Disappointing 610 (Q43, V31)

Question

Hi,

I scored disastrous 610 today. Still coming out of the shock. 
I've been preparing for last three months. I used OG 11, 12, OG review and all Manhattan guides for preparation

Tests taken (in that order )

Gmat prep 1 610 (Q42, V33)

Kaplan 1 550 (Q39, V25) , 
Kaplan 2 540 (Q38, V21) , 
Kaplan 3 620 (Q40, V35) , 
Kaplan 4 580 (Q39, V31)

Princeton Review
Test 1 660 (Q46, V36), 
Test 2 600 (Q41, V32), 
Test 3 620 (Q41, V35), 
Test 4 640 (Q46, V30)

GMAT prep 1 660 (Q49, V31)

MGMAT 1 620 (Q42, V31), 
MGMAT 2 660 (Q46, V34), 
MGMAT 3 700 (Q45, V40), 
MGMAT 4 670 (Q45, V36), 
MGMAT 5 680 (Q47, V35), 
MGMAT 6 700 (Q47, V38)

GMAT prep 2 690 (Q50, V33)

GMAT prep 1 (new gmat) 710 (Q49, V38) >> 2 days before actual GMAT)

Actual GMAT 610 (Q43, V31)

Test experience: 
- AWA went well. I wrote 6 paras each. Both issue and argument came from mba.com's pdf.
- Did not take first break.
- Quants started ok, but then I got many co-ordinate geometry questions. Not out of the world, but tough ones. 
- After that I started becoming more and more anxious and I guess I made lot of mistakes in DS.
- I took break after quants section. Had couple of oreos. Stretched. But I was very worried as the quants did not go so well.
- Verbal started with series of SC. Simple RCs. 3 of 4 were scientific. 
- Many CR questions had similar argument as old OG questions, but different question stem.
- In every CR two answer options very very close to each other and I guess I chose the wrong one every time.
- SC questions were more inclined towards meaning and conciseness than grammar.

And finally the 610.

I don't understand what went wrong. The test center was very good. No external factor is involved in this low score. I guess I got too anxious and nervous during the test. I'm very sad that I disappointed myself and those who thought I would do good.

Personal opinion:

New GMAT prep software does not contain any new questions.
Questions in actual GMAT were much more twisted that those in OG or gmatprep.
Manhattan SC is way more structured (easy to spot errors) than the actual test.

I'm definitely planning for next attempt. Any advice/suggestion is welcome.

Thanks!

mikemcgarry · Answer

Hi, there. I'm happy to add my two cents.

First of all, it does sound like nerves and anxiety really got the better of you. I'd like to recommend three blog articles I wrote on this topic. a) https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/overcome-g ... y-breathe/ b) https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/beating-gmat-stress/ c) https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/the-gmat-b ... g-picture/ In addition to all the Quantitative & Verbal practice, you also need to practice stress reduction techniques so anxiety doesn't sting you again on your next GMAT. It sounds like you have exhausted many other avenues. I would suggest checking out Magoosh. We have +200 lesson videos --- much of the content may already be familiar, but I suspect you will find a number of time-saving strategies among these lessons. Here's a free video presenting one simple strategy: https://gmat.magoosh.com/lessons/311-dou ... nd-halving We have 800+ GMAT questions, each with it's own video explanation. For example, here's a free RC question. https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1229 When you submit your answer, the following page will have the video explanation. I hope all that helps. Please let me know if you have any questions. Mike

piyatiwari · Answer

Thank Mike. I'll definitely consider this.

rajeevrks27 · Answer

Hey Piya, Sorry to hear about ur score, rather i am surprised too because i was considering you to be a strong contender for around 700...I suppose rather than the concepts/ knowledge, it's the anxiety that brought ur score down.
Any particular reason for not taking the optional first break? I guess probably you never felt the need for it. 
You have scope for improvement in both quant and verbal. All the very best and book ur next date only when you are consistently scoring 30-40 pts above ur target score so that even if the anxiety plays ny role again, still you beat the exam comfortably.
Good luck.

piyatiwari · Answer

Hey Rajeev,

Thanks for the kind words. You are right, I never felt the need of taking first break. AWA went well, so I continued. When I saw some weird math questions, I freaked out. This is not me. I never get so nervos. Probably thats the beauty of GMAT, brings out the best and the worst in you.

