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07 May 2018, 12:38
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I was not sure whether to post this in the Share GMAT Experience section or General Strategies section. I have had an on again off again relationship with the GMAT over the last 10 years. First of all, I should share a bit about my career goals and target GMAT score. I have a bit of a nontraditional background. I started college at 17, at a small local university. Studies came relatively easy to me during this time. I got a business degree with a relatively low quantitative background. I set out to get my MBA and took the GMAT for the first time at age 20 scoring a 620. This was in 2008. This was a high enough score at the time to get me accepted to an MBA program at a major state university. I was told that if I could get my GMAT score up to a 640 that, I could get a full assistantship and as result, I sat for the exam again 2 months later and scored a 640, which was enough to acquire the financial assistance that I needed. I enrolled in my MBA program in the Fall of 2009. My assistantship at the university involved teaching an undergraduate survey of business finance course. While performing these duties, I develop a love for the classroom and working with professors in my department. I started to develop a desire to pursue a PhD in Finance at this time. Upon receiving advice from some of the PhD students at my university I completed linear algebra and quantitative economics (a course that the university used as their math econ PhD bootcamp).
After finishing my MBA I moved on to work at an investment firm for a year but was unfortunately laid off. I took this as an opportunity to write the GMAT again and after a few months of what at the time felt like intense studying received a 650. Upon receiving the disappointing score, I realized that I perhaps needed to focus on pursing mathematics courses. I knew that there were more courses that I needed for my background. I also felt that taking math courses would in some way indirectly benefit my quant score on the test (somewhat naively perhaps). I still needed to obtain gainful employment, so I changed careers and became a high school math teacher. I knew that if I worked as a public school teacher, I would be able to pay the bills while also having summers off to devote entirely to prerequisite math coursework. From 2011-2016 I took math courses at various universities during the summers, and worked my way through cal1-3, dif eq, intro to real analysis, calculus based probability, statistical methods, and PhD Microeconomic Theory. I also worked on a research project for a a professor at a state university nearby.
This brings me to 2017. At this point, I became convinced that the only thing that was left standing in my way was was to obtain a satisfactory score on the GMAT in order to get through the initial application screening processs. In Late January of this year I had not planned on applying to programs , but through a bit of networking I was encouraged to take the GMAT by a Department head who was willing to hold applications open for me should I score high enough on the test ( it is implied that the magic number was 700). I had roughly a week to prepare, but given the opportunity presented, I felt that I should have at least tried to take the chance. I crammed for a little over a week, mainly working through random problems from the 2017 official guide through Wiley's online platform. I sat for the exam and scored 650 again. During the year that followed I studied off an on for a month or two at a time taking breaks for several months in between. (I was going through a lot of personal changes during this time and was battling anxiety and depression that had increased in severity over the years). During this time I relied on prep from Magoosh mostly and took a few GMAT Prep Cats scoring around 640 both times.
In early winter of 2018 I started studying about 15-20 hours a week, working on problems from Magoosh, problem sets from the OG found here on the GMAT Club, and started keeping a study log/error analysis spreadsheet. Then, about a month and a half ago, I started to get really serious and boosted my study to close to 30 hours a week. I spent a lot of time working on problems on the GMAT CLUB chat, problems posted on the forum here, and weak areas as identified by practice tests taken through MGMAT, GMATCLUB, and GMAT Prep (one each). Two weeks ago I scored a 680 on a GMATPrep mock under as close to exam conditions as I thought that I could possibly mimic. My split was Q46 V38. I was still struggling a bit with SC, and a few areas in quant (arithmetic, algebra, and geometry), but was hopeful that I was getting closer to my target. Due to a scheduling mishap. I was forced with the decision to either sit for the exam or pay the entire $250 reschedule fee. The exam date was this past Saturday. I decided to sit for the exam with the comfort that, if I was to fail, I knew that I would still have 3 attempts left to take the test.
I was not expecting to do as poorly as I did however. I was completely and utterly demoralized when I looked at the screen and saw 570 Q38 V31. I had never scored that low on the GMAT in the 4 previous times that I had taken it, and had scored a full 110 points higher than that on my last mock. I know that there were a few things going against me that day. I was a bit unsure of myself and had quite a bit of exam day anxiety. I was unsure how the new shortened test was going to compare to prior tests, and, I knew that there were a few holes in my prep, but I was not expecting to fall so short.
At this point, I know that I want to continue with my GMAT prep. I do not want to give up on my goal, nor am I ready to switch to the GRE. I feel like I have what it takes to reach 700, as I have reached 650 before. I know it cannot be that far of a gap. There are some things I would have done differently If I could. I would devote much more time pouring through the OG, doing problems of all difficulty levels both quantitative and verbal. I would not have focused so much on 700 level questions, but more so on 500 and 600 level questions. I feel that there may be an imbalance for me with quant especially, in that I am able to get a lot of 700 level questions right in some content areas, but I am still missing a lot of the basics in other content areas. Beyond this initial level of thinking, I am completely lost. I am considering trying a new course. Perhaps I need a more structured approach to my prep. I have heard good things about Empowergmat. I would love to take an in person class, but with the nearest city to me being Tulsa ( Kansas city is a 3 and a half hour drive) I do not think that an in-person class is going to be an option. I am also considering a tutor, but am not sure which route to go with that or if I could even afford one. I could probably cough up another $1,500 or so for prep, but that is really pushing it from a financial perspective.
