Bombed GMAT

Question

I didn't know how the likes of Napoleon the great, Alexander the great and all other greats from RC passages would have felt after their major losses, but today I could get into their psyche. With score 540 (V23, Q40), it was just a disaster. While solving quant, I was aware that I was finding ease in tackling DS but PS was looking like an adversary. Let's talk about Verbal. It was like a sleepwalk. Wasn't aware if I was solving everything correctly or not but keeping up with ticking clock was a concern. All in all, dumbing down sensation. How can I come out from this mental abyss? What should I do know? How to get over this defeat?

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

CareerGeek · Answer

Hi Krish,

Sorry for your score.

First of all, don’t do anything for 2/3 days. Let it be. Try to relax.

List out the reasons for the score.
- Have you over stretched the preparation that led to burn out in the end or were you under prepared?
- Hows your final score compared to your mocks ? If they’re relatively same, then you might need to take a break from GMAT for few weeks and restart your prep fresh. If your mocks were better than final score, then you’ll need to see the reasons what went wrong (nervousness or studied late or couldn’t sleep the day before or didn’t had food etc ...,) 
- I feel you’ll need to work on the basics of topics that you were not comfortable with. Remember, working on basics is very important for gmat. Make a good study plan (study plans are available in this forum) and give enough time for the prep.
- Be active in the forum for doubts or guidance.

All the best

freedom128 · Answer

Defeat is always unpleasant, so take rest for a few days.

To restart, do all OG2020 thoroughly and read ALL answer explanation regardless you answer the question right or wrong.

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Krishishere,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day did not turn out better. Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

You might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Krishishere,

I’m sorry to hear how things went with your GMAT. I’m happy to provide some detailed advice but would first like to learn more about your situation with the GMAT. Once you respond to the questions already asked, I can provide some feedback. In the meantime, you may find it helpful to read the following article:

The Surprising Factor that is the Key to Hitting Your GMAT Score Goal: Grit

TopTierMBA · Answer

Hey Krishishere,

Fret not, it happens. Failures are the greatest teacher. I'm sure you will bounce back stronger and achieve your target score.

At this stage, do introspect and analyse where all it went right / wrong as per your expectations. You can order the ESR report from MBA.com to get more insight into your actual performance, or take a full length CAT to understand your relative strengths / weaknesses. 
Start afresh with the learnings.

All the best.

Do get in touch with us if you need any advise.

Cheers !
TopTierMBA

freedom128 · Answer

Btw there is a room of improvement for your Quant. Try to learn from gmatclub Quant questions from easy to hard level. Good luck

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Durkhe · Answer

Hi i am just new to GMAT, I wanted to take GMAT in may (online exam). I did a first ever practice test today without white board and I had no idea what was going on in the Exam and could you believe it I scored only 250, I am feeling disgraced I am sure I am not that stupid since i have Msc and Bsc degrees already. Any help what i should do now? I have already booked my exam. I am worried.

Summary in verbal 19 Questions incorrect out of 36
Quant 20 Questions incorrect out of 31
IR 10 Questions incorrect out of 12

PS: I already have a conditional admission letter from university and have already paid the commitment fee

Summary in verbal 19 Questions incorrect out of 36
Quant 20 Questions incorrect out of 31
IR 10 Questions incorrect out of 12

PS: I already have a conditional admission letter from university and have already paid the commitment fee

pabpinor · Answer

As replied in the other post, study hard.
Another option would be to wait for test centres to open again, but none knows when that will be...

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Durkhe,

You will likely receive more responses and advice if you start your own post-thread (instead of piggy-backing on this one). Since you've been posting over the last couple of months, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?

Goals:
3) What is your overall goal score?
4) What 'deadline' are you facing in regards to submitting your GMAT Score to the School that sent you the acceptance letter?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

egmat · Answer

Hi  Krishishere

Thanks for reaching out on the forum, it feels good to see you coming out and asking for advice.

Looking at your scores, I can say that you need significant improvement in both Verbal and Quant. Majority of students falter in their GMAT exam because they start their preparation with OG.

This is a major mistake because if you start your preparation by solving OG questions, you are skipping to practicing questions without learning the concepts. This is a trial-and-error based preparation methodology which cause a two-fold problem:

1. It increases your preparation time by up-to 5X. 
2. You tend to miss out on concepts even after solving many questions.

We have helped more than 25,000 people in last 1 year in achieving their target of a good GMAT score. Maximum people attributed their success to the structured process which we suggested them. I suggest you break your preparation into 3 stages and follow the below plan:

Stage – 1 --> Learn the concepts
Stage – 2 --> Cement the concepts by practicing a sub-section in Isolation
Stage – 3 --> Become test ready (practicing all the sub-sections together)

If you follow the above approach you can expect your preparation to get over in a timeline of 2-3 months with 18 hours of preparation time per week.

You can also analyse your ability topic-wise and skip stages if you are good in a topic, this will expedite your preparation even further.

I would be happy to explain this Strategy in detail and create personalized milestones for you on a quick call. Please select a time slot that works  here .

Hope the above strategy get you to your target score

Karan
e-GMAT strategy Expert

ThisIsWater · Answer

Hey  Krishishere ,

I know that feeling. Having scored 750 consistently in GMAC Mocks, I scored an abysmal 680 and was devastated by the result. I couldn't keep up with running, work for one week. After a week when things seemed to settle a bit, I thought deeply about what would have gone wrong and the answer was more do it with the structure of the exam than my ability. So why not "GRE" then, I thought. Within a month prep I scored 326 in GRE ~ 720 GMAT (According to GRE conversion)

Why did I say all this? - maybe these setbacks are teaching you something. Something you really have to see through for yourself. Give a week time and sit with a plain sheet of paper and really question yourself "What went wrong"

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