Scored 550 only in all my 3 GMAT test appearances

[v800]

Hi Stacy,
After couple of months gap , I am updating this post of mine.
I have been working with on-line classes and also OG 12th edition.

My CAT scores:

CAT 1: 590 (Q:38 V: 34) (Free Exam)
CAT 1: 630 (Q:43 V: 33)
CAT 2: 600 (Q:43 V: 31)

My course is finishing next Saturday ie June 20th. And I have my actual GMAT( my 4th attempt) on July 8th.

I am analyzing my weak areas strengthens too.
But wanted to understand,how I am doing and some advice from you.
As said earlier my goal is 650+

Please help.

Regards,
V800

[StaceyKoprince]

It looks like you've been making good progress, especially on the verbal. Nice work!

Your scheduled test date is about 3 weeks away and you are currently in the low 600s. I'd like to see your practice test scores in the 650 range before you take the official test, so you might need to postpone a bit. When are you planning to take your next practice test and how long has it been since your last practice test? If it has been a while, perhaps your scoring level is already higher.

GMAC allows you to change your test date as long as you do it more than 7 days in advance of the test date, so sometime in the next couple of weeks (at least 7 days before!), decide whether you think you're okay or whether you want to push it out a few more weeks. Ideally, you will score in the 650 range on two practice tests (one MGMAT, one GMATPrep, taken a week apart).

Also, make sure to sign up for the end-of-course test review with your instructor; you'll get personalized feedback about what to do as you continue to study after the course is over.

[v800]

Hi Stacy,
I have taken the end of course review from Jonathan and found out that PS and RC are hurting me.
I have taken the 1st of the free GMATPrep exams today and got:

Q:40 (PS 56% DS 55%)
V:28 (SC 64%, CR 81%(know q's) and RC 53%)
Total: 570.

This week,I will work on RC and PS only from OG.
Till date I have taken 3 MGMAt tests and another 3 are left.

I am little dissappointed and feeling low,my actual exam is on 8th July.
Please advice,how to go from here.

[possible894]

Hey V800,

I can see that you scored less on the Free test than on the paid exams.. CAT1 and Cat2. when did you take these exams? Also, was the Free test a bit tougher than the other 2? I

Thanks
Abhi

[StaceyKoprince]

v800 - what differences did you notice on your GMATPrep exam vs. your recent MGMAT exams? Did you take the essays on all of the exams, or only some (if the latter, which)? Did you take the practice tests all in one sitting? Did you ever use the pause button on the MGMAT exams? Did you take only the officially allowed 10-minute breaks between sections? Did you take the practice tests at the same time of day?

How was your timing in each section? Did you generally move steadily through the test, giving appropriate time and attention to each question? (2m 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) Or did you have to rush at times and possibly make random guesses? If you did have to rush and/or make random 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? Alternatively, did you move too quickly and finish with a lot of time (>3min) left over?

Did you notice any other differences that you think could have affected your score? (Or even things that you don't think would have affected your score?)

[v800]

Hi Stacy,
Thanks for the reply.
I actually got little tensed, as GMAT Prep is very close to the actual GMAT, as opposed to MGMAT. (At least I think so)
Timing was never an issue, BUT I always complete my verbal section too early. This time it was 8 minutes early.
I felt the verbal was tough compared to MGMAT tests.
I have to improve on PS and RC side.

Last MGMAT test I have taken was 2 weeks early and scored 600. (Q43, V31)
I still have close to 3 weeks to go, my exam is on July 8th.

Please advice.

[StaceyKoprince]

Okay - a 600 and a 570 are not really statistically different - that's within the expected variation of these kinds of tests. So you didn't really get worse - you just didn't improve. Your verbal went down a bit, though - and part fo the variability there is likely due to the fact that you're moving too quickly. Having 8 minutes left is a LOT; you could be using that time to help you get a better score! When you try to move too quickly through the test, you are almost certainly getting some things wrong that you know how to get right, but you are missing the questions due to speed and stamina issues - leading to careless mistakes.

