bombed one section. retake or just switch to gre?

Question

Hey all,

I did pretty well on all my practice tests, but I just took my first real GMAT and bombed one section (quant). I did very well in all other sections.

I want to take it again in about a month before February app deadlines, but is it worth it to study for it and beef up on my Quant skills or just switch over to GRE at this point (easier math)?

What do you all think?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Jayy2jayy2,

You ask an important question. However, while the GMAT and GRE have a great deal in common, there are enough differences that 1 month of studying might not be enough for you to properly train to score at a high level on the GRE. 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 long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
4) How did you score on the Official GMAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

Goals:
5) What is your goal score?
6) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Jayy2jayy2 · Answer

Good point! Perhaps it's best to just persist with the GMAT and beef up on my weaknesses.

In response to your questions:

1. I started seriously studying for it for about 3 weeks to a month. Prior to that, I didn't have any specific study materials and would just do random questions haphazardly.

2. I used Kaplan online software (basic videos + practice quizzes and CATs)

3. I took 3 practice CATs with the following scores
 First, 610 (38 Quant, 36 Verbal)
 Second, 640 (41 Quant, 37 Verbal)
 Third, 660 (42 Quant, 39 Verbal)

4. Here's where things get REALLY confusing and bad. On my official GMAT I scored a 570 (32 Quant, 37 Vebral) I completely bombed the quant and I'm not sure why!

-----
My goal is to get a 700+. I'm planning on applying to Vanderbilt, WUSTL, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Rochester (Simon School of Business) for MSF programs.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Jayy2jayy2,

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet. When the types of score drops such as yours 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. If you can answer a few questions, then we should be able to figure this out:

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)? 
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

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

TrevorKleeTutor · Answer

Were your CATs official GMATPrep tests? If they were Kaplan tests, that explains part of your confusion. See this post on my website for more:  https://www.trevorkleetutor.com/how-accurate-are-kaplan-cats-manhattan-cats-veritas/

Anyways, you'll probably do fine on GRE quant, assuming your problems on the GMAT quant aren't arithmetic errors. Verbal can be more annoying though, because GRE verbal depends a lot on your vocabulary. If you're still curious about how you'd do, send me an email through my website and I'll send you a GRE diagnostic test.

Jayy2jayy2 · Answer

That's very true.

To answer,
1. I took the entire CAT each time I practiced.
2. Each CAT I took was in a different location. One was in the library, one was at home, one was on an airplane.
3. No, my actual GMAT exam was much earlier than all of my practice. As a matter of fact, my actual GMAt exam was early in the morning in a place that was already at a +3 hour time difference from where I live. Perhaps I was still jet lagged; I took my test at 10:30 am local time which was 7:30 am where I live. I took all my practice CATS in the afternoon.
4.Guilty. I paused the CATs at times when there were distractions (such as wifi going out, or too much noise, or had to move locations).
5. No, each CAT was unique I hadn't seen those questions before.

Would the above help explain the huge score drop on the actual exam? If so, why were all my practice CATs so within range of one another?

Thanks again for all your continued help.

Jayy2jayy2 · Answer

Hey Trevor,

Yep, they were all Kaplan. I'll definitely check out your post.

Also I'll send you a message now. Thanks!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Jayy2jayy2,

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your scores can become - and that's what happened here. By taking your CATs in differing locations - and at different times of day (from when you took the Official GMAT), pausing the CATs, etc., you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.' In addition, the 'jet lag' and much earlier Testing time would likely have also thrown off your performance. The fact that you took nothing but 3rd-party CATs from one source might also have contributed to the consistency in those performances, but a drop on the Official GMAT (since no individual 3rd-party source can provide a perfect match for what you'll see on Test Day).

Thankfully, this is a relatively easy set of problems to fix. The big question now is "how long will it take you to properly get 'used to' taking the full GMAT under conditions that match the Official Exam?" You'll certainly need a new set of practice CATs to work with. You might also need to invest in some new GMAT training materials. While I wouldn't advise that you switch to the GRE at this time, you can download 2 free Official practice GREs from www.gre.org.

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

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bombed one section. retake or just switch to gre?

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