Big score drop on test day- next steps?

[karagibs]

Hi there
I have been studying for the GMATs for about 5 months, and have now done 8 practice tests (timed, all sections, same breaks) in total.
I was studying with the MGMAT books. My first score was a 570 and over the months raised my last two practice test scores to 700 and 680 respectively. This was in my goal range so I was feeling good for the test.

And then I bombed it on test day. I scored a 600 (37 Quant, 35 Verb)

I am so disappointed and trying to decide what my next steps are. I read the article about 'what went wrong' and I think I was just so worried about time that I rushed and made careless mistakes on the math section.

Any suggestions on what to do next? I have to wait a month to take it again...I felt ready but now really unsure. I don't know how to keep my mind fresh for the next 30 days and not burn myself out more (and I'm out of practice tests).

Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks!

[adiagr]

Hi there
I have been studying for the GMATs for about 5 months, and have now done 8 practice tests (timed, all sections, same breaks) in total.
I was studying with the MGMAT books. My first score was a 570 and over the months raised my last two practice test scores to 700 and 680 respectively. This was in my goal range so I was feeling good for the test.

And then I bombed it on test day. I scored a 600 (37 Quant, 35 Verb)

I am so disappointed and trying to decide what my next steps are. I read the article about 'what went wrong' and I think I was just so worried about time that I rushed and made careless mistakes on the math section.

Any suggestions on what to do next? I have to wait a month to take it again...I felt ready but now really unsure. I don't know how to keep my mind fresh for the next 30 days and not burn myself out more (and I'm out of practice tests).

Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks!

Give GMAT only when you are ready. No point in sticking to one month deadline, unless it is terribly important.


Aditya.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry you had a rough test day experience.

Can you give us some more data on your practice? What were your practice test scores? Did both sections drop significantly on Real Test day, or was the drop mostly attributable to one section?

When you took your practice tests, did you also do the essays?

Read the below article and do the analysis described on your most recent MGMAT practice test:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23 ... tice-tests

Then come back here and share your analysis with us; we'll help you figure out what to do.

You can still take both GMATPrep and MGMAT CATs with repeats as long as you follow a few guidelines to minimize the chance of artificially inflating your score via question repeats. (But don't take a practice test anytime soon - do something first to figure out what went wrong and fix whatever the problems were before you test yourself again.)

First, anytime you see a problem that you remember (and this means: I know the answer or I'm pretty sure I remember the answer, not just "hmm, this looks vaguely familiar..."), immediately look at the timer and make yourself sit there for the full length of time for that question type. This way, you don't artificially give yourself more time than you should have.

Second, think about whether you got this problem right the last time. If you did, get it right again this time. If you didn't, get it wrong again. If you *completely honestly* think that you would get it right this time around if it were a new question (even though you got it wrong last time) because you've studied that area and improved, then get it right this time.

[karagibs]

Hi Stacey

Thanks so much for your response. I took a bit of time to think about what happened on test day (and some time just off from the GMAT to focus on other parts of my applications).

I read the articles that you supplied, thank you. That was really great. Initially, I felt like I didn't do anything differently. I realized that though I was testing in the same way for practice (timed sections, timed breaks, did both essays at the start) I really second guessed my timing during the real test. In hindsight, I'm amazed how much the test day threw me, and how timing really effected my scores.
Tests leading up to test day:
Two weeks out: 700 (q: 44, v 40)
One week out: 680 (q:44, v: 38)
And then test day:600 (q:37, v: 35)

Funny was that usually I barely finish the quant and have a few minutes to spare with the verbal, and test day I think I panicked and finished quant early, and had to guess on the last 4 verbal questions because I spend so much time on CR questions. Awful.

I looked at my areas of weakness as the article suggested, but as I said, the test was so far off my other 8 tests I took, I think I just need to focus on timing.

Since this, I have read a bit about getting used to the 'feeling' of 2 minutes for questions. I think I'm just going to work on drilling myself to get that timing down per question. Hopefully this will help me stay calm and on track next time I test.

If you have any other suggestions, or think I'm on the right track please let me know!
Thanks so much, I appreciate your activity in the forum! This is an amazing resource.

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, it does sound like your timing was "off" on test day. Your quant score dropped more than your verbal relative to your last practice test. How early would you say you finished quant? Do you think you were rushing on a lot of questions because you were worried about possibly running out of time? Rushing often increases our rate of careless mistakes.

And, yes, guessing on the last four in a row on verbal can bring your score down 2 or 3 scaled score points (around 7 to 10 percentile points, depending upon various factors), so that alone could have been what caused you to drop from 38 to 35. (And I'm guessing that you probably rushed on at least a question or two before that, right? Most people will speed up first, trying to catch up, and then finally realize they just have to guess at the end. If you did that, that would also have contributed to a score drop.)

So, timing problems often take 4 to 6 weeks to completely correct and solidify. Here's an article on timing:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... management

I think you would also benefit from a timing exercise: learning about how long one minute is without looking at a watch or stopwatch. If you don't have one already, buy yourself a stopwatch with lap timing capability. When you go to do a set of problems, start the stopwatch but turn it over so you can't see the time. Every time you think one minute has gone by, push the lap button. When you're done, see how good you were - and whether you tend to over or underestimate. Get yourself to the point where you're within 15 seconds either way on a regular basis (that is, you can generally predict between 45 sec and 1min 15 sec). Note: at the same time that you are using the stopwatch to time this "1-minute" thing, also use the OG Stopwatch (in your student center) to track the total time spent on each question.

Now, how do you use that when doing problems? If you're not on track by one minute*, make an educated guess** and move on. (The general idea is that if you're not on track by the halfway mark, you're unlikely to figure out what's holding you back AND have time to do the whole problem in the 1 min you have left.)

* For SC, 1min is well beyond the half-way mark (we're supposed to average about 1m15s here), but you can almost always eliminate at least some choices on SC in that timeframe. Once you've got that "I'm around the 1min mark and I'm struggling" feeling, go through any remaining choices ONCE more. Pick one. Move on.

** This also requires you to know HOW to make an educated guess depending upon the type of problem and the content being tested. So that's something else to add to your study: how to make educated guesses on different kinds of problems.

Let us know if you need help with anything else!