is ACTUAL GMAT's Quant Section Tougher than Official GMAT Prep Tests'?

Hi ajeetsinghcet05,

Honestly, I would not jump to any conclusions until you get back your actual score. It’s quite possible that you did better than you think you did. Once you receive your GMAT score, please let us know how things went.

I got my GMAT Score, But i am really surprised to see that I scored 570 [Q44, V25], which is way below my expectation.
on Quant section i understand Q44, because i did guess some Questions, but on Verbal, I was expecting atleast V34-36.
My Last 2 GMAT Prep Official Scores are:

Official Mock 5 680 [Q48, V36] [1 week before actual Test]
Official Mock 6 700 [Q47, V40] [3 Days before Actual Test]

Two months before now, I was scoring in the range of V30-31 but for the last 2 months, i worked on my Reading Comprehension part and started geting V35-40.

One thing i Observed in my Verbal section on the Test that my Verbal section started with a dense and lengthy RC Passage[Q.1 to 3] and I took ~11 mins in that Passage.
then again 2nd RC Passage [Q.5 to 8], which was also lengthy one[I took ~ 9 mins],
I planned to make least no. of mistakes in my first 12 Questions on Verbal, and that is why i took more time solving first 12 Qs.
Because i took more time in first half of the test, i was a bit time conscious and nervous in 2nd half and I think that had an impact on my performance.

My Target score is 680-700 and I am planning to retake the test.

Experts, I need your valuable guidance to achieve my Target Score.

Thanks in advance.

Hi ajeetsinghcet05,

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 did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
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)?
4) 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