80 point drop between GMAT and Practice test. At a loss

Question

Hi All, I've just come back from the test centre and I'm at a loss. I scored a 630 (Q46, V31)

. This is my second time giving the GMAT (scored a 620 earlier). The reason for my frustration is the massive difference in score between my practice tests and my GMAT. Before my first try, I gave the 2 GMATPrep tests and scored a 700 and a 710 in them. Scoring a 620 in the exam the first time around was disheartening and unexpected so I chalked it up to it being a bad day. Before my second attempt, I took 6 Veritas Prep CATs to make sure that my practice score matched what I wanted out of my GMAT. My scores were: CAT1: 710 (Q48, V39) CAT2: 710 (Q49, V39) CAT3: 730 (Q48, V42) CAT4: 710 (Q48, V39) CAT5: 710 (Q47, V40) CAT6: 710 (Q48, V40) I took the tests 1 day apart, the last one being yesterday. All the tests were under exam conditions. I wrote the essay and did the IR section. So seeing such a massive difference in score has left me stumped. I'm too nervous to even give the GMAT again. I've heard that the Veritas CATs are pretty accurate so was pretty confident going into the exam. I didn't get a lot of sleep which may have played a role but I felt pretty switched on during the test. I don't really sleep well before an exam. Also, I'd be surprised if lack of sleep could cause such a massive difference. So suggestions on what I need to do would be highly appreciated. I plan on giving the Manhattan CATs and/or the Kaplan CATs and schedule my next exam for an afternoon slot. Also, would a 620 and 630 reflect poorly on my application if my target schools have a median score of 700-720? Thanks all. Though I am not active on my profile a lot, this website has been very helpful. Appreciate the help.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi tyrion,

You've provided a lot of information, which is good - I'll need some additional information to properly diagnose what's been going wrong for you on Test Day though.

1) How much time did you spend studying before each of your GMATs?
2) What GMAT resources (books, Courses, etc.) did you use?
3) Did you take any of these Veritas CATs more than once (if not, then which CATs did you use when you studied before?)? How did you score on the GMAC CATs?
4) What time of day did you take these CATs and what time of day were your Official GMATs? 
5) On Test Day, did you ever have pacing problems in the Quant or Verbal sections? Did you finish early or have to rush just to finish? Did you have to guess on a bunch of questions at the very end (or did you ever leave any questions unanswered?)? 
6) How long was the ride from your home to the Testing Center?

Here are the immediate issues:

1) Taking 6 CATs in the 2 weeks leading up to Test Day was NOT a good idea. You likely "burned out" a bit (and didn't even realize it during the Exam). You should take no more than 1 CAT/week.

2) The lack of sleep can ABSOLUTELY impact your performance on Test Day, especially later in the exam (during the Verbal section) when fatigue really starts to set in.

3) Your Official Scores are consistent. Assuming your Scaled Scores on your first GMAT were close to the scores on your second GMAT, there's some kind of "disconnect" that occurs on Test Day. As such, you have to make your next set of practice CATs "match up" with Test Day in as many ways as possible.

In answer to your question:
-Business Schools don't care how many times you take the GMAT; if you score higher on your third attempt, then THAT'S the score that they'll pay attention to.

Thankfully, all of these issues can be fixed. The GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to CRUSH it.

