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Vaibhav0607
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EMPOWERgmatRichC
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Vaibhav0607
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EMPOWERgmatRichC
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Hi Vaibhav0607,

The drop in your Verbal score on Test Day is significant; the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. If you can answer a few questions, then we should be able to figure this out:

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take them at home?
2) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
3) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
4) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Vaibhav0607
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Hi EMPOWERgmatRichC,

I messed up my timing on the test day and once I knew i was lagging , I lost my cool. There have been instances where I could not even read all 5 options. I got nervous. Here are your answers:

1) Did you take them at home?
Yes , I took all my CATs at home.
2) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
My GMAT exam was scheduled @ 5 pm that I was not very much comfortable to go with. I didn't have any other slot, so I was left with no options. I took most of my CATs (if not all) @5 PM. I felt a bit tired every time though.
3) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
I have paused my exam. I did that for two of my exams. However, I haven't skipped any sections.
4) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?
I only took GMAT prep more than once. A handful of questions were repeated. Roughly 2 or 3.
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EMPOWERgmatRichC
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Hi Vaibhav0607,

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your scores can become - and that's what happened here. By taking the CATs at home, pausing the CATs, seeing repeat questions, etc., you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.' In addition, taking the GMAT at 5pm was likely not a good idea. Most people do their 'best' thinking in the first 4-5 hours of the day. If you were up all day, then took the GMAT at night, then you were probably a bit too tired to perform at your best.

Thankfully, this is a relatively easy set of problems to fix. The big question now is "how long will it take you to properly get 'used to' taking the full GMAT?" You'll certainly need a new set of practice CATs to work with and you have to put in the necessary time to train your brain (and body) for the FULL GMAT. You might also need to invest in some new GMAT training materials.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Vaibhav0607
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Hi EMPOWERgmatRichC,

I agree with all points mentioned by you. I was a little casual while giving one or two CATs. Nevertheless, I have planned a retest on 26th Dec 10 AM. Could you please suggest me a good verbal course online and a tight verbal schedule(If possible) so that i can work with my verbal skills. Personal instructor would be a great thing.

Thanks,
Vaibhav
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EMPOWERgmatRichC
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Hi Vaibhav0607,

Based on everything that you've described, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Verbal Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients finish that Study Plan in under a month, so it would fit your schedule perfectly. During that time, you'll also be able to access any of the Quant resources that interest you. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an account.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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