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atinder
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Hi,

I recently took the GMAT and scored an embarrassing 540!

I had practiced with 6 Manhattan full length mock tests prior to which I completed the OG as well. In those tests I consistently scored between 630-670! I was expecting atleast 670..

Is it that I need to take more mock tests or am I just not good enuf for GMAT?

Cheers
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tdotmba
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atinder
Hi,

I recently took the GMAT and scored an embarrassing 540!

I had practiced with 6 Manhattan full length mock tests prior to which I completed the OG as well. In those tests I consistently scored between 630-670! I was expecting atleast 670..

Is it that I need to take more mock tests or am I just not good enuf for GMAT?

Cheers
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Did you take any official GMAT Prep tests? Those Manhattan CATs are challenging but not necessarily representative of what you can expect on test day.

Other than that it could be a lot of other things -- were your nerves acting up? Were you exhausted by the end of the test? (When you did your mock tests, did you do the AWA and IR sections as well? If not, then doing those sections on the real test affects your endurance).

I'm not sure what your V and Q breakdowns were during your mock tests but I expect that if your numbers were wildly off of the GMAT Prep tests then this has to do with timing / anxiety. A second attempt is worth it for sure!

When you think about it, what do you have to lose except $250? You'll probably get a better score if you schedule it 31 days from now and only do light studying, let alone push hard.

That's my two cents.
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atinder
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tdotmba

Thanks for the reply buddy!

I did not take any GMAT Prep mocks.

My V & Q fluctuated between 31-35 and 41-45 respectively for the 6 mocks.

When I took the mocks I did attempt the AWA everytime and IR in a couple of tests. Unlike most other competitive exams I was quite relaxed during the entire exam. I became exhausted or rather shocked only after seeing the results at the end of the exam.

I guess a second try is definitely worth it!

Thanks for the revert :)
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atinder

Take a look at your enhanced score report. Perhaps that can shed some light on what may have happened in the exam.
See this gmatclub post: enhanced-gmat-score-reports-coming-feb-190168.html

And the official GMAT CATs are the most reliable as far as predicting your actual score. I generally don't trust third party GMAT CATs.

Cheers,
Dabral
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mdlyman
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Hi there,

Don't give up. I had a very similar experience. I thought I was doing well on my CAT exams and thought that the real GMAT wouldn't be much different. But on test day I scored 590; well below my norm. See here - https://gmatclub.com/forum/test-is-on-saturday-talk-me-off-the-ledge-190215.html

From there I did a lot of quant review (as my quant section really hurt me on my test day). I did every quant problem 2-3+ times in the OG until I could solve every problem in under 1:30. I made note of any specific problems or principles that I struggled with so that I knew where to work.

I took some more practice CATs and saw my score improve more, so I was pretty pleased. On my retake I scored 660, which was a little lower than I was hoping, but I was very pleased because I honestly thought that I had done worse on my 2nd attempt than my 1st while I was taking the exam.

For me, I ran into timing problems which caused me to start freaking out. I feel that I try to be very careful on the real exams, and this just drains my clock. So my main advice would be to try your best to relax and stay calm. If I was able to do this, I probably would have scored higher. But I'm content and happy with a 70 point increase. So keep your hopes up and just work towards a retake.

Best of luck,
MDL
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atinder
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mdlyman
Hi there,

Don't give up. I had a very similar experience. I thought I was doing well on my CAT exams and thought that the real GMAT wouldn't be much different. But on test day I scored 590; well below my norm. See here -

From there I did a lot of quant review (as my quant section really hurt me on my test day). I did every quant problem 2-3+ times in the OG until I could solve every problem in under 1:30. I made note of any specific problems or principles that I struggled with so that I knew where to work.

I took some more practice CATs and saw my score improve more, so I was pretty pleased. On my retake I scored 660, which was a little lower than I was hoping, but I was very pleased because I honestly thought that I had done worse on my 2nd attempt than my 1st while I was taking the exam.

For me, I ran into timing problems which caused me to start freaking out. I feel that I try to be very careful on the real exams, and this just drains my clock. So my main advice would be to try your best to relax and stay calm. If I was able to do this, I probably would have scored higher. But I'm content and happy with a 70 point increase. So keep your hopes up and just work towards a retake.

Best of luck,
MDL
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Thanks MDL !

I plan to take atleast 15 additional mocks this time around...after 5-7 mocks I shall schedule my second test date..in the meantime I will implement your idea of solving OG questions within stipulated time frames...

Unlike most of my previous competitive exams I have been able to stay calm and composed...I guess my verbal skills need polishing..

Hoping 2nd time is the charm :)

Cheers & all the best for your admission process!
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