Consistently low on Official Practice Tests : Help Plz!!

Hi InspiredSoul,

Don't stress! Congratulations on 4 months of studying and increasing your score thus far!

What were the dates of your practices and your official tests?

You seem to be doing well in Quant, but dropping off in Verbal.

I had issues with the time that I started the official exam and the time I took my practices, once I took the official exam at the same time I was used to taking the practices, my score began to line up with what I had been expecting based on the practice exams.

I would also recommend you take the Official Practice GMAT as the difference in interface of the test may also throw you off. You should try to get a consistent score in each section, for example between 39-42 on verbal, because once you always hit that target consistently on practice exams, you should be able to hit it on the actual exam.

If you're not creating a realistic test environment for your practices, that could be boosting your practice scores as well. Make sure you don't pause the test for any reason, take it in a quiet environment, wear headphones if that's what you're used to doing on test day, etc. Basically try to imitate the test environment as closely as possible while you're taking the practice.

I would also recommend purchasing the detailed score for each official exam, it might give you some insight as to what your weakness is. For me, I saw that I was doing well in sentence correction and critical thinking, but my reading comprehension was much lower. It took me and additional 4 months of reading the economist regularly and focusing on that area alone to bring my score up.

Hopefully some of this helps. I'm sure there will be some experts who will weigh in as well if they haven't already messaged you. Don't panic, & don't stress! The GMAT Club community is a pretty helpful one. I would push the test back if you can so you don't rush while you're studying.

Best of luck!




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