I need some serious help here

[priluckj]

Hello,

I guess this falls under the general question category, and any feedback you can give would be greatly appreciated. I have taken the GMAT 3 times. The first time was my fault because I only studied from a review book and didn't break 500. I then enrolled in the Kaplan class, pulled my score up to 640 on the last 3 practice tests in a row before I retook the actual exam, and scored a 510 on the real thing. I went back, studied again for another 2 months with Kaplan, and bought the 800 level book, which allowed me to bring my last two practice tests up to 700 and 710, respectively. When I retook the test the final time, I had a 240 point drop, ended up with a 470. Close to the score that I first received with no professional practice.

I know that I let all the banter about getting the first 10 questions right get to my head, because I started off good, then when I got to the 6th problem, froze. After 10 minutes of anxiety and staring at the computer screen, I panicked and started rushing. I had the same problem with the SAT, and have had an ongoing problem with this type of make it or break it exam. Any thoughts?

Also, I have a unique background. I worked at one of the most prestigious Hollywood talent agencies, left to start my own business representing screenwriters and directors, sold my business to pursue a finance job, in order to reach my end goal of becoming an analyst at a studio. I had an above average score on the Series 7, which I thought would be a testament to the fact that I have an above average facility with numbers. I'm 34 and have been out of school for a while now, my GPA was 2.95. The one thing in the way of leadership that I can offer that is huge is a unique perspective that I bring to an incoming MBA class, especially now. Our old financial system is in turmoil, and many finance and consulting jobs, the bread and butter of MBA graduates, are a lot fewer and paying a lot less. I bring some serious connnections to an alternate business, which could help my fellow students and the career services office when they are looking for "alternate careers," which many of them have been doing.

I applied to Kellogg, Wharton and Tuck, and got dinged at all 3. Not even a waitlist. I guess my question here is, does it all just come down to the GMAT in the end? If they read my essays and didn't think I was a fit for whatever reason, I can live with that, but I feel like they didn't even read them. I think they saw my 510 GMAT and chucked my application in the trash.

I would appreciate your thoughts on this, as I figure I have one more year to enter a full time MBA program.

Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

Messing up the timing can certainly have serious consequences. I'm sorry you're having such a tough time with this test.

There are really two separate "big" questions here: the test and admissions. On the admissions piece, ask the folks over in the "ask an admissions consultant" thread (or whatever it's called) because they're the ones who really know how the schools make their decisions.

On the test front, first I have some questions for you. Obviously, from your description, you messed up the timing. Did that happen on both quant and verbal or only one? Can you give me some more detail on how, exactly, the timing went wrong?

The appropriate average timing is: 2 min for quant, 1 to 1.5m for SC, 2m for CR, 2-4m to read a passage, 1m for general RC questions, 1.5 to 2m for specific RC questions. From your description, you got hung up early on and that would result in having to rush later and make guesses. On how many questions would you say you did that? Did you do it on a lot of questions in a row or were the guesses scattered? Basically, take me through your test experience just from a pure timing perspective.

Also, read this article about stress management and see whether any of the tips would help you to reduce your stress levels: http://www.manhattangmat.com/strategy-series-stress.cfm

On the "first 10 questions thing," do you know now that it's a myth that the first questions are worth more? If not, please let me know and I will explain why it's a myth and why there are such severe consequences to running out of time on the test. There are a lot of other posts on here discussing this topic, so perhaps you've already read about it - just let me know.

The good news is that, from what you describe, it sounds like you know a lot more than your score is reflecting - it's tough to get consistently good results on practice tests unless you do know what you're doing. The challenge is going to be mastering the timing and overcoming your nerves - but those things can be accomplished.

[priluckj]

Stacey,

Your response is greatly appreciated. I will send a message to the admissions pro's and ask them their thoughts about the other half of my question.

As for the GMAT, I botched both the quant and verbal. On the last Kaplan test, my quant percentile was around 78% and my verbal was 99%. On that last fateful exam (yea, the one on which I scored 470) my quant percentile was in the 20's or 30's, and my verbal was between 40-50% from what I remember.

The exact scenario each of the 3 times I have taken this exam is as follows: I start strong and confident on the quant, answering each of the first 4 questions in under 2 minutes, then I get to question 5 or 6 and I don't know the answer, or I think I don't know the answer. I sit there intent on getting the first 10 quetions correct, and that is when it all hits the fan. I literally sat there for 10 minutes staring at the 6th problem the last time, and after that I was in a state of panic. I start rushing and then guessing on questions I should know the answer to, then end up guessing on the last 8 questions in each section. So to answer your other question, I'm not sure the first 10 question myth is a myth, so I hope you can shed light on this.

And I appreciate your vote of confidence and I agree, I don't have a problem with the subject matter. I'm currently enrolled in a Statistics and a Calculus class, just to strengthen my app if things don't go my way this year, and I received A's on both of the midterms. I don't have a quant problem or a verbal problem; I believe it is definetely stress related and time related, and for me, these two things go hand in hand. I look forward to your thoughts.

[StaceyKoprince]

Here's text from a post I posted a long time ago re: the myth:

"I know I've already said this, but it's so important that I want to make sure I'm clear: DO NOT do this. It is a terrible strategy and will bring your score down. It's a myth that this helps your score - a study was done a long time ago that someone misinterpreted by not bothering to read the methodology thoroughly and this myth was born and refuses to die. Essentially, that study did find that you could raise your score by getting the first 7 questions in a row right, but the methodology specifically assumed that you did not have to take any extra time to do this, and that you did not have to guess at the end as a result of running out of time. The study even showed, specifically, that if you have to guess on more than 3 questions at the end, your score will be even lower than it would have been if you didn't use this strategy at all. "

And I probably don't need to add that if you spend extra time trying to get the first 10 questions right, you're probably going to have to guess on more than 3 questions by the end.

There is a HUGE penalty for either not finishing the test or getting a string of questions wrong in a row. If you don't finish (that is, run out of time before the test is over), the penalty is 3 percentile points per question. If you have 5+ wrong in a row, the penalty averages 2 to 2.5 percentile points per question. That last one specifically applies to having multiple questions wrong in a row. The penalty is not as severe for one isolated wrong question (or two in a row), even if it's the same question as one of the ones in the "5 in a row" group.

Basically, they build severe penalties in so that if you mismanage the time badly enough, your score will tank. And it sounds like that's exactly what happened to you. Don't fall for the myth. Give your best shot to any question, as long as that best shot is limited to 2 min on average (and no more than 2.5min on any question). Then move on. See my blog post about "playing tennis" with the GMAT to get an idea about how to do this mentally.

If you can fix this timing problem, that will go a long way toward getting you where you need to be. You should also think about the fact that you're getting so extremely nervous during the test - read that article about stress management and think about what you can do to lower your stress levels, because that's a big part of the reason why you're getting into a bad timing situation on the test.