Antmavel is out...Gmat wins by KO ! 570(q42 - v27)

Question

hi guys,

the GMAT has just made a new victim...570 (q42 v27)
of course, it' obvious that something happened in the verbal section. At least I know where to improve if I want to reach a good score. I also had
a very very bad timing : I got 30s to finish the last 5 questions in quant, I was very angry because I've just picked answers very fast without even
having time to guess whereas I could see the questions where not hard and that with some time I could have done it easily (working rate, standard deviation, ..). I've spend most of my time on experimental question I presume...

another thing is that I got an incredible question at the 2nd question. using geometry. Such a weird question so early....some rectangle inside another rectangle, it was a DS question but I swear I've never seen anything like that before...and geometry is a good field for me at Quant, maybe 8/10 generally.

Anyway, the problem is in the verbal, it's quite obvious. I just feel bad about my score because usually I got verbal score around 35-37...I don't know what to do, first I am gonna study harder the verbal stuff and I'm going to retake it...I just want to have a one week break now ^_^
then I'll go back stronger.

Moreover, the disapointment is not coming from the test itself but it's just the fact that I've failed and that I've spend the last 3 months studying it, so the involvement was big also....

Anyway, I'll be back stronger.

Remember, don't make the same mistakes than me :
-> finish the test normally, don't rush, I'm 99% sure all the last questions arevery valuable and not experimental
-> work on the verbal :roll:

venksune · Answer

Hey. Dont worry. You are 700+ candidate and the test day was just a unfortunate mishap. Appreciate your spirit to comeback stronger. I think that's really positive and nice. All the very best.

Antmavel · Answer

Thanks for the post Venksune...
Sorry to kill the nice week we've recently had before with many people scoring above 700, which was really great. I'm killing the Gmat club Statistics...he he

Yeah, I think the first feeling is tough when you miss it because if you are taken the test seriously it means you've already spent a lot of time studying so it's quite hard to accept any failure. However, for me it was my first time, it was an experience, now I know exactly the kind of questions and my shortcomings.

I have also now some presumptions about the possibility that ETS put some experimental questions at the begining. Other test takers said that they found at least one very hard or very strange question in the first 7 questions (for me it was the second...) but except that the quant stuff is not so difficult I would say. Everybody should at least score around 40 with a good timing. Verbal is complicated for me. Sometimes I can get 8/10 and sometimes 2/10... :evil:

However, I want to spend much more time now on Verbal and try again the exam, I don't want to wait too long, enough to improve and to spend more time in verbal stuff...

anyway, just now you can see some people on this website that went from 500 to 700..so everything is possible, motivation and knowing your weak points is totally crucial and critical to get a great score..

Of course, congratulations again to people last week for those great results...

However, I want to spend much more time now on Verbal and try again the exam, I don't want to wait too long, enough to improve and to spend more time in verbal stuff... anyway, just now you can see some people on this website that went from 500 to 700..so everything is possible, motivation and knowing your weak points is totally crucial and critical to get a great score.. Of course, congratulations again to people last week for those great results...

Paul · Answer

Hi Antmavel, do not get disheartened. The GMAT is not easy but you can do it. Believe in yourself and you just need some more practice. Get ready up for another round :war

NEWKID · Answer

Antmavel, So what if GMAT beat u this time. It is just testing ur determination. Iam confident that you will do well. It just was not ur day.I know a score of that kind depresses one . Atleast it did for me.For a week, I wondered if I was worth anything in life. :cry:

Work hard and kick GMAT's butt. The next time while practising if u get a question wrong, close ur eyes and imagine that this was the question that you got wrong on ur first attempt. The feeling should hurt. I'll be taking GMAT again in a month. Lets kill the sucker exam and get back our peace of mind.! :2gunfire:

Don't loose heart. All the best.

hardworker_indian · Answer

Antmavel, my friend, I was looking at this forum for the last one week, expecting to see your GMAT experience post. I knew you were writing this/last week and were targetting 650-680 range. 

I think,
1. GMAT = 70% hardwork + 10% knowledge + 20% luck. 
And the 10% knowledge can be acquired by another 10% hardwork. So any score is attainable.
2. GMAT is a part of life and it does not define who you are in life.

You can turn this negative experience to have a positive effect for your next attempt. Think of it like another practice exam you did, just to find out your weakness and timing. It has paid of well in clearly showing the weaknesses to you. 

Good thing is that you are positive and taking it light, after the exam. We are here to study with you. Take a deserving vacation and see you back on the field.

Antmavel · Answer

thanks for the words hardworker_indian... I take it easy on the score because I think it's better for me to get q42- v27 than q35 - v35. At least I know that I am weak in Verbal and that I need to work harder on it. Moreover I was totally lost in time...I need to correct this quite fast. I can work on it. It will be easier than work on the verbal part

Moreover I take it easy also because an MBA is one potential way for me but it's not going to predict my life too...I am 25, I can still do it within a few years. However, now I feel like it's a personal challenge ! I want to beat this test to death....I can not quit after such a score. I just want to try my best. Thanks also Newkid for sharing with us, I've read before your post when I was training mysel, seems we are in the same boat Newkid...hope we will reach the GMAT beach with all our mates here :wink:

Fortunately, there will be something great that is going to happen this week and that will make me forget about this Gmat disappointment : my 100th post in this forum is coming soon :king

SigEpUCI · Answer

Antmavel.. give yourself a bit of a break, and then come back and hit it hard. The more CR's you do (and understand), the easier they get. Likewise with QUANT. With enough studying, any question is a repeat of another question you've done.

vivek_dj · Answer

Hey Antmavel...sorry to hear abt that.

