ESR Evaluation: 710

Question

Hello everyone,

I've been averaging ~750 on the practice tests, so I was surprised to see my official test score of 710. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My goal score is 740+. I started with a 450 practice test score so I'm pretty happy with my results so far. I'm excited to, hopefully, reach my goal soon.

bb · Answer

Sorry about the test experience. What kind of scores were you getting on your practice tests and which practice tests? 
That would help qualify it a bit better.

P.S. Something I noticed is that your RC time was better than CR. That's a surprise to me. You spent 2 mins and 7 seconds on the CR.... your worst timing. 
The other reason is on the last 9 questions in verbal, you had 10 mins left. Still managed to do better than on the third quarter where it looks like 6 out of 9 were wrong.

Amazing job on the first 9 questions however. You aced them!
I would have recommended that you spent less time in the second quarter. You got more than half of them wrong anyway.

Thank you
BB

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Working on your time management may be helpful. You spent 65 seconds on average per question during Q4 Verbal. If you feel your fundamentals are solid, consider working on your solving approach. May boost your score a bit. Had a student for example who went from a V41 to a V45 in about 10 days. Perhaps work with a study buddy who is really strong on Verbal. If they need help with Quant, that could be a good fit.

How to get a V40 or higher on the GMAT? What about a V51?

How to get a V40 or higher on the GMAT? What about a V51?

KarishmaB · Answer

First of all, that is an impressive score, especially considering the one with which you started.

I would say invest some time in CR Plan Questions (when the question suggests a plan/course of action) and Construction (Explain the Paradox, Best Completes the paragraph, Assumption, Inference Questions)
Also, work on your time management - if a question seems too hard, guess and move on. Do not spend too much additional time on it. You did spend too much time on questions that you answered incorrectly. You likely got a couple of easy questions wrong in the second quarter (which brought down the average level of incorrect questions). Getting easy questions wrong is much worse than skipping hard questions.

In a month you might be all set to give it another shot.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi gmattaker12321,

I'm also wondering if you can provide the exact scores and breakdowns for your official GMAC practice tests. I'd like to see how they compare to your ESR.

gmattaker12321 · Answer

Hello everyone, thank you so much for providing insights into my exam. I agree, Verbal is the area that I should focus on next.

I was quite confident in my verbal skills going into the exam. CR and RC are actually my favorite sections haha. I was more worried about SC, which ended up being my best section! It could have been how I was feeling that day, but I want to practice more tough questions to make sure I can perform well regardless.

I've heard practicing LSAT LR and RC questions can help with this, but I've also heard it doesn't. Would appreciate some insight on this.

My previous 2 practice test scores were (Official - taken in the last 3 months):
- 740 (Q48, V44, IR 8)
- 750 (Q50, V41, IR 8)

GMAT_hero780 · Answer

i cannot say anything but I liked your score. I think here it is you who can give recommendations

Good Luck

gmattaker12321 · Answer

Also! I just remembered that I got 4 long RC passages with 4 questions each. Is that common? I'm used to the 1 long passage+3 short passages that you see on the OG practice tests.

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ESR Evaluation: 710

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