Devastated with GMAT score - taken ManPrep 2 times now

[mj201821]

Hi Manhattan Prep Forums,

Today marks my second attempt at an Official GMAT test, and I am completely torn up about the outcome. I'm really just looking for advice as to what I should do, because I'm at a loss for words at this point. This has been a 10 month experience for me, and I will list everything I've done below. Before that, let me list my two GMAT test scores:

GMAT 1 = 660 (Q47, V34)
GMAT 2 = 650 (Q42, V38)

Experience:
1. I started my studying experience by taking a full Manhattan Prep course, attending all lectures, and doing all homework assigned by Manhattan Prep. I started an error log, and did everything I was told throughout the course. However, upon finishing I was scoring consistently in the 630 range, so I decided to postpone my GMAT for a few months.

2. After a while of studying, I actually decided to take Manhattan Prep a second time; the salesperson on the phone told me that "a lot of times, people get more from the second class" so I thought I would give this a try. Again, I did all the homework, and attended every lecture. Upon finishing this course, I was scoring consistently in the 650 range. This was REALLY frustrating, because everyone I know has scored over 700 on this test, with the exception of really a few people. A 650 is also far lower than the average at every top school in the country. However, I did not postpone my GMAT this time, because timelines for applications were rapidly coming and I couldn't push any longer.

3. Before my GMAT, I purchased several supplemental items, including the GMAC Math + Verbal books, and the GMAT 800 book by Kaplan. I studied for an insane number of hours using these materials, as well as the Manhattan books, practice tests, etc.

4. My first GMAT test day - I was very upset about my score, which was a 660 (Q47, V34). My target score is 720, so I just felt like a failure. After a couple days of feeling terrible, I decided I would sign up again, and really give it my all.

5. My second GMAT test day - After studying for 1.5 / 2 more months, I received my second Official GMAT score, which was a 650. That was today, and I'm just really at a loss for words. I guess, my questions are as follows:

A) Is all hope lost? Should I just stop studying for this and complete my applications? Or should I continue studying?
B) If I should continue studying, what options do I have? I have now taken Manhattan Prep 2 times, and ended up with a score of 650. In my eyes, it's just an absolutely unacceptable score because my target is 720 and top schools need 700+ for acceptance.

Please let me know if I can provide any other color around this.

Thank you for your time.

Mike

[StaceyKoprince]

I am sorry that you are having such a tough time with the GMAT. It's not an easy test.

I know that it can feel like everybody scores 700+. In reality, only 10% of all test-takers hit that level. (And only 6% hit 720+.) I'm not saying you shouldn't go for the 700+ score—just adding some perspective when it can seem like everyone is getting there except for you.

I am noticing something interesting—and promising—in your official test scores. Your Q was 47 on the first test but dropped to 42 on the second. Your verbal was 34 on the first and lifted to 38 on the second (nice job on that, by the way).

If you had been able to maintain your original quant score of 47, then your combined score (Q47 V38) would have been about a 690. So you aren't as far from your goal as it seems from the first two tests. (And, from this, I would say all hope is definitely not lost.)

From your account, I can see that you did one Post Exam Assessment meeting with us already—but you're eligible for another one because you took the course twice. Call or email our student services team (800.576.GMAT or gmat@manhattanprep.com) and they'll get you set up for another meeting. (Note to others reading this: to take advantage of the PEA service, you have to meet the requirements stated in the program. If you re-take the course, you have to meet those requirements again. Check with our Student Services team if you're not sure what you need to do to be eligible.)

We can also keep analyzing / discussing here. Did you order the Enhanced Score Report for either of your exams? In particular, I'm interested in what it might tell us about the Q score drop on the 2nd test. Also tell me how you felt qualitatively—could you tell that the Q wasn't going as well? If so, what felt different? How was your timing—did you run out of time or finish earlier than usual?

In the time period between the two exams, I would imagine you spent more time studying V (I'm guessing this because of your first test scores)—yes? Is it possible that your Q drop was largely due to just not spending enough time with that material in the 6 weeks between the two exams?

