1st Time GMAT 600; Retake Suggestions?

[hwilliamsvi]

Hello,

I just finished taking my first gmat, and I am disappointed with my score, a 600, 43Q, 30V. When I first started studying, I scored a 510, 31 Q 31 V, and had steadily been working on improving my score. I used all the MGMAT books and then the OG 12 guide and the two supplemental guides as my primary study tools.

I took 5 of the MGMAT Cats
1. 520 30Q 32V
2. 560 35Q 32V
3. 580 39Q 31V
4. 600 42Q 32V
5. 710 42Q 44V

I also took 4 Practice Tests
1. 510 31Q 31V
2. 530 35Q 28V
3. 680 44Q 39V-This and the 710 were taken one week from the actual test
4. 620 39Q 32V-Took this the day before the actual test and it shook my confidence

Things really started to come together when I started to score in the high 6's and low 7's and it just seemed like it was clicking. I now realize that I just assumed because I am a native speaker verbal would be easy. I also almost focused entirely on quant during my studying period, but that was because I was in the getting 90% of RC and CR questions correct in OG because I had taken the LSAT before. I had worked through all the problem solving questions and about 100 of the data sufficiency problems till I got them all right.

But during the test, I felt really confident on quant for the most part, but verbal rattled me, mostly because there were a lot of SC questions and I was weak there.

I think with a retake, I would want to focus on Sentence Correction, the Equations, and VICs guide and the Advanced Quant section. I am targeting a 720, do you think a retake in 6 weeks makes sense before the integrated reasoning section is introduced or should I wait longer, and what I outlined make sense?

[StaceyKoprince]

So, let's see. You did have some high scores but you also had lower scores towards the end, including your last practice test. Something's going on that's causing a fluctuation in scores - we need to figure out what that is.

Most of the time, timing is at least once cause of major fluctuations / inconsistent performance. Fatigue / mental stamina can also play a role, as can nerves on the real test day.

The Verbal jump from T4 to T5 of MGMAT CAT was HUGE. You went up 30 percentile points. Why? And was that performance actually replicable? For example, if you skipped the essays, gave yourself a longer break than allowed, had seen some of the questions before - basically, if there were some artificial advantage, then that could lead to a score jump.

Alternatively, perhaps you studied a lot and there was a long period of time between T4 and T5, so maybe it was justified. Maybe you used to have timing problems and you fixed them between T4 and T5.

What do you think happened there?

You say you took 4 "Practice Tests." What was the source of these tests? If they were GMATPrep, then you would have had the opportunity to see repeated questions on T3 and T4. Did you?

Finally, your score dropped on your very last test. Q dropped a little, V dropped a lot. Why? What do you think happened? Did you mess up the timing? Were you burning yourself out and mentally fatigued?

I'm guessing there was at least some mental fatigue - if you were taing a test the day before, then you were also probably doing a lot of other studying. The general rule is not to take a practice test within 5 days of the real test. And to do no more than 1-2 hours of studying the day before.

You may also have had some timing problems, given that there were some fluctuations in score.

Okay, where to go from here.

First, if you took our course, did the guided self-study package or did tutoring, then you're eligible for a free Post-Exam Assessment (if you haven't done it already). This is a phone call with an instructor to figure out what went wrong and come up with a plan to re-take the test. If this applies to you, please send an email to studentservices@manhattangmat.com and request the Post-Exam Assessment.

You'll get much better and more directed feedback that way because the teacher will actually review your practice tests. You can, of course, continue to get advice here even if you also do a PEA.

Next steps:
- think about the questions I asked above; we really need to figure out why what happened happened on those last few practice tests (both the score jump and the score drop); in particular, tell me about any timing problems at all
- use the below article to analyze your couple of most recent MGMAT CATs:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

That can help you with answering the questions I asked. (Note: you can have quite significant timing problems and yet think you don't have them - the analysis will help you to tell for sure.) It will also give us more precise data to know where you should be spending your time in order to lift your score. On the face of it, it does sound (for example) like you should concentrate on SC, but I'd like to see some data to know for sure.

After you've done the above, come back here and post your analysis of everything and we'll discuss!

p.s. on the question of when to take it again, I can't advise till I have more info. Because the test is changing in June, though, I'd say start studying and try to go for a pre-June-5 test. If you don't make it in time, then you just postpone and study for IR as well.