I am hoping to get some advice from some of the experts on this forum, especially the ones that have been where I am and were able to overcome their weaknesses. I apologize for the long, and perhaps at times out of topic post, but I felt that my situation is a unique enough one to warrant all of the excess information. I welcome any and all input with regard to prep strategies, vendors/companies/classes, any anything else that any of you on here feel would be helpful.
Cameron (ocelot22)
After finishing my MBA I moved on to work at an investment firm for a year but was unfortunately laid off. I took this as an opportunity to write the GMAT again and after a few months of what at the time felt like intense studying received a 650. Upon receiving the disappointing score, I realized that I perhaps needed to focus on pursing mathematics courses. I knew that there were more courses that I needed for my background. I also felt that taking math courses would in some way indirectly benefit my quant score on the test (somewhat naively perhaps). I still needed to obtain gainful employment, so I changed careers and became a high school math teacher. I knew that if I worked as a public school teacher, I would be able to pay the bills while also having summers off to devote entirely to prerequisite math coursework. From 2011-2016 I took math courses at various universities during the summers, and worked my way through cal1-3, dif eq, intro to real analysis, calculus based probability, statistical methods, and PhD Microeconomic Theory. I also worked on a research project for a a professor at a state university nearby.
This brings me to 2017. At this point, I became convinced that the only thing that was left standing in my way was was to obtain a satisfactory score on the GMAT in order to get through the initial application screening processs. In Late January of this year I had not planned on applying to programs , but through a bit of networking I was encouraged to take the GMAT by a Department head who was willing to hold applications open for me should I score high enough on the test ( it is implied that the magic number was 700). I had roughly a week to prepare, but given the opportunity presented, I felt that I should have at least tried to take the chance. I crammed for a little over a week, mainly working through random problems from the 2017 official guide through Wiley's online platform. I sat for the exam and scored 650 again. During the year that followed I studied off an on for a month or two at a time taking breaks for several months in between. (I was going through a lot of personal changes during this time and was battling anxiety and depression that had increased in severity over the years). During this time I relied on prep from Magoosh mostly and took a few GMAT Prep Cats scoring around 640 both times.
In early winter of 2018 I started studying about 15-20 hours a week, working on problems from Magoosh, problem sets from the OG found here on the GMAT Club, and started keeping a study log/error analysis spreadsheet. Then, about a month and a half ago, I started to get really serious and boosted my study to close to 30 hours a week. I spent a lot of time working on problems on the GMAT CLUB chat, problems posted on the forum here, and weak areas as identified by practice tests taken through MGMAT, GMATCLUB, and GMAT Prep (one each). Two weeks ago I scored a 680 on a GMATPrep mock under as close to exam conditions as I thought that I could possibly mimic. My split was Q46 V38. I was still struggling a bit with SC, and a few areas in quant (arithmetic, algebra, and geometry), but was hopeful that I was getting closer to my target. Due to a scheduling mishap. I was forced with the decision to either sit for the exam or pay the entire $250 reschedule fee. The exam date was this past Saturday. I decided to sit for the exam with the comfort that, if I was to fail, I knew that I would still have 3 attempts left to take the test.
I was not expecting to do as poorly as I did however. I was completely and utterly demoralized when I looked at the screen and saw 570 Q38 V31. I had never scored that low on the GMAT in the 4 previous times that I had taken it, and had scored a full 110 points higher than that on my last mock. I know that there were a few things going against me that day. I was a bit unsure of myself and had quite a bit of exam day anxiety. I was unsure how the new shortened test was going to compare to prior tests, and, I knew that there were a few holes in my prep, but I was not expecting to fall so short.
At this point, I know that I want to continue with my GMAT prep. I do not want to give up on my goal, nor am I ready to switch to the GRE. I feel like I have what it takes to reach 700, as I have reached 650 before. I know it cannot be that far of a gap. There are some things I would have done differently If I could. I would devote much more time pouring through the OG, doing problems of all difficulty levels both quantitative and verbal. I would not have focused so much on 700 level questions, but more so on 500 and 600 level questions. I feel that there may be an imbalance for me with quant especially, in that I am able to get a lot of 700 level questions right in some content areas, but I am still missing a lot of the basics in other content areas. Beyond this initial level of thinking, I am completely lost. I am considering trying a new course. Perhaps I need a more structured approach to my prep. I have heard good things about Empowergmat. I would love to take an in person class, but with the nearest city to me being Tulsa ( Kansas city is a 3 and a half hour drive) I do not think that an in-person class is going to be an option. I am also considering a tutor, but am not sure which route to go with that or if I could even afford one. I could probably cough up another $1,500 or so for prep, but that is really pushing it from a financial perspective.
