Depressed ..Lost All Hope ...620 GMAT (3rd attempt)

[viru5620]

Hi,
I ended up with just 620(Q 47,V 28) on the GMAT.
My previous scores : 450(Q30,V20)
600(Q44,V28)
I used Manhattan Strategy Guides,which helped me to increase my Quant score to 47.But it didn't work for Verbal a lot.Solved all OG questions. Solved 1000+ questions on Grockit.This improved my comprehension skills & my accuracy shot up in Verbal(V38-V40).
My practice scores were :
MGMAT 660(Q42,V38)
MGMAT 650(Q43,V36).
Due to low Quant score, I purchased GMAT Club tests for Quant.I improved a bit (Started scoring Q46 in mock tests)
GMAT Prep Test Scores :
Prep 1 : 670(Q47,V35)
Prep 2 :710(Q49,V37)
I was very confident of doing well on the GMAT after good scores on GMATPrep.

GMAT started pretty well with AWA section. Expecting 5.5 AWA score. IR was ok . Expecting a 5 on this section.
Took the 8 min break. First few questions (1-9) were easy.
Questions started to get trickier from Q 18 onwards till Q 28.
Last 8 Questions were medium level.I was confident after finishing Quant section. Was Expecting Q48 .

After Quant section,took the 8 min break. Had a energy bar.
I told myself..'This is it. I have done very well in AWA,IR & Quant sections .I need to pull off V38-V39. I was pumped up'

Verbal began with 4 SC questions(Medium level). I was keeping a watch on the time left. Then I got a passage(Short) .Short but dense ...and a bit difficult to comprehend.I took some time to answer the passage questions. After this I got a few CRs.(Easy- Medium).
After the CR questions, again I got a passage(This was very difficult and a long one). Again,it took me some time to answer the questions.

When I looked at the time,I had 30 minutes left and 21 Questions to answer. After the passages, got a few SC questions(These were very tricky). Again I lost time(2 min a question). A few CRs followed(medium-hard level).
12 minutes remaining and 11 questions left. I started to panic. Knew I had to skip and guess on alternate questions .
I followed this strategy till Question 34.Q 35 - Q 37 .A very dense passage on humanities.6 minutes left ...7 questions left. I had no time to read the passage. Decided to guess on all the 4 passage questions. Last 4 questions were CR & SC(Easy-Medium).
I knew I had done bad in verbal. Was expecting a V 35. I was shocked when I saw V28 on the screen(the same score on the earlier attempt).


Don't know what to do now. I need a high GMAT score to counter my low GPA. I have used every Verbal Strategy out there to improve.In my previous 2 attempts,I would just get to the correct answer and wouldn't analyse why other options are incorrect. For the 3rd attempt I rectified this. Started to analyse every questions(SC,CR & RC) on OG. For CR, I started to pre-think.For RC,my strategy was not to get bogged down in details. My strategy was to understand scope,topic and main idea.I would create passage map and take brief and general notes on every paragraph.Create a 'Big Picture' why this passage was written and try to gauge what the author's mood is. Then I moved to answering RC questions.

But Nothing seems to improve my verbal score . Again I ended up with V 28 .Timing was also not a issue for me in tests. Took a few LSAT tests to improve timing .I devoted almost 10 months to GMAT.Please suggest what should I do . I am feeling down and out. Cant think anything else except re-taking GMAT.Stacey, Ron and others ...Please advise.

Thank you ...

[nanda_S2000]

mate. take it easy. i think it maybe the mental fatigue. dont attempt anymore exam anytime soon.
your score is not that bad. i mean if you have extra curricular activities to show on your form along with clear set of goal for your future then colleges will definitely accept you. i mean what profession u wanna be in. what company. y that company. where do u c urself in 5 years. give it a try.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry you're having a rough time with the test. (And, nanda, thanks for replying too.)

First, I want to congratulate you on quant - you've really come a long way and your hard work paid off.

You scored higher on verbal on both our CATs and the GMATPrep CATs, so we need to figure out why your verbal score might have dropped on the real test.

You said that timing is not an issue for you. Yet you also said you had 30 minutes left for 21 questions!! You should have had 38-40 minutes left at that point. I have news: you have a timing problem. Given the details that you told me, you were probably scoring at least in the low 30s on verbal before the timing started spinning out of control.

Use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT(s):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Read this:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/

And this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

Then come back here and tell us the results of your analysis and what you think you should do based on that analysis. We'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. 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, did you take the practice CATs under 100% official conditions, including essay, IR, length of breaks, etc? Did you take essay and IR as seriously as you took them on real-test day? Did you give yourself *any* advantages at all in practice that could have artificially inflated your scores? (Making anything mentally easier for yourself can mean less mental fatigue by the time you get to the last section, verbal.)

Here's what mental fatigue feels like (mental fatigue and physical fatigue are not the same):
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... you-crazy/

Do you have anxiety or stress issues during the test? We all have some stress, of course, but did you feel any physical manifestations of stress? Pounding heart, sweaty palms, distraction, etc.

At the least, you've got timing issues. You may also have had fatigue or stress issues. You can get better at these things.

You've also got to work on your strategies. You talk about not getting bogged down on RC, but you did get bogged down, according to your write-up. There are probably other things like this - where you know what you're "supposed" to do, but you let yourself get distracted during the real test. (And the big thing that will help you get over that is the short-but-sweet Executive Reasoning article above!)

[viru5620]

Thanks Nanda :-) That helped

[viru5620]

Stacey...I don't understand what went wrong. I never had any timing issues in all my previous CATs. Don't know if it's just nerves. I was not mentally tired when I began the Verbal section.

For Verbal section..I divided my time into 15 minutes slots.
In 15 min,my target was to complete 8 questions.

Thanks for the links...I will analyse the results and reply soon..

Also,since I have exhausted gmat prep...Already used it so many times. Do you recommend using PowerPrep 2006 for mocks?

[StaceyKoprince]

I never had any timing issues in all my previous CATs. Don't know if it's just nerves.

I've never met even one student who never had timing issues - the test is designed to force timing issues. They were there - you just weren't aware of them and unfortunately they got out of control during the real test (not unusual, since that's a lot more stressful than a practice test). Do the analysis I described and you'll see. :)

Also,since I have exhausted gmat prep...Already used it so many times. Do you recommend using PowerPrep 2006 for mocks?

No, actually, I recommend that you stop taking so many practice tests. :)

Practice CATs are really good for (a) figuring out where you're scoring right now, (b) practicing stamina, and (c) analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. The actual act of just taking the exam is NOT so useful for improving. It's what you do with the test results / between tests that helps you to improve.

Right now, my guess is that you're either using tests as a way to improve (which doesn't work) or using tests as a way to try to prove to yourself that you have improved - but then, when you don't get the result you wanted, you just keep taking more tests.

Instead, you're going to have to take a look at HOW you're studying and fix that. Don't take another practice test for a few weeks at least. Then we can talk about that.

I don't understand what went wrong.

You're going to figure it out and we're going to use that to come up with a plan. I'll wait to hear from you on your analysis!