600 in actual GMAT - (650-720 in GMAT official prep mocks)

Question

Hello, everyone.
I'm writing this post with a heavy heart. I went in to take my actual GMAT test today, January 27th, 2022, for the second time, after spending nearly 4-5 months and putting in 2-3 months of consistent preparation (GMAT 1 - 530: Q32, V30- May, 2021).
My mock scores were nearly in the range of my target score, which is 700+, so I was fairly confident in my preparation.

Mock scores with dates and sources :

620 (Q40, V35) - 29th Nov -Manhattan

620 (Q43, V32) - 11th Dec - Veritas

600 (Q38, V34) - 20th Dec - GMAT Prep 1

710 (Q47, V40) - 7th Jan - GMAT Prep 2

Q48, V(N/A) - 11th Jan - GMAT Prep 3 : Just took the Quant section

720 (Q49, V40) - 22nd Jan - GMAT Prep 4

650 (Q47, V33) - 25th Jan - GMAT Prep 5

670 (Q42, V40) - 26th Jan - GMAT Prep 6

Today, the Quant section went well for me. Because I was short on time, I had to guess the last two questions. Aside from that, my Quant section went well.

In the Verbal section, I was relieved to see the level of RCs and SC, as I was able to get to the correct answer without much difficulty. The CR, on the other hand, irritated me slightly because it has always been my weakest area, but it didn't bother me that much. I was fairly confident that I had done fine and that I would receive a score of at least 700, if not 700+.

However, I did not expect a 600.
Yes, I did end up with a disappointing  600(Q42, V31). 
I honestly don't know what I did wrong or what went wrong; I don't have the ESR and don't think I'll be able to get it right now.

I'd like to apply to B-Schools for the 2022 MiM intake, and 600 is clearly insufficient.
As a result, I intend to take it again in 16 days.

If you could assist me and tell me what I should do in the next 16 days to improve in my next attempt so that I can get a 700+.

If someone could help me with some sort of an action plan here maybe  bb  or  GMATNinja , I would be really grateful.

Posted from my mobile device

GMATNinja · Answer

Sorry to hear that things didn't go your way,  hamzamohd !

I would strongly recommend checking out  this article about why your practice scores don't match your actual GMAT scores . Reasons #5 & #7 are the most common culprits, and your practice test scores are inconsistent enough that #5 is almost certainly part of the picture. But do any of the other factors on that list sound familiar at all?

If my hunch is right about inconsistency in your overall approach,  this video  might be a good place to start as you prepare for your next battle with the exam.

I hope that helps a bit, and good luck with your retake!

hamzamohd · Answer

Hey,  GMATNinja  thank-you for this. You may be right. 
I do have one very basic question.
In how many days, from now, should I take my next attempt, in your opinion? 
I was planning to take it in 16 days, given that I will be studying for 10+ hours per day on average. 
Do you think my target score (700+) is achievable with that level of preparation, or should I extend it to one month and retake the GMAT in the last week of February? Please tell me what you think.

Posted from my mobile device

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi hamzamohd,

Assuming that you took your official practice exams under realistic testing conditions, the results show that, on a good day, you are capable of scoring higher than 600. Thus, it’s quite possible that nerves, stress, tiredness, or a combination of all three negatively affected your test-day performance. However, it’s also possible that you have some lingering weaknesses that were exposed on test day. Although I’m unsure of how you prepared, it’s possible that, in your preparation, particularly in verbal, you did not really learn to do what you have to do in order to score high on the actual GMAT. Rather, you picked up on some patterns that were effective in getting you relatively high scores on practice tests. So, for you to hit your score goal, your preparation, particularly for verbal, probably needs to be more complete, meaning that you have to go through the various types of GMAT questions carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills.

For verbal specifically, you have to become more skilled at clearly defining the differences between trap choices and correct answers. Otherwise, you will get stuck guessing between two choices or be surprised to find that you incorrectly answered questions that you thought you answered correctly. Becoming more skilled in this way takes carefully analyzing all of the answer choices to lots of verbal questions to develop an eye for the logical differences between the choices. In other words, you have to go beyond answering practice questions and reading explanations to doing deep analysis of questions to learn to see everything that is going on in them.

You also may find it helpful to read the following articles:

how to score a 700+ on the GMAT

Why Was My GMAT Score Lower Than My Practice Test Scores?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi hamzamohd,

I'm sorry to hear that your 2nd attempt did not go as well as hoped. When these types of score drops occur, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. While it's possible that you had a 'bad day' when you took this Exam, it's interesting how this 2nd Official result is fairly similar to your CAT/mock results from November/December (meaning that over the last month, you may have been taking your CATs in an unrealistic way that did not properly match-up with how you took your Official GMAT).

