Score Plateau at 625 : Need Guidance on path ahead

Question

I am using GMAT Club from quite sometime now and find it to be extremely useful. I have read multiple GMAT experiences and thought to utilise this platform today to ask my doubts from the experts. Its been quite sometime I have been preparing for GMAT and from last 3 mocks my score is not improving (although the sectional score keeps varying).

Below are the scores of official mocks :
2nd March=> 625 (Q : 83, V : 83, DI: 77) : Took again Practice test 2 to check current baseline after taking a break of 5 months from the GMAT prep. (encountered few repetitive questions so score might be inflated)
18th June => 625 (Q : 82, V : 79, DI: 82) Official mock 3 : took this after completing most of the syllabus
 6th July => 625 (Q : 83, V : 83, DI: 77) Official mock 3 
14th July => 615 (Q : 84, V : 78, DI: 80) Official mock 4

I am seeing a trend that when Verbal section goes well, DI takes a hit and when Verbal section is bad, DI section seems to be fine. Should I reconsider the section order?
Also, I am yet to do analysis of entire mock which I gave today but I did analyse few of the RC questions as Verbal was extremely bad this time - I found that I was able to solve the 2 RCs (only 1 incorrect when I reattempted those passages vs 6 incorrect during the mock).

PS: My target is to give GMAT by July end/1st week August. (target score 675-685)

MadhuB · Answer

bb   GMATNinja   MartyMurray

WhitEngagePrep · Answer

I'd love to get a sense of what you were working on in the weeks between these exams - your quant score has been extremely stable, while your Verbal and DI (as you noted) are much more volatile. Also what was the section order that you used for each of these? Before discussing a change, it would be great to know if these were all the same order, and if so, what that order was (and when did you take the breaks)?

In general, when you're reviewing your exams for DI and Verbal, do you see any trends in what you're missing that are consistent - are there specific question types or subtypes. Is RC usually the problem, or was that only this time? How much is timing or fatigue impacting you - are you running out of time or seeing a drop in accuracy at the end of a section even without running out of time?

Technically speaking, if you were able to achieve your highest scores for Q, V, and DI on the same exam, you'd be EXTREMELY close to your target (that would be about a 665), so it might be worth doing a bit of investigating about whether section and break order is playing into these score flips and then going ahead and taking the test early August. I strong recommend that people take the exam  at least   twice , so if you're thinking of applying R1, you'd want to get that take on the books with time to take it at least one more time!

Looking forward to hearing more about the section order and if there were any trends in the question types you missed!

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

If you want to practice reading during your free time (without burning official RC passages/questions), articles from The Economist could be helpful to use. You could search for the types of articles you find more challenging than others (e.g. science). Becoming familiar with how inference questions work on the GMAT may also help a bit.

3 RC tips

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi MadhuB,

I wanted to address your question about section order.

When deciding whether to take the strongest or weakest section of the GMAT first, both approaches present unique advantages and potential drawbacks.

Starting with the strongest section can boost confidence early in the exam, potentially improving overall performance. This approach allows test-takers to capitalize on their strengths while their energy and focus are at their peak. However, this strategy might lead to receiving more difficult questions in the subsequent sections, increasing the risk of mistakes due to fatigue or pressure.

Conversely, beginning with the weakest section may help avoid the adverse effects of fatigue when tackling more challenging areas. Addressing the weakest section first ensures that test-takers are freshest and most alert for their most difficult questions.

So, at the end of the day, the best thing to do is practice with various section orders and see what is right for you.

We discuss this further in the following article:

Best GMAT Order Strategy: How to Choose Your Section Order

MadhuB · Answer

Thank you for the responses. 
 WhitEngagePrep  Apologies I didn't specify the section order in which I took the mocks. I have kept my section order same throughout all mocks : Q -> V -> Break -> DI. Also, I have given the GMAT last year and didn't score well. I am seeing an improvement in the mocks of this year but not to the level I expected hence reaching out for help.

ScottTargetTestPrep  I am thinking of retaking official mock #1 or #2 to reassess if taking Verbal -> Quant -> Break -> DI works in another way (might encounter ques which I remember but do not want to waste official mocks 4-6). Quant is my strongest section hence I was taking that first to boost my confidence (like you also mentioned) but DI & Verbal scores are volatile so not sure if this is due to mental fatigue or something else.

Few things I have noticed :
1. When I try to understand each and every bit of RC passage I am doing good. In this mock, I feel I was trying to rush through & I completely misunderstood the passage but while re-attempting I got the entire gist of it. For that passage, I took 10mins during mock(25% correct) and 8mins while solving that in GMAT club forum (got 100% correct). Can this happen due to a 2-2.5 hour straight test environment? Should I practice sitting for 2-3 hours only solving questions as this is something I have not done except during mocks?

2. Another thing is that I was focusing on improving Quant and Data Sufficiency over the last 2–3 days, but I also did a few CR questions and two RC passages daily. I feel that I need to give adequate time to each section daily; otherwise, I lose confidence and my muscle memory takes a hit.

Need advice on maintaining a balance on all sections as I'm seeing a trend that I perform well in 2 but the 3rd one takes a hit.

MadhuB · Answer

ScottTargetTestPrep  After analysing the Verbal questions I encountered in yesterday's mock, I noticed that most of the questions were tagged as 705+ difficulty on GMAT Club. Could this be because my high Quant score made the Verbal section slightly more difficult this time? (I made 2 mistakes in Quant and scored Q84)

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

No, the test is not section adaptive. So, no, I don't think your quant score leads to a harder verbal section.

Score Plateau at 625 : Need Guidance on path ahead

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