TestMagic Forums - View Single Post - 610 - 48M, 26V (Second Attempt)

maverick08 · 2008 December 14th, 04:36 AM

Hello Everyone,

I am not new to this Forum. I have been using TM as a Tutor. I have been posting lot of queries, though did not participated in queries from others, because of time constraint.

Coming on to something that screwed my yesterday was that I got a 610 (48M, 26V). I was, somehow, shocked to see this score. I was not expecting score like this at all, because of my performances in PowerPrep and GMATPrep. The blunder that I did was that I left the 41 question in Verbal. I just couldn't see the time. And I really feel sorry for myself. But I believe that that won't have caused a huge penalty. Had this penalty not charged, my score would have been 28-30 in Verbal. But again, this would have been far below my expectations.

Background - Ist Attempt Story:
I got a 620 (49M, 23V). The reason was that I reached 15 mins late at the center. I did not get a good parking. I was worried about the car. Then I took some time to locate the center. All in all, I panicked. Thanks to the examination incharge, who let me sit for the exam.
AWA: I did a good job here. Was satisfied. This brought me in rhythm.
Maths: I was going good, though I knew that I had done some mistakes in the first 10 questions, because I started getting easier questions. But when I got a 33rd question on probability, I knew that I was on track.
Break: I searched for my eye medicine that I was using as an eye coolant. Realised that I forgot that in the car. Controlled myself and jumped in for the Verbal Session.

Verbal: Did first 8 questions fairly well. But my eye started giving a problem after 8th question. And I discovered that there is something wrong in my eyes during the first attempt when I lost control on my eyes. This loss of control started during the end of Maths exam. Hence, during the Verbal session, I could hardly read the text in questions. My eyes really troubled lot. I marked the questions blindly just to complete the exam. Hence, got a 23 in Verbal. I did not had any problems while giving tests at home, because I gave tests on the laptop.
Score Screen: And I was not surprised by looking at the scores, but I was not happy, because apart from my preparation, there were many other things that were not with me that day. But I knew that I deserve much more than this score. Moreover, it was my eye probem that caused such a bad score. So, I considered that day a bad day of my life. Hence, I planned to appear for GMAT again. Many Thanks to TM members, whose debriefs really gave a strong motivation.

This time, I took all precautions, considering things happened with me in the last attempt.

Study Material:
- I have a Study Material from a Coaching Institute that is a combination of OG10 and OG11. I just followed this Material.
- After finishing this, I concentrated on 1000 RCs. Did lot of RCs. This really helped in improving my reading comprehension Score.
- 1000 CRs - Almost completed GMAT CRs. Did only one test of LSAT CRs. I could see the improvement in my performance.
- 1000 SCs - did till 400. I was satisfied with the performance. I was getting 2-3 incorrect in every 20 attempts.
- Manhattan SC - Did OG10 questions only for first 4 Chapters, because my performance in SCs was satisfactory.

Tests I gave:
Power Prep 1 - 770 (51M, 41V) (CRs were repeated)
Power Prep 2 - 740 (51M, 38V) (CRs were repeated). Score declined, because the day was one of my worst days.
First Attempt:
GMATPrep 1 - 730 (50M, 37V) (CRs were repeated). Couldn't complete the paper. Did only first 37 questions. Left other 4. I wanted to see the penalty that GMAC charges for leaving the question(s). I was somehow happy with the score.
GMATPrep 2 - 680 (50M, 32V) - It was my worst day. I was not feeling well. Headache was not allowing me to focus on the exam. This score demoralised me, because I made 4 mistakes in the first 10 questions. But I was just 6 days away from the real gmat. So, I concentrated and planned to revise my fundas and give GMATPrep again just to give a boost to my confidence.

Second Attempt:
GMAT Prep 1 - 730 (51M, 38V) - Couldn't understand the reason for the Score 730, though combined score in GMATPrep was 87, which is less than the combined score in the second attempt.
GMAT Prep 2 - 690 (49M, 34V) - Again, this was a bad day for me. I was unable to concentrate, because of heavy disturbances just outside my house. But I was, somehow, happy with the score, because I knew that on the D-Day, I will score a 700+.

Further, to boost my confidence, I attempted remaining Practice Questions from GMATPrep. The performance was really good.

Gave only 2 tests from Kaplan. Score was 570 and 580. Kaplan was hampering my confidence. So, I stopped giving other tests. Moreover, I was more concerned with Verbal, because my Maths performance has always been consistent even on bad days. And, Verbal Score averaged around 28-29.

Also, gave Sets 21-26.
The performance in sets 21-24 was satisfactory. I was getting only 2-3 incorrect in the first 15 questions. Overall, the count of incorect questions in each set was between 11 and 13. So, I was happy, because this performance was in accordance with my performance in GMATPrep 1 (First Attempt).
Did not analyse 25 and 26. Sets 25 and 26 were horrifying. My performance in these sets declined significantly. And I assumed that GMAT can not be that difficult. Now, I think that I was wrong.

D-Day:
I was all set for the exam. My confidence was touching sky. My mind was full of positive thoughts. Landed at the center well before time. No parking difficulties, because I hired a Taxi this time. Everything was in control. Because of my eye problem, I opted for a screen that has light over its monitor. I also requested the invigilator to reduce the brightness of the computer screen to zero. And I had eye drops with me.
AWA: Went fine. No regrets.
Break 1: Used it completely. Had a banana. Used eye drops to calm my eyes.
Maths: I felt that I was going fine, because I got 18th question on Probability and then 28th question on Curves (I saw this for the very first time). All in all, I was really happy with the performance. And needless to say that I was expecting 51 in Maths.
Break 2: I used the break effectively. Had another banana. Was all set for another session. My eyes were not well, but were very much in control this time.
Verbal: I think that I started well, because the difficulty level of questions was increasing. I could see 3-4 lines killer SCs. These SCs were horrifying. Considering the difficulty level of SCs, I thought that I am on track. I got 12th question as boldface. I was happy to see this boldface. After reaching 39th question, I saw that only 2 seconds were left. I just rushed to complete the session, but couldn't mark the 41st question. This would have led to some penalty. But I was, somehow, confident that penalty couldn't be huge, considering my performance in GMATPrep 1, where I left 4 questions and got a 37 in verbal.

Score Screen: 48M, 26V - 610. I was stunned!! Totally numb!! Then I controlled my feelings and returned home, because there wasn't any other option. Now, I am totally shattered as if my 10 years serious love affair has come to an end. I did every possible thing to make it work this time. During my attempt, there was not even a second that made me feel exhausted. There was not even a second in which my eyes gave any problem. But ultimate result is that I have failed! And I do not know the reason for this failure.

Guys, I need your help now! I am unable to identify my mistakes or probably, blunders. What went wrong where ? Can you please give me a direction ?

Please help guys. Your guidance, probably, can make me atleast walk on this ground, though I want to run and run faster than ever before.

2008 December 14th, 04:36 AM	#1 (permalink)
maverick08 Within my grasp! Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 205	610 - 48M, 26V (Second Attempt) - Need Help guys! Hello Everyone, I am not new to this Forum. I have been using TM as a Tutor. I have been posting lot of queries, though did not participated in queries from others, because of time constraint. Coming on to something that screwed my yesterday was that I got a 610 (48M, 26V). I was, somehow, shocked to see this score. I was not expecting score like this at all, because of my performances in PowerPrep and GMATPrep. The blunder that I did was that I left the 41 question in Verbal. I just couldn't see the time. And I really feel sorry for myself. But I believe that that won't have caused a huge penalty. Had this penalty not charged, my score would have been 28-30 in Verbal. But again, this would have been far below my expectations. Background - Ist Attempt Story: I got a 620 (49M, 23V). The reason was that I reached 15 mins late at the center. I did not get a good parking. I was worried about the car. Then I took some time to locate the center. All in all, I panicked. Thanks to the examination incharge, who let me sit for the exam. AWA: I did a good job here. Was satisfied. This brought me in rhythm. Maths: I was going good, though I knew that I had done some mistakes in the first 10 questions, because I started getting easier questions. But when I got a 33rd question on probability, I knew that I was on track. Break: I searched for my eye medicine that I was using as an eye coolant. Realised that I forgot that in the car. Controlled myself and jumped in for the Verbal Session. Verbal: Did first 8 questions fairly well. But my eye started giving a problem after 8th question. And I discovered that there is something wrong in my eyes during the first attempt when I lost control on my eyes. This loss of control started during the end of Maths exam. Hence, during the Verbal session, I could hardly read the text in questions. My eyes really troubled lot. I marked the questions blindly just to complete the exam. Hence, got a 23 in Verbal. I did not had any problems while giving tests at home, because I gave tests on the laptop. Score Screen: And I was not surprised by looking at the scores, but I was not happy, because apart from my preparation, there were many other things that were not with me that day. But I knew that I deserve much more than this score. Moreover, it was my eye probem that caused such a bad score. So, I considered that day a bad day of my life. Hence, I planned to appear for GMAT again. Many Thanks to TM members, whose debriefs really gave a strong motivation. This time, I took all precautions, considering things happened with me in the last attempt. Study Material: - I have a Study Material from a Coaching Institute that is a combination of OG10 and OG11. I just followed this Material. - After finishing this, I concentrated on 1000 RCs. Did lot of RCs. This really helped in improving my reading comprehension Score. - 1000 CRs - Almost completed GMAT CRs. Did only one test of LSAT CRs. I could see the improvement in my performance. - 1000 SCs - did till 400. I was satisfied with the performance. I was getting 2-3 incorrect in every 20 attempts. - Manhattan SC - Did OG10 questions only for first 4 Chapters, because my performance in SCs was satisfactory. Tests I gave: Power Prep 1 - 770 (51M, 41V) (CRs were repeated) Power Prep 2 - 740 (51M, 38V) (CRs were repeated). Score declined, because the day was one of my worst days. First Attempt: GMATPrep 1 - 730 (50M, 37V) (CRs were repeated). Couldn't complete the paper. Did only first 37 questions. Left other 4. I wanted to see the penalty that GMAC charges for leaving the question(s). I was somehow happy with the score. GMATPrep 2 - 680 (50M, 32V) - It was my worst day. I was not feeling well. Headache was not allowing me to focus on the exam. This score demoralised me, because I made 4 mistakes in the first 10 questions. But I was just 6 days away from the real gmat. So, I concentrated and planned to revise my fundas and give GMATPrep again just to give a boost to my confidence. Second Attempt: GMAT Prep 1 - 730 (51M, 38V) - Couldn't understand the reason for the Score 730, though combined score in GMATPrep was 87, which is less than the combined score in the second attempt. GMAT Prep 2 - 690 (49M, 34V) - Again, this was a bad day for me. I was unable to concentrate, because of heavy disturbances just outside my house. But I was, somehow, happy with the score, because I knew that on the D-Day, I will score a 700+. Further, to boost my confidence, I attempted remaining Practice Questions from GMATPrep. The performance was really good. Gave only 2 tests from Kaplan. Score was 570 and 580. Kaplan was hampering my confidence. So, I stopped giving other tests. Moreover, I was more concerned with Verbal, because my Maths performance has always been consistent even on bad days. And, Verbal Score averaged around 28-29. Also, gave Sets 21-26. The performance in sets 21-24 was satisfactory. I was getting only 2-3 incorrect in the first 15 questions. Overall, the count of incorect questions in each set was between 11 and 13. So, I was happy, because this performance was in accordance with my performance in GMATPrep 1 (First Attempt). Did not analyse 25 and 26. Sets 25 and 26 were horrifying. My performance in these sets declined significantly. And I assumed that GMAT can not be that difficult. Now, I think that I was wrong. D-Day: I was all set for the exam. My confidence was touching sky. My mind was full of positive thoughts. Landed at the center well before time. No parking difficulties, because I hired a Taxi this time. Everything was in control. Because of my eye problem, I opted for a screen that has light over its monitor. I also requested the invigilator to reduce the brightness of the computer screen to zero. And I had eye drops with me. AWA: Went fine. No regrets. Break 1: Used it completely. Had a banana. Used eye drops to calm my eyes. Maths: I felt that I was going fine, because I got 18th question on Probability and then 28th question on Curves (I saw this for the very first time). All in all, I was really happy with the performance. And needless to say that I was expecting 51 in Maths. Break 2: I used the break effectively. Had another banana. Was all set for another session. My eyes were not well, but were very much in control this time. Verbal: I think that I started well, because the difficulty level of questions was increasing. I could see 3-4 lines killer SCs. These SCs were horrifying. Considering the difficulty level of SCs, I thought that I am on track. I got 12th question as boldface. I was happy to see this boldface. After reaching 39th question, I saw that only 2 seconds were left. I just rushed to complete the session, but couldn't mark the 41st question. This would have led to some penalty. But I was, somehow, confident that penalty couldn't be huge, considering my performance in GMATPrep 1, where I left 4 questions and got a 37 in verbal. Score Screen: 48M, 26V - 610. I was stunned!! Totally numb!! Then I controlled my feelings and returned home, because there wasn't any other option. Now, I am totally shattered as if my 10 years serious love affair has come to an end. I did every possible thing to make it work this time. During my attempt, there was not even a second that made me feel exhausted. There was not even a second in which my eyes gave any problem. But ultimate result is that I have failed! And I do not know the reason for this failure. Guys, I need your help now! I am unable to identify my mistakes or probably, blunders. What went wrong where ? Can you please give me a direction ? Please help guys. Your guidance, probably, can make me atleast walk on this ground, though I want to run and run faster than ever before.