I just took the GMAT today and I bombed. This was my first time taking the exam and I got a 430(35 Quant/15 Verbal). I was not expecting to do that bad but I did. I want to retake the test next month. While taking the test, I did run out of time in each section. I was only able to get through half of the questions in each section. What suggestions do have for me to improve next time I take the test in 31 days? What studying tips do you suggest? I haven't lost hope yet on getting a better score.
Below are my CAT exam stats:
CAT 1 2 3
Quant 29 33 38
Verbal 25 31 25
Score 460 530 530
GMAT Forum
2 postsPage 1 of 1
- dgleaton
- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9361
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
You shouldn't lose hope! If you only got through about half of the questions, that's exactly why your score was what it was!
So, some things to know about the scoring of this test:
1) any questions left blank (that is, if you run out of time without finishing) result in an automatic 3 percentile point deduction for each question.
2) if you have more than about 4 questions in a row wrong, the average per question penalty is about 2 to 2.5 percentile points, depending on various factors - so, even if you managed to guess on all those questions at the end before time ran out, chances are you had quite a string of wrong answers, and that still seriously affects your score (though the penalty is not quite as severe as it is when leaving the questions blank)
So. The biggest thing on your plate right now is to fix that timing - just doing that alone without even getting better at the content will help your score. And, conversely, getting better at the content will not help your score if you still have the same severe timing problem the next time around.
Some other important things to know:
You will never get to the point where you can answer every single thing they toss at you within 2 minutes (or less). Basically, whatever you can do, the test will just give you something harder, so at some point, it is going to find your limit. Acknowledge that and, when it happens, let the question go.
This test is not scored based simply on percentage correct, as we're used to for paper and pencil tests. It's based on the difficulty levels of the questions you can and can't answer. Almost everyone gets between 50 and 60% of the question right, regardless of scoring level (though those percentages change a bit at the very high and low ends of the scoring range) - what makes the difference in scoring level is the different difficulty levels that the person can answer correctly.
So back to that timing issue - go back through your most recent practice test and figure out WHY you're slow when you are too slow. Do you not know that content? Go back and study whatever the concepts are. Do you know the content but got caught up in the calculations (math) or analysis (verbal)? Go do some practice to make sure you know how to execute those types of problems. Did you get confused about what they were asking? Did you not see a shortcut but instead took some long, convoluted route through the problem? Etc. And sometimes, your answer will be simply: this problem was too hard for me, and what I should have done was get it wrong in 2 min or 90 seconds instead of 3 or 4 min. Seriously - get it wrong faster. Then it won't also cause you to get other problems wrong later on because you don't have enough time.
You don't mention what your goal is (in terms of your score on the official test), so that would help too, in terms of advising you. Depending upon your goal, it may be possible that you need more than a month - for example, it would be tough to go from 430 to 700 in a month, but it might be doable to go from 430 to 550 or possibly 600 in a month (depending upon your strengths and weaknesses and how much time you put in).
So, some things to know about the scoring of this test:
1) any questions left blank (that is, if you run out of time without finishing) result in an automatic 3 percentile point deduction for each question.
2) if you have more than about 4 questions in a row wrong, the average per question penalty is about 2 to 2.5 percentile points, depending on various factors - so, even if you managed to guess on all those questions at the end before time ran out, chances are you had quite a string of wrong answers, and that still seriously affects your score (though the penalty is not quite as severe as it is when leaving the questions blank)
So. The biggest thing on your plate right now is to fix that timing - just doing that alone without even getting better at the content will help your score. And, conversely, getting better at the content will not help your score if you still have the same severe timing problem the next time around.
Some other important things to know:
You will never get to the point where you can answer every single thing they toss at you within 2 minutes (or less). Basically, whatever you can do, the test will just give you something harder, so at some point, it is going to find your limit. Acknowledge that and, when it happens, let the question go.
This test is not scored based simply on percentage correct, as we're used to for paper and pencil tests. It's based on the difficulty levels of the questions you can and can't answer. Almost everyone gets between 50 and 60% of the question right, regardless of scoring level (though those percentages change a bit at the very high and low ends of the scoring range) - what makes the difference in scoring level is the different difficulty levels that the person can answer correctly.
So back to that timing issue - go back through your most recent practice test and figure out WHY you're slow when you are too slow. Do you not know that content? Go back and study whatever the concepts are. Do you know the content but got caught up in the calculations (math) or analysis (verbal)? Go do some practice to make sure you know how to execute those types of problems. Did you get confused about what they were asking? Did you not see a shortcut but instead took some long, convoluted route through the problem? Etc. And sometimes, your answer will be simply: this problem was too hard for me, and what I should have done was get it wrong in 2 min or 90 seconds instead of 3 or 4 min. Seriously - get it wrong faster. Then it won't also cause you to get other problems wrong later on because you don't have enough time.
You don't mention what your goal is (in terms of your score on the official test), so that would help too, in terms of advising you. Depending upon your goal, it may be possible that you need more than a month - for example, it would be tough to go from 430 to 700 in a month, but it might be doable to go from 430 to 550 or possibly 600 in a month (depending upon your strengths and weaknesses and how much time you put in).
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
2 posts Page 1 of 1