19th percentile

[ctmiller06]

I just scored in the 19th percentile on Quantitative with a 480 total on the practice exam. Should I jump out of my window now, or is there any hope at all that I might get into grad school and possibly have a reputable career?

[rob]

The first time I took a practice test, back in January, I scored a 31 in the quant section, which is roughly the 31st percentile. The last practice test I took (8/9), I scored in the 77th percentile on the quant section. This brought my total score from 590 to 700. Granted, this is after six months spent taking tests, doing thousands of problems, correcting errors, using a stopwatch everyday, etc.

Moral of the story: don't jump out the window. If you want it badly enough, you can get there. I'm scheduled to take my second official exam this month, so it remains to be seen if all of my hard work will translate to real results. But I can't deny that I've improved tremendously since that first disappointing test.

I'd hang in there, if I were you.

[ctmiller06]

Thanks Rob, I appreciate it. It is frustrating yes, but indeed there are things I can do to improve.

[StaceyKoprince]

Thanks for sharing your experience, rob. Yes, ctmiller, there are absolutely things you can do to improve. It's going to take some work, obviously, but this test is not a measure of some sort of innate ability or IQ. It's a measure of how well prepared you are to take this particular test - that's all.

At this point, what you need is a plan. How are you going to get better? Have you been working on your own or taking a class? If you've been taking a class, talk to your teacher ASAP. If you haven't, you may want to consider taking a class.