GMAT Prep Scores going Down?

Question

Hello All,

Thank you in advance for reading.

Currently I am scheduled to take the GMAT this thursday. I am targeting ideally a score of 520-550.

I took four GMAT prep exams, actually 2 as the the other 2 I took after were merely reset editions of the first 2 (same test).

I took my last one and just finished it earlier.

Test 1: 510 Q30 V30
Test 2: 490 Q32 V28
Test 3: 440 Q30 V20
Test 4: 370 Q17 V23

Test 3 and 4 were repeats of test 1 and 2.

I am very surprised and shocked that I got a 370 today, I have been preparing using the Princeton review book. Again I am sitting for the exam on Thursday. Any thoughts on how my score can go down that much?

Thanks.

GMATinsight · Answer

You should not have picked Princeton Review book at all. Specially at the time when test date is nearing you. I recommend that you stick to only Official Guide and read all properties from it. Looking at your score and the declining trend, I am assuming that your basics in both Quant and Verbal are not up to the mark and that could be the teason of inconsistency in your scores. When you have only 1 day left, Just revise the basic properties of Quant and Basic rules of SC and CR and do nothing else. After having taken the test if you find dissatisfactory scores then please let me know so that we can work on the next strategy to work on to improve the score and reach at the desired level. All the best for the test!!!

gamecock15 · Answer

Thanks for all the help!

My quant score has remained fairly consistent at 30, however my verbal has been fluctuating.

After reviewing my quant mistakes from yesterday, it seems as though I rushed through each question and when I didn't get the right answer after working out the arthmatic I simply guessed and moved on.

I didn't realize that my score would be that bad, considering I have been studying for 3 months now. Regardless, I have reevaluated my strategy for test day:

1. Take as much time as I need to get the first 10 right. 
2. Make strategic guesses if I cannot arrive at the answer quickly for the next few to catch up on time. 
3. To finish on time try and arrive at answers more quickly, emphasis on a clear approach to answer.

What do you think? Should I add anything else in?

Thanks for the help!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi gamecock15,

Since you have so little time before your Official GMAT, you probably won't be able to make any huge adjustments in how you deal with the Exam. Since your score goal is modest though, you can take advantage of some of the design elements of the Test. To start, you won't need to correctly answer ANY of the questions that you think are too hard or too 'weird' to hit your goal score, so your best option is to quickly dump those questions (take a quick guess and move on) so that you can spend the bulk of your time correctly answering all of the 'gettable' questions you face. That will require taking notes, doing all of the work on the pad, limiting the silly/little mistakes, etc.

You should also plan to post back here after you've taken the GMAT on Thursday.

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

AjiteshArun · Answer

Try not to push the difficulty level up like this. There's no guarantee that you'll get all 10 correct, and your (interim) score will almost certainly drop when you start running out of time.

gamecock15 · Answer

Hello everyone thanks again for all the help,

I sat for the GMAT last Thursday, I unfortunately didn't do as well as I thought I would. Finishing with a overall score of 450 Q31 V21.

Although that is a lower score than I thought I would achieve, I see tremendous potential in that low score. In the sense that I made the exact Quant score that I predicted. Unfortunately I thought I would make a score of at least 28 in verbal, regardless I plan to take the exam again in 1 months time.

I plan to focus more on verbal, any thoughts on how I can raise my verbal score from a 21 to 28-30 in one month? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I will of course keep lightly studying the quant section also, as my target score for the quant was already reached.

During the test I was quite nervous, and I thought I did way worse on the Quant section than I actually ended up doing. I fell for the classic gmat mistake, in that I considered my quant score to be very low. Therefore I didn't focus on the task at hand (verbal), I very much think that in one months time I will be able to raise my verbal score. Next time around I will know what to expect, and hopefully will be able to reach my target score.

Thanks again for all the help!

Gamecock15

AjiteshArun · Answer

Your verbal score (V21 is 26%) is actually slightly better than your quant score (Q31 is 23%). Looking to get verbal up to 28-30 (50-58%) could be the right strategy, but I think it'd be better to work on  both  sections.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi gamecock15,

With these Scaled Scores, you have ample opportunity to pick up points in BOTH the Quant and the Verbal. Before I recommend any additional resources, I'd like to know a bit more about the work that you've done and your timeline:

1) What practice materials have you used so far?
2) Have you scheduled your next Test Date yet?
3) What application deadline are you facing?

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

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