Strategy for Second GMAT Attempt

[ChristopherS98]

Hello Stacey/GMAT Team,

I recently took the GMAT and scored a 540 (Q33;V31). This was well below my target score of 680 and above. I have the entire GMAT strategy guide bundle and utilized this extensively during my preparation. I took 3 practice tests during the roughly 2.5 months of study and scored a 570, 620 and 640 respectively (under official conditions as far as possible). After my final practice exam, I scheduled my GMAT appointment believing that I could crack the 680 mark. I am fairly unsure how to proceed here, could this just have been a bad day at the office?

My bigger worry is that I don't get nervous on test days and actually, I performed really well on the AWA (5) and IR seciton (6) on test day leading into the quant and verbal. So I was full of confidence and felt good about it all. And then it all went downhill, fast. My quant was the biggest let down. I went from practice scores of 40-42 to an actual game day score of 33. My verbal has never breached the 35 point mark and I admit this is probably the first place to try and improve. I'm a native English speaker and I can't seem to spot an error on SC very easily at all.

My question is then more general: how would you move forward from this set back? I am aware of my verbal weakness (but would appreciate feedback on this) but I am more worried about how far off my target I was given how close I was to the score in my practice exams.

Looking forward to hearing from you and thank you for the help!

Chris

[StaceyKoprince]

That's frustrating - I'm sorry you had a bad test day. Yes, it can just be a case of a bad day at the office. We just need to figure out what may have happened so that we can put together a good path forward.

How did you feel about the Q and V while you were taking the test? Did it feel like your practice tests or did it feel different? If it felt different, how?

How was your timing? Again, did it mostly feel like practice or did it differ in any way?

How did you feel in the several days leading up to the test? What did you do? Any chance you burned yourself out? Alternatively, any chance that adrenaline during the test caused you to work fast / get sloppy?

Check this article for other possible causes of a score drop; tell me what you think might apply in your case:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... t-wrong-2/

We'll figure it out!

[ChristopherS98]

Hi Stacey - thanks for replying and posting the thread to the article relevant to my situation.

Firstly, I did find the quant and verbal a little different to the practice test experience. There were a lot more questions on math that I had a vague idea of how to do but never really felt confident. It showed in my low quant score. I can't exactly pin point a reason why other than I might have been more under-prepared than I thought. Saying this, I did score consistently in the 38-42 quant range during the practice tests. During the actual GMAT I only managed to score 33.

Another fact to point out is my timing. I completed the quant section right on time but finished the verbal section with 5 minutes left on the clock. During my practice tests I usually finished verbal right on time or had to guess the last question or 2 to complete the section. I attribute this to my really poor grasp of sentence correction. I think I guessed 50% of them and I know this will be the first section to really grind on when I start the process of preparing for GMAT #2. I also felt like CR was really tough on the actual GMAT compared the practice material.

To answer your question on my routines/feelings leading up to the test, I felt ok. Nothing really sticks out as an anomaly. Perhaps I will try to get to bed a little earlier.

I really wanted to make round 1 applications for fall 2017 intake but that is seemingly becoming more difficult now that I have to retake the GMAT. I am motivated to get my 680 score but I am finding it difficult to start up the prep process again without a clear plan of action. I don't really think I ought to start from scratch but maybe you have some insight here? 540 is really far from 680. Can you make a 140 point swing from attempt 1 to 2?

Thanks again for the help.
Chris

[StaceyKoprince]

Agreed that you don't want to just start from scratch. I think it would be a good idea for you to do the full analysis of the last couple of practice CATs in our system. More on this below.

A 140-point improvement is a lot, yes. It's certainly possible - some people make that happen. Given what you've said, it may also be the case that the 540 is essentially "depressed" in a way. ie, it may not be the case that 540 is really your true level - it may be a bit higher.

How did you study the first time? I don't see you on our class rosters but I don't know whether you did Interact (self-study program) or just used the books or what.

Here's how to do the full CAT analysis First, read these two articles:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat
Think about how what you've been doing does and doesn't match up with that and how you may need to change your approach accordingly.

Then, use the below to analyze your most recent MPrep CATs (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
http://tinyurl.com/analyzeyourcats

Based on all of that, figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as any ideas you have for what you think you should do. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Your analysis should include a discussion of your buckets - you'll understand what that means when you read the last article. 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!)

Also think about how you need to *change* what you did compared to the first time.