700 far cry!

Question

I am completely baffled and disappointed. I have been practising regularly and attempting as many GMAT club problems as possible and doing OG. Just gave another Kaplan Practise Test and got a 570. Just don't understand that. I can't be that stupid. 

I am completely disappointed, seems like a months hard work everything has gone down the drain...I can't reach the 700 level after such a lot of practise. Timing wrong, verbal which I consider my strong point messed up...everything just dismal. Quants miserably failed in DS. 

Can someone suggest a method of approach I should adopt. I am really at a loss here. Hong Hu, thanks for your advice earlier this afternoon, but really now some serious action needs to be taken...but right now i am thinking this really might not be worth it at all and I can't crack the 700 plus range in 2 weeks. 

Any input appreciated. 

Failing to Believe in my abilities anymore.

Hjort · Answer

The worst thing that you can do now is to lose confidence in yourself. As you well know from reading this website, Kaplan practice tests tend to underpredict performance on the actual exam. We collectively are here to help you.

Hjort

ChallengeMaker · Answer

Kaplan scores are not representative of your true GMAT ability. Add at least 100 points

HongHu · Answer

Bozo, you need to know why you didn't get a score that you expected. If you still don't understand why, then yes you've got a problem. Right now you are focusing on the WRONG thing. The score is NOT important. Yes, it is NOT important. What is important is your performance on the test. You need to analyze it. Timing is wrong? Why? Did you forget to check your timing? Did you know you were out of time but you just couldn't finish your questions faster? Where could you squeeze more time? Verbal messed up? Which part? Is it RC, CR, or SC? Which is your strong point? Did you do badly for the ones you felt strong because you were careless? Lack of concentration? Could not calm yourself down when you were under pressure? Or did you do consistently badly on certain areas? What can you do to improve those areas? Quantitive failed on DS? Why? Is it because you were careless when you were rushing yourself? Or is it because you just didn't grasp the concept? Or that you didn't even know how to solve the problem? Were the questions you did wrong concentrated in certain areas? How can you crack those areas? 

Complaining that you can't be that stupid or doubting your own ability is not the way to go. You need to be more detail oriented. If you think the test score doesn't reflect your level of intelligence you need to know why. Doing lots of practise aimlessly is also NOT the way to go. If you don't know what you are working on, it's not going to work for you even if you work yourself to death.

Stop thinking about scores and get working on the details! Analyze your test and go from there. Two weeks is not long, but it is still sufficient for you to get yourself together and find the angle that will make you perform out your best ability.

I took a PP test before I studied OG and a PP test after I studied OG for two weeks. I got a lower score in the second test. Did I panic and think that all my hard work in the past two week was wasted? No. I analyzed my test and found that I've got seven RC answers wrong, which is what I believed to be my strong point. And I knew exactly what happened. I knew my state of mind when I read those two passages. I knew that what killed me for those questions was my lack of concentration at the end of the test. And I tried hard and was able to maintain my level of concentration in the real test. This is how I treated my practise test. 

Right now what you need is not words of symphathy. It is a sharp stab for you to know what is wrong. You don't have a lot of time to lose. Leave the sulking till two weeks later. You can do it! Trust yourself and show them that you can do it.

bozo190101 · Answer

Thanks for your words Hjort. I wil focus on problem areas and come up with a good plan of action.

bozo190101 · Answer

Thanks a ton Hong. What you say makes more sense. There is no time to lose. I took a long look at the test and will post again so that some people also get some take home from it. 

My problem areas: 

Quants:
1. Take too much in the first 12 questions. I tried to follow the 
12-50
24-25
37-0 
rule and it worked better than before but analysing I spent way too much time in the first few infact 5 minutes on a probability and then guessed. That messed up questions that came later and because I was rushed I could'nt solve them calmly. 

Verbal:
I started with the nagging feeling that I had done badly and felt like quitting the test but went on, Kaplan CRs are weird but some I couldn't focus correctly on and wasted time there. 

