Completely lost focus during Gmat exam

Question

Appeared for gmat on 1st October. And guess how much i scored after 7-8months of preparation? A devastating 570. Even in the 4 gmatwhiz mocks I attempted I scored 670-680. I used their materials only. I was pretty sure that I would score atleast 700. But a different scenario occurred during the exam. I studied everyday for 2-3 hours solved a lot of questions. Accuracy for sub 600 and 600-700 questions in gmatclub was around 90% and for hard around 50% for both quant and verbal. i know I had some concept gaps in some topics but I am completely sure I could cross atleast 600 in gmat.

Started with quant. The first question was just a basic value put question any 13 year old could solve. But I made 2 mistakes in solving that. it should have taken 30 secs but I took 2.5mins. i somehow recovered and started getting little difficult questions. but the strange thing is that as soon as I reached question 17-18 my brain stopped working. It was as if I did not want to sit for the exam any more. I did not feel sleepy but felt extremely bored. I tried hard to concentrate but could not. My mind just did not want to work anymore. I could not even interpret what was written in the question. A little tricky question and I felt like skipping that. I felt like shutting down the computer and just somehow get out of the exam. My confidence kept on falling. I remember last 6-7 questions I could not solve just because either I could not understand what was written in the question or made stupid mistakes while trying to hurry.

Verbal was a disaster. I started well. I somehow pushed away the negative experience of quant. But as I moved my concentration started diminishing massively. I had to guess all questions from q20. One specific question I remember, a CR weaken. Maybe 4-5 lines long. First I got afraid then calmed myself and started reading. I read for 5mins, yes 5mins straight yet could not decipher a little meaning from the questions. I dont know why these events happened.

In IR, I understood 0 questions out of 12. I could not understand a single question. But AWA i think was good.

I don't know why and what happened there. And all these same things happened in the official mock which I attempted 3days before Gmat. Scored a horrible 620 there. These same tings happened but not in such a bad way. just after 25-30 mins in each section my brain just gave up. I just waited for the exam to get over. I have no idea how to tackle this. Due to this mock my confidence hit rockbottom and just somehow wanted to cross the 600 level barrier(yes downgraded from 700 to 600) so that atleast I could apply to some colleges.
 Please guide me on how I should proceed daily and and what to do in weekends. Or should I give up an try anything else? 
I am so confused on whether I should continue or stop? And even if I continue what should be my steps now? the dumbest person on earth can score atleast 600 after studying diligently for 7-8months.

EMPOWERgmatRichC   ScottTargetTestPrep . It would be extremely helpful for me if you experts cold shed some light. I have wasted 1 year and quite some money behind gmat and then scored 570. I kind of want to give up but again it feels like running away from a fight which I know I can win.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Sagnik97,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. At face value, it's possible that you're a bit "burned out" from all of the study time that you've put in so far. Beyond that though, 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:

1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) Did you use any other study materials besides the course that you mentioned (books, practice sets, etc.?)? Did you take any of the Official GMAC CATs/mocks?
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)?
4) Ignoring this recent GMAT Score for a moment, what Schools would you be interested in applying to?

If you took your Official GMAT at a Test Center, then 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

sivatx2 · Answer

Sorry to hear

. I think for practice you may rely upon prep companies questions, but for real feel you should try Official practice test only. You should have spaced about 1 official test per week, 6 weeks before your date of exam. Also, relying totally on prep company material is a bad idea. I would suggest to use only OG questions to assess myself. As most people say, you don't have to win every battle(move on quick), but win the war. Good luck on your next attempt!

Russ19 · Answer

Four weeks before the real test, Attempting more full-length CATs to build test stamina might help one to secure a good score.

MathRevolution · Answer

Hello Sagnik97,

GMAT club is one of the great platforms to get information about the GMAT official test, Study plan, Section wise instructions, and many more.

Your current GMAT mock score is shaky. Don't give up and keep your motivation high.

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

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

• No expert support (maybe) who can tutor, analyze, and guide you during your learning
• Lack of many updated questions and practice in the recent exam trend
• Not well aligned with time to solve questions.

