450 - How everything can go wrong

[CatalinaN]

My final result: 450, math 25 and verbal 27

I know that this result doesn’t really show what I can do, so of course I am really sad and heart broken, but on the other hand, I am relieved that I went trough with it, and that I now will go for another chance.

Here is the story of what went wrong:

On the G-Day, I woke up very early, around 6:20 a.m, my stomach wasn’t feeling really good, and I was feeling kind of sick.

I had the “wonderful” idea of studying in the morning, just to refresh some concepts, and it turned out to be a total freak out moment since I realized that I forgot some geometry and probability formulas and from that moment everything went down the hill...

I had phone calls that took all of my concentration again from my office, and also I had an unexpected visit...

When I got to the test center the girl turned out to be very nice and very friendly, I signed out the confidentiality papers and all that stuff and I started my test.

Now, there is a description of my test center... Small cubicles and only two people were allowed to take the test at the same time.

I got two horrible essays, and then I knew that I was in trouble, then I had my first break, I had a small chocolate, which was actually very hard to eat, since I was all shaky and my hands could barely open the chocolate.

Then, I enter for the math section... I thought I was doing o.k. but obviously I didn’t I think that I was so nervous that I forgot everything I knew... Then break again and then back to the verbal section, and this time my next cubicle neighbor made my life impossible, he started to cough, and to play with the pen against the table making a terrible amount of noise, it made me lose all of my concentration and after a while I had to go out in the middle of the verbal section and ask the girl from the test center to tell the guy to quit the noise, she told him to do so, but the guy kept doing other kind of noises, not so terrible, but noises after all, and it really affected my whole concentration, at the end I had to guess the last three questions and giving quick and terrible responses to some others, because I runned out of time...

Then, It was the part of the results, and when I saw the 450, some tears came out... of course, I never expected such a terrible result, thank god, I was feeling insecure, and I didn’t send my results to any university

Now, I am more calm that I expected. I think that by taking things slowly and not getting crazy I will get to my goal. I know that I have to study harder and in a more consistent way that I used to do. Any suggestions are more than welcome.

On the other hand here are some comments about the test:

Have everything ready days before, and try to relax before the test day, I was making a lot of last minute arrangements and it really broke me.

The erasable board is not such a horrible thing as everybody says it is... I found it to be very useful, and I really like the fact that the marker passed really smoothly, saving me time, since I always had problems with pencils, they broke all the time...

Try to practice the ear plugs on to avoid noises, since they were too big for me, I found them very annoying, but is good to try to get used to them, can help you a lot, if you have a noisy neighbor...

[skarya]

Sorry to hear that...I am sure you deserve more and you will get that too...

...life is like that

things go wrong and become worse if nature doesn't support - however, noise is noise and must be ignored - wish you good luck

Easy way to improve Quant is to complete all sets in timed condition.


regards,
skarya

[dyoh]

Don't get depressed. You'll do better next time. It sounds to me like you just freaked yourself out. I've done that myself on other tests even when I knew the information (I have not taken the GMAT yet). I was actually shocked to see that this was your test score because I've seen some of your other posts and they seem pretty good. Also, your writing seems good, but I don't know where you're having trouble. Try to pinpoint a couple areas that you know you can improve on by following general rules - it might help more than you think. Keep a log (maybe the xls spreadsheet on this board) of the question types you missed and look for patterns. Good luck on the next round!

[JustMe123]

Sorry to hear that you didn't do your best. I hope you'll get a fabulous score next time. I know it's hard to relax. I get freaked out even when i'm doing GmatPrep at home!!

[charu_mulye]

Very sorry to hear that.. I'm sure u must have done all ur prep right.
Only confidence is key.. You could have done better just with high confidence.. and attitude that "I'm gonna score my best"

Best of Luck for future attempt

[zippo]

Sorry things did n't work out for you as well as they probably should have. Just keep the faith and I'm sure you'll pull thru.

[tictaktoe]

After reading your experience, I can say tht it was all anxiety that bogged you down! However, now since you have seen it all once.. I am sure the 2nd time its gonna go much much better than this. Just dont give tooo much importance to a $250 test and that should soothe your nerves down. At the end, its just a test and nothing more. keep tht in mind.

You should retake. All the best for that

[dileepsh]

I agree with tictaktoe that 2'nd time will gonna much better ...my advice is apart from all the practise u will do , dont forget to do all the sets under timed condition and in the schedule in which u want to write your actual GMAT.


I am sure you will achieve your set target. Good Luck ........and remember "Its not over until you win".

[gmatlove]

I am really sorry to hear about your bad experience. Pls keep up your spirits and try harder next time! Decide on your next test date and start preparing right away.

Best of luck

GL

[CatalinaN]

Hi Guys, I want to give you all a big hug for your nice and very kind words. I agree with everybody, about how freaking out was such a big mistake… I took this week off to celebrate my birthday and also to forget about this bad experience, now all I want to do is study smart, instead of studying hard, I think that my whole problem consisted in two things 1.That I followed a different study method, which didn’t work for me 2. Freaking out.

Right now my plans are to follow the same method that I used in college, I graduated second in my class, so I know it works, it is to make summaries of the subjects to be tested and then, practice. I will do that, make my own notes, not just some flashcards, but real notes about the things that I’ve been studying and also practice a lot with OG.

Again, thanks for all the support! And I really hope that my experience will help others on what not to do…