Not the score I wanted - 580

[dxgamez]

Dear Stacey and MGMAT Instructors,

I just took my GMAT today. In fact, the test ended an hour ago. The score - Q44 V27. GMAT calculated the total score and showed 580. I am very disappointed but I know that I have much to do on Verbal.

I took private tutoring classes from Manhattan found that my Verbal improved. My first diagnostic for verbal was a low 18. Then, after learning strategies on how to solve SC, CR and RC questions, I tried all MGMAT qns and OG questions.

I monitored my timing and my score. I would get 9 out of 10 SC questions right, 4 out of 6 CR questions right, and depending on the passage (if I am focused) 3 out of 4 RC qns right. My timing for a normal SC question was about 45 seconds and CR was about 90 seconds. Initially, I had a lot of problems with RC. My tutor suggested reading more CNN articles and challenged myself to remain focused on non-interesting articles. I found that reading improved my RC reading, but I still believe my reading is still very slow.

I booked the test without doing the GMATPrep at all. I was very confident because of the statistics that show I get most verbal questions correct. And then, reality bites. I took the GMATPrep a week before the test - which was last week. I found myself rushing through Verbal half-way through. I just did 15 questions and the clock showed 25 mins - I can't recall the exact timing though. My score for GMATPrep was Q49 V28, giving a total of 610. I thought that the drop in verbal was due to the panic mode halfway. But I did find that questions were more difficult in the prep than in any of the questions in the OG or MGMAT books.

Could you advise why I am seeing this low score on Verbal? Is it because of the time pressure? What should I do to improve my score? I am not sure what to do now. So any advise would be great.

I am thinking of taking another shot at the GMAT, only if my prep scores show that I can achieve a significant improvement in Verbal.

Thanks in advance for your advise. Oh I figured that you would want me to do the "Figuring out what went wrong" on BTG, so here goes:-

1. Official Test Condititions
* Adhered to the official test conditions for my one and only GMATPrep, but I took 10 mins break instead of 8 mins. Was not aware of the change to 8 mins.

2. Stamina
* I took my 1st test on Saturday, and then I was very concerned with my Verbal score. Thus, I took another test on Sunday - but i skipped the AWA and the math. Just did the Verbal to see how I would do. Again, showed that my verbal's bad - V29.

3. Timing
* Yes, I think that one of my biggest issues has to do with timing. I seem to take more time answering the questions on GMATPrep as compared to answering the questions on OG.

4. Anxiety
* Nothing much here. I got off pretty fine after the AWA. Thought I did good in the AWA, but it doesn't matter cos the overall score is a letdown.

Appreciate your advise. Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

You mentioned that you took private tutoring with "Manhattan" - if you mean ManhattanGMAT (and not another company that uses Manhattan in its name - there are some others!), then you may be eligible for some additional free services, depending upon the details of the tutoring you did.

Contact the office to see whether you're eligible for a free Post-Exam Assessment. 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.

Note: generally, people who have taken a full course, done a complete self-study course, or done a certain number of hours of private tutoring are eligible. If you only signed up for, say, 1 hour of private tutoring, I don't think you're eligible for this.

Also, you ask why your score is so low and do the analysis for a situation in which someone's score *dropped* significantly (> 80 points), but you don't mention any practice test scores that are much higher than your official test. Did you have some tests on which your score was much higher?

I found that reading improved my RC reading, but I still believe my reading is still very slow.

This is one of the things that takes the most time to improve, unfortunately. If people are struggling with reading comprehension or speed, it typically takes a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks, and often longer, of daily reading in order to make a significant impact. You don't mention how long you have been doing this for - perhaps you just need more time.

But I did find that questions were more difficult in the prep than in any of the questions in the OG or MGMAT books.

Some of the questions in GMATPrep are in the OG books. :) That is, there isn't a significant difference in difficulty level throughout the possible pool of questions. It is the case, of course, that the specific difficulty levels you were seeing would not match the spread of levels you saw in the book, because the test is adapting itself to you and consistently trying to keep you at a level where you can just barely do (or not do) the problems.

Basically, the test is designed to feel difficult for everyone. Even those of us who score in the 99th percentile feel like the test is really pushing us - that's because the test is always searching for our limits.

Your verbal score on the official test matches the score you received on GMATPrep. Did you feel the two tests were similar? Did you have timing problems on the real test as well? If so, please describe in as much detail as possible.

What were your scores on your MGMAT CATs? Did you take all of your MGMAT tests under official testing conditions, including the essays? (If not, how did you deviate from official conditions?)

I seem to take more time answering the questions on GMATPrep as compared to answering the questions on OG.

That is not necessarily surprising, given how the test works. In OG, in particular, which questions did you do? Did you do them all? Were you faster on the lower-numbered questions? (The lower-numbered questions are easier.)

Also, your ability may be higher than what your score is showing, yes. If you spend too much time at the beginning or in the middle and then run out of time at the end, your score will drop a lot at the end of the test. It would be helpful for us to have some more data to figure out whether this might have happened to you.