How did the two exams feel the same and how did they feel different?
Did you take them in the same order? (What was the order?)

You can also feel free to just do the PEA if you don't want to continue discussing here—entirely up to you. (If so, I would still like to know how things go—will you check in after your PEA?)

[mj201821]

Hi Stacey,

Thank you so much for your detailed response! I really appreciate you being so thorough.

I will put responses to your post below:

If you had been able to maintain your original quant score of 47, then your combined score (Q47 V38) would have been about a 690. So you aren't as far from your goal as it seems from the first two tests. (And, from this, I would say all hope is definitely not lost.)

This is a great point! Thanks for the confidence boost, I definitely needed that.

From your account, I can see that you did one Post Exam Assessment meeting with us already—but you're eligible for another one because you took the course twice. Call or email our student services team (800.576.GMAT or gmat@manhattanprep.com) and they'll get you set up for another meeting.

Sounds good, I'll set up the PEA as soon as I'm done writing this.

We can also keep analyzing / discussing here. Did you order the Enhanced Score Report for either of your exams? In particular, I'm interested in what it might tell us about the Q score drop on the 2nd test. Also tell me how you felt qualitatively—could you tell that the Q wasn't going as well? If so, what felt different? How was your timing—did you run out of time or finish earlier than usual?

I did order my Enhanced Score Report and it seems that, for the Quant section in particular, I did poorly in the beginning, better in the middle, and then poorly again towards the end. I think this speaks to a couple of qualitative points. The first couple questions on the Quant section completely stumped me; I think this really messed with my head for the rest of the test. I think I started to take too long on some questions, because I was scared that I was guessing on too many in the beginning. As a result, this messed up my timing towards the end of the Quant section, forcing me to guess on the last few questions. I definitely could tell that Quant wasn't going well during the test.

In the time period between the two exams, I would imagine you spent more time studying V (I'm guessing this because of your first test scores)—yes? Is it possible that your Q drop was largely due to just not spending enough time with that material in the 6 weeks between the two exams?

I think that's exactly what happened. I spent much more time on Verbal, leading to my Quant score dropping. I think one thing I could do is try to be more balanced when studying for my next retake. I can discuss this during my PEA as well.

How did the two exams feel the same and how did they feel different?
Did you take them in the same order? (What was the order?)

The two exams felt very different in a lot of ways...
- The Quant section felt much harder than any practice test I have taken before. On my GMAC practice tests, I was scoring consistently in the 48/49 range, so scoring a 42 on the Quant section speaks to how difficult I found the Quant section to be.
- The Verbal section actually didn't feel too bad. There was one very long science passage (those are the worst in my opinion), but I felt the questions were fair.

The order of the test was the same for both: Quant, Verbal, IR, Essay.

You can also feel free to just do the PEA if you don't want to continue discussing here—entirely up to you. (If so, I would still like to know how things go—will you check in after your PEA?)

I will check in after my PEA and let you know how it goes. Thank you for being so supportive!

Thanks again.

Mike

[StaceyKoprince]

Great, it sounds like we're already starting to diagnose what happened—and that's the key to making sure it doesn't happen again.

Definitely let your PEA insructor know all of this—you can put it in the form that you fill out.

One more thing to add: It sounds like you essentially psyched yourself out after those first few questions. When we're nervous / stressed, our brains don't think or process as well as they normally do, so things that we actually do know seem unfamiliar—and, of course, we interpret unfamiliar as hard (since we don't know what to do). From what you described (and from the fact that we know that you normally can handle a lot of higher-40s level questions, because you did so on your first official test), my guess* is that at least some of the time on that second test, when you hit something that you thought was harder, it wasn't—but you weren't able to process it normally because you were stressed.

So that's another thing to discuss with your PEA instructor: how to keep your cool when you start to feel stressed / pressured. You can also take a look at this article on mindfulness:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/