GMAT Score - 620. Need to improve.

Question

Hello Everyone, 
I appeared for Online Gmat Exam on 8th February 2022.
I scored 620 - Q44, V31.
The score was astonishing because I was consistently scored 680 to 720 in mock exams, which include Jamboree Mocks, 1 Manhattan, and 6 Official mocks. 
I got stuck in questions between q 11 to q16, almost wasted 10 to 12 minutes on 3-44 questions, forcing me to attempt my last 7 questions in 10 minutes. 
I am still not able to understand where I went wrong with Verbal, even though, I considered it to be my stronger suit. 
I have used Jamboree's course material, Gmat Club Directory, and some additional questions from GMAT Advanced Question Book. 
I want to score in the range of 680 to 720.

I seriously feel 700 is not far from my reach, just need a little guidance. 
Kindly help me in understanding what do I need - a major overhaul or focus on specific areas?

I also wanted to say that my 8th question was PnC, so I am assuming I must have done the first 7 questions right, that's why I got PnC so early in the paper.

Thank You, Everyone!

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

I scored 620 - Q44, V31.

I am still not able to understand where I went wrong with Verbal, even though, I considered it to be my stronger suit.

For Verbal, thinking back to what may have gone wrong or went DIFFERENTLY compared to your Official Mocks could be helpful (perhaps there were a few SCs you actually weren't really sure about or you were a bit pressed for time in the 4th quarter). If your Official Mocks were consistently in the high V30s, there's a chance, for example, you may have slipped up on some easy questions in the Actual.

How to get a V40 or higher on the GMAT? What about a V51?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Eshaang,

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. 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) 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)?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Eshaang,

I’m sorry to hear how things went with your GMAT.

Assuming that you took your official practice exams under realistic testing conditions, the results show that, on a good day, you are capable of scoring higher than 620. Thus, it’s quite possible that nerves, stress, tiredness, or a combination of all three negatively affected your test-day performance. However, it’s also possible that you have some lingering weaknesses that were exposed on test day. Although I’m unsure of how you prepared, it’s possible that, in your preparation, particularly in verbal, you did not really learn to do what you have to do in order to score high on the actual GMAT. Rather, you picked up on some patterns that were effective in getting you relatively high scores on practice tests. So, for you to hit your score goal, your preparation, particularly for verbal, probably needs to be more complete, meaning that you have to go through the various types of GMAT questions carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills.

For verbal specifically, you have to become more skilled at clearly defining the differences between trap choices and correct answers. Otherwise, you will get stuck guessing between two choices or be surprised to find that you incorrectly answered questions that you thought you answered correctly. Becoming more skilled in this way takes carefully analyzing all of the answer choices to lots of verbal questions to develop an eye for the logical differences between the choices. In other words, you have to go beyond answering practice questions and reading explanations to doing deep analysis of questions to learn to see everything that is going on in them.

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

You also may find it helpful to read the following articles:

how to score a 700+ on the GMAT

Why Was My GMAT Score Lower Than My Practice Test Scores?

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  Eshaang , did you order a ESR that you can share?

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Eshaang,

Sorry about how things went with your GMAT. There could be a couple of reasons for the drop in the score. Please go through the article below to find out the probable reasons.

Scored well on mocks but failed miserably on the test?

For scoring 700 and above, you need to make sure you don’t get the easy & medium questions wrong as GMAT test is adaptive in nature. For that, being conceptually clear on all topics is really vital. Not only this, you have to be good with application of concepts also, because GMAT is a test of application of concepts. But, before application, you need to understand the motive behind the questions being asked. Once you understand that, the process of learning becomes a lot simpler and easier. If your concepts are clear and you use the right methods and strategies to solve questions, you will be able to smartly avoid the traps set by the test makers

Having said that, it would be too early to conclude anything without knowing the actual reason. To understand what could have led to the drop in the score and to suggest you the plan of action, I need a little more information about your GMAT preparation. I would like to know more about

the way you prepared till now (your study strategy) 
 your weak areas 
 your approach of solving questions 
 the study plan you followed

Answers to these questions will help me guide you in a better way. And I personally suggest to go for the retake only after you prepared well and are 100% confident.

Having said that, I would like to have a one-on-one conversation with you. The discussion would be mostly around the answers to the above questions, the approximate time you have for the next attempt and the plan of action. If you have an ESR with you, that will be even more helpful to get the insights about your performance. You use use the link below to schedule a call with me.

Click here to schedule a call

	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

GMAT Score - 620. Need to improve.

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