GMAT Score - Help needed!

Hi Louis14,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize. Since that algorithm is proprietary, no GMAT company has an exact match for it, thus CAT scores can vary a bit based on the 'biases' involved in their respective designs.

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, your 3 recent CAT score results show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 630 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes.

Before I can offer you any additional advice for your studies, I have a few questions about your studies up to this point and your overall goals:

1) On what dates did you take EACH of these last 3 CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
2) What are your current application plans?

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

Hello Thank you so much for this elaborate answer! Let me answer your questions as follows:

1) So I took the tests on the following dates:

Test 1 (12 December 2019) --- 620 --- Q39 V37
Test 2 (17 December 2019) --- 650 --- Q40 V41
Test 3 (9 January 2020) --- 610 --- Q38 V37

2) I haven't begun my application yet because I am not done with the GMAT. I plan to write the GMAT by the end of January.

Thanks!

Hi Louis14,

Your Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores on these 3 CATs are similar-enough to one another that the likely variations in those Scores are due to lucky/unlucky guesses and little mistakes (that you either made or did not make on each individual Exam).

Raising a 630 to the point that you can consistently score 700+ will likely require at least another 1.5 months of consistent, guided study - and you'll have to make significant improvements to how you handle the Quant section (although you could potentially pick up some points in the Verbal section). If you're planning to take the GMAT by the end of January, then you will have no more than another 2.5 weeks of study time, so you might need to consider pushing back your Test Date. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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

Alright, sir. So, as far as study hours are concerned, I've left my job and I'm literally studying the GMAT all around the day. Like around 7-8 hours a day of pure studying (not counting the breaks in between). I just take off on Sundays, and for rest of the week, I'm socked into this GMAT thing. Right now, I'm working on improving my conceptual grasp on seven Quant topics that I identified as my weak areas.

Sir, please suggest me how I can improve my Verbal score. Verbal hasn't been an issue with me because I've a decent grasp on English grammar, sentence structure, and reading comprehension (thanks to my being an avid reader). But, I've seen that despite getting relatively fewer answers incorrect, my Verbal score only stays so much. What should I do, sir, to improve my verbal as well as quant score? Given, how much I'm studying, do you think I can take my score to 700+ before the end of January? Thanks so much!

I’m glad you enjoyed my article! If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out.

Hi Louis14,

To start, you have to be careful about confusing "quantity" of study with "quality" of study. I've never asked anyone to study 40+ hours a week - and while it's great that you might have the available time to study that much, with that number of study hours, you would run the risk of 'burning out' before Test Day (and that is something that we want to avoid). If you are going to try to study that much, then I suggest that you take one hour "off" for every two hours of study. For example, you could study for 2 hours, then stop for an hour, then study for another 2 hours, then take an hour off, etc.

Even with this extra study time, I still think that you will need more time than you have allotted before you could hit your Score Goal. If you're certain that you want to take the GMAT in January, then there are some things that you can do to become more efficient with your studies.

"Review" is an exceptionally important part of the GMAT training process; your ability to define WHY you're getting questions wrong is essential to defining the areas that you need to work on (and the specific things that you need to 'fix'). As such, I'd like to know a bit more about your last CAT. While a full Mistake Tracker would provide a lot more information, there are some basic questions that you should be able to answer (and the more EXACT you can be with your answers, the better):

After reviewing each section of this recent CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just could not remember how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?
5) How many Verbal questions did you 'narrow down to 2 choices' but still get wrong?

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

Okay, sir, so I'm first of all very grateful to you for identifying the burning out problem because I really am feeling a bit demotivated and tired for the past few days. So, I'll try with your strategy of taking an hour off after each two hours.

I have a question though. Even after studying for this many hours, how many more days or weeks do you think I'd need to put in before I get to my goal of 700+? I believe that a proper strategy to target my weak areas could help me improve my scores. But, the problem is with identifying the right weaknesses. I was evidently weak in coordinate geometry and motion related word problems, for example, and during the last five to six days, I have gone through video lessons at Magoosh that have really helped me in understanding the many Quant concepts in a much better way.

Coming to your questions, sir, here are the answers. I did my analysis of my last mock a week ago, and here is how I believe things went:

1. Silly mistakes: 4-5 quant + verbal. The questions were easy. I made basic math operations' mistakes such as 3*200= 800.
2. Couldn't remember: 2 in Quant.
3. Too hard: 1 in Quant (geometry). And, there was this hard RC long passage and I had to rush through it, that resulted in my inadequate understanding of the passage.
4. Low on time: One question in the middle of the Quant section, and last 4 question in Qunat. And, last 2 question in verbal. I had to guess in these questions.
5. Narrowed down to two answers and still got wrong (in Verbal): 1-2 questions

Hi Louis14,

Based on your analysis, there are a number of different areas that you need to work on (and they are not simply GMAT 'subjects', they're really related to your Tactics and HOW you go about working through GMAT questions). Little mistakes are often the result of disorganized work (and doing work "in your head") and pacing-related issues are often a mix of those little mistakes AND the approaches you use for the Quant and Verbal section. Most GMAT questions can be approached in more than one way, so you are likely correctly answering certain types of questions, but doing so in inefficient ways. By extension, those inefficient ways aren't enough to get you beyond your current ability level (in the low-600s).

The type of Score that you are after requires that you hone a specific set of skills - and 'cramming' isn't a particularly effective way to do that. In an earlier post, I mentioned that you would likely need 1.5 months of consistent, guided study to get to the point that you could consistently score 700+. No one here knows you well enough to say for sure how long that process will actually take - and it's certainly possible that you could get to that level in less time - but from a statistical standpoint, 1-2 weeks of additional study will probably not be enough.

There's no harm with taking the GMAT at the end of January, but if you are planning to retest until you score 700+, then you could potentially save some money and aggravation by pushing back that planned Test Date, giving yourself more time to study and focusing on learning/practicing the proper Tactics.

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

Sir, I completely understand your analysis about my situation. You couldn't be more right! I do feel that I tackle most questions in inefficient ways. Sir, I have a simple question: where do I learn the tactics from? Given that I have literally gone through Quant theory twice, I absolutely believe that what you're saying is bulls-eye, but I don't know where to learn those tactics from? Where to start?

And, sir, given how helpful and kind you've been in answering to my queries, might I have your word on how can I hone my Verbal skills from hereon, given my verbal score being consistently around V40?

Lastly, if you suggest, should I take my next mock in the next couple of days? I've gone through many quant concepts in depth since I took my last mock on January 9th. Those were my conceptual weaknesses, and I feel I've improved my grasp on these weak areas a lot.

Sir, as far as pushing test date back is concerned, I've no issues with that. The only thing that concerns me is the fact that many universities' round 1 has already ended, and some are even at the end of the second round. I've been told that it's really difficult to get into high ranking business schools in the third round, let alone securing a scholarship. So, now, I'm like I should write the GMAT as soon as possible, so that I can apply to colleges where there's still a chance to apply in the second round. I hope you understand where I'm coming from. But, if you still think I should push back, I will.

Hi Louis14,

I've sent you a PM with some additional advice.

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