750 in GMAT Prep Mock to 680 in actual GMAT

Question

Hi Guys,

First of all, I want to thank everybody on this forum for helping out during my prep phase and for providing valuable error logs and material.

I took my GMAT yesterday and I scored underwhelming 680 (Q 45, V 38) which is much lower than my expected score.

I am non native and studied in Hindi Medium school till my 10th class. I graduated from a tier 2 engineering college in India in 2015 (VIT University ) and have worked in a consulting firm and a healthcare start up post graduation.

I am aiming for top 5 public policy courses or MBA / MPP dual degree courses.

I did not prepare much in last few months and only started serious prep last month when I took a week off from work. I scored 650 in my diagnostic GMAT Prep mock. After that I purchased Veritas test series and scored 630 (Q 44, V 33), 670 (Q 45, V 37), 630 (Q 47, V 30) and 710 (Q50, V 37) in those tests. In Manhattan I scored 660 (Q 44, V 36). 2 days before the test, I took my left over GMAT Prep Mock and scored 750 ( Q50, V 42) which kinda put extra pressure on me.

However I struggled with finishing the sections on time in most of the mocks even though I tried multiple strategies to stay on track.

Night before test, I couldn't sleep properly due to bit of anxiety and also bloody mosquitoes and was slightly tired but wouldn't blame that on my disastrous performance.

During test, I ran out of time in both the sections and my accuracy level in last quarter of verbal was only 25% whereas it was 88% , 71% and 71% in first 3 quarters.

In quant, I performed even worse and ran out of time even earlier and guessed 8 question towards the end. In first 2 quarters , my accuracy was 86% but in quarter 3 it was only 57% and in quarter 4 it was only 14 %. I spent much more time in earlier questions even though I tried to be on track.

I am very disappointed with my score and I am planning to retake the test next month but I want to work on my timing issue and identify any other underlying issues properly before I start the prep again so that I have the right tools and strategy. I would really appreciate any help that you guys can provide.

Thanks,
Abhinav

Posted from my mobile device

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

you should put your time in evenly spaced in every quarter.
It seems that there is a huge difference between your Mprep mock and GMATprep mock. So i think you should take a GMATprep mock again and take decision about the expertness on both quant and verbal part.
I think, you scored bad (compare to your expectation) because of your last 8 question that you guessed. This guessing dramatically decreased your score.

Businessconquerer · Answer

If you got an esr please upload the report, 
Please upload the pictures of your mock test in order of the time given

Now AS for the whole 750 to 680 scenario, if it makes you feel any better, even I scored a 760 and got a 700 on my second attempt.
Please let me know in PM if you seek help. I can help you

Abhinavdevaria · Answer

GMAT has disabled ESR download option due to some bug so unable to upload it here. As of timing of the mock, I do not have the exact dates but below are the approx dates:

1) GMAT prep diagnostic mock:650 ( Q 46, V 34) , 8/7
2) Veritas 1: 630 (Q 44, V 33), 17/7
3) Veritas 2: 670 (Q 45, V 37) , 20/7
4) Veritas 3: 630 (Q 47, V 30) , 27/7
5) Manhatten: 660 ( Q 44, V 36), 27/7. I got panicked looking at my Veritas score so took Manhatten test on same day
6) Veritas 4: 710 ( Q 50, V 37), 9/8
7) GMAT prep mock: 750 ( Q 50, V 42) , 11/8
8) Actual GMAT: 680 , 13/8

Posted from my mobile device

Businessconquerer · Answer

I meant to ask for the pictures of when you gave the test is because it has to be seen if you repeated the questions
If you gave a fresh test or you gave a repeated test

I donot htink a score of 750 is realistic given that all the other scores are in other range
Or may be something happened during the exam
If you can upload screen shots of ESR too, that might help us understand what truly went wrong, also, mixing it with the score display on your official mocks, you can reach to a final conclusion

I think you can either buy the rest of the official mocks and try those or you can take help from a coaching that provides you with official mocks, such as empowergmat and jamboree

I'd suggest you to buy 29 USD subscription to Jamboree.online to have good official practice material

Also u will need a realistic assessment of what went wrong, and why 750, there is a fair chance that it was luck, it is essential to consider all possibilities to understand yourself

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Abhinav,

First off, a 680/Q45 is a strong Score, so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Depending on the Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, most of your CAT score results - along with your Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 680 +/- a few points); the 750 is an 'outlier', so we cannot assume that that is a completely accurate assessment of your current skill level. You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes.

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) What were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on EACH of your CATs?

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

From your post, it sounds as if you have purchased 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). You will need to post at least 5 times in the GMATClub Forums before you are allowed to include attachments with your posts and PMs. If you would rather not go through those extra steps, then you can feel free to email me your ESR and I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Abhinav,

The good news is that 680 with just one month of serious prep is pretty solid, my friend! With some more study time and a thorough study plan, you likely can improve your GMAT score. That said, since you did study for only one month, your timing issue on the GMAT likely was caused by a lack of overall GMAT quant and verbal knowledge. Once your GMAT knowledge improves, better timing will follow. In fact, a great way to know how well you have mastered a particular topic is to be cognizant of your reaction time when seeing a particular question. For example, consider the following simple question with which many students who are beginning their prep struggle:
 
14! is equal to which of the following? 
 
