Low to Mid 700s on Official Practice Test, but 640 and 590 on Official

Question

Hey Everyone,

For some quick background, I started studying roughly a year ago. I wasn't the best student in high school and much of my college course work wasn't related to the content on the GMAT. I started out with Magoosh, following their 6-month plan. I worked through all of their problems and video lessons, including supplemental work from the official guide and manhattan prep. After following the guide, my practice tests slowly crept up to around the mid to high 600s. Toward the end of 2020, I started testing in the high 600s to low 700s. I took my first official test in January and scored a 760. I felt pretty focused and was pretty comfortable with all the content that I was shown.

Two weeks after the 760 official practice test, I took another practice test and scored a 710. At this point, I was comfortable taking my first attempt at the GMAT. I found the content on the GMAT to be a little more difficult, but still felt confident that I would score Q47+ and V37+; however, when I clicked end, I saw a 640. I was pretty devastated but attributed the result to nerves/stress.

I decided to try out Target Test Prep to regain my confidence and get a fresh set of problems to work through. After working through TTP for about two weeks, I took an official practice exam and scored a 730, which brought my confidence back up. After this test, I decided to try the official GMAT again the following week and scored a 590 (Q39, V32). This 590 has completely killed my confidence as I thought I was doing pretty well on the exam.

I'm not really sure where to go from here. I'm planning on giving the GMAT another go in a month and work through the rest of TTP content before then. Any thoughts on this approach? I partially think that these exams were due to nerves/stress, so I'm planning on focusing on visualizing and preparing my self better for exam day.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

When you looked at the questions you got incorrect on the later mocks was it a case of "ugh, that was an easy one I got wrong" or "That was straight up hard to solve. I probably wouldn't have gotten it even on a good day"

MathRevolution · Answer

BostonTC2018,

Your current GMAT score is shaky but you can surely achieve your target score. Keep your motivation high.

A score of 590 in the official GMAT test tells the entire story about how well prepared you are for the GMAT official test and how to change the gear now to meet the target score.

With my GMAT tutoring, guidance, and counseling experience, we have to accept the fact with a pinch of salt that diagnostic/ mock test scores are above then what one should expect in a real test. There is often dropping in the score. Some students have even experienced a drop of 100 pointers. It is one of the realities, and your preparation should not sideline this fact.

You can schedule a Comprehensive counseling session for 30 mins with one of our experts:https://calendly.com/mathrevolution/1-on-1-session for detailed advice on your current study plans.

A couple of things that can be a noticeable barrier to your scores would be some or all of the below.

• No expert support (maybe) who can tutor, analyze, and guide you during your learning especially on hard level questions while stably hitting middle-level questions.
• Lack of many updated questions and practice in the recent exam trend
• Not well aligned with time to solve questions.

Since we are a math expert, we will recommend you go through our post on the GMAT club: Breakdown of GMAT math questions and types: https://gmatclub.com/forum/overview-of- ... l#p1641411

Register with MathRevolution https://www.mathrevolution.com/member/signup to get access to our 7-day full on-demand course (27 topics, 490 subtopics, and 1,500 questions) for free trial lessons.

700+ level questions https://www.mathrevolution.com/gmat/questionbank are separately available, too. Start with the learning of the concepts. Make a habit of taking notes during the initial learning of the concepts.

The day regular mock tests show the consistent score of Q48+ with V37+, then it will reflect the positive change in the score, and hence, your confidence will boost up. Gradually, with the help of mock tests, you will be able to compete with time and therefore, will be able to learn time-management.

Follow the same procedure for Verbal.

We appreciate your time and patience in reading this reply.

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]

Success is within your reach.
Good luck!

Math Revolution Team

BostonTC2018 · Answer

OnlineTutorKnight - Even on the Official Mock Test that I got a 760, the questions I missed were ones I knew how to do, but made silly mistakes.

On both my Official Tests (640 and 590), I thought I knew and was getting 90+% of the questions right. I think I must be making silly mistakes.

And MathRevolution, thanks for the note. I've been studying for roughly a year now and have a pretty solid grasp of the concepts. I consistently get 90+% of my practice questions right during my sessions. I'm definitely considering a tutor, but for now, I'm going to keep working through the TargetTestPrep trainings.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi BostonTC2018,

I'm sorry to hear that your two Official attempts did not turn out better. 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:

Studies:
1) On what dates did you take your 2 Official GMATs and what were the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each?
2) Over the last 3 months, how many hours did you typically study each week?
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)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

If you took either of your Official GMATs at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

Hi BostonTC2018,

You've got the same problem that most of our clients have: Answering the WHY question.