If you have taken an MGMAT test, you can use this article to analyze your performance. That will give us some more data to help us figure out what went wrong.
http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23 ... tice-tests

Come back to post your analysis here and we'll help you figure out what to do with it!

[dxgamez]

Hi Stacy,

Thank you for your reply. Sorry for my late reply - I was away on a trip.

Guess I got it all wrong. My tutoring sessions were with Manhattan Review. All along, I have been thinking that I was tutoring with Manhattan GMAT. Geez now I'm really stumped.

Anyway, should I get private tutoring from Manhattan GMAT? Would it make a difference to my scores or should I do more studying?

Also, you ask why your score is so low and do the analysis for a situation in which someone's score *dropped* significantly (> 80 points), but you don't mention any practice test scores that are much higher than your official test. Did you have some tests on which your score was much higher?

I only had one test in which my score was higher than 580. It was a 610, GMAT Prep #1 taken under full test conditions.

This is one of the things that takes the most time to improve, unfortunately. If people are struggling with reading comprehension or speed, it typically takes a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks, and often longer, of daily reading in order to make a significant impact. You don't mention how long you have been doing this for - perhaps you just need more time.

I spent around 6 weeks reading CNN articles and GMAT comprehension passages, and practising OG RC questions.

Your verbal score on the official test matches the score you received on GMATPrep. Did you feel the two tests were similar? Did you have timing problems on the real test as well? If so, please describe in as much detail as possible.

What were your scores on your MGMAT CATs? Did you take all of your MGMAT tests under official testing conditions, including the essays? (If not, how did you deviate from official conditions?)

I felt the two tests were somewhat similar. I had timing problems on the real test as well. I think I took too much time in the first half of Verbal. Then in the 2nd half, I tried to speed up a little. That was costly because soon enough I saw easy SC questions. I saw several of these questions and knew something was wrong. I took too much time solving a problem in Math. Sometimes, it took me 4 minutes. I didn't realise until I check the clock - I check the clock every 5 questions.

I have not taken any MGMAT CATs. I had taken a partial Manhattan Review CAT though. Skipped the Math and did the Verbal. Got a score of V29.

In OG, in particular, which questions did you do? Did you do them all? Were you faster on the lower-numbered questions? (The lower-numbered questions are easier.)

I did all the questions in OG, including the higher-numbered questions. I timed myself on the higher numbered and got a max of about 2 mins whereas the lower-numbered questions were on an average of 1 min 45 secs.

If you have taken an MGMAT test, you can use this article to analyze your performance. That will give us some more data to help us figure out what went wrong

Should I take the MGMAT test now? I have stopped studying since the day of the test just to take a break. What should I do now so that I could provide more data for you to figure out what went wrong?

I'd appreciate your advise in this matter. Additionally, please let me know if you'd recommend me to take up more tutoring classes. I'm not sure what to do now.

Thanks for the help,
Raihan

[greystealth]

lol, is this a joke post?

"I only had one test in which my score was higher than 580. It was a 610, GMAT Prep #1 taken under full test conditions. "

[StaceyKoprince]

greystealth, play nice. :)

dxgamez, yes, I think it would be a good idea for you to take an MGMAT practice test; then you can use that article I linked to above to do the same analysis that I do when I review my own tests. You can then tell us what you found out from that analysis and we'll help you to figure out what to do.

Take the test under full official conditions, including the essays. Use the normal time. Take the normal two 8-minute breaks. Basically, do it exactly like the real thing!

You can sign up for one free test on our website. If you have bought one of our books, then you have full access to the test database (you can take multiple tests). Either way, take that test and let us know your analysis based on the article I linked to in my last post!

Re: tutoring, I don't have any data yet, but even then, I hesitate to recommend tutoring to anyone because I have an obvious conflict of interest. I have written an article that talks about how to choose between self study, a class, and a tutor, so that might help you to make your decision:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/06/ ... s-or-tutor

[greystealth]

Sadly, I wasn't being rude.

Sometimes it's hard to detect internet sarcasm, I thought he/she was being sarcastic with the 580/610 thing.

[dxgamez]

Stacey,

Thanks for your advise. I'll take an MGMAT test and do the analysis as per your advise. I'll post the results here when I complete the test.

Greystealth,

I was not sarcastic with my post. And I was not trying to be funny. Your post came across as sarcastic to me. I didn't reply because that will push the post to a later queue. Just so you know the post was real. Doesn't mean that I got a 580/610 I was trying to be funny.

[greystealth]

Ah, well then I apologize.

Since the MGMAT CATs predict your true score on the GMAT within a range of 30-50 points, and 580-610 is perfect on the range, I thought you were joking.

Good luck on your target score!

[StaceyKoprince]

ok, good - we'll be waiting for your analysis.

And, greystealth, thanks for apologizing. In future, may I make a suggestion? Explain what you're thinking in your first post (about the SD, etc) rather than asking if something is a joke, with no explanation. That can be interpreted in many different ways, some very not nice (eg, "is this a joke that someone got such a low score?"). I'm sure that's not what you meant, but someone could interpret it that way.