Need Help Deciding to Postpone GMAT

[joie_bernabe]

Dear Manhattan GMAT staff,

I am not sure what to do. I have taken 5 MGMAT CAT exams and have scored poorly on all of them. I started the program in the middle of August, and right now I have the GMAT schedule on Nov. 27th, 20 days from now. I was hoping for near 700-score, but now I am not sure if I can score above 600.

Here are my exam scores:
CAT 1 540 - 31Q, 34V
CAT 2 540 - 33Q, 32V
CAT 3 640 - 43Q, 35V
CAT 4 610 - 35Q, 38V
CAT 5 580 - 38Q, 32V

Note: for both CAT 4 and CAT 5, I had a technological malfunction during the practice test. For CAT 4, my login timed out, and I freaked out on Quant because my timing was off--I guessed for the majority of that section. For CAT 5, the timing function did not work, I had to call Manhattan GMAT to reset my CAT 5 exam, so two practice tests in a row where I have taken the test with frayed nerves. I am not sure if my tests are even representative of my ability since I have had two malfunctions in a row.

I just feel really stressed and do not know what to do. Also, what happens if I need to reset the CAT exams? I feel like I will run out of tests. I am already working with a Manhattan GMAT tutor, and my work schedule prevents me from taking the live in person course (I am a self-study plus student).

I am not under a time crunch to take the exam, but I feel like I keep postponing this test (I have already postponed it once). Any advice or help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joie

[StaceyKoprince]

First, given your current scoring pattern, it's probably not a good idea to take the test in 20 days (assuming you keep your goal score at 700).

Second, I hear what you're saying about not wanting to keep postponing the test. We need to figure out what's going on here, though, before you get in there to take the real thing. Otherwise, you'll go in with lower confidence and that might really hurt you.

Third, let's talk about the issues you had on your last two tests. If we can figure out what's going on more precisely, then we can have a better idea of what to do. (And I'm sorry that you had tech issues twice in a row! Most people never have any.) You said that your login timed out on the 4th test. So you had to log back in, yes? And then you also said you freaked out because your timing was off. Was that separate from your login issue? Or did one affect the other?

For example, did you get logged out, and then you had to log back in, but the clock kept running while you were logged out, so you lost time artificially? If so, how much time did you lose?

Or was your timing off because you separately messed up the timing yourself and then panicked?

These are two very different circumstances, obviously.

On the 5th test, you said there was something wrong with the test's timer and you had to call tech support to get things working again. Again, did you artificially lose time as a result of that? (And, if so, how much?) Or were you just interrupted for some period of time and then had to get yourself back into it? (This is not great either, but at least you didn't lose time.

If the issue was more that you were disrupted (but you didn't artificially lose any time) and that affected your concentration, then you need to work a bit more on stress management. The real test is 100 times more stressful than a practice exam, and unexpected things can happen. What are you going to do if your pen runs dry and it takes 90 seconds to get a new one? What if the screen freezes and you have to get a proctor to fix it? This last thing is rare, but it has happened before on the real test. You need to be able to take these things in stride - not let them affect you to the point that you "freak out" (in your own words :)

If the technical problems actually artificially removed time from your testing experience, then yes, the scores may be artificially deflated. If so, please describe how much time you lost - if it was only a minute or two, it wouldn't make that much of a difference (as long as you don't panic). If it was 5 or 10 minutes, that is substantial.

For tests 1 through 3, your quant score shows a very nice progression. You had the drop on test 4 but said you had to guess on a bunch of questions, so that would likely explain the drop. CAT 5 also represented a drop in quant (compared to CAT 3); did something similar happen with the timing? What else happened there?

You showed a nice jump in verbal on CAT 4, but then a drop again on CAT 5. Both of those tests had technical issues, yet you did very well on one. When did the technical issues occur? Did the problem occur during quant on T4, but verbal on T5? That might explain a drop in verbal on T5 - either because you artificially lost time or because you got disrupted and couldn't get yourself back on track. If the technical issues both occured during (for example) quant, though, then that wouldn't explain why you got your best verbal score on T4 but then dropped 6 points on T5.

Think through the above and try to figure out what you think happened. If you're not sure, give us as much detail as you can about the issues I described above and we'll help you try to figure it out. If we can figure out what's going on, then we can figure out what to do about it!

[joie_bernabe]

Hi Stacey,

I actually decided to go ahead and keep my test date. I reviewed my test with my MGMAT tutor, and we noticed that on my last two tests, my timing was off, which explained the drop-off in my quant scores. The one silver lining is that the difficulty level for both my quant and verbal questions for correct answers was 680-690 on my last test, and for incorrect answers it was 700-750, which is a significant jump from each of my tests. The difficulty average on my other tests was in the low 600's for both correct/incorrect answers. So basically on both parts of the test, my timing was off--getting hard questions right, but taking too long and rushing through the end of the test. I have been working on my pacing the last 10 days and reviewing all my CAT exam questions and OG questions.

My approach for the real exam is to go in with the mindset that I am taking the test twice, and I am keeping realistic expectations about what I will score this first time. I realize also this is the more expensive route, but I think at this point, I might as well do it.

I appreciate all your advice and thanks again!

[StaceyKoprince]

I like everything that you have to say. It sounds like you guys did diagnose the problem, and you were making progress though the timing was bringing your score down.

I also think it's a good idea to go in with the mindset that this is just your "dry run" or practice test. Everyone should do this! It takes a little bit of the pressure off. That way, you're not going in there telling yourself that you MUST hit some certain score today. (And then, if you get a score you like - bonus! You don't have to take it again.)

Good luck!