If you were to do a set of verbal questions or a verbal-only section, would you still move way too quickly? Do you ALWAYS move too quickly on verbal? Or do you tend to move too quickly only when you're at the end of a full test? I'm trying to figure out whether this is a universal issue with verbal or whether there's a stamina component to it as well.

Do you move too quickly on all verbal question types? Or does it tend to be only certain types? (Look at your last 2 MGMAT tests to figure this out.) If only certain types, which ones? (If possible be more specific than just CR / SC / RC. Maybe you go too quickly on RC inference or specific detail questions?) See my last post for guidelines on the time you're supposed to spend.

Your quant in general has been more on an upward trend than verbal, but you probably still have some work to do there as well - it's easier to improve your strengths, so take advantage of that.

At this point, we're about 2 weeks before your test date and you aren't yet scoring in your goal range (650). It's not unusual for students to start to make significant progress in the couple of weeks after the course ends, as you go back to review and start to put everything together. At the same time, I'd like your test scores to be in your goal range before you take the test, and you have to decide more than 7 days before your test date if you want to reschedule it without losing your money. So it may be the case that you need to postpone your test by a few weeks.

I'd suggest taking another practice test this week-end and use those results to decide (you have to decide by July 1st, which is next week Wed).

[v800]

Hi Stacy,
Thanks for the advice.
I have just worked on my weakpoints ie PS and RC from MGMAT guides and OG 12th.

Today ie Sunday 28th June,I have taken another MGMAT exam (3rd) and scored:

Q:42
V: 38.
Total: 660.

(I have never scored this much, since the past 3 years of my GMAT journey)

SNAPSHOT:

Problem Solving 22 14 8 0 64% 1:44 2:32 510 660
Data Sufficiency 15 6 9 0 40% 1:47 1:43 580 620

Sentence Correction 15 9 6 0 60% 1:37 1:35 690 750
Critical Reasoning 14 8 6 0 57% 1:47 1:28 750 750
Reading Comprehension 12 6 6 0 50% 2:38 1:26 660 700


I am happy,but real GMAT might be little tougher.And I have another week to go for my actual exam ie on 8th July.

Again,I was have finished 3 minutes before the actual time in Verbal.
RC did not improve,but PS did and DS went down(as I did not practice DS).

I am planning to take the 2nd free GMATPrep exam on Tuesday and another MGAMT exam on comming Saturday/Sunday.

Now the big Question: SHALL I POSTPONE MY EXAM ?

I am eagerly awating for your apt reply.
Please advice.

Regards,
V800.

[StaceyKoprince]

Okay, look at the wrong-answer timing stat for Problem Solving. You're spending 2.5m per wrong PS answer - 45 seconds longer than when you get PS questions right! You MUST cut yourself off. You know when you don't know - LET IT GO!

And then look at DS - your percentage is only 40% but you're getting harder questions right and your time average is only about 1:45 whether right or wrong. In other words, you're moving too quickly on DS to make up for that extra time you're spending on PS, so even though it looks like you're stronger at DS (getting harder questions right), your percentage is a lot lower because you're rushing so much.

Nice job on the verbal! Esp. CR. Your timing is a bit high on SC and a bit low on RC, so that may be part of the reason RC is your "lowest" performing area.

You've only got a week left, so #1 priority is fixing the timing problem on quant. If you have time, you can also try to fix the verbal timing problem, but that's going to be harder to do (and it's also not hurting you as much).

Now, as for your big question: you're basically borderline - there isn't a clear decision one way or the other. It's fantastic that you got a 660. It would have been nice if you still had 2 weeks to go instead of 1, so that you would have time to solidify your work. If it's possible to postpone for just 1 week, you may want to consider doing so. If you would have to postpone for much longer than that, then you may want to keep the appointment as is.

