700+ scores on all 6 official mocks but 640 on real GMAT exam

Question

Hello everyone,

I have been preparing for 3 months now. I gave all the 6 mocks as realistically as possible at home. I scored 700, 720, 730,700, 690 and 720 in the 6 official mocks. My quants scores averaged at near Q49 and verbal ranged from V33-V38. I appeared for the real exam last week and got 640 (Q45, V33).
I am planning to reappear for the exams in the next month. I am completely shocked and I have no Idea what additional stuff i should do for the next exam. I have exhausted all my official mocks and now dont have any mock for practice. Please guide me what things should i do for he next exam.

Ayush

Bunuel   GMATNinja

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Ayush, any advice on  additional  stuff, would depend on what stuff you've  already covered  as part of your preparation.

So, it would help if you could let us know it.

Also, since you are considering a reattempt,  this article  will help.

ayushsinha834 · Answer

Hi, I have completed the OG, Official verbal and quants books, Official advanced question book. I have completed almost every official practice resource. 
 EducationAisle

Posted from my mobile device

EducationAisle · Answer

Ok..so your entire preparation was practice heavy and looks like you decided against any  structured  learning (books/courses etc.).

ayushsinha834 · Answer

Initially I studied the manhatten books for quants and SC and powerscore for CR.Thereafter, it's all practice heavy  EducationAisle

Posted from my mobile device

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  ayushsinha834 ,

Did you get an ESR for this attempt?

ayushsinha834 · Answer

Hi  AjiteshArun ,

Yep I got it.. It shows I performed really bad in quants.. Which is unlike any of the mocks..

Posted from my mobile device

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

I’m sorry to hear how things went with your GMAT. The good news is that you scored really well on quant, right? That said, I understand that you are not satisfied with your verbal score, so the question we need to ask is why you scored so high on your practice exams but lower on the real GMAT.

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 640. 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.

In order to follow the path described above, you may need some new quant and verbal materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses .

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 Ayush,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. 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. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) What type of study routine have you been following over the last 3 months? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) Have you used any additional study materials besides the books that you mentioned? Did you take any other CATs/mocks besides the 6 Official ones?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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). Since you purchased the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you. If you would rather not post it publicly, then you can feel free to PM it directly to me.

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

ayushsinha834 · Answer

Hi  EMPOWERgmatRichC ,

Thanks for helping me out..

1.study schedule- I am a full time working professional, yet I managed to study at least 2 hrs a day almost consistently. 
2. Study material and mocks- Initially I studied the Manhattan books for SC and quants and powerscore books for CR. Since I am an engineer by profession, I was quite confident about quants and I never have scored less than Q48 is any official/unofficial mock. I took all the 6 official mocks and got the scores as I mentioned above. Apart from this I took about 7 free mocks from Princeton Review(Scores ranging 630-740), 1 from veritas(650), 1 from Manhattan (640-the exact same Q and V scores as I got on exam day) and 1 from Jamboree (I don't remember the score). 
3.Date of Mocks- Since the workload in the past 2 months has been insane and I wanted to practice all the sections on a daily basis, I used to take 1 unofficial mock almost daily as it helped me to cover all the sections in a very short time. The score range I have mentioned above. 
4.Score & B-school goals- I am definitely targeting a score near 720 as I am aiming B-schools like IIM & ISB this year.

I am sharing my ESR with you in PM.

Ayush

Posted from my mobile device

ayushsinha834 · Answer

Hi,

My quants score is worst ever. I have taken a lot of mocks but have never scored less than Q48. Verbal score needs to be improved but its still in the range of my mock scores.

Posted from my mobile device

MathRevolution · Answer

Hello Ayush,

A score of 640 in the GMAT is decent and a target score of 700+ seems realistic.

Also, I fully understand your frustration because, with my GMAT tutoring, guidance, and counseling experience, we have to accept a fact with a pinch of salt that diagnostic/ mock test scores are above then what one should expect in a real test. There is often dropping in the score. Some students have even experienced a drop of 100 pointers. It is one of the realities, and your preparation should not sideline this fact.

A couple of things that can be a noticeable barrier to your scores would be some or all of the below.

• Inefficiency by using time-consuming Conventional method to tackle DS and PS questions still
• No expert support (maybe) who can tutor, analyze, and guide you during your learning especially on hard-level questions while stably hitting middle-level questions.
• Lack of many updated questions and practice in the recent exam trend
• Not well aligned with time to solve questions.

We would recommend you make a note of various possible combinations of your target score. The possible scores will help you track your performance after taking the mock or practice test. It will also help you maintain balance in both the sections, and you will always be in a great position to allot the study hours to a specific area accordingly.

The possible score combinations for 700 or 700+: Q should be Q 46, 47, 48, and V should be V38, 39, 40.

You can try our free diagnostic test(Quant only) and receive a comprehensive study guide by topic. This test will clearly help you understand your weak areas.

You can schedule a Free counseling session for 20 mins with one of our experts:https://calendly.com/mathrevolution/1-on-1-session for detailed advice on your current study plans.