Precisely, there has to be one end-to-end solution encompassing all the points mentioned above. We also want to understand your approach to solving PS and DS questions. You can try our free diagnostic test(Quant) https://www.mathrevolution.com/diagnostic/dtExamMember and receive a comprehensive study guide by topic. This test will clearly help you understand your weak areas.

Your study plan will now change as you are already ready with the vital concepts and their application. The diagnostic test report will give us detailed insight into various topics and your performance.

Also, make a note of various possible combinations to achieve a score of 700 or 700+. 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.

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. Start with the learning of the concepts. Make a habit of taking notes during the initial learning of the concepts.

You may also connect with one of the experts to get the best tutoring supports, which will help understand the topic(s) and solve questions and learn how to manage time and accuracy.

Below is the useful link we will recommend you to visit on GMAT club:

Ultimate Q51 guide: https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-ultimate ... l#p1613600

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

sj1573 · Answer

I think studying for 7 to 8 months just doesn't work. You start to burn out and forget what you learn as the months go by. I say this because I've done the same thing - my study plan resulted in a 630 after just 2 months of studying without much focus. When I tried to extend that out to 5 months, I scored a 600. I think the best time frame is around 3 months, which gives you enough time to learn what you don't know, improve your weaknesses, and take practice tests to solidify your knowledge and test-taking endurance.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Sagnik97,

I'm sorry to hear about your GMAT. Honestly, it sounds as though nerves played a role in your score decrease. I'm happy to provide some additional advice but first would like to learn more about your situation with the GMAT. Once you respond to the questions already asked, I can provide some advice.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

For Verbal working on Solving Approach may help (i.e. an Absorption method for reading).

Sagnik97 · Answer

Hi  EMPOWERgmatRichC 
Trying to answer your questions as asked.

1) I started preparing from feb17,2021. Each day approx 2hrs(at night) and on sat-sun 4-5hrs(2hrs in the morning and 2hrs in the evening/night).
2) I used gmatwhiz for concept learning, and gaining a grip on each topic. Rest I practiced from gmatclub only using veritas, kaplan, magoosh, official, empower, manhattan and other trusted and famous sources. Accuracy for sub-600 and 600-700 was around 90% and that for above 700 around 50%. This was my level without any timer. And used to take gaps after solving 3-4 questions at a stretch. Did this somehow contribute to my mental fatigue during exam?

I took the first official mock 5days before gmat exam. scored 620 which suddenly came as a shock to me. (Q46V29).

3) 1st mock - around july end. (660 q48v32)
2nd mock - 2 weeks later (650 q49v30) ( was sick for 7-8 days in between)
3rd mock - sept 1st week 660(q48v32)
4th mock _ sept 17or 19 (670 q46v35)
I committed some mistakes during taking mocks which i later realised. I paused sometimes and took gaps. This may have reduced my stamina. I had no idea about this

4) I was trying for MiM programs. target score of around 700. So escp, essec, lbs(very little chance), duke( extremely hard).

I am again thinking of reappearing for gmat around nov. around1-1.5 months later. What strategy should I follow for this?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Sagnik97,

I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions.

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

ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

First, I would say to avoid thoughts like this:

A 600 is 40 points above average. Millions of people would struggle to get that score, even after 7-8 months of studying.

Secondly, I know *exactly* what you're describing feels like. When I took the test last time, I decided--because IR just didn't matter to me as much--to not take the break between my quant and IR section. Within two minutes of starting, my brain completely shut down. The problem in front of me was a hellish looking system of algebra rate/time equations, and I could barely tell you what a 'rate' even was. I couldn't begin to make sense of the information.

When one thinks hard, one expends energy. Lots of energy, in fact. People participating in chess tournament can lose several pounds a day, just sitting and *thinking really hard*. Brains are incredibly energy-dependent. Thinking hard drains energy, and positively devours blood sugar (there's a chapter in the book 'Thinking Fast and Slow' about this), and when that happens, reasoning, planning, and organized thinking get worse.

So taking the GMAT, we must be ready for these things:

A). You want to be well rested. The *week* before your test, start focusing on sleep, so that if the night before isn't great rest, at least you have a week under your belt.