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

tyrion · Answer

Thanks Rich for the great points. In regards to the additional information: 1) It's hard to say exactly. I'm a consultant and my work requires me to travel so even though my preparation spanned 4 or 5 months, I would probably say it's closer to 2-3 months of work that actually helped me improve my score on the practice tests. 2) I started off with GMATPILL to brush up on concepts that I wasn't familiar with but realised I needed to improve my Verbal so I went through the Manhattan SC book a few times till I felt I was comfortable with the concepts. This helped me look at the questions as logical rather than playing it by ear. I'm still tempted to read the entire sentence as pick what sounds good. I fear that may have happened on the exam. For CR, I used e-Gmat. It was helpful in formalising a process to attack any CR question. I didn't have time to go through the SC part of e-GMAT, something I plan on starting in the next few days. I didn't do any preparation for RC. For Quant, it was mainly the gmatclub's text book. It's a great book and helped me to pick up some of those more intricate GMAT specific concepts that I wouldn't have know otherwise. 3) No, I bought the Veritas CATs 2 weeks before the exam and took them only once. I took the GMATPrep CATs for my initial preparation. I scored a 700 and 710 but I can't trust them. I took them during the initial days of my preparation and wasted them by not taking them under test conditions. If I had known how precious they were, I would have saved them for later. I did buy the extension pack, but again I viewed the test as practice rather than a measuring tool. Regret making that mistake. 4) This is something that I realised probably affected my score. I took the CATs around 11 am and 12 pm. My GMAT was at 9 am. I woke up at 6:30 that morning. For the CATs, I woke up an hour before taking them because I was on holiday. I will need to fix this when I take my other CATs. 5) I've been replaying the day in my head. During my practice CATs, for the verbal section, I would take my time during the first 25 questions when I had a question that I found challenging. This would lead me to hurry during the last 10-15 or so questions and I would work through them a lot faster and maybe guess a few of them. However, on the GMAT, on both attempts I started worrying about time a little earlier and didn't spend as much time on the first few questions as I normally would have. I didn't feel like I was choosing the wrong answer, but maybe if I had spent a little more time, I would have realised some silly mistake I was making. To answer your question, I don't remember guessing too many in a row for the Quant, but on Verbal I do remember guessing a few in a row (not more than 3), and answering some other questions a lot faster than I liked. On this point, is there a timing strategy that you would recommend? I've done a quick search and there seems to be a lot of articles on the subject. There's a post on here by bb that looks great. 6) It took me 20-25 minutes to get there. Thanks again for your help and the immediate issues. I will start working on them

.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi tyrion,

Since your two Official GMAT scores are almost identical, there's clearly something that's happening on Test Day that does not match with what's happening during practice. With that in mind, your score drop is due to one (or both) of the following:

1) Your practice is unrealistic in some way.
2) Something about Test Day itself (and not necessarily the Test) is different, so you're not ready for it.

All of the additional information you've provided is useful, as it helps to pinpoint some of the inconsistencies that need to be fixed and some other areas of concern.

1) You mentioned a variety of Verbal resources that you used, but it does not appear that your Verbal Score improved. Maybe you were trying to "juggle" too many different approaches. Maybe the material wasn't helpful. Maybe you just didn't practice enough with the resources that you had. Maybe you need new resources. This is arguably the biggest "question mark" in your training, since your Verbal score dropped considerably on Test Day (relative to your practice CAT scores). The explanation might be as simple as....you were too tired.

2) We've already discussed how taking so many CATs in such a short period of time could have lead to 'burn out' and could have hurt your performance on Test Day. Since your GMAT was 2 to 3 hours EARLIER in the day than your practice CATs, this likely contributed to the score drop. It MIGHT actually be enough to explain the entire drop, since BOTH your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores decreased. Think about how you were training for the 2 weeks prior to Test Day - your brain was used to getting a certain amount of sleep and starting your Test at a certain general time. BOTH of those variables were changed on Test Day. This can't be allowed to happen again.

3) There's nothing wrong with "guessing" on a few questions during the Exam, but that was not what I asked about. I asked if you either finished early in either section or if you had to rush through a bunch of questions at the END of either section. If either option occurred in either section, then there's a much greater potential for lost points.

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

tyrion · Answer

Thanks Rich.

1) I'll analyse this. I think by the end I had one approach for most questions (except RC). I'll also wait for February when the new enhanced score report. Hopefully this help me further analyse what is going on.

2) I'll make sure to not take too many CATs and also to take them at the same time I plan on taking the actual GMAT.

3) Sorry, I finished each section with just a few seconds on it and didn't have to rush at the end.

Thanks again.

	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

80 point drop between GMAT and Practice test. At a loss

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards