ESR evaluation

Question

Hi,

I recently gave GMAT exam. I scored a V30 with 10 incorrect answers. Please see attached ESR snapshot image.

I have been practising for quite some time now. I have scored better on GMAT mocks with 10 incorrect answers.

Can someone please explain me what went wrong.

Thanks.

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AndrewN · Answer

It would be helpful,  AlexSgmat , to see the graphic below the one you attached, in which we see the average difficulty of the questions you missed in each quarter. Missing 10 questions does not tell much of a story, but if those questions were lower in difficulty, then such mistakes could be punished severely. If the bar had been set after the first quarter, and you were given chances to raise it but repeatedly missed the same sort of middling questions, you could conceivably end up with the score you earned.

Would you mind sharing a bit more of your ESR?

- Andrew

AlexSgmat · Answer

Thank you AndrewN for replying.

I have attached snaps of my complete ESR.

Can you please suggest how can I improve my score.

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AlexSgmat · Answer

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AlexSgmat · Answer

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AlexSgmat · Answer

Posted from my mobile device

AndrewN · Answer

Pardon the delay,  AlexSgmat . I probably should not have posted right before a lesson, but I was not sure how long it would take you to reply, or how much of your ESR you would choose to share. Just as I suspected, if you look at the average difficulty of the questions you were missing across the board, it was low-medium to medium, so you never had a chance to prove yourself on tougher questions and earn a better score for the section. Simply put, if you miss a medium question, you are telling the algorithm to toss you something easier that may be more at your level, and you dig a hole that it may take 2-3 questions to climb out of. Miss one of those questions, and the process begins anew. Before you know it, you have completed an entire section, but an easier section, and your score reflects such a performance. That said, Reading Comprehension is fantastic, so there is no reason your Critical Reasoning should suffer. Your CR split of counted questions is 3/5. (It is typically an even 4/4.) So, for Analysis/Critique questions, you answered 2/3 correctly, and in Construction/Plan questions, you answered 3/5 correctly. Your Sentence Correction accuracy hamstrung you on the rest of the questions. You evidently need a stronger grammatical foundation, the nuts and bolts of sentence construction, and a minute and a half per SC question is okay, but could be more efficient if you felt more confident of those grammatical rules and conventions.

To get better, you want to focus on  not  missing any low-difficulty questions, something on the order of 95 percent accuracy or higher  per question type . If you cannot reach such accuracy, then there will always be that chance that you could hit one of those snags and remain in low-scoring territory. On Medium questions (by official designation, not 600-700 level on any third-party questions), you want to shoot for 80 percent accuracy or higher. Together, these benchmarks will virtually guarantee that even if you were to miss the same number of questions, your score would come out much higher. In fact, I have advised two students to do away with studying Hard questions altogether, and they both earned a 730 total score. You have to keep in mind that the exam is much more punitive on lower-level questions than it is rewarding on upper-level questions. Of course, you will only see those tougher questions if you do not flub easier ones, so work from the ground up. Whether you choose books or an e-course, you will want to get your approach in top shape before you sit the exam again, or you will almost assuredly end up on a similar score and be asking yourself why you did not improve.

If you need to bone up on theory, I would suggest the  GMATNinja  resource collection series, accessible by the signature at the bottom of any post that GMAT Ninja has made. If you have a master teacher and a drive to succeed, as well as the diligence to work hard to achieve your goal, then there is little to stop you.

Good luck.

- Andrew

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

The good news is your RC is pretty on point. One thing you may want to check whether your time management could be improved. In Verbal Q3, you were doing questions in 1:20, for example.

Anubhav7895 · Answer

AlexSgmat  
Thanks

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EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi AlexSgmat,

From your posts in this thread, it sounds as though you are unhappy with this result - and I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. 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? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
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)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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). I'll be happy to analyze your ESR for you, but I would need to see the FULL ESR. If you would rather not post it publicly, then you can feel free to PM or email it to me.

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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]

AlexSgmat · Answer

Thank you so much Andrew for sharing feedback.

Yes I agree that I missed many low-medium questions. I think my SC needs to improve a lot.
I prepared using official gmat guide and I made many mistakes in difficult questions. 
I have now started studying from Manhattan SC guide to improve my grammar and SC concepts.
I am also practising questions from Veritas and GMAT club practise questions.

I hope I get better score the next time I sit for GMAT.

Thanks a lot.

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AlexSgmat · Answer

Thanks GmatTutorKnight for replying.

Yes I think I need to improve my timing in Q1 & Q2. I was rushing at the end to complete the test.
Also my SC needs to improve a lot.

Thanks.

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AlexSgmat · Answer

Thanks a lot EMPOWERgmatRichC for sharing feedback.

I will E-mail you my complete ESR. It would be of great help if you could analyse my ESR and share your feedback.

Regarding your queries:

1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
Ans: I have been studying since past 6 months. I have a 10hr job and a commute time of 1hr. So I get on average 2-3 hrs of study time during weekdays. However, I keep my weekends for GMAT preparation and give my mocks on weekends.
2) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
Ans: I have used official gmat guide and Manhattan books for verbal. 
For Mocks I have completed Official GMAT mocks and Princeton Review mocks. I found Manhattan/ Kaplan mocks quite difficult.
I started with a score of 640/650. By the time I reached Official Gmat mock 6, I was scoring 730/740. But in my GMAT exam I just scored a 640.
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)?
Ans: I gave my GMAT exam on 18th July’22. I scored 640 (Q47/V30/IR7).
4) What is your overall goal score?
Ans: My goal score is 730-740.
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
I am planning for next year Fall admissions. Since I don’t have a good GMAT score, I need to retake exam. So I think might be able to apply from second rounds.

Thanks a lot.

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EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Anubhav, I've sent you an email with an analysis of your ESR and some additional questions. GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made, Rich Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi AlexSgmat.

What I have seen is that, to reliably score in the upper 30s or 40s on verbal, students have to achieve accuracy close to 100 percent on easy, 90 percent on medium, and 80 percent on hard verbal practice questions.

So, I recommend achieving those accuracies untimed at first, and then, once you're achieving such accuracies, you can work on answering questions faster until you're answering them at test pace.

For some more practice tips that could help you achieve GMAT verbal mastery, see this post.

Three Key Practice Tips for Mastering GMAT Verbal

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