoided. One simple hack is to verify your assumptions: right before jumping into exact calculations and right before hitting that 'next' button, make sure you answered the right question (you'd be surprised how many mistakes this causes....) , didn't miss any key words (like 'positive' or 'integer') and, if you have the time, verify your calculations. Also, make sure to write things down clearly on your sketchpad - it is much easier to fix 'mental calculation' errors when you can actually SEE them.
- Finally, and as you mentioned, take the time to review your exams. Give special focus to the big picture - what types of questions did you get wrong vs. right, and if you have the data, then how were your timings in general. If necessary, build a 'skipping strategy' for the exam: choose specific types of questions you know give you a hard time and skip them in advance. That will give you more time to focus on the things you are good at and so long as you don't do this too often, it can really boost your score.
Best of luck and don't give up!
30 Jul 2018, 13:22
Kudos
Bookmarks
Tanisha_shasha
Today is a pretty bad day. I have my GMAT on 3rd of August. I scored a dismal 550 on the GMAT prep mock 2. I stared at the screen in shock, cried a little, the result seemed untrue. I have been preparing for GMAT for the past three months in a very dedicated manner. Solves 1000s of questions, worked on the core skills of meaning, prethinking and active reading, however, with just three days to go for the real exam and such low score, my confidence is shattered.
I wouldn't say that I was performing brilliantly on the MGMAT and Official mocks (570, 590, 610, 630, 650), however, the upward trend gave me some hope and I continued studying. I had saved the last GMAT prep mock for today but now I feel shattered. All this has been happening despite me investing 8 hours a day in studying.
I understand that I can't do an overnight miracle to my score. But I have thought of doing the following in the last 3 days
1. Reviewing all my mocks (I am making the most mistakes in SC, which is sad because this used to be my strongest point)
2. Revising Manhattan SC guide.
3. Making a note of silly mistake(I make so many of them on both Q and V)
4. Reviewing all the Quant concepts, formulas and the mistakes done in the past.
5. Practicing positive thinking so that I don't further degrade my score owing to stress.
I have always wanted a 700+ but these scores haven't been very encouraging. I have heard of incidents wherein my friends scored like a 710 on the real thing after scoring 650 or so on the mocks, but it's different for every individual. So I guess for now I'll review mistakes and hope for the best on the G day. If someone can advise me, which may help me maximize my score, please advise.
I wouldn't say that I was performing brilliantly on the MGMAT and Official mocks (570, 590, 610, 630, 650), however, the upward trend gave me some hope and I continued studying. I had saved the last GMAT prep mock for today but now I feel shattered. All this has been happening despite me investing 8 hours a day in studying.
I understand that I can't do an overnight miracle to my score. But I have thought of doing the following in the last 3 days
1. Reviewing all my mocks (I am making the most mistakes in SC, which is sad because this used to be my strongest point)
2. Revising Manhattan SC guide.
3. Making a note of silly mistake(I make so many of them on both Q and V)
4. Reviewing all the Quant concepts, formulas and the mistakes done in the past.
5. Practicing positive thinking so that I don't further degrade my score owing to stress.
I have always wanted a 700+ but these scores haven't been very encouraging. I have heard of incidents wherein my friends scored like a 710 on the real thing after scoring 650 or so on the mocks, but it's different for every individual. So I guess for now I'll review mistakes and hope for the best on the G day. If someone can advise me, which may help me maximize my score, please advise.
Have you ever trained for a sporting event (or anything along those lines)? A rule of thumb is that if you do five workouts in a week, one of them will be fantastic, one will be lousy, and the other three will just be 'normal'. When it's time for the actual race, you rest beforehand, etc. in order to make sure you have a fantastic day. But when you're just practicing, sometimes you have good days, sometimes you have bad days, and honestly if that doesn't happen to you, you probably aren't challenging yourself enough.
What I mean is, there's no particular reason to expect every practice test to be better than the one before it, just like you couldn't expect every single workout to be faster or better than the one before. As long as you're generally getting better (stronger, smarter, faster, etc.), then you're doing fine. You just had a lousy day at a bad time.
For your official test, though, you want to take special precautions to make sure you don't have a lousy day. A big part of that is positive thinking, as you mentioned. Another part is mental rest and relaxation. Do a little review in the days before your test - one or two hours a day only. No more practice tests, no new material. Just get yourself ready to do the best you can with the knowledge you have right now.
A race isn't won in the three days before the race - it's won in the months beforehand. You already put that work in, so just relax and put yourself in the best possible position to use that work to get a good score.
