Taking the GMAT Prep exam the day before the official GMAT

Thanks both to the reply. My exam is tomorrow. I listenned to your advice. So, yeah, I have basically spent my day revising formulas, grammar rules and just doing tough questions to get into the mindset I need to be to answer questions correctly tomorrow. Let's see how it goes! I plan on taking it again at the end of May since I want to raise my score no matter what to a 750

Hi vmelgargalan,

You should plan to post back here with your Official Score tomorrow. We can then discuss what it means and how you might continue to study.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hello Rich,

Well, this GMAT clearly did NOT go as I intended. I had a dreadful examination to be honest.

First of all, I was doing great in the Quantitive section. I got the first 10 questions right (or most of them) and I could tell that the questions I was getting were above my average level. (I was getting questions that were normally too challenging for me). Thus, I was spending too much time in them. When I was in question 26 I realized that I only had 18 minutes left to answer the remaining 15 questions. This was a '****, I am screwed,' kind of moment. Basically the next 15 questions I guessed a total of 3. They were level 700 questions, two of which I could have solved if I had time and the last one I would have taken me 10 minutes alone to solve.

Then I got into the Verbal. I was hoping to score at least a 36-40 in this section. The first 10 questions come and towards the end I get bold statement questions which I heard you get if you are doing well at an advanced level. So I assume I am doing right. The first RC I get was a long one. Then the second one comes by. I read it and didn't realise that I could scroll down to see the last paragraph (with all the blue in the screen, nerves, etc... and the text perfectly fitting into the image I didn't realise). So I anwer the 'meaning of the passage question' and another one related to that last paragraph. Then the last question comes which is directly related to this last paragraph. I check and I am like 'what is this even talking about.' So I see that I could actually scroll down and there was one extra paragraph. This is a ****, FML, moment, when I realize I got two more questions wrong, and I can't go back to fix it. Anyway, I keep doing verbal, which I only finished 3 minutes ahead (I normally finished in practice exams 10-15 minutes early). Overall, I was getting really tough SC questions, but I was not for CR and SC. I knew I blew it.

Overall I got a 620. 46Q and 29V. I was expecting to get that in quantitive but I was 8-10 points away from my target score in verbal. I am very disappointed with myself. Maybe time to reconsider, and put in the effort to study for more than two weeks.

Now comes the push to improve....

Hi vmelgargalan,

Now that we have this Official GMAT Score to use as a basis for comparison, we can discuss how to proceed with your studies. You've defined your score goal (750), but it's worth noting that no Business School actually requires a score that high - thus, the score that you 'want' and the score that you 'need' are not the same thing. This is meant to say that while we can certainly work towards that goal, it won't be a requirement for you to apply to Business School. Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for regarding your studies, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) How have you scored on each of your practice CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

Goals:
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
5) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hello Rich,

1. I studied maybe 1 hour a day for 3 weeks prior to this last week where I was studying from dawn to dusk. I reckon in total I must ahve put in 100-130 hours of true revision.
2. I only used the Manhattan GMAT course books, read through them once, and then I used all the available questions and data in GMATClub.
3. I took the GMATPrep a week before the exam and gota 570, I took another test, actually forgot which one, and got a 510.. I took a Veritas Test and got a 630 that the next day. I got quite lucky in my opinion as I did really well in verbal and scored a V35 and Q41. At the time of 500s I hadn't memorized the formulas or grammar rules so I knew I was under performing. After those test I knew I could blow it and get below a 600 in GMAT. But to be honest by the type of answers I was doing right I could tell my Q score was around the 44-47 level. (I got a 46, and not higher only because I had to guess more than 3 questions I could have solved due to time management issues). In terms of verbal i felt very strongly prepare for SC, even though I only revised two days. I am sure I did very well there as I understand most of the theory and what to look for. I was getting sentence correction questions that involved understanding the meaning so I assume that saved my poor performance in RC and CR.

Here is where the issues come:

1. I am applying actually this week to my MiM programs. I am staying in Europe, within Germany, as I want to learn and be fluent in German by the end of my masters. I am applying to WHU, HHL leipzig, Mannheim, EBS, and Cologne for the CEMS MiM. The minimum requirement for all these schools is 600, so I got it, but I know the average ranges from 640-680 in most of them. So I need to improve. I know they let me provide a GMAT score until June, so hopefully I can contact the universities and ask if they will consider my application with a future GMAT score.
2. My goals are actually to get a 750 because I want to apply for a scholarship this year, and after my masters and two years in consulting I want to do an MBA ideally in a top US business school or LBS, Cambridge or Oxford. So I know I need at least to get a score over a 720 to achieve it, so I do not have to retake the GMAT and I can focus on improving other aspects of my profile the next four years.

Thanks for your help,
Valentin

Hi Valentin,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so the fact that you spent so little time studying (by comparison) and still scored 620 shows that you're a fairly strong critical thinker. To raise a 620 to a 750+ will require that you make some significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections though. That work will likely take at least another 2-3 months of consistent, guided study - and you will likely need to invest in some new GMAT study materials.

Before you commit to any particular Study Plan though, it would make sense for you to contact each of the Schools that you've listed and confirm whether they will accept an 'updated' GMAT Score at a later date (or not). Your broader plans almost certainly require a higher GMAT score than a 620, but it would be helpful to know if there are any additional deadlines to consider (so that we can talk through the most efficient options for your continued study).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

you have two exams. DO one about a week before and do the other a day or two before. You should also do other practice exams. There are many free ones out there. Manhattan / Veritas / Economist etc all offer practice exams that you can use. But to be specific, the "final" practice exam you take should ideally be the GMATPrep one as it's the closest to the real one. It is a bit easier though, so don't get your hopes up toooo high. I think they make it a bit easier so that you feel disappointed after the proper exam (if it doesn't go as well) and then you decided to give it again. They are real swines!

Hello Rich,

I contacted most of the universities. They will consider me with the score as I did get a score above the minimum requirements. In the application form I can inform them that I will be resitting the GMAT, so that they keep that in mind. Other universities have given me a deadline of the 30th of April to retake the GMAT. That gives me four weeks and a half to improve from a 620 to at least a 700 (750 will be a too far of a stretch for a month).

Thankfully I just finished my current position so I will be devoting most of my time to the GMAT.

Yeah, I felt that the GMAT Prep was way easier. Especially the verbal section. Great GMAT scores, any advice?

Thanks, yeah I put up a post recently. As I say in the post, I think one can boost their score by employing a whole bunch of small 'tricks'. Good luck!
https://gmatclub.com/forum/from-740-q50 ... 37066.html

Great advice. Definitely assigning ABCDE to the fingers is a great way to save up time. I definetely spent way too much time in questions in this exam compared with practice exam. In maths I spen too much in the first ten questions (i think i only got 1 wrong, because I kind of realized this and I was down to two options so I just guessed). And then when I got to question 26 with 18 minutes left I just guessed 3-4 which definetely dropped my score by a lot.

In Verbal I got nervous and didnt scroll down for one RC and I missed a whole paragraph. The text perfectly fitted into the screen, and I feel quite silly getting three questions wrong which definetely tanked my score 5-6 points. Nerves can really get to you.

I am not a the level you are but I do want to get a 750 in the GMAT so hopefully your small tips will be helpful in improving from a 700-750 which I assume will be a huge jump when compared to going fro ma 620 to 700.