I'm much better now, working on next game plan.

rajeevrks27 · Answer

Good luck to you as you start preparing again and i look forward to ur next debrief that says From 610 to 700-750+
All the best, turn ur weaknesses to ur strengths and win will be urs. I am talking in very general terms however, you must formulate a detailed, specific and practical plan for urself.

AbhiJ · Answer

"The question you should ask yourselves is: Am I willing to do whatever it takes, even after falling 3 times, to get the score that I want? If your answer is no, that's fine. If you're answer is yes, I look forward to reading your debrief once you cross that hurdle. It's a great feeling to see all of the hard work and sacrafice pay off. Continue to work hard becuase if you don't, there will be someone like me steadily gaining ground on you. We have the potential to knock this test, but sometimes it takes a person who began at the very bottom to succeed for us to realize it. Go after your dreams TMians."

Quoted from:

https://www.urch.com/forums/just-finishe ... -95-a.html

Its not about how hard we can hit but rather how hard we can get hit and keep moving, keep moving.

_________________

The question is not can you rise up to iconic! The real question is will you ?

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AbhiJ · Answer

Its possible that co-ordinate geometry affected your score, it happened for one guy who improved by 50 points just by rewriting the exam.

Now coming to your preparation, you seem to have given way too many tests: 16. Could you review each test thoroughly meaning spending 4 hours analyzing your mistakes, categorizing and reviewing them. Are you sure that if you had answer any of the question you missed you could answer them correctly.

When we start giving tests we have a certain level, giving 5-10 tests will improve our performance but only upto a certain point. To improve further we have to go back to the basics. At Q45-Q46 you still can improve till Q49- Q50.

For verbal you can try Grockit(monthly subscription) /e-GMAT.

For quant would suggest you to buy individual advanced sets for troublesome topic like Co-ordinate Geometry/Statistics from Jeff Sackmann.

After you are done with these you can do one of the following:
MGMAT Advanced Quant
GMAT Boost.

rsampson · Answer

I feel your pain... I had a similar experience about 6 weeks ago. Although, I do not think that I was overly nervous. Like you, I feel that many of the problems on the real test were twisted as compared to my practice questions. So, what that means for both of us is that we are not grounded sufficiently in the fundamentals. We both need to get better at the fundamentals.

Regarding being nervous, if you were in a sword fight with someone you should not be thinking about what happened 5 minutes ago. Your only thought is your sword and his sword and nothing else. Likewise, during the test your only thought should be on the question that you are working right now. Nothing else matters...

Finally, listen to Rajeev. He knows what he is talking about.

I am taking his advice and that is what I plan to do. Don't worry, we will make it!

DataAce1701 · Answer

Hi Piya,

I read your experience and wanted to share some of my experiences while studying for the GMAT.

Verbal:

RC: The Manhattan Book is good since its the only one which gives a structured approach to tackling RCs

CR: The Powerscore CR Bible seems to be the best, you could study from this book and practice from 1000CR

SC: Manhattan GMAT is good but use it for reference. DO NOT make it your primary study material. I personally found a lot of value in e-gmat SC course. You could perhaps try it out. It has LOTS of practice questions and teaches concepts in an easily understood manner.

Quant: 
Practice practice and then even more practice but only after you are comfortable with the concepts in the 5 Manhattan books

Cheers
G2

SouthCity · Answer

Hi there,

cheer up. I normally do not post but your score 610 immediately catch my attention.

Two days back I appeared the test and scored 610 (Q49 and V23) I just didn't believe this.

Now as I am out of shock and gather courage to reply your post, here are some pointers that went against me.

1) Unlike you I held my nerves high throughout the test, took 8 minute breaks as planned, was calm and steady
2) Just like any other Indian, Quants is my strength and I could complete the test 6 minutes to spare...Next time will be more careful to hit 50/51 mark
3) I am awful in verbal from the beginning. But never got score less than 31 in any test including Manhattan tests, GMAT preps albeit the diagnostic Gmatprep 1 scored 27 -but in the real test I ended up in 23 - Will ask for expert opinion in this forum

Thanks

Southcity

Kunal3333 · Answer

Controlling anxiety and nerves is very difficult in CAT exams since u cannot fall back to question or choose and pace urself. IN GMAT couple of times I have failed myself in similar manner, my suggestion is that it is expectation that drives a person nervous not the exam. So like we take in cricket to target the score before going to exam just go and give ur best shot on the given day, don't believe that score which u see in the practice can be very much what u will get in exam.

