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Apr 2808:00 AM PDT
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Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
05 Oct 2015, 14:50
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So today was my second attempt at the GMAT after scoring a dismal 620 the previous time in March. A post on my previous attempt is here:
first-time-got-a-620-retake-or-move-on-194958.html
After my previous attempt, I took a break from everything GMAT related for a month. Unfortunately, that 1-month break turned into a nearly 4-month break as my father had a stroke and consequently had hemiplegia. Having no one else to look after him, I ended up being his primary caregiver (and I still am) and even suffered from caregiver stress at times.
This time around I studied for the GMAT for 3 months. I signed up for Magoosh, given their 50-point score increase guarantee assuming it'll help me get within fighting range of my target score i.e. 700. I tried not to make any of the mistakes I made in my previous prep (and there were plenty).
I watched all Magoosh lesson videos, solved each and every question and watched explanation videos for every question I got wrong. I combined this with the MGMAT set of guide books (in my previous attempt, I had used MGMAT books only). I did the MGMAT practice tests and in my last 5 practice tests my scores were 670, 710, 710, 710 and 710 respectively with quant being above 41 in each test, highest being 46.
In my latest GMATprep that I did 3 days before the GMAT, I score 700 (Q44, V42). I'm naturally strong in verbal and during my prep, I spent 95% of my prep time on Quant and just 5% on verbal.
I went into the GMAT today expecting a score around 700 (+/-20). But it was not to be. I ended up with a score marginally better than my previous attempt: 640.
The biggest shocker was my quant score. I was expecting at least 40 in quant but my quant score came out even lower than my previous attempt (35 vs. 37) which is what doesn't make any sense to me. I feel I know a lot more quant than I did in my previous attempt and felt Magoosh helped me with my quant but getting a score even lower than my previous attempt is something I still can't comprehend. Whereas on the verbal side, my score jumped from 38 to 42 and I barely spent any time preparing for verbal.
I just don't understand what happened. I'm pretty sure if I did another practice test, I'd score at least 40 in quant. On the test, I felt I was getting questions right but I kept on getting really easy questions so obviously something wasn't right. I really don't know what to make of this and what to do going forward. Do I even have a shot at my target programs with a score such as this (especially the low quant score?)
Needless to say, I'm pretty dejected and feel kinda lost. Not sure what the right way ahead is. My target schools are European 1-year programs such as IE, ESADE, SDA Bocconi.
Should I even consider another retake? If so, how do I prepare to ensure the quant section doesn't pull down my score again?
As the title says- help? Please?
first-time-got-a-620-retake-or-move-on-194958.html
After my previous attempt, I took a break from everything GMAT related for a month. Unfortunately, that 1-month break turned into a nearly 4-month break as my father had a stroke and consequently had hemiplegia. Having no one else to look after him, I ended up being his primary caregiver (and I still am) and even suffered from caregiver stress at times.
This time around I studied for the GMAT for 3 months. I signed up for Magoosh, given their 50-point score increase guarantee assuming it'll help me get within fighting range of my target score i.e. 700. I tried not to make any of the mistakes I made in my previous prep (and there were plenty).
I watched all Magoosh lesson videos, solved each and every question and watched explanation videos for every question I got wrong. I combined this with the MGMAT set of guide books (in my previous attempt, I had used MGMAT books only). I did the MGMAT practice tests and in my last 5 practice tests my scores were 670, 710, 710, 710 and 710 respectively with quant being above 41 in each test, highest being 46.
In my latest GMATprep that I did 3 days before the GMAT, I score 700 (Q44, V42). I'm naturally strong in verbal and during my prep, I spent 95% of my prep time on Quant and just 5% on verbal.
I went into the GMAT today expecting a score around 700 (+/-20). But it was not to be. I ended up with a score marginally better than my previous attempt: 640.
The biggest shocker was my quant score. I was expecting at least 40 in quant but my quant score came out even lower than my previous attempt (35 vs. 37) which is what doesn't make any sense to me. I feel I know a lot more quant than I did in my previous attempt and felt Magoosh helped me with my quant but getting a score even lower than my previous attempt is something I still can't comprehend. Whereas on the verbal side, my score jumped from 38 to 42 and I barely spent any time preparing for verbal.
I just don't understand what happened. I'm pretty sure if I did another practice test, I'd score at least 40 in quant. On the test, I felt I was getting questions right but I kept on getting really easy questions so obviously something wasn't right. I really don't know what to make of this and what to do going forward. Do I even have a shot at my target programs with a score such as this (especially the low quant score?)
Needless to say, I'm pretty dejected and feel kinda lost. Not sure what the right way ahead is. My target schools are European 1-year programs such as IE, ESADE, SDA Bocconi.
Should I even consider another retake? If so, how do I prepare to ensure the quant section doesn't pull down my score again?
As the title says- help? Please?
05 Oct 2015, 19:02
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi GhostA,
I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. 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.
If you can answer a few questions, then we should be able to figure this out:
When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you take any of these CATs more than once?
A 640 is still a solid score, even with the lower Quant Scaled Score. Since you know which Schools you're interested in, and you've now scored in the low 600s twice, you might want to discuss your profile and options with an Admissions Expert before you decide whether or not to retake the GMAT. There's a Forum full of them here:
ask-admission-consultants-124/
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. 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.
If you can answer a few questions, then we should be able to figure this out:
When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you take any of these CATs more than once?
A 640 is still a solid score, even with the lower Quant Scaled Score. Since you know which Schools you're interested in, and you've now scored in the low 600s twice, you might want to discuss your profile and options with an Admissions Expert before you decide whether or not to retake the GMAT. There's a Forum full of them here:
ask-admission-consultants-124/
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
05 Oct 2015, 19:09
Kudos
Bookmarks
GhostA
This is exactly the kind of situation in which students should keep going (if they want a higher score). Firstly, don't focus on calling this a retake and asking yourself whether you should retake again. Going "I took the exam again. Should I take it again, again?" isn't particularly helpful here. I've gone through your other thread, and your practice test scores seem to be significantly higher this time around. If I were you, I'd just be asking myself whether that 35 is representative of what I'm capable of, and whether I need a higher score.
For what it's worth, I think that if you can get a 42 on verbal, you can definitely do better than a 35 on quant. I don't believe that some people are just not cut out for quant or that they are just amazing at verbal. Take a hard look at the questions you've been solving. Ask yourself whether you need to work harder on your concepts. If you do, and you want to take the GMAT again, put that effort in. You've gone through the "Share GMAT Experience" section, and you already know the answer to whether everyone gets his or her target score within two attempts.