The main issue is that ESR's (actual GMAT tests) and answer keys (practice tests) do a good job of answering the WHAT question. WHAT topics, question types, difficulty levels do you have problems with? But that doesn't give you much clarity on how to proceed on retake prep.

The WHY question focuses more on your in-test process -- ie. how do you tackle Quant and Verbal questions. Step by step approach for beating harder quant and verbal questions and overall test taking strategies are critical. Those questions are hard to answer yourself and are absolutely critical to building a successful retake plan.

We offer a FREE 90 minute diagnostic session live with a GMAT performance coach. It focuses on how you're tackling Quant and Verbal questions, and gives you a remarkable level of detail about what you need to improve in the way you're taking the test. There's no obligation and it can help to pull you out of the 'practice problem, practice test' vicious cycle that hasn't yielded the score you want.

Let me know if you're interested.

BostonTC2018 · Answer

Hey  EMPOWERgmatRichC

Thanks for the reply. With regards to your questions, I took the 2 official GMATs on Friday and Saturday respectively. I took the day off from work before each. Over the last 3 months, I put in roughly 2 hours per week day and 6 hours on weekend days, so roughly 22 hours a week.

I've taken 15 CAT exams since last September with my scores getting progressively better. The past month or so, my scores have ranged from 710-760. These were the official GMAT practice exams. My scores were as follows:

February 7th: 760 (Q50, V44)
Feb 14th: 710 (Q48, V44)
February 28th: (Q47, V40)
March 20th: 730 (Q49, V41)

All of my practice tests have been taken in game-like situations i.e. I take my sections as planned (Verbal, Quant, IR, AWA), I use my 8 minute breaks, and have no interruptions during the exam.

I'm not sure if it was nerves or lack of focus, but I feel as if I have a pretty strong understanding of the concepts. I was pretty surprised at my official score and did far worse than I've ever done on a GMAT exam (590, Q39, V31). I don't think this score is reflective of my ability, so I'm just trying to figure out how to move forward from here and when to schedule my next exam. As I've gone through all the official guides and Magoosh, I'm currently working through TTP from ScottTargetTestPrep.

My goal score is at least above a 720 and I'm planning on applying to business school this fall. My dream schools are Tuck and Yale SOM.

I also purchased the ESR for my last exam and have that in my inbox. Would love to send it your way if that's possible. Thanks!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi BostonTC2018,

By the sounds of this post, it seems as though you still have a lot of TTP left to complete, so I think your approach of completing the rest of TTP prior to taking the GMAT is a great way to go. If you need any additional advice on how to move forward, feel free to reach out to us directly on live chat. We've got your back, my friend.

BostonTC2018 · Answer

Thanks, Scott. Relative to the other platforms that I've tried, I really like  ttp . You all have done a great job with it and the modules are fantastic. Will reach out if there's anything I need. Thanks!

AkashM · Answer

I am going through the exact same problem. My official practice test scores ranged from 730 to 770, yet on the D-day I scored a dismal 640!

I don’t believe its the lack of preparation or understanding that is the problem, its just how comfortable we are in the moments that matter.

Lets try lowering the expectations and start having a bit of fun and then, maybe, we will exceed our expectations.

Its good to know that I am not the only one having this problem!

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi BostonTC2018,

Since you've been studying for approximately 1 year, I'd like to get a better sense of how long these issues may have been occurring. Thus, I'd like to know the two dates that you took your 2Official GMATs (what are the day/month/year of each attempt?)

In addition, I'd like to see your ESR(s). You can feel free to PM them directly to me. Once we've reviewed that additional data, we can discuss how you might best proceed with your studies.

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

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi BostonTC2018,

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?

Having said that, it would be premature 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 weak areas 
 how did you approach questions 
 did you use the right methods in the mocks or did you get lucky on a few questions

Answers to these questions will help me guide you in a better way. And I personally suggest to give the retake only after you prepared well and are 100% confident. You can write back to me here but I personally prefer getting in touch over a call as it would be a lot more interactive. You can use the below link to get in touch with me.

Click here to schedule a call

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