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AccipiterQ
GMAT 2: 730 Q49 V41
Posts: 144
Updated on: 14 Feb 2014, 14:57
Originally posted by AccipiterQ on 27 Dec 2013, 15:12.
Last edited by AccipiterQ on 14 Feb 2014, 14:57, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by AccipiterQ on 14 Feb 2014, 14:57, edited 1 time in total.
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So I took the GMATs back in early November, didn't go so well, you can see my thread here. It wasn't terrible, got an IR8, V41, AW6, but a Q39. Given that I don't have an extensive financial background that REALLY hurt. I'll post a thorough summary of what I did to improve later tonight, but in the meantime I'm too giddy to type coherently, plus I need to eat, go to the gym, then go out to celebrate over dinner for a bit. But first, here's how the actual exam day went.
So I retook the exam today, and did the same thing to prepare this time; a large breakfast at IHOP, and packed 3 Clif Bars, a banana, a canteen of water, and an apple. I felt like my prep last time was fine, didn't get hungry during the exam, so I kept that the same. I figured all the brain activity uses a lot of glycogen so I wanted to load up on carbs, which is the same thing I did last time. I found during test prep the more intense math left me with a ravenous hunger afterwards; I think we underestimate how much brain activity burns up energy. I got to the test center 15 minutes early, I didn't want to get there too much before hand and let nerves or jitters set in, although I was a bit jittery anyway. Did the whole sign in rigamarole, which honestly since I've done it before was actually a bit reassuring, it was like something I was used to, familiar, before I took the exam. One thing I'd like to note; I find reading the instructions before each section is calming. It gives me a bit of a lead-in, and helps me relax instead of just diving face-first into the section. I said my prayers, and got to work. The AW section was actually probably the hardest one I've seen, if only because I actually largely agreed with the statement. So I had to get creative and find where the argument fell short, and how I would have argued the point better. Not sure if I'll hit a 6 again or not. Next it was off the wonderful land of Integrated Reasoning. I got a LOT of graph questions, which I love. I've always been good with graphing as long as I can remember, so that helped. I'm not sure if IR is adaptive or not, because honestly both times I took it, I didn't feel like the questions got much harder.
So next up was a break, and then the quant section. Last time I took the exam I went over on my break, lost 90 seconds, panicked and just clicked through the first few questions in an effort to catch up. Note to others: DON'T DO THIS. This time I was VERY nervous starting out, even though I didn't go over on the break. Just flashing back to last time I guess. I took 3 minutes on the first question, which wasn't even hard, but I wanted to make sure I got it right. I realized something: If you've studied well, know the material, and know how to manipulate problems then you will find some that only take you 30-45 seconds to solve, and you can catch up on time with these. Still, I really thought I bombed the section this time, thought I was heading for Q35. On DS I ended up with 5 or 6 "E's" which is unheard of I think. Several questions I got an answer very close to one of the given answers, but not quite...I think I was nervous and making arithmetic errors. But more than that, so many of the questions seemed easy. I figured I was getting easy question after easy question wrong which was crushing to my self confidence. I kept thinking "well maybe Q39 will get me in somewhere still" while taking the section. A few questions I looked at, and had STRONG inklings about what the answer was, but didn't know how to prove it out exactly.
So after this I took the break, and actually briefly thought "well schools ask for the highest score you got...what if I do great on the verbal and end up with a higher score but lower quant...should I intentionally bomb the verbal so the score is lower?" I shook that out of my head immediately though, I have too much pride. So I took the verbal section; it is what it is. I got a 47 on every prac exam I took, even after the first real gmat....I've taken 8 pracs, got a 47V every time. I ended up with a 41 on the actual exam, which is the same as last time! So anyway, I get through the verbal, and click through the menus and everything and think "do I even look at the score?" I was going to count it for sure, but I was going to try and avoid even looking at the screen when the score popped up. My finger flinched and I clicked the 'next' button though and the score came up. I let out an audible "wait..what? really??" And immediately raised my hand for the lady to come escort me out of the room. It felt like fooooorever for her to come. I wanted to get the score report at the entrance to make sure I actually got what was on the screen: IR8 V41 Q49 730. My scores were exactly the same as last time, but with 10 points higher on the Q. I ran out of the building in leaps and bounds, got in my car, called someone I'm close to who has been very supportive, and then drove home.
I think I was actually extremely prepared for the Quant section this time, and that's why everything seemed easier. I was so worried that the questions were easy, but a month ago maybe those problems would have seemed hellacious to me. Plus the problems that I had a VERY strong inkling on, I think it was because I could eliminate a couple of answer choices immediately, and even 'rotate' or 'work' the problem logically in my head, even if I didn't know how to put things on paper. I also didn't give up on any questions this time either, no plowing through, I was confident I'd get a few here or there throughout that got me back up on pace.
And I want to say thank you thank you thank you to everyone on all the forums. This has been a wonderful resource and I would not known where to look for the help I needed if it hadn't been for this place.