I would not take a practice test within 5 days of the real test and I would not take more than one practice test in the last week. You aren't improving by taking those practice tests - you're just seeing whether your score is where you want it to be. If it is, and you keep taking practice tests, then you risk lowering your score on the real thing due to fatigue. If it isn't, then continuing to take tests will not raise your score to where you want it to be (and you still risk the fatigue thing).

So you're going to have to make a hard decision now - I would postpone for 1 week if you have that option; otherwise I would take it on the 8th.

[v800]

Hi Stacy,
Well,thanks for the apt reply.

The only date left is July 21st(center near to my place) and that too at 5.00PM in the evening.Which is not a good time for my to write GMAT.I am a morning person.
The next exam slot at 9.00AM is on September 1st only.

So,I will take the exam on 8th itself.

Regarding,the timing,I will try to improve.
From CAT 2 to CAT 3 I have actually improved by 8% in RC.(I said otherwise in my previous post).

I am working only on OG questons this week. I have taken off from work from Friday till my exam date.So,I have full 5 days left to work on.

Anything else,you want to advice,in specific? Else I will again comeback to you in this forum hopefully with some good news!!!

Thanks a ton!!

Regards,
V800

[StaceyKoprince]

Just make sure not to burn yourself out during the final few days. Think about elite athletes gearing up for the championship game / match: they aren't practicing their hardest the day before the match. They're mostly resting / doing only light exercise. Same thing here.

The timing is the biggest thing here, so review your timing guidelines and your strategies for (a) recognizing when you have to let go, (b) making an educated guess, and (c) moving on!

Good luck - let us know how it goes!

[v800]

Hi Stacy,
Well,I scored 590.

Q:42 63%
V: 30 56%
Over all : 63%.

MISTAKE: FINISHED VERBAL ATLEAST 4 MINUTES EARLY.

I am little happy and confused now.
Happy because,I improved and it was only because of you guys only.No doubts about it.The plus point with you guys was that,you made me understand my weakness and strenghtens.And also the timing.

Confused:

NOW THE BIG ONE: GMAT AGAIN or START APPLYING?

I am only looking at 1 year fulltime MBA.
And looking for universities like: INSEAD, IIM-Ahemedabad,ISB, IMD and Cambridge.

My Brief Background:

Education:
B.Tech (Chemical Engineering) 1994-98. (Osmania University,Hyderabad,India)
Masters in Computer Science 1999-2001.(University of Houston-texas,USA)

Work Experience:
6 years in IT consulting.
Worked in 4 different countries like USA,Malaysia,Switzerland and South Africa.

Leadership:
Class captain for 3 years in School, sports captain.
Leading a team of 4 in my current role in office.

Social activites:
Volunteer in NSS for 2 years. Lot of other like fund raising etc.
contribute monthly for making girls computer literate,in Hyderabad.

Entrepreneurship:(My goal,and the reason to do my mba).
Started a small IT start-up company in Hyderabad.

With my background,I have all the criteria required by the top universities, but none of the universities commint on any GMAT score,so I am confused to proceed further or not.

Please advice.

[StaceyKoprince]

I know you didn't get the score you really wanted, but you still did a great job.

I don't know the admissions side of things as much - have you posted your question in the "ask an admissions consultant" folder? I don't know what the schools you've listed require / like to see in an applicant, but the admissions folks might have an idea, since this is what they do!

I'm sorry I can't help you on that piece of it. The only thing I do know in general is that a lot of non-US universities don't place as much emphasis on the GMAT.

[v800]

Hi Stacy,
I contacted them,and we are working on it.But the competetion is so very fierce outside US,that I feel 590 might be at the gates and but not inside.

I might sound weired and may be obsessed: will more shot at the exam help?

Regards,
V800

[StaceyKoprince]

The question you're asking me is really about the admissions thing - will the 590 likely be good enough or not? After you've talked to those folks, come back and let me know what they said.