In addition, from what you describe, you though that you were performing a lot better than you actually were (in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections). As such, there might be some inherent flaws in how you're approaching certain types of questions (which leave you open to making certain types of mistakes, but not realizing it). With a Score Goal of 700+, you might need some significant review time to determine the types of questions that you're missing - and what you need to do differently to pick up those additional points. By extension, retaking the GMAT in just 16 days might not be the best idea.

Since you took your Official GMAT at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you. I've also sent you a PM with some additional questions and notes.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at: [email protected]

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Looking at your scoring history, fair to say there's significant fluctuation. In the last week of your prep, across 3 mocks, your Quant fluctuated 7 points ranging from Q42-49 and your Verbal fluctuated 7 points as well from V33 to V40.

Difficult to say without seeing more detail, but there may be some extreme hit or miss areas that you have. Some holes in your fundamentals, for example. I wouldn't be surprised if what is actually occurring is that sometimes the algorithm doesn't test you on those specific hole(s) you have - and "skips" you to a higher range of questions on some other topic. Kind of like the exam is not thoroughly testing whether you can walk, but immediately begins testing you on your ability to run.

This person went from a V31 to a V40 in about 30 days. Not saying their issues were the same as yours, but maybe there is some helpful insight you can take. I'd suggest having a look at your error log (and those Mocks) to see where those "holes" may be.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-online- ... 68599.html

hamzamohd · Answer

Hey guys
I decided to buy the ESR and I'd be really grateful if someone could help me.
Any of the experts: please ?

bb   GMATNinja   GmatTutorKnight   EMPOWERgmatRichC   Bunuel   ScottTargetTestPrep   mikemcgarry

Posted from my mobile device

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

hamzamohd

Your main question is around the timeline to your next retake. Here's the problem: 10 hours a day of same prep you've done before isn't going to get you there fast (even a month or more might not be enough). Why? Because of the 20/80 efficiency problem. Most people prep is 20% efficient -- meaning 20% of the time is spend actually adding to your test day score and the rest is just wasted on repeating, reinforcing or worst going through the motions of practice. At this stage of your prep the key metric is quality of prep not quantity.

The first thing you need to do is get a clear answer to the WHY question: Why did you fall short? It's the same question an athlete asks themselves when they can hit a shot in basketball or cricket in practice but miss it consistently on game day. And the answer is almost exactly the same: it's the mechanics of how you 'take each shot' has to be so much better under the pressure of game day. It's the exact same situation on the GMAT. Weak test taking skills / strategy can be overcome on practice tests (because it's not real test-day conditions) but on test-day, only exceptional Test Taking Skills yield 700+ scores.

You need a detailed diagnosis of your Test Taking Skills: it's hard to do it by yourself, especially with a short time frame to retake.

We offer a FREE 90 minute Diagnostic Test Simulation -- a GMAT performance coach shadows you through a live ONLINE practice test (both Q and V). You'll be amazed by the insights -- they're the ones that allowed for the quick score jumps you see below. Let me know if you're interested and we can get on a quick intro call to set it up.

Russ19 · Answer

Buying the ESR and contacting an expert must help you to have good strategies.

nislam · Answer

Hi  hamzamohd ,
I have seen that ''Marty Murray''  MartyTargetTestPrep  gives good strategies who retake the test. You can PM and ask him weather he helps any one with ESR.

Good Luck!

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi hamzamohd,

Sorry about how things went with your GMAT. There could be a couple of reasons for the drop in the score. Please go through the article below to find out the probable reasons.

Scored well on mocks but failed miserably on the test?

Having said that, it would be too early to conclude anything without knowing the actual reason. To understand what could have led to the drop in the score and to suggest you the plan of action, I need a little more information about your GMAT preparation. I would like to know more about

the way you prepared till now (your study strategy) 
 your weak areas 
 your approach of solving questions 
 the resources you have used

Answers to these questions will help me guide you in a better way. And I personally suggest to go for the retake only after you prepared well and are 100% confident. It’s always better to spare some more time on your preparation until you are ready instead of missing out on your dream colleges/ b-schools in hurry.

Having said that, I would like to have a one-on-one conversation with you. The discussion would be mostly around the answers to the above questions, the approximate time you have for the next attempt and the plan of action. If you have an ESR with you, that will be even more helpful to get the insights about your performance. You use use the link below to schedule a call with me.

Click here to schedule a call

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