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jdman84
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50 point lower 2nd CAT score, help! 06 Sep 2014, 13:33
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Hi,

I took MGMAT and Kaplan cat exams at the beginning and scored (34Q and 33v) for a score of 570 on both exams. I bought hte MGMAT self guides and have been studying for 3 or 4 weeks after work and completing/studying as the syllyabus required. After 3/4 weeks of good amount of studying, I just took another MGMAT cat exam today and my score dropped to 520 (Q31, V31). I am really dejected by this. Is this normal to drop 50 points after studying this long? I don't know if i should keep continuing doing the study guide plan or if i should change plans. Please help me out if you have any advice or suggestion :(
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evansgherzi
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50 point lower 2nd CAT score, help! 09 Sep 2014, 23:21
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Hi jdman84,

Before you make any major changes to your study plan, I would take another simulation exam. I normally wouldn't recommend to take another right away but to determine if you have improved or if this is just an exam that was "off" from your usual performance (if you need somewhere to take another practice exam, you take one here with a free trial: https://gmat.economist.com/). If you already have some practice exams available, it is okay to stick with those. The reason I say to take another if you are worried, is because simulation exams can range + or - 30 points from where you actually are and from that of the real GMAT. Therefore, it is possible that next time you take a sim test, you will see a jump in the opposite direction. If you are still seeing a decrease in score after your next sim test, then I would reevaluate your study plan. If you want, let me know how you do on your next exam. If you end up needing to make some changes to your study plan, I would be more than welcome to make some suggestions (but that is only if your next score is still a decrease). If you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

Good luck with your studies!
-Evan
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jdman84
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50 point lower 2nd CAT score, help! 15 Sep 2014, 09:32
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evansgherzi
Hi jdman84,

Before you make any major changes to your study plan, I would take another simulation exam. I normally wouldn't recommend to take another right away but to determine if you have improved or if this is just an exam that was "off" from your usual performance (if you need somewhere to take another practice exam, you take one here with a free trial: https://gmat.economist.com/). If you already have some practice exams available, it is okay to stick with those. The reason I say to take another if you are worried, is because simulation exams can range + or - 30 points from where you actually are and from that of the real GMAT. Therefore, it is possible that next time you take a sim test, you will see a jump in the opposite direction. If you are still seeing a decrease in score after your next sim test, then I would reevaluate your study plan. If you want, let me know how you do on your next exam. If you end up needing to make some changes to your study plan, I would be more than welcome to make some suggestions (but that is only if your next score is still a decrease). If you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

Good luck with your studies!
-Evan
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Thanks Evan (@evansgherzi). I retook another mgmat cat few days later as you suggested and I scored a 600. While I still have about 110 to go from my target score, I am glad to see improvement in the upward trend. I do not know what the 520 was about as I retook it under the same conditions. The only thing I can think of is that I took the 520 cat in the afternoon and maybe I was fatigued. My verbal score shows this as I was consistently answering questions in the 600-700 and 700-800 range through out, I missed the last 8 or 9 questions on the verbal so it appears fatigue was a factor. But that still does not explain my low Quant score. Anyways, thank you for the advice and I will chalk up the 520 as an "off" examn and stick to my study plan.
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50 point lower 2nd CAT score, help! 17 Sep 2014, 14:19
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I remember reading somewhere that it isn't entirely unusual to score the same (or maybe a little lower) on the second test - mostly because you know more information and try to think through and not give up on questions easily, putting you in a time crunch.

Congrats on going up tho after, hopefully it was just an anomaly.
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