First attempt - 530 (Q35,V25) - Need Help!

Hi Nag,

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. 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 when you plan to take 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 (re: in an online forum or in a practice set)?

Raising a 530 to a 730+ will likely take at least another 3 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, you have plenty of time to study - which is good. You've also now taken the Official GMAT, so you have a much better idea of what Test Day involves (and you can better take your future CATs in a manner that 'matches up' with what you'll face when you retake the GMAT).

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

Tiredness and lack of sleep are major reasons for underperformance. You need to be well rested in order to perform to your potential. Try to ensure that you don't work too hard in (let's say) the last week before the exam.

Thanks for the reply, My weak areas are DS in Quant and RC in Verbal. Yes, I will take a week off from the preparation and start again

Thanks,
Nag


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Thanks for the reply Rohan, I will start with the MGMAT guides and OG 2018. Thanks for the references and link for 3 month study plan

Thanks,
Nag


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Thanks for the reply Rich, I am planning to subscribe for EmpowerGMAT 3- months study plan, I tried with the free trail and liked it, please see the below answers for your questions

1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
-- No, I skipped AWA
2) Did you take them at home?
-- Yes, I took all the mocks at home
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as when you plan to take your Official GMAT?
-- No, My Exam was scheduled for a 9 AM slot and I took all mocks in the evening time
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.)?
-- No, I did not paused any mocks, only took the 8 min breaks, but as mentioned above I skipped AWA
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE (re: in an online forum or in a practice set)?
-- No

Thanks,
Nag


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You are right, I agree with that. Overdoing the preparation was a mistake


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Hi Nag,

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 practice scores can become - and that's what happened here. By skipping sections, taking the CATs at home, taking them at a different time of day, etc., you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.'

Test Day involves a variety of really specific steps and parameters (including steps before the Test even begins - such as leaving your home, traveling, etc.). Every factor matters, including the psychological ones. When you sit down on Test Day, you KNOW that you're going to be in the Computer Lab for about 4 hours - but if you're just taking individual sections (or taking a CAT without the Essay and IR sections), then you KNOW that you'll be done in 1-2 hours. The attitude and energy that you use during practice will NOT be a match for what you'll need on Test Day, so it's not a proper way to practice. All of the 'differences' involved in how you took your CATs could explain why your Verbal Scaled Score dropped on Test Day. You weren't properly prepared for THAT full day, so your score fluctuated.

Thankfully, those are relatively easy issues to fix - but you really have to put the necessary details into how you take your CATs if you want to increase your chances of hitting a 730+ Score on Test Day.

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

Hi
Sorry to hear that your GMAT didn't go well.
In my opinion you need to brush up the fundamentals. MGMAT guides are the best way to do it, for both Quant and Verbal.
You can also subscribe to the Gmatclub self study plan as you have sufficient time. It is good for theory as well as practice.
Try to give atleast 2 hours on weekdays and 4-5 hours on weekends for Gmat preparation.

Thanks for the suggestions Rich. I will take the full CATs from next time


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Thank you for the suggestions. I will start with MGMAT guides.


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