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Hi SandySilva,

When the type of score drop that happened to you occurs, the two likely "causes" involve either something that was unrealistic during practice or something that was surprising (or not accounted for) on Test Day. As such, I'd like to know a bit more about how you took your CATs.

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as when you took your Official GMAT?
4) 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.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE (re: in an online forum or in a practice set)?

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

Hi Rich.

1) Yes I have always taken entire CATs
2) No, I used to take them at a library so that I could get feel of the exam.
3) yes, I have always taken my CATs at the same time of the day as my official exam
4) Yes, I tend to pause in Quant section when I struggle really bad with time, But not in all CATs I follow this trend. I have never skipped any of the sections and I used to take 8 mins break as the case in actual exam.
5) In gmat prep 1 and 2 there were questions that i had seen before. However, in no other CATs I came across any such seen before questions.
I took my gmat prep 6 ( final mock) 2 days before my exam and scored a 670 and no pause or extra breaks were done in this exam.

P.S. In 2018 all the mocks have been taken at home and not at the library.

Regards
SandySilva

Hi SandySilva,

From your prior post, there were some 'red flags' in terms of how you took your CATs. Before we discuss those issues, I have a few additional questions about the lead-up to Test Day and Test Day itself:

1) What did you do in the 3 days before your GMAT?
2) How did you sleep the night before your Test?
3) How long was the ride to the Test Center from your home?
4) Were there any distractions at the facility or during the Test?
5) What did you do during the two 8-minute breaks?
6) Did you finish any sections early?
7) Did you have to rush to finish any sections (and guess on questions just to finish on time)?

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

Hi Rich,

1) I took a mock 3 days before my last gmat prep 6.
2) There wasn't any problem in sleeping the night before the exam.
3) Center is 45 min- 1 hr away from my home.
4) No, there were no distractions.
5) I had some water, washed my face, and had some fruits.
6) No, all my sections were finished on time.
7) Yes, I had to rush in both sections and I guessed questions in both sections. When I started my verbal sections I went blank, as if i have never studied verbal in my entire life. As if this is 1st time I am coming across any gmat question. I remember my 1st question was S.C. and I consider Sc my strength, however I took really long to just figure out what was the exam actually testing. I could not get a hold of verbal. From the very beginning I couldn't set up my mind and concentrate.

Regards
SAndySilva

Hi SandySilva,

Based on what you described about Test Day, I have 2 additional questions:

1) What time did you begin your Official GMAT?
2) What order did you take the sections?

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

Hi Rich,

1) I began my exam at 1.30pm

2) Quant-Verbal was the order


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Hi SandySilva,

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 practice scores can become - and that's what happened here. By pausing the Exams, seeing 'repeat' questions, taking CATs at home, etc., you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.'

Test Day involves a variety of really specific steps and parameters (including steps before the Test even begins - such as leaving your home, traveling, etc.). Every factor matters, including the psychological ones. For example, if the Test Center was about 1 hour from your home, did you travel for 1 hour before taking each of your practice CATs? Those types of factors DO impact Test Takers' performances, so you have to account for those details when you study.

The process of taking (and reviewing) a CAT requires a significant amount of energy and effort - and takes time to 'recover' from. This is one of the reasons why you typically shouldn't take more than 1 CAT per week - and your last CAT should be taken about 1 week before Test Day. From what you describe, you took at least 2 CATs in the days right before your Official GMAT, so there's a reasonable chance that you experienced some 'burn out' on Test Day. Even if you didn't "feel" tired, what you describe about going "blank" at the beginning of the Verbal section certainly makes it sound like you were not at your best.

Thankfully, these are relatively easy issues to fix - now that you've taken the Official GMAT, you know the EXACT details of what happens on Test Day, so you can better train to mimic those details during your CATs. That having been said, raising a 510 to a 650+ will likely require at least another 2-3 months of consistent, guided study

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