Easy to say to difficult to do but study for big and give the exam with no expectations on mind u will might just see the scores improving as most of ur energy will utilized to solve questions and not in controlling ur anxiety.

arkle · Answer

I gave GMAT today.Not that I was expecting a 770 today,but,I share the same pain,when I say Math was really tough.I have never seen a Math test loaded with 4 Probablity questions,One Probablity with DS,One Parabola and Hyperbola Question,Circles mixed with Coordinate Geometry,squares upto 63 and bunch of other number properties.I mean that easy GMAT style question never met the eye.
I always scored Q46 and above in all my tests,including GMATPrep,but it was incredibly shameful to score a Q38 today.
I have a hunch that GMAC has started selective testing for Indian Students by making harder than average Math Exam and also presenting them problems like "If Vasundhara takes 3 hrs to travel from Delhi to Agra" which happened with me today.I gave the exam in NYC.
It was frustrating not to have sufficient time to solve Quant section,leave alone English!

SouthCity · Answer

Arkle...

I agree Actual GMAT math is slightly harder than GMAT Prep...To second to your point I got 3 probability question (2 DS) and 3 co-ordinate geometry question (1 DS) with circles...But I will say...parabola related questions will be a experimental question...even I got a question with 64 squares...can be the same question also that you got... its all about mixing concepts and testing the nerves....

To my bad verbal experience, I got two idiom questions where I am not able to decide between one I remember ...something of or for.... even if GMAC widely reports that they are phasing out idioms...Not true in my opinion

cheers if you are retaking the test

arkle · Answer

Southcity,

I couldn't agree with you more.I felt like I am taking GMAT Club tests in my actual GMAT...I am frustrated because the exam was different from what I was expecting.There was simply not enough time in Quant.

In verbal,Idioms are definitely there.I think they are phasing Idioms out but right now you can get 2-3 Idioms questions.Also,CR was really close.I got Boldface CR as my 5th question...One concept was about "intermediate conclusion" which I was not aware about.So,again time played a major role here...

I agree that my verbal is very weak but couple of takeaways from GMAT Quant...

1.Squares till 40,cubes till 12 and tables till 20 are must.
2.Number Properties with DS is the ultimate decider.
3.Mix GMAT Club tests with your easy OG-12 questions while preparing.
4.Probability,functions,P and C,Geometry with Ratios are some questions which can't be ignored.

Anything else I am missing.Let me know.

closed271 · Answer

Reading such experiences scares the hell out of me. I panic during tests, and more so during standardized tests. Though I have not timed myself yet for a whole test or a section, I have timed the individual quantitative questions on gmatclub: the time to solve problems taking disappointingly long

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear closed271 , Your post was a couple months ago, so I hope this advice is still relevant ---- First of all, it's vitally important to do essentially all your GMAT practice against a clock. See this blog: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/pacing-and ... -the-gmat/ In particular, math is hard because many GMAT math problems are designed to be frustrating to someone who approaches them in a traditional taught-in-high-school approach. Many of these question could be solved in, say 4-5 minutes (i.e. way too long), using a traditional approach, but if one sees the simplifying shortcut, the insight, then one can solve it in under 30 seconds. It's very important to study these insightful solutions as you work --- if you are an extremely left-brain, logical, organized, linear person, then it will take some practice to have the out-of-the-box right-brain insights that will open these problems up. Here's a GRE blog I wrote that touches on these themes: https://magoosh.com/gre/2012/how-to-do-gre-math-faster/ Finally, having any aspect of the GMAT scare the bejeebers out of you is not conducive to deep learning and exam success. I strongly recommend this series on reducing GMAT-related stress: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/overcome-g ... y-breathe/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/beating-gmat-stress/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/the-gmat-b ... g-picture/ Let me know if you have any questions. Mike :-)

rajeevrks27 · Answer

@mikemcgarry.....the thread starter is going to babson
congrats priyanka!!!!

mikemcgarry · Answer

Fantastic! Congratulations, Priyanka! Mike :-)

piyatiwari · Answer

Thanks guys! I thank you all for the support and words of wisdom! Can't thank GMATclub enough!

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