You must schedule your day smartly to revise the topics and also practice more questions. We would suggest you register with MathRevolution https://www.mathrevolution.com/member/signup to get access to our 7-days on-demand course for free trial lessons. 700+ level questions https://www.mathrevolution.com/gmat/questionbank are separately available, too.

Since we are a math expert, we will recommend you go through our post on the GMAT club: Breakdown of GMAT math questions and types: https://gmatclub.com/forum/overview-of- ... l#p1641411

Regular tests will reflect the positive change in the score, and hence, your confidence will boost up. Gradually, with the help of mock tests, you will be able to compete with time and hence will be able to learn time management.

We appreciate your time and patience in reading this reply.

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]

Success is within your reach.
Good luck!

Math Revolution Team

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Ayush, Sorry to hear about how things went with your GMAT attempt. Let me share my insights. It is usually recommended to follow a 3 step approach: 1. Learn all the concepts thoroughly. 2. A key focus on methodologies. Do not skip straight to practicing questions as this will not help you learn a lot and, will not help with retention either. Instead, learn the most effective methodology to solve a particular question type. For example, a meaning based approach for SC. Also, go through solutions step-by-step to maximize your learning effectively. 3. Finally, start practicing questions. A good benchmark to know that you're ready is 80-90% accuracy at all difficulty levels. In your case, it appears that you have missed out on the 2nd step i.e. focus on learning the right methods of solving the questions and being consistent with your approach . You need to be good with application of concepts learned by using the most effective methodologies consistently since GMAT is a test of application of concepts . Only then should you consider moving to practising questions. You may find this helpful: https://blog.gmatwhiz.com/scored-low-on-gmat/ Sharing of your ESR may help to identify the reason behind you not performing well on the actual test day. Also, most people believe that one should take as many mocks before the test as possible to ace GMAT. However, that is not something I would suggest. I scored 740 on GMAT by just taking 2 mocks before the test. I recommend that anywhere between 3-6 mocks are enough. Most students don’t exactly understand the role of a mock test. So, let me explain that first. WHAT MOCKS ARE NOT MEANT FOR Scoring 700+ on GMAT requires you to do well on hard and very hard questions. But before that you need to be good with easy and medium level questions so that you can make the GMAT algorithm serve you hard questions atleast. Taking one mock after the other won’t improve your score magically. For that to happen you need to strengthen your weak areas. So, take timed sectional tests in specific areas such as SC, CR, RC, Algebra etc. By doing so, you prepare yourself for all topics that you can come across and not just limited topics that you get in a mock. So, the approach is simple. Learn the basics first, then Take up one section at a time in a sectional test. Find your weaknesses. Revise the concepts if needed, then Take medium questions on them and master them. Move to mastering difficult questions. Remember, proceed one step at a time. Once you have gained confidence then you should start taking mocks. WHAT MOCKS ARE MEANT FOR Mocks should be given to get used to a 3 hr test format, understand how the adaptive test works and identify which section order suits you the most. That’s why I suggest taking 3-6 mocks with gaps of 2-3 days between each attempt. Make sure you try different section orders and see which one suits you the most. Mocks are not meant to be given for practice . In fact, don’t waste GMAT Prep mocks for practice. They are the closest to the real GMAT, and hence should be saved till the end to gauge where you stand after completing preparation. Don't waste them when you're in your early stages of prep. Important Tip – Don’t practice tons of questions directly. First focus on learning the right methods for each question. That plays a significant role in getting hard questions correct within 2 mins. Hope this helped and feel free to contact if you have any further queries. It's a bit difficult to get into details here for further guidance. A better way would be to connect over a call and have a discussion. You can schedule a free consultation call using the below link. Click here to schedule a call

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

Hi Ayush,

75% of the people we work with on GMAT Retakes suffer test day drop offs in score. And it's always more related to Test Taking Skills. Not concept gaps. If you can get a higher score on mocks, then you have a process problem.

The only way to diagnose this gaps is a live Testing Simulation with a coach. If you have a coach or tutor, ask them if they do a version of live in-practice test diagnostics.

We offer a FREE testing simulation session where we measure your Test Taking Skills across 20 metrics. After you get the critical insights into your skill gaps, you'll have access to the same coach who know's your gaps and can provide targeted coaching and specific self practice so you can practice the skills on your own.

ayushsinha834 · Answer

RetaketheGMAT

I reappeared and got a 730!! 
Thanks a lot for support guys!

Posted from my mobile device

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

Perfect! Congratulations, that's a great score jump.

PrinceJ · Answer

Hey Ayush,
Congratulations on 730.

Can you please tell what you did differently this time as compared to last time?
Currently, in a similar boat as you were.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

I am completely shocked and I have no Idea what additional stuff i should do for the next exam.
My quants scores averaged at near Q49 and verbal ranged from V33-V38. I appeared for the real exam last week and got 640 (Q45, V33).

Here's a gmat debrief from a student I recently tutored Verbal (Official V31 to V40 in roughly 30 days). There may be insight that proves useful.

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

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi ayushsinha834 , That's great news, and all the best for the admissions process.

ayushsinha834 · Answer

Thanks a lot ajitesh.. Special thanks to your guidance!!

Posted from my mobile device

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