--------
edit: UPDATE: So far so good; got dinged by HBS, but got admitted to NU, and BU, have an interview coming up with BC, and waiting on MIT. NU offered me 70,000 and BU offered 90,000
So I retook the exam today, and did the same thing to prepare this time; a large breakfast at IHOP, and packed 3 Clif Bars, a banana, a canteen of water, and an apple. I felt like my prep last time was fine, didn't get hungry during the exam, so I kept that the same. I figured all the brain activity uses a lot of glycogen so I wanted to load up on carbs, which is the same thing I did last time. I found during test prep the more intense math left me with a ravenous hunger afterwards; I think we underestimate how much brain activity burns up energy. I got to the test center 15 minutes early, I didn't want to get there too much before hand and let nerves or jitters set in, although I was a bit jittery anyway. Did the whole sign in rigamarole, which honestly since I've done it before was actually a bit reassuring, it was like something I was used to, familiar, before I took the exam. One thing I'd like to note; I find reading the instructions before each section is calming. It gives me a bit of a lead-in, and helps me relax instead of just diving face-first into the section. I said my prayers, and got to work. The AW section was actually probably the hardest one I've seen, if only because I actually largely agreed with the statement. So I had to get creative and find where the argument fell short, and how I would have argued the point better. Not sure if I'll hit a 6 again or not. Next it was off the wonderful land of Integrated Reasoning. I got a LOT of graph questions, which I love. I've always been good with graphing as long as I can remember, so that helped. I'm not sure if IR is adaptive or not, because honestly both times I took it, I didn't feel like the questions got much harder.
So next up was a break, and then the quant section. Last time I took the exam I went over on my break, lost 90 seconds, panicked and just clicked through the first few questions in an effort to catch up. Note to others: DON'T DO THIS. This time I was VERY nervous starting out, even though I didn't go over on the break. Just flashing back to last time I guess. I took 3 minutes on the first question, which wasn't even hard, but I wanted to make sure I got it right. I realized something: If you've studied well, know the material, and know how to manipulate problems then you will find some that only take you 30-45 seconds to solve, and you can catch up on time with these. Still, I really thought I bombed the section this time, thought I was heading for Q35. On DS I ended up with 5 or 6 "E's" which is unheard of I think. Several questions I got an answer very close to one of the given answers, but not quite...I think I was nervous and making arithmetic errors. But more than that, so many of the questions seemed easy. I figured I was getting easy question after easy question wrong which was crushing to my self confidence. I kept thinking "well maybe Q39 will get me in somewhere still" while taking the section. A few questions I looked at, and had STRONG inklings about what the answer was, but didn't know how to prove it out exactly.
So after this I took the break, and actually briefly thought "well schools ask for the highest score you got...what if I do great on the verbal and end up with a higher score but lower quant...should I intentionally bomb the verbal so the score is lower?" I shook that out of my head immediately though, I have too much pride. So I took the verbal section; it is what it is. I got a 47 on every prac exam I took, even after the first real gmat....I've taken 8 pracs, got a 47V every time. I ended up with a 41 on the actual exam, which is the same as last time! So anyway, I get through the verbal, and click through the menus and everything and think "do I even look at the score?" I was going to count it for sure, but I was going to try and avoid even looking at the screen when the score popped up. My finger flinched and I clicked the 'next' button though and the score came up. I let out an audible "wait..what? really??" And immediately raised my hand for the lady to come escort me out of the room. It felt like fooooorever for her to come. I wanted to get the score report at the entrance to make sure I actually got what was on the screen: IR8 V41 Q49 730. My scores were exactly the same as last time, but with 10 points higher on the Q. I ran out of the building in leaps and bounds, got in my car, called someone I'm close to who has been very supportive, and then drove home.
I think I was actually extremely prepared for the Quant section this time, and that's why everything seemed easier. I was so worried that the questions were easy, but a month ago maybe those problems would have seemed hellacious to me. Plus the problems that I had a VERY strong inkling on, I think it was because I could eliminate a couple of answer choices immediately, and even 'rotate' or 'work' the problem logically in my head, even if I didn't know how to put things on paper. I also didn't give up on any questions this time either, no plowing through, I was confident I'd get a few here or there throughout that got me back up on pace.
And I want to say thank you thank you thank you to everyone on all the forums. This has been a wonderful resource and I would not known where to look for the help I needed if it hadn't been for this place.
--------
edit: UPDATE: So far so good; got dinged by HBS, but got admitted to NU, and BU, have an interview coming up with BC, and waiting on MIT. NU offered me 70,000 and BU offered 90,000
29 Dec 2013, 15:05
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Congratulations on an excellent score! I think you must have a great comprehension speed - I cannot imagine 47 on mocks. I would love to know how you improved your quant in 7 weeks. I have 4 weeks and I need to hit 48. I have gone through a lot of practice honestly and most of my concepts are fairly solid now after reviewing after 37Q practice everytime ( I have scored 44 to 47 in mocks). But my timing is still bit slow. In GMAT Prep 3 I did find a few questions that covered topics beyond I typically see (circle equation, lot more probability) and yet I scored 44. So I am not sure what would be best approach to get to 48.
Did you try GMAT Club challenge tests at all? I am halfway through GMAT question pack-1. I get 60% meds correct and may be 30-40% hard correct.
Did you try GMAT Club challenge tests at all? I am halfway through GMAT question pack-1. I get 60% meds correct and may be 30-40% hard correct.
06 Jan 2014, 22:47
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Hi AccipiterQ,
Can you elaborate on how you studied after the first test? I didn't do so well on my first test and now need to retake it. I am looking for tips on how to improve my score.
Thanks,
Can you elaborate on how you studied after the first test? I didn't do so well on my first test and now need to retake it. I am looking for tips on how to improve my score.
Thanks,
