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25 Aug 2020, 21:26
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Hello all,
I recently took the GMAT (first attempt) after >9 months of self-study, with last 3 months of rigorous practice (avg 25 hrs/week). I spent the first 2 months learning concepts using Manhattan and the Official Guide and a few practice tests. Originally I had scheduled my exam for April end but it got cancelled due to Covid. I scavenged for available slots and rescheduled my appointment twice thereafter but those too got cancelled. I lost traction by May end but decided to get myself back on track and studied hard from June to August end, analyzing my mistakes (especially in verbal) using an error log and driving up the practice scores. I was finally able to book an appointment slot available earlier this week (Aug end) and decided to give the test a shot.
I mostly used Manhattan (both quant and verbal), GMAT Official Guide 2020, GMAT Official Verbal Review 2020 and occasionally GMAT Club questions to prepare for the test. I used GMAT Official Practice tests and MGMAT tests to evaluate my progress and used GMAT Club forums to find the answer explanations for Official Practice tests.
Practice tests:
Official Prep 1: Feb 2, 2020 Score 670 (V35, Q47)
Official Prep 2: Mar 14, 2020 Score 640 (V31, Q46)
Official Prep 3: Mar 28, 2020 Score 660 (V32, Q48)
MGMAT CAT1: Jun 8,2020 Score 640 (V34, Q43)
MGMAT CAT2: Jun 21,2020 Score 580 (V30, Q41)
MGMAT CAT3: Jul 12 ,2020 Score 640 (V35, Q43)
Official Prep 4: Jul 25, 2020 Score 700 (V37, Q48)
MGMAT CAT4: Aug 9, 2020 Score 620 (V35, Q40) (was super uncomfortable taking the test while wearing a mask)
Official Prep 5: Aug 14, 2020 Score 660 (V35, Q45) (was super uncomfortable taking the test while wearing a mask)
GMAT Exam: Aug 24, 2020 Score 630 (V28, Q48)
I took verbal first followed by quant, IR and AWA.
I was shocked and disheartened to see a huge drop in my verbal score as compared to any of the practice tests I have taken before. I have never scored below 30 in verbal and have consistently scored 35-37 for the last 4 practice tests. During the exam, I felt pretty confident on the verbal section and did not have to rush or guess on too many questions.
Has anyone else experienced something similar before? After analyzing the test day performance, I feel that either the actual verbal test is much more difficult or test day anxiety might have taken a toll on me and caused the drop in my score, without me realizing it. To get over the GMAT burnout, I am planning to take a break for 6 months and focus on fixing errors in the verbal and also work on improving my quant score to a 50. My target score is 700+. I would really appreciate it if anyone could share a similar experience. I'm also looking for any recommendations on a retake strategy and on any test prep companies that could help me identify key mistakes on my verbal. Thank you in advance.
Tagging bb GMATNinja for their expert opinion.
I recently took the GMAT (first attempt) after >9 months of self-study, with last 3 months of rigorous practice (avg 25 hrs/week). I spent the first 2 months learning concepts using Manhattan and the Official Guide and a few practice tests. Originally I had scheduled my exam for April end but it got cancelled due to Covid. I scavenged for available slots and rescheduled my appointment twice thereafter but those too got cancelled. I lost traction by May end but decided to get myself back on track and studied hard from June to August end, analyzing my mistakes (especially in verbal) using an error log and driving up the practice scores. I was finally able to book an appointment slot available earlier this week (Aug end) and decided to give the test a shot.
I mostly used Manhattan (both quant and verbal), GMAT Official Guide 2020, GMAT Official Verbal Review 2020 and occasionally GMAT Club questions to prepare for the test. I used GMAT Official Practice tests and MGMAT tests to evaluate my progress and used GMAT Club forums to find the answer explanations for Official Practice tests.
Practice tests:
Official Prep 1: Feb 2, 2020 Score 670 (V35, Q47)
Official Prep 2: Mar 14, 2020 Score 640 (V31, Q46)
Official Prep 3: Mar 28, 2020 Score 660 (V32, Q48)
MGMAT CAT1: Jun 8,2020 Score 640 (V34, Q43)
MGMAT CAT2: Jun 21,2020 Score 580 (V30, Q41)
MGMAT CAT3: Jul 12 ,2020 Score 640 (V35, Q43)
Official Prep 4: Jul 25, 2020 Score 700 (V37, Q48)
MGMAT CAT4: Aug 9, 2020 Score 620 (V35, Q40) (was super uncomfortable taking the test while wearing a mask)
Official Prep 5: Aug 14, 2020 Score 660 (V35, Q45) (was super uncomfortable taking the test while wearing a mask)
GMAT Exam: Aug 24, 2020 Score 630 (V28, Q48)
I took verbal first followed by quant, IR and AWA.
I was shocked and disheartened to see a huge drop in my verbal score as compared to any of the practice tests I have taken before. I have never scored below 30 in verbal and have consistently scored 35-37 for the last 4 practice tests. During the exam, I felt pretty confident on the verbal section and did not have to rush or guess on too many questions.
Has anyone else experienced something similar before? After analyzing the test day performance, I feel that either the actual verbal test is much more difficult or test day anxiety might have taken a toll on me and caused the drop in my score, without me realizing it. To get over the GMAT burnout, I am planning to take a break for 6 months and focus on fixing errors in the verbal and also work on improving my quant score to a 50. My target score is 700+. I would really appreciate it if anyone could share a similar experience. I'm also looking for any recommendations on a retake strategy and on any test prep companies that could help me identify key mistakes on my verbal. Thank you in advance.
Tagging bb GMATNinja for their expert opinion.
25 Aug 2020, 22:21
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Hi PNV2020,
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. You've already noted how your performance dipped in your last couple of practice CATs because you were not used to wearing a face-mask for such an extended period of time. While that was likely a factor when you took your Official GMAT, we have to be careful about assuming that it was the only factor. 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:
1) Over the last 3 months, what study materials were you using? What type of study routine were you following?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
While it's certainly understandable that you might want to take a little 'time off' from your studies (and taking a short break would probably be a good idea) taking 6 months off might be counter-productive. At this point, with just another 1.5 - 2 months of focused, guided study, you could potentially hit your Score Goal.
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.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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. You've already noted how your performance dipped in your last couple of practice CATs because you were not used to wearing a face-mask for such an extended period of time. While that was likely a factor when you took your Official GMAT, we have to be careful about assuming that it was the only factor. 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:
1) Over the last 3 months, what study materials were you using? What type of study routine were you following?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
While it's certainly understandable that you might want to take a little 'time off' from your studies (and taking a short break would probably be a good idea) taking 6 months off might be counter-productive. At this point, with just another 1.5 - 2 months of focused, guided study, you could potentially hit your Score Goal.
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.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
26 Aug 2020, 14:14
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Bookmarks
Hello EMPOWERgmatRichC,
Thank you for your reply and the follow up questions.
1. Over the last 3 months I relied heavily on error logs to keep a track of my mistakes while solving the Official Guide problems and the Official/ MGMAT practice tests. I took the practice tests on Sundays (every other week) and spent 2-3 hrs/day Monday-Friday to carefully review my errors and note them in the error log. I used the week between the tests to work on some practice problems from the Official guide, maintain a good error log and learn new concepts. Over time I considerably improved my pace and accuracy, especially in CR (>4 mins per question to 1.5-2 mins per question) and SC (>2 mins/question to 1.5 mins/question).
2. I have a Master of Science degree from an Ivy league school and 3 years of work experience in high tech manufacturing. I am looking to switch gears and pursue marketing/ consulting roles after business school. I plan to apply in the first round of M7 schools (preferably 2021 but 2022 is the fall back option so that I have atleast 5 years of work ex).
In your experience, does a gap of 6 months lead to a considerable loss of GMAT knowledge/skills amongst test takers? I currently have several competing priorities and a highly demanding job, so was hoping to get back on a rigorous GMAT prep schedule early next year.
Thank you for your reply and the follow up questions.
1. Over the last 3 months I relied heavily on error logs to keep a track of my mistakes while solving the Official Guide problems and the Official/ MGMAT practice tests. I took the practice tests on Sundays (every other week) and spent 2-3 hrs/day Monday-Friday to carefully review my errors and note them in the error log. I used the week between the tests to work on some practice problems from the Official guide, maintain a good error log and learn new concepts. Over time I considerably improved my pace and accuracy, especially in CR (>4 mins per question to 1.5-2 mins per question) and SC (>2 mins/question to 1.5 mins/question).
2. I have a Master of Science degree from an Ivy league school and 3 years of work experience in high tech manufacturing. I am looking to switch gears and pursue marketing/ consulting roles after business school. I plan to apply in the first round of M7 schools (preferably 2021 but 2022 is the fall back option so that I have atleast 5 years of work ex).
In your experience, does a gap of 6 months lead to a considerable loss of GMAT knowledge/skills amongst test takers? I currently have several competing priorities and a highly demanding job, so was hoping to get back on a rigorous GMAT prep schedule early next year.