B). Diet. Make sure you're eating good, healthy foods. And make sure when you go in, your blood sugar is high! I had a few bites of a brownie before I started the test, and then in the first break between Verbal and Quant (which I *did* take), I ate about half the brownie, planning on eating the other half between Quant and IR before I made my unwise decision to keep plowing forward.

C). Practice! The actual taking of a practice test actually only improves your score in one way: it forces you to get used to the marathon. All other improvement from a practice test comes from *reviewing* the thing and identifying where improvement can be found. So make sure you have several practice tests under your belt before taking the real thing, and you're used to that long slog.

D). Exercise. Exercise is very helpful for brains, learning, and overall energy levels. Make sure you're being active--it helps in so many ways in life.

E). Mindfulness. Studies have shown pretty outstanding results for people who practice mindfulness, regarding energy, attention, and dealing with stressful situations (like taking the GMAT).

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Sagnik97,

The good news is that you are in a pretty nice spot.

To improve your GMAT score to a higher level, you need to go through GMAT quant and verbal carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills. The overall process will be to learn all about how to answer question types with which you currently aren't very comfortable, and do dozens of practice questions category by category, basically driving up your score point by point. For example, if you find that you are not strong in answering Number Properties questions, then carefully review the conceptual underpinnings of how to answer Number Properties questions and practice by answering 50 or more questions just from Number Properties: LCM, GCF, units digit patterns, divisibility, remainders, etc. When you are working on learning to answer questions of a particular type, start off taking your time, and then seek to speed up as you get more comfortable answering questions of that type. As you do such practice, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get right. If you got a remainder question wrong, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not properly apply the remainder formula? Was there a concept you did not understand in the question? By carefully analyzing your mistakes, you will be able to efficiently fix your weaknesses and in turn improve your GMAT quant skills. Number Properties is just one example; follow this process for all quant topics.

Each time you strengthen your understanding of a topic and your skill in answering questions of a particular type, you increase your odds of hitting your score goal. You know that there are types of questions that you are happy to see, types that you would rather not see, and types that you take a long time to answer correctly. Learn to more effectively answer the types of questions that you would rather not see, and make them into your favorite types. Learn to correctly answer in two minutes or less questions that you currently take five minutes to answer. By finding, say, a dozen weaker quant areas and turning them into strong areas, you will make great progress toward hitting your quant score goal. If a dozen areas turn out not to be enough, strengthen some more areas.

You can work on verbal in a similar manner. Let’s say you are reviewing Critical Reasoning. Be sure that you practice a large number of Critical Reasoning questions: Strengthen and Weaken the Argument, Resolve the Paradox, find the Conclusion, Must be True, etc. As you go through the questions, do a thorough analysis of each question that you don't get correct. If you missed a Weaken question, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize what the question was asking? Did you skip over a key detail in an answer choice? Getting GMAT verbal questions right is a matter of what you know, what you see, and what you do. So, any time that you don't get one right, you can seek to identify what you had to know to get the right answer, what you had to see that you didn't see, and what you could have done differently to arrive at the correct answer.

So, work on accuracy and generally finding correct answers, work on specific weaker areas one by one to make them strong areas, and when you take a practice GMAT or the real thing, take all the time per question available to do your absolute best to get right answers consistently. The GMAT is essentially a game of seeing how many right answers you can get in the time allotted. Approach the test with that conception in mind, and focus intently on the question in front of you with one goal in mind: getting a CORRECT answer.

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

You also may find my article with more information regarding  how to score a 700+ on the GMAT  helpful.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

Good luck!

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

Hi Sagnik97,

My guess is your Test Taking Skills played a big role in your performance. Drop offs from practice tests are almost always related to that. They're the same topics and concepts, right? It's more about being able to cope in 'game conditions'.

Consistent approaches to quant questions which include pre-processing, visualization and smart calculations are energizing and they contribute to a feeling that you're standing on solid ground throughout the test -- even if one of two questions go badly wrong.

We assess your Test Taking Skills in a FREE live Testing Simulation with a GMAT performance coach. We just need to have quick call to determine if it makes sense for you.

Let me know if you're interested

	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

Completely lost focus during Gmat exam

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