Devastated with 1st GMAT score. How do I prep for round 2?

[sewagnor]

I've been studying for the past 2 months (using the self guided Manhattan program). I had been making steady improvements on the practice tests, and got my goal score of 700 on the last one before the test. I just took the GMAT yesterday and completely bombed it (600). I'm so disappointed and have no idea what to do. I know I need to bring up my Quant score, but not sure where to start. Any suggestions on how much time I should give myself before the next exam (more than the required 30 days?), how do I prepare, should I take a break or just keep going etc? Any advice is welcome.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry you had a rough test experience.

If you're feeling totally burned out, then yes, give yourself a week or two off. But first figure out what you're going to do, so that you feel comfortable giving yourself a break.

If you took one of our Guided Self-Study packages, 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.

If you haven't taken a recent practice test under official conditions (including IR and essay), then I recommend doing so before you do the PEA. The teacher needs some good data to assess your case.

Read this:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/

Use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT(s):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Then come back here and tell us the results of your analysis and what you think you should do based on that analysis. We'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)

Finally, think about WHY the test went so badly. Was the score drop from both sections or primarily just one? Did you have timing issues? (Before you answer that, go analyze your CATs using my above article - lots of people *think* their timing is fine when it's not.)

Did you take practice tests under non-official conditions, which could have inflated your practice test scores? If that's the case, then the real test score might not have reflected an actual drop in performance.

Did you have stamina issues? Here's what that feels like:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... you-crazy/

Finally, I'd recommend that you read this and use it to start thinking about how to do things differently next time:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Between your PEA and our conversations here, we'll get you ready to re-take the test. :)

[sewagnor]

Thanks for the response Stacey. I emailed to set up a post exam appointment so hopefully that will help. I'm out for a 2 week vacation coming up and thinking Ill just take it off and return to studying when I return. Is that ok to do? Or should I be reviewing on vacation?

I know that quant is where I need the most work. I took a practice exam on mba.com a week before the GMAT and scored 700 (verbal is usually much higher than quant). The week before that I had really focused on math - just doing timed practice sets from the OG and making sure to carefully approach each one. I hadn't done as well on the MGAMT (660 was my highest) but I've heard the math is harder than the GMAT. Each test I took the full exam and tried to make it as real as possible. On the actual test my verbal was still lower than it had been - high 80% and quant was lower than it's been -around 30%.

I'm having trouble figuring out what to focus on because I seem to have trouble with most sections of math, not just one. Based on the CAT assessment, I do best in Geometry, and equally bad in algebra, word probs and number properties. As for verbal, I'm weakest in CR.

I'm not sure what happened on test day, but looking back I think I may have mentally checked out too early. I remember thinking I just can't wait to be done with this, so perhaps I could have spent more time reviewing and catching stupid mistakes rather than rushing through (although my timing was right on- finished with just 30 seconds left). I felt confident going in, well rested, and a little nervous, but not too stressed. I know the first few questions of quant were difficult for me and I felt myself getting discouraged. I think that threw me off and I didn't try as hard after that.

As for my plan of attack - let me know your feedback:
When I get back from my trip mid-July I'll hit the books hard. i want to apply to schools in first round due November, so I think I'll take the GMAT early September. Is that enough time?

I would probably start with another full MGMAT practice exam (just reset them) to see where I am and review where I should focus. I'll review the Foundations of math book and do at least 2 hours of studying each day - timed practice sets of prob solving and data sufficiency, and critical reasoning. I may do the easier questions from the last pages of the self guided schedule to have sets to practice. I'm thinking I'll just keep reviewing and really take more time to understand the ones I get wrong. I'll make flashcards for the ones I need to work on. I'll take both the official mba.com practice exams - one a few weeks in so mid August, and one a week before the actual exam - early Sep.

Please let me know what you think! Thanks for the help.

[StaceyKoprince]

Totally fine, take your vacation. :)

The one thing you might want to do: if you have timing issues (nearly everyone does), then do start developing your 1 minute time sense (which you can do while you're doing anything that requires mental concentration and attention, such as having a conversation with family / friends while on vacation!).

Read about how to do that in the time management article.
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

Sounds like you did experience mental / decision fatigue. You can learn to be better prepared for that.

Re: your plan... did you do the full analysis that I posted about before? What do the 5 main categories of analysis look like? I need some more detail here in order to advise you.

Did you read the material about how to study / how to analyze your work? (Including the fact that you need to analyze questions that you answered correctly, not just the ones that you miss? And the fact that, sometimes, your best "learning" is to learn to get something wrong faster, NOT learn how to get it right? Etc.)

I'd also recommend waiting until after you do your PEA to finalize your plan - then come back here and tell me about it. :)

[mateecezxg]

I'm sorry you had a rough test experience.

If you're feeling totally burned out, then yes, give yourself a week or two off. But first figure out what you're going to do, so that you feel comfortable giving yourself a break.

If you took one of our Guided Self-Study packages, then you're eligible for a free Post-Exam Assessment (if you haven't done it already). This is a dbuying.com 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.

If you haven't taken a recent practice test under official conditions (including IR and essay), then I recommend doing so before you do the PEA. The teacher needs some good data to assess your case.

Thanks for your share, it's very useful

[StaceyKoprince]

you're welcome!