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harora98
Joined: 11 Feb 2022
Last visit: 11 Dec 2024
Posts: 11
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 52
Location: India
Schools: ISB '25 (S)
GMAT 1: 630 Q46 V30
GPA: 7.5
WE:Design (Retail: E-commerce)
13 Jul 2022, 02:18
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi, fellow GMAT-takers 
A little insight about my GMAT journey so far :
I had started prepping in March'22 by signing up for the e-gmat course (initially for 2 months, but have been extending it by 1 month each ever since May).
I scored a 410 (Q29, V19) on my first diagnostic quiz, for which I attempted the Official GMAC Practice Test 1 (in February).
Post this score, I've been prepping for 4 months now (putting in an average of 22 hours a week).
My mock scores during this preparation journey have been fluctuating from 520 to 640.
Mock 1 (Diagnostic - February) : 410 Q29 V 19
Mock 2 (May) : 530 Q37 V26
Mock 3 (June) : 560 Q43 V24
Mock 4 (July) : 600 Q46 V27
Mock 5 (July) : 640 Q47 V31
Along the same lines, I was hopeful to be able to score in the same range of my mock scores when I booked my first attempt for yesterday (i.e. 12 July).
However, the entire exam went downhill. I scored a meagre 460 (Q42, V13). My order of attempt was Quant > Verbal.
On introspection, I realised it was the exam anxiety that got to me terribly.
I felt that I had messed up my Quant attempt during the exam (I was crunched up on time and was rechecking each question solution twice). This led to extreme stress during my Verbal attempt (which, contrary to the score, I thought had gone better than Quant).
This is why I am here, to seek some guidance - as to what can be my further course of action to enhance this score and stretch it to 700+.
A terribly low score in my first attempt (starkly less than my mock scores, indeed) has not only left me disheartened but also worried as to how/if I can even reach my target score.
-Harshita
A little insight about my GMAT journey so far :
I had started prepping in March'22 by signing up for the e-gmat course (initially for 2 months, but have been extending it by 1 month each ever since May).
I scored a 410 (Q29, V19) on my first diagnostic quiz, for which I attempted the Official GMAC Practice Test 1 (in February).
Post this score, I've been prepping for 4 months now (putting in an average of 22 hours a week).
My mock scores during this preparation journey have been fluctuating from 520 to 640.
Mock 1 (Diagnostic - February) : 410 Q29 V 19
Mock 2 (May) : 530 Q37 V26
Mock 3 (June) : 560 Q43 V24
Mock 4 (July) : 600 Q46 V27
Mock 5 (July) : 640 Q47 V31
Along the same lines, I was hopeful to be able to score in the same range of my mock scores when I booked my first attempt for yesterday (i.e. 12 July).
However, the entire exam went downhill. I scored a meagre 460 (Q42, V13). My order of attempt was Quant > Verbal.
On introspection, I realised it was the exam anxiety that got to me terribly.
I felt that I had messed up my Quant attempt during the exam (I was crunched up on time and was rechecking each question solution twice). This led to extreme stress during my Verbal attempt (which, contrary to the score, I thought had gone better than Quant).
This is why I am here, to seek some guidance - as to what can be my further course of action to enhance this score and stretch it to 700+.
A terribly low score in my first attempt (starkly less than my mock scores, indeed) has not only left me disheartened but also worried as to how/if I can even reach my target score.
-Harshita
13 Jul 2022, 05:08
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi harora98.
I realize scoring so much lower on the GMAT than you have on your practice tests wasn't fun, but from what you said, it appear that you mostly just blew the test by taking too much time rechecking your quant questions and then letting your concerns about your quant performance affect your verbal performance. So, a key move you need to make is to take more practice tests, both official and third-party tests, to get better at handling the test experience.
Also, you could get some ideas on how to handle test anxiety from this post.
How to Eliminate GMAT Test-Day Anxiety
Your other moves are to keep improving in quant and to increase your verbal score significantly, as you said.
To continue to improve in quant, just keep mastering one area of quant at a time by first learning or reviewing the concepts and strategies involved in an area and then practicing by answering questions in that one area until you get them correct consistently.
Regarding verbal, the following two posts discuss in detail the keys to increasing your verbal score.
How to Score High on GMAT Verbal
Three Key Practice Tips for Mastering GMAT Verbal
I realize scoring so much lower on the GMAT than you have on your practice tests wasn't fun, but from what you said, it appear that you mostly just blew the test by taking too much time rechecking your quant questions and then letting your concerns about your quant performance affect your verbal performance. So, a key move you need to make is to take more practice tests, both official and third-party tests, to get better at handling the test experience.
Also, you could get some ideas on how to handle test anxiety from this post.
How to Eliminate GMAT Test-Day Anxiety
Your other moves are to keep improving in quant and to increase your verbal score significantly, as you said.
To continue to improve in quant, just keep mastering one area of quant at a time by first learning or reviewing the concepts and strategies involved in an area and then practicing by answering questions in that one area until you get them correct consistently.
Regarding verbal, the following two posts discuss in detail the keys to increasing your verbal score.
How to Score High on GMAT Verbal
Three Key Practice Tips for Mastering GMAT Verbal
13 Jul 2022, 06:48
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hey Harshita,
I am so sorry to hear that you were not able to match your mock scores on the test – I know how disappointing that can be after you have put in months of work.
Harshita, while this score might seem disappointing, what I can also see is a huge potential for improvement.
Why do I say so?
These scores indicate that there is still a huge potential to fill gaps in both your conceptual knowledge and application skills. You mentioned that you faced difficulty with timing in Quant – this is a symptom of an ability gap, indicating that you need to work on building core process skills.
The important thing here is – these are all skills that you can learn if you immerse yourself into the content. Following the right plan – working on one subsection at a time to reach mastery and building the right test taking skills so you can confidently tackle entire subsections – is a gradual but predictable pathway to reach your target score of 700+.
For Quant – we need to build your skills so that you are not constantly going back and forth between answer choices and have a very clear cut approach towards any GMAT Quant question, whether it be easy, medium or hard difficulty.
For Verbal - to reach a 700+ you need to build your ability to a V38+, which requires work from the ground up for each and every section in Verbal. This attempt does seem like a bit of an anomaly, but you need to go beyond your past mock scores as well.
I would encourage you to get in touch with our Strategy Experts – they are expecting your email at support@e-gmat.com.
Regards,
Rida
Mentor | Strategy Expert
e-GMAT
I am so sorry to hear that you were not able to match your mock scores on the test – I know how disappointing that can be after you have put in months of work.
Harshita, while this score might seem disappointing, what I can also see is a huge potential for improvement.
Why do I say so?
These scores indicate that there is still a huge potential to fill gaps in both your conceptual knowledge and application skills. You mentioned that you faced difficulty with timing in Quant – this is a symptom of an ability gap, indicating that you need to work on building core process skills.
The important thing here is – these are all skills that you can learn if you immerse yourself into the content. Following the right plan – working on one subsection at a time to reach mastery and building the right test taking skills so you can confidently tackle entire subsections – is a gradual but predictable pathway to reach your target score of 700+.
For Quant – we need to build your skills so that you are not constantly going back and forth between answer choices and have a very clear cut approach towards any GMAT Quant question, whether it be easy, medium or hard difficulty.
For Verbal - to reach a 700+ you need to build your ability to a V38+, which requires work from the ground up for each and every section in Verbal. This attempt does seem like a bit of an anomaly, but you need to go beyond your past mock scores as well.
I would encourage you to get in touch with our Strategy Experts – they are expecting your email at support@e-gmat.com.
Regards,
Rida
Mentor | Strategy Expert
e-GMAT