I am hoping to get some advice from some of the experts on this forum, especially the ones that have been where I am and were able to overcome their weaknesses. I apologize for the long, and perhaps at times out of topic post, but I felt that my situation is a unique enough one to warrant all of the excess information. I welcome any and all input with regard to prep strategies, vendors/companies/classes, any anything else that any of you on here feel would be helpful.
Cameron (ocelot22)
07 May 2018, 16:50
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Hi Cameron,
GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Most of your various Scores (going back 10 years) show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 630 +/- a few points). Those results are remarkably consistent - especially over a long period of time. You handle certain aspects of the Test consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. Since you've taken the Official GMAT 3 times, I have to assume that you've used the GMAC practice Tests more than once. By extension, if you saw even a couple of 'repeat' questions during that last CAT, then the score result would have been 'inflated' (meaning that you probably are not actually at the '680 level' just yet).
As far as the 570 is concerned, when these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. As such, I have a few additional questions about the lead-up to Test Day and Test Day itself:
1) What did you do in the 3 days before your GMAT?
2) How did you sleep the night before your Test?
3) How long was the ride to the Test Center from your home?
4) Were there any distractions at the facility or during the Test?
5) What did you do during the two 8-minute breaks?
6) Did you finish any sections early?
7) Did you have to rush to finish any sections (and guess on questions just to finish on time)?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Most of your various Scores (going back 10 years) show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 630 +/- a few points). Those results are remarkably consistent - especially over a long period of time. You handle certain aspects of the Test consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. Since you've taken the Official GMAT 3 times, I have to assume that you've used the GMAC practice Tests more than once. By extension, if you saw even a couple of 'repeat' questions during that last CAT, then the score result would have been 'inflated' (meaning that you probably are not actually at the '680 level' just yet).
As far as the 570 is concerned, when these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. As such, I have a few additional questions about the lead-up to Test Day and Test Day itself:
1) What did you do in the 3 days before your GMAT?
2) How did you sleep the night before your Test?
3) How long was the ride to the Test Center from your home?
4) Were there any distractions at the facility or during the Test?
5) What did you do during the two 8-minute breaks?
6) Did you finish any sections early?
7) Did you have to rush to finish any sections (and guess on questions just to finish on time)?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
08 May 2018, 08:02
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EMPOWERgmatRichC
Rich,
Thank you so much for so quickly responding to my post. I actually got done taking the GMAT for the 5th time in five years. My scores were 620, 640, 650,650, and then most recently 570. I will try to answer your questions as accurately as possible.
(1) and (2): Three days before my GMAT I practiced questions on the forum and chat mostly. I did 15 or so quant problems posted by Math Revolution. Two days before the gmat, I took the quantitative section of a GMAT prep practice test scoring Q47. I wanted to confirm that the Q46 that I reached on the previous practice test a week prior wasn't a fluke. I also did a 30 question verbal set of problems. I went over problems missed from both of these sets of problems that day. I got about 8 hours of sleep that night. The day before the GMAT I took off work. I mostly rested this day, but I did spend about 40 minutes going over my error log and formula's/concepts from the GMAT Club quant guide. I got about 9 hours of sleep that night.
(3) The test center was about 28 miles from my home. I had about a 40 minute drive there.
(4) There were not many distractions at the facility. Two petty things I noticed that bugged me a little was the wet erase markers were extremely wide tipped, unlike the fine tipped markers I had been using. The screens were super glossy Mac Pro screens. I did most of my prep on matte screens. Both of these things are so extremely minor that I would think that would not matter. I did not hear many distractions, but I did not use the earphone covers. Perhaps I should have.
(5) During the first 8 minute break I ate an apple, some raw almonds, drank bottled water, went to the bathroom,and returned with about 30 seconds remaining. I took quantitative, verbal, IR, and AWA as far as order went, so my second 8 minute break was not as important, but I went to the bathroom and drank a small amount of water during my second break.
(6) I did not finish any sections early. I did try a bit of a new timing strategy however. After reading discussions about the test being front loaded, I devoted 26 minutes to the first 10 questions on the quant section, 18 minutes for the next 10 and 18 minutes for the last 10. For verbal i devoted 27 minutes for the first 12 questions, 19 minutes fore the next 12 and 19 minutes for the final 12 questions. I think this may have impacted my verbal section, however as my percentage trailed off during the last two sections on my ESR (75% correct 71% correct, 43% correct, 38% correct) I am not sure if this timing strategy impacted my quant section however, as I only scored 57% correct on my first section of questions (then 86% correct, 71% correct and 43% correct for the final quarter of the quant section) - suppose this answers Question 7 as well. I did have to rush to finish about the last 5-10 questions in both the quant and verbal sections.
The only thing that you have mentioned here that I have not covered are the GMAT Prep tests. I purchased exam packs 1 and 2 (under the old test format) I have used one test from exam pack 1 and 1 test from exam pack 2, so I have two fresh tests remaining from those packs theoretically. I have reset the initial question pack once in the last two years. I probably also took exams 1 and 2 once during the 8 years prior (I am not sure if this was the same software)
I hope that I have answered your questions as accurately as possible. As I have said, I am willing to try anything at this point, but feel that a more structured prep experience would be beneficial.
Thanks,
Cameron.