But you have turned around quick and thats what really matters.

With tons of success stories to get inspired from ..its just matter of time till you pick up the gauntlet.

Even tho you are right when you say that you need to work on verbal ...I would say that you have to put in some amount of work on the quant part too.And if you ask me gaining points on quant wud be much more easier than verbal.

Just chill for 2-3 days before you start your prep again.

-Vivek.

Antmavel · Answer

Thanks for the tip and the advice vivek_dj, really appreciated.
I agree, Maths points are easier to get than verbal.

However, I have some strange skills. I am able to do better combinations, probabilities and geometry than some easy problems just using complicated numbers.

For instance : [square root (0.000025) * (5^3)]/ [0.5 * 10^5]
For me it's a nightmare, I am quite bad, I usually panic and I don't know where to begin...So in fact I prefer the working rate, the distance problem, the probabilities and even the combinations than those kind of problems...

I am gonna work hard and be back stronger. I'll let you know everything of course :wink:

Praetorian · Answer

Hello Antmavel

Sorry about the score. Hope you will do better next time. Take some time off and think about what needs to be changed in your prep this time around. You should consider practising with the Math Challenge archives. It might help you with timing and a little bit with concepts.

take care.

Regards
Praetorian

vivek_dj · Answer

Thats the spirit Antmavel...keep your chin up.

-Vivek.

ecdysis · Answer

antmavel:

from my experience (doing poorly the first time and then doing better the second time) - take some time off for now. take a few weeks to relax, and then come back to the gmat with a vengeance!

regarding verbal - SC seems to be the hardest thing for non native speakers, so that bears most risk. but you can practice CR and RC and get really good at that. believe it or not, CR is almost a science... just break the statements down into pieces, find the argument, and you will come up with a solution. for RC - the answer is right infront of you (literally). all you need to do is get good and sifting through the clutter. doing well on CR and RC will nullify or mitigate any risk in SC (it helped me).

as far as quants go - i am sure you have what it takes to get to the high 40s. DON'T LET ANYTHING SCARE YOU! in the example you posted above, here's how i would solve it quickly:

<quote>
For instance : [square root (0.000025) * (5^3)]/ [0.5 * 10^5]
</quote>

1. first, see that there are a lot of 5s and 10s... and you're multiplying and dividing so there is a lot of cancelling out you can do... this is not as bad as it looks. break the problem down to basic parts, solve, and then put it back together..

sqrt(0.000025) = sqrt( 25/1000000 ). that looks really easy to solve doesn't it? it now becomes 5/1000. also, note that (.5 * 100000) = 100000/2 = 50,000.

so the equation can now be re written:

[(5^4)/1000]*[1/50000]

if you cancel out the fraction and reduce, you quickly can get rid of all the 5s and end up with 1/8000. note that 1/8 is 0.125, so 1/8000 has to be 0.000125.

there are lots of ways of doing problems like these, and this is only one solution, but you really don't need to be scared of these. just look at the question, "see" the concepts (reducing, quick multiplying, etc) and then attack. remember, this question CAN be solved in 2 minutes - you ask yourself what concepts the writer of the question was trying to test.

anyway, sorry for the long post. i wish you the best!

ecdysis.

pjk · Answer

antmavel,

I agree with yr conclusion. My observations regarding the sacred "ets algo" are:

1. Experimental Qs are distributed uniformly within each section, with the bulk appearing in the middle of the section.
2. Consecutive guessing is like shooting yrself in the foot. Hence, if u guess on Q 12, then spend more time on Q13...
3. Difficulty level drops after the 15th question but the "stumped" experience is maintained by increasing the number of experimental ques.
4. Last Qs are Real test Qs and some of them are simple, but might require lengthy calculations.

I would suggest that you analyze yr mistakes, read some posts from the "experience with GMAT" section, and then "nail it" once and for all. Don't make this a life/death or an ego issue. I think there is more to life than the GMAT. Its just a passing phase; 5 yrs hence, we wouldn't even bother abt it.

:gl

,
pkj

, pkj

Antmavel · Answer

I am back in the game... for some reasons, I've received 2 Gmat Powerprep 2 days after my Gmat exam :roll:

It's mainly due to the fact that I am living in china so maybe the transit time is not so fast ^_^ Anyway, just got the 2 powerprep stuff... I've done one already downloaded from MBA.com wbesite so yesterday I've done the second one. Same problem but this time I did better in Maths than usually : 640 (q49 - v28) hope to progress in verbal soon

Vira · Answer

Antmavel ,

I think focusing on your weak areas (Quant or Verbal) will the most important thing. As regards your fears with ....sqrt (0.000025 X5^3)~.... -> I suggest just pick-up a book like "schaum series", work those problems out in 10-12 hrs. and you will be good. 


Vira

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Antmavel is out...Gmat wins by KO ! 570(q42 - v27)

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