Questions about cancelling a score

Yes, your decision to cancel/keep/reinstate any score is independent of your decision to cancel/keep/reinstate any other score.

Hi Emilio95,

While your immediate questions were procedural in nature, the bigger issues are about how you would (or should) spend the next month of study time. Since you haven't provided any information about your prior studies or Official Score, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used so far?
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each)?
4) How did you score on the Official GMAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

Goals:
5) What is your goal score?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
7) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

1) started studying consistently around early October using Magoosh and OG questions. Had 2-3 weeks very intense studying leading up to the exam.

2) OG guides 2016/2017/2018
Magoosh
GMAT Prep for CATs and some practice questions now and then

3) Gmat Prep CAT 1 December 16 - 600 Q40 V32

After one week intense quant focused studying:

Gmat Prep CAT 2 December 23 (exactly 7 days before exam, simulated exam conditions) 680 Q45 V38

Gmat Prep CAT 3 December 27 (few days Before exam) 620 Q42 V33 - had trouble focusing especially in verbal section, I was thinking about the actual exam.

4) official GMAT 590 Q37 V34

5) Goal Score is in 640-650 range

6) between January and March, considering I will have to retake it, looks like I'll be applying later in that range

7) mostly Canadian schools who have admission averages between 600-620, since I have no quant background in my undergrad I was aiming for above average to improve my chances at admission.



Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Hi Emilio95,

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. 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 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

1) first and second time I skipped the AWA section because it isn't graded on Gmat Prep, third time I completed entire CAT. However my sequence was always Quant, Verbal, IR, and AWA. So I never felt like skipping AWA would affect me in any way since it was at the end.

2) I took each one at home in quiet conditions.

3) yes, real exam was at 8am. I tried to take them as close to 8am as possible. Sometimes 8:10-15.

4) I never skipped sections inside the test, just decided to skip AWA on first two occasions due to the fact it isn't graded. I never paused the CAT, and I tried my best to keep breaks at max 8 mins.

5) never took the CATs more than once. On first two CATs I recognized one question in each Verbal section. Other than that all the questions were new to me.


Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Hi Emilio95,

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 skipping sections, taking the 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. When you sit down on Test Day, you KNOW that you're going to be in the Computer Lab for about 4 hours - but if you're just taking individual sections (or taking a CAT without the Essay and IR sections), then you KNOW that you'll be done in 1-2 hours. The attitude and energy that you use during practice will NOT be a match for what you'll need on Test Day, so it's not a proper way to practice. All of the 'differences' involved in how you took your CATs could explain why your Verbal Scaled Score dropped on Test Day. You weren't properly prepared for THAT full day, so your score fluctuated.

Thankfully, those 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. With a 590, you're closer to a 640+ than you probably realize, so the question right now is how 'efficient' you want to be with your studies over the course of the next month. You could potentially hit your score goal simply by studying in the same ways that you have been studying. However, the inconsistencies in your scores imply that you would likely benefit a great deal from a more consistent, guided study routine.

1) Going forward, how many hours do you think you can consistently study each week?

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