(A) 87,178,291,200
(B) 88,180,293,207
(C) 89,181,294,209
(D) 90,000,000,003
(E) 91,114,114,114
 
Upon seeing this question, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Grabbing a calculator to add up the values in the expression? Or are you able to quickly recognize that using the “5 x 2 pair rule” will allow you to efficiently attack the problem? (See the solution below.)
 
Solution:
 
14! = 14 × 13 × 12 × 11 × 10 × 9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1. 
 
Notice that there is at least one (5 × 2) pair contained in the product of these numbers. It follows that the units digit must be a zero. The only number with zero as the units digit is 87,178,291,200.
 
Answer: A 
 
Although this is just one example of many, you see that you must have many tools in your toolbox to efficiently attack each GMAT quant question that comes your way. As you gain these skills, you will get faster.

If you’d like more specific advice on how to improve your quant and verbal skills, feel free to reach out. You may also find it helpful to read the following articles:

How to Score a 700+ on the GMAT — A Mini Guide for Success

How to Get Faster at Solving GMAT Questions

Abhinavdevaria · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thanks for your detailed response. I have always found your posts on the forum giving advise to confused souls like me to be really helpful.

Requested details are below:

Studies:
1) How many hours did you typically study each week?: About 20-25 hours a week for 4 weeks. 
2) What study materials have you used so far?: OG, OG Quant, OG verbal, Manhatten Guides, some veritas material 
3) What were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on EACH of your CATs?: Details below

1) GMAT prep diagnostic mock:650 ( Q 46, V 34) , 8/7
2) Veritas 1: 630 (Q 44, V 33), 17/7
3) Veritas 2: 670 (Q 45, V 37) , 20/7
4) Veritas 3: 630 (Q 47, V 30) , 27/7
5) Manhatten: 660 ( Q 44, V 36), 27/7. I got panicked looking at my Veritas score so took Manhatten test on same day
6) Veritas 4: 710 ( Q 50, V 37), 9/8
7) GMAT prep mock: 750 ( Q 50, V 42) , 11/8
8) Actual GMAT: 680 ( Q 45, V 38) , 13/8

I wasn't able to finish the sections on time in any of these mocks and score variation in mocks was often a factor of how far behind I was from timing perspective than anything else. I tried multiple strategies to manage time but always failed to resolve the timing issue.

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score? : This might sound dumb but I want to score as much as I can so anything upwards of 730 is fine by me. It is more of a personal challenge than anything else. Also, as I belong to Indian Male Engineer cohort, a high score will ensure I am in safe zone from at-least GMAT perspective. 
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School? : I am planning to apply for Masters in Public Policy courses so deadlines are well into late December. However, if I get good GMAT score, I might think of applying to dual degree courses offered by HBS, Said, Booth and those deadlines are bit earlier than that.

I will send the ESR report over the email or once I have 5 posts here.

Thanks,
Abhinav

Hovkial · Answer

Abhinavdevaria  
 
You will need to work on test stamina. 
 
Accuracy rates of just 14% and having to guess on as many as eight questions, all clustered together at the end are not good signs. 
 
Take care of your health and exercise in addition to practicing answering questions. You mentioned poor sleeping conditions. That's something to consider as well. 
 
The good news is that you did somewhat well considering you studied in non-English classes for quite a while. Things can improve if you can find solutions to above issues. GL!

Posted from my mobile device

rohan2345 · Answer

Hi Abhinavdevaria, Welcome to GMATCLUB! Firstly congrstulations on a 680. It's indeed a great score. I think all you need to work on is your timings on both the section. I recommend you to timed practice from a couple of reliable sources. If you are particularly looking to discover and improve on your weak areas in Quant; a subscription to GMATCLUB tests is the best way to do that. They are indeed phenomenal and will not only pinpoint your weak areas but also help you improve on them. Further taking multiple mocks might help. Apart from the GMATPREP, Manhattan GMAT tests and Experts' Global Tests in my experience have good verbal and Quant section and will certainly help you point out and improve your weak areas. Further another advantage of taking many mocks is to build up your stamina. Apart from the GMATPREP tests, taking practice tests of any major GMATPREP company ought to do that. I would also encourage you to purchase GMATPREP official Practice Questions from mba.com for some great additional practice. Lastly, you can check out a very interesting article by Mike McGarry from Magoosh detailing a 3 month study plan https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/3-month-g ... -students/. You will find it very helpful as it gives out a study plan as per your needs. Hope this helps. All the best.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Abhinav,

I've sent you a PM with an analysis of your ESR and some additional notes.

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

Abhinavdevaria · Answer

Thanks Rich. This is really helpful. For some reason unable to reply in PM. Requested details are below.

I can devote 20-25 hrs a week for studying but I wanted to be done with retake by mid next month so that I can focus on few of the other courses unrelated to GMAT that I will be taking .

Regarding my RC score, I am actually pretty comfortable in RC and often don't need to guess however in GMAT, got a passage towards the end and ended up guessing due to timing issue hence I think that brought score down.

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Abhinav,

Your PMs did go through - I received 7 PMs from you (you must have hit the 'send' button repeatedly). I've sent you an additional PM with answers to your questions and some additional advice.

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

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