Feeling really discouraged; need advice

Question

Hi guys, sorry for the long rant below but I need some advice and maybe some support as I am feeling really demoralized.

//Tl;Dr calibrated at 620 In July, went through almost all ttp for Quant and some Manhattan for verbal, scored 690, 700, 730, 740, 700 in practice exams but flunked real test with 650. Is it even possible for me to improve? What would be some good next steps to get back on the horse and how long should I wait until next exam? //

So, I've been prepping for around 6 months and just went ahead with scheduling an exam for today as I wanted to catch the 5th of March ddl for insead but instead got some disappointing results.

I'll admit, I have not finished all the hard tests from geometry, coordinate geometry & sequences but it felt like I was making excuses so I tried my hand at a few og questions and took all the practice exams I had left last week. I scored 690 /700/ 730/ 740/ 700 so I figured I had a good chance to reach my target of 700. However, today everything went down the drain as I scored a 650. Verbal, which is my overall strength went from a 43-46 to 38 and Quant went to 41 from an average of 45.

In Quant I felt like I was struggling with a lot of topics that I thought I mastered but at Verbal I felt really confident with my choices.

Moving on what would you advise me to do? I still have around 80% of og questions available and a few chapter + revision tests from ttp ready to go until the 12th but I don't know if it will make enough of a difference in a new exam.

I originally calibrated at 620 so getting a 650 now really kicked me in the teeth and I don't feel really good about my chances moving forward.

Is it worth scheduling a new test in two weeks or should I give it more time to finish all the ttp and og questions?

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi dragosflo,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. 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. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) What type of study routine have you been following? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) On what dates (or approximate 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)?
3) Are you interested in any other Schools besides INSEAD? When is the next application Round after March 5th?

If you took your GMAT at a Test Center, then 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

Kinshook · Answer

It seems that you were well prepared for the exam but something went wrong on the test day. If this is the case, following article may help you:- https://e-gmat.com/blogs/gmat-exam-day- ... -day-tips/ I would recommend you to practice OG questions and analyse your ESR so that you can improve on your weak topics.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi dragosflo,

I'm pretty certain that we have already been in contact through live chat; however, please paste in a screenshot of your TTP analytics page, and I'd be happy to provide some advice.

dragosflo · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thank you for the reply. I am really trying to make sense of the test day score. My theory so far is that the nerves / pressure got to me and I had mental blanks when I shouldn't have. 
1) Prep Habits - I tried to be as consistent as possible with my prep, for most of the time I studied two hours in the morning and around 8 hr/day in the weekend, but since January I've also added at least one hour after work and longer weekends. However, I also spent more time at work as we had an important project to deliver. 
2) I took all the CATs before test day as follows: 24 Feb 690 (v41, q, 42), 25 Feb 700 (v41, q44), 26 Feb 730 (v43, q47), 27 Feb 740 (v45, q47) and finally on the 28th 700 (v40, q45). I also PMed ESR for 650 actual (38v, 42q) as I cannot attach
3) I would also like to apply to LBS and was looking at IESE but I haven't explored a lot as I am quite sold on the INSEAD program. The next deadlines are in 23rd of April for insead and 27th of April for LBS (r 4 though)

I know retaking in 2 weeks and failing again may be even worse than now but also I have no idea what to do to recover now and how to better prepare for next time. My only plan as so far is to redo weak areas from TTP and all the questions I can get my hands on timing everything at two min. Do you have any insights or advice that could help?

Thanks for taking the time to read.

dragosflo · Answer

Hi Scott,

It must be a common feeling for test takers as I haven't reached out on live chat yet. Will do so now as I cannot attach anything here yet.

Thank you for your support and congrats on your course. Even though it doesn't show on this actual test I feel like with the course's help I've come a long way since my initial calibration (38q) and math has always been a neglected subject for me.

Honestly, I was feeling angry at myself during the test as during some problems that I knew I was solving fine during practice, I blanked and panicked.

Dragos

egmat · Answer

Hi  dragosflo ,

I am sorry that your score was not at par with your expectations. Before your next attempt, it is absolutely critical to know what went wrong on the test day i.e. in which sub-sections did you falter because that is where the improvement will come from. This makes analyzing the ESR and prep so far the first thing to be done before you get into preparation mode.

If you like DIY, you can check out  this playlist  on how to analyze your ESR. If not, please feel free to  reach out to us  incase you need help with ESR analysis and creating a precise plan for your next attempt.

Regards,
Aditee

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

HI dragosflo,

The drop in the score can happen because of many reasons. The major reasons could be test day pressure and the inconsistent application skills. You can go through the article below to understand it a little better,

Scored well on mocks but could not reflect the same on the actual test?

So, it would be premature to suggest you anything without knowing the actual reason. Having said that, practicing more and more questions is definitely not the right way to improve your score. Q41 indicates that you are probably having a few conceptual gaps in a certain topic and at the same time you are majorly struggling with the application of concepts. So, I would suggest you to nullify the conceptual gaps you have and start focusing on the methodology to solve questions. Only once you are done with this, start practicing questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvMTiv8GCbs

And V38 indicates that you are probably good with two of three modules (SC, CR and RC) and are the struggling with the other one. So, identify the module with which you are struggling. And once you identify that, understand if it's the concepts or the application you are struggling with. If your accuracy is below 50%, then it probably means that you are struggling with the concepts. If the accuracy is hovering between 50-80%, then you are struggling with the application.

If it's the concepts, revisit the concepts of the topic and make sure to understand perfectly this time. If it's the application, analyze the solutions of the questions in depth. Understand at which step you are making the mistake and try to nullify the gaps.

I can help you in a better way if you can give me a little background about your GMAT Prep. We could get in touch over a call and have a detailed discussion on the same. You can use the below link to get in touch with me.

Click here to schedule a call

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

No worries Dragos. We've got your back!

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