SC i got some key concepts wrong. RC I didnt focus well and lacked concentration. My mind frame for entire test was slow and I was sluggish wtih the nagging thought of having messed quant. 

You are correct there is no time to waste but set a good goal and plan of action and study thoroughly key concepts that I am struggling with. I believe CR and SC are my strong points but I will need to clear some concepts. 

I can't time off from work since I am working with some bad deadlines but I will have to manage time effectively and focus on the problem areas and work towards improving that. 

POA:
1. Verbal: Revisit Error log, havn't and analyse mistakes the first time round and focus on concepts. 
2. Quants: Focus on timed tests to develop speed. Tackle DS and Algebra for some time with extra caution. There aren't any problems I don't have a solution for. Its just that I make a lot of silly mistakes under the time constraint. I think that is becoming the key problem area. 

ANy other advice on how I should approach this? 
Hong, will also revisit the test again this evening and take a long hard look through the questions you suggested. 

Thanks for all your help. This forum is really awesome. 

Bozo

HongHu · Answer

That is a great post bozo. I belive you've got some key points.

Timing: Yes you are very right. Don't spend 5 minutes on one question, especially in the beginning. I know some people say that you should try to do all the first 10 question correct but if it means you are rushing through the rest of the test it may not be worth it. I would spend 3 minutes on an occasional question if my timing has been good, but if there is a question that I feel I just have no clue I would try the POE route to narrow my choices and make a guess.

Take the break between Math and Verbal. Clear your mind. Forget how you did for math and refocus yourself to the upcoming session. Drink some caffeinated soft drinks.

Calm yourself down.

You are on the right track. Good luck!

Calm yourself down. You are on the right track. Good luck!

bozo190101 · Answer

I tried that with the score estimator and thats what it indicated.

FN · Answer

Bozo.....Kap tests are not really a good measure of the real test, agreed their quant is harder than the actual test, their verbal is just meant to throw you off!

but I will tell you the key is, staying focused! I took my Kaplan CATs and here is my breakdown

1st =450 (missed 15 questions on quant and 10 on verbal)
2nd =580 (missed 10 questions on quant and finished verbal, scored 41 on verbal, ~94%)
3rd=700 (missed 2 questions on quant finished verbal scored 37~87%)
4th=630 (misseed 7-8 questions on quant and did OK on verbal)
key was I knew I was distracted in my test, I wasnt focused, and took touch much time 7 min on a quant problem....) knowing this I messed up verbal as well, frustrated with my quant)
5th=700 (finished quant and verbal) also, this test I gave in the actual test site, (part of kaplan offer)I had a few repeat questions on quant, but overall I did not spend over 2 mins on any given problem<---key...knowing that I finished my quant, my verbal was good llike 87th percentile.

As a rule of thumb, try to finish your sections, dont leave any questions unanswered, very important, even if you have avg quant skills and you finish the section, you should score close to 80% on quant, I think you and I have a common strength in verbal, lots of people are actually weak in verbal so you can drastically up your score by focusing more on verbal.

My strategy is not to learn math or verbal here....just to score good on my GMAT, so I focus on my strength and perfect those and then try to address some of my obvious weaknesses...but other than that, I am not going to sit and learn all the probability theories, not worth 2 or 3 questions, as long as I can score near the 80% on quant, I probably wont see any tough probability questions at this level, and then do well on verbal I can score good on gmat...score above 700!

bozo190101 · Answer

Thanks a ton for the good analysis. I completely agree Timing and then letting go of what has happened in the previous test is the most important part. 

At the end of it I think it is a mind game..so i tell myself..."The more tense you are the more they are going to benefit. So it is to your advantage to be calm and cool."

Nailing the timing is critical for me I believe. 

Will keep you posted. When are you taking the test?

Thanks for the advice. Feels awesome that the community out there is so strong to support and guide people like me through this. Simply restores my faith in the basic goodness of humanity.

	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

700 far cry!

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards