I am absolutely devastated - I took the GMAT today and received a score of 450

[Barely-Lit]

Scaled Score Percentile

Quantitative 26 19
Verbal 26 40
Total 450 23


I am absolutely devastated.
I just found this board today, so I'm hoping to get some advice. I couldn't believe that my score today was 450. This is my 2nd attempt at taking the GMAT. The first time was back in January of 2008 and I took the Princeton Review online course. My score was a 490. I was upset, but also felt at the time I didn't prepare as much as I could have, and was determined to retake the GMAT again. This time, along with the standard GMAT prep book, I took a very basic online review course with 800score.com. Actually, I preferred that to the Princeton Review course as it provided basic information, with no fancy "tools or tricks" to use, or any fluff.

I've been studying every weekend for the last few months, and even took several days off from work this past week and reviewed all my material, and did a ton of practice questions. I actually felt pretty good about things. Even at the exam today, I went through the quantitative section and thought I did fairly well. I solved problems, and calculated answers that made sense - at least to me. When I finally clicked on the option to send my scores to the schools I selected, I was just shocked. I was expecting 550 - 600, and my score was 450. I should be able to get a score of 450 by just putting my name down.
I just feel so stupid. I'm 40 years old, married with kids. My career is at a standstill. My undergrad is in Mechanical Engineering, which technically means I should be getting my best score in the quantitative section. Ummm.. NOT! I changed careers about 2 years ago to be a project manager, and honestly - I'm bored to tears. I was hoping to go back to school to really get a better understanding of business acumen and work toward a job that is more challenging.

I don't know what to do now. Maybe I'm not cut out for this? I don't know what next steps to take. I feel like so much money has been wasted already with 2 GMAT exams (at $250 per exam) plus $500 toward the Princeton Review class, plus the cost of the 800score.com course. I have a hard time thinking about taking the exam a third time, and wasting yet another $250 plus any additional fees with taking more coursework to prepare. I went to mba.com, and found that I can retake the GMAT in 31 days. I don't know, I'm just disgusted with everything. I don't mean to be too cynical, but maybe it's not meant to be and I should just throw the towel in. I know in the back of my mind I don't want to, but I need some suggestions on what to do next. Is it even worth perhaps taking a classroom based preparation course? What else should I try?

[m.campanella]

Hey Barely,

My friend, let me tell you right away: you are not the first nor the last person to be a casualty of their first few GMATs.

I know firsthand because on my first GMAT I got a 480.

You have to realize a couple things. The GMAT isn't a math test. The GMAT isn't a test measuring your verbal ability. It doesn't measure your intelligence or IQ and it certainly doesn't measure how well you will do in graduate school. The GMAT tests how well you can do the GMAT, period. Because of this, your training needs to be structured around this concept. Don't try to learn math, or verbal properties. Focus on learning how to destroy the GMAT.


This is why I am convinced that there are ONLY two effective ways to study for this test.

1) Answering timed question packets.
2) Doing timed tests.

Looking over math concepts, studying grammer concepts, reading about probability etc. is a waste of time. It doesn't test you. You may know how to do Work word problems, but when confronted with a tricky work word problem, do you freeze up and re-read the question multiple times or do you spring into action??? You must literally SPRING into action at every question!

On the GMAT, odds are you will not use half the knowledge you might acquire. What you need to practice is speed and reaction time. You can only do this by doing question after question on various subjects, and timing yourself.

You seem to need practice both in Quant and in Verbal. Structure your own practice packet that fits your needs. Your practice packet could be: 20 SC, 20 CR, 3 RC, 20 PS and 20 DS. These questions need to come from Official Guide 10 (the best, hands down) and OG 11 (also good). Use Princeton, Kaplan and other sources sparingly as their question writers can be sloppy. Do the packet AT LEAST 5 times a week. Take a TIMED test once or twice a week, or more, to learn the scoring and the timing you need to get a good grade.

Above all, DON'T GIVE UP and stay hungry. You can and WILL succeed in business school. Don't let this test make you give up on your dreams.

Good luck bro. You can do it.

[m.campanella]

One last comment, since you are 40, there are certain schools that let you forfeit the GMAT entirely if you have been out of school a certain amount of time or you have a certain number of years of work experience. Perhaps you qualify?

By the way, I am NOT telling you this to dissuade you from taking the test again!!! I have faith in you and you will beat this test if you want it bad enough!

[Barely-Lit]

Hey,
Thank you for all the positive feedback - after the craptastic morning I had, it really helps! Regarding structuring my own practice packet - you recommend OG 10 (I have 11), as well as Kaplan/Princeton as well. Should I just randomly choose questions in each section, or do you recommend choosing questions in sequential order from each section, and after completing them, moving onto the next sequential order? (e.g. Using the OG, completing questions 1 - 20 for SC, 1-20 for CR, 1-3 for RC, 1-20 in PS and 1-20 in DS. Upon completing that, then moving onto the second study packet which would be questions 21-40 for SC, 21-40 for CR, and so forth).
In addition to that and taking weekly timed tests, is there anything else you might recommend?

Perhaps it's my wonderful mood today, but I have to admit I'm a bit ambivalent going back into this again. My husband even said he's even relucantant for us to fork over yet another $250. You are right though - I can't give up and I do need to stay hungry. I can't imagine staying in my current role for the rest of my life - I would rather take 20 more GMAT exams!

[m.campanella]

Hey Barely,

Glad I could help!

I also started off with OG 11, and I was reluctant to purchase OG 10 b/c frankly this whole GMAT thing is starting to become quite a financial burden!!!! But I purchased it anyway and I'm glad I did.

More recent versions of the OG are separated into a "Standard" OG, a "Quantitative" OG and a "Verbal" OG. This is a scam to get you to purchase more books. Whereas OG 11 has roughly 250 PS questions, OG 10 has 440; where OG 11 has 155 DS, OG 10 has 270. Basically, the format is similar but with OG 10 you get more bang for your buck so to speak, and the questions are more challenging. I bought a used OG 10 for like 5 bucks and it's been the most useful book i bought, along with "Bob Miller's Math for the GMAT" for Math review.

Don't get me wrong, having OG 10 is not the single factor that will make or break your exam. You can still do a superlative practice packet with OG 11. Some people get 700s and up without either of the OGs. Personally, I am happy I bought OG 10 and I wish I had bought it before taking the test the first time. That's just my two cents.

As far as order, I do them sequentially, because a) it is easier for me to organize and remember what questions I have done or haven't done, and b)because I believe the questions are progressively more difficult, so it is good to have a solid foundation of easier practice questions going into the tougher questions.

Above all, the important factor is PRACTICE. OG 11 is one of the best practice sources, so by all means, keep using it for practice packets. If you do happen to come across a deal for OG 10, you might want to purchase it too, for extra practice.

[IVY MBA]

Hey, OP, how many CATs did you do? As I've posted in other threads, do 6 or more CATs to improve your score and guage where you're at before you throw another $250 on the table. Check out the link on this site for online practice tests.

Since I'm in a good mood, I'll share one of my favourite quant tricks with you. BOW TIE. You may have already known this but it's the easiest way to figure out which fraction is bigger.

7 OR 6
12 11

Multiply 12 by 6 = 72. That's the value of the fraction on the right.

Multiply 11 by 7 =77. That's the value of the fraction on the left.

Left value is bigger, hence, 7/12 is more than 6/11. I actually got a question on data sufficiency and had I not known this, I would have got it wrong.

[m.campanella]

Hey, OP, how many CATs did you do? As I've posted in other threads, do 6 or more CATs to improve your score and guage where you're at before you throw another $250 on the table. Check out the link on this site for online practice tests.

Since I'm in a good mood, I'll share one of my favourite quant tricks with you. BOW TIE. You may have already known this but it's the easiest way to figure out which fraction is bigger.

7 OR 6
12 11

Multiply 12 by 6 = 72. That's the value of the fraction on the right.

Multiply 11 by 7 =77. That's the value of the fraction on the left.

Left value is bigger, hence, 7/12 is more than 6/11. I actually got a question on data sufficiency and had I not known this, I would have got it wrong.

That's a great trick!! I certainly had never seen that before, or if I had I'd forgotten it. The only thing that might cause confusion is attributing the value to the right fraction. I could see myself messing that up if flustered. But I guess you just remember that each bow tie value relates to the numerator, correct?

Great trick though. Are there many more tricks like that in the forum IVY?

[genius_in_the_gene]

Perseverance is the name of the game. With a little bit practice you can up your quant score to >40. Same with verbal.
I ve seen that just by participating in the discussions in this forum help clear a lot of doubts. Also I would suggest you to keep taking practice tests. Take the GmatPrep atleast 5 to 6 times till you get the score that you are aiming for.
Cheers

[sandy22]

My undergrad is in Mechanical Engineering, which technically means I should be getting my best score in the quantitative section. Ummm.. NOT!

Hi,
I really understand your feeling right now. Let me tell a little bit the story of mine. I've scored one percentile in verbal section mean while I spent about three hours per sections (Mor/Evn/Ngt) of a day for a period of about 6 months. Though my percentile in math is not high though (fifty five percentile) however I spent hard but just only for less than three weeks (with about 8 hours per day). So, all I mean is that it's not because I am too bad in verbal section or especially it's not because I am much better in quantitative (compared the same 'me' in verbal). However, the truth is that I don't like math (personally, my characteristics I don't think I like math as much as I do in the rest area) but I cracked it in a better method. I concentrate in math better. The morale of 'these lines' of mine is that don't frustrate so much, please ahead and do it in a wise way.

[gmatroad2]

Please check http://www.urch.com/forums/just-fini...se-advice.html (4th. attemp, now I really feel depressed, please advice!!!)

Now, I'm going to my 5th attemp... GMAT is an unfair test that doesn't test your real abilities, but it is what we have so far, so go for it!!! Also GMAT is a kind of drug, you can't stop to think about it and you always have the sensation that you can do it better, thus you try to get another shot and continue to spend money and money... This drug ends when you got the score you desire.