Scored 660 on GMAT (Q45 V37 IR 7) ---What's wrong with my quant?

Question

Dear All,

I'm an non-native speaker of English and am aiming for a 700 on the GMAT. My GMAT PREP scores range from 680 to 740 and I have consistently scored 48 and 49 in quant in all of them. However, today I only scored a 45 in quant for the actual GMAT. I am so confused at the result and I don't understand how it can be. I have never scored a 45 in quant for all of my past practice tests. What are some possible reasons for this result and how to improve my quant to 49 or 50 for the real GMAT? How hard it is to get a 49 or 50 in the real GMAT? Also, my verbal has been very unstable and it varies from 34 to 41 on my GMAT PREP. Any possible causes of such variation? Please give me some advice. :cry:

I'm planning to take the GMAT again, probably in this December and I'm desperately in need of an effective and systematic way to improve my quant and stabilize my verbal score.

Brief profile:

First attempt
Have prepared for a month
Did not take each CAT more than once
GMAT PREP 1: 690 (Q49, V34)
GMAT PREP2: 700 (Q48, V35)
GMAT PREP3: 740(Q49, V41)
GMAT PREP4:680(Q48, V35)

I'm planning to take the GMAT again, probably in this December and I'm desperately in need of an effective and systematic way to improve my quant and stabilize my verbal score. Brief profile: First attempt Have prepared for a month Did not take each CAT more than once GMAT PREP 1: 690 (Q49, V34) GMAT PREP2: 700 (Q48, V35) GMAT PREP3: 740(Q49, V41) GMAT PREP4:680(Q48, V35)

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi hyzk,

First off, a 660 is a strong score (it's right around the 80th percentile overall), so this score could be enough to get you into your first-choice School.

Since we're using your CAT scores as the basis for comparison, 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 (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 your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, listen to music, etc.)? 
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once?

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' (which you CAN train for); however, the more your practice deviates from what you will have to deal with on Test Day, the more likely your scores are to be "off" (and usually that means 'inflated').

What resources did you use during your studies?

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

hyzk · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thank you for your reply.

(1) For all the CATs I completed, I took them with IR and essay. 
(2) I took all my CATs at home.
(3) I took PREP 1 and PREP 2 about 15 days before my actual GMAT day. GMAT PREP 3: 7/4, GMAT PREP 4: 7/6
(4) I never did anything that I couldn't do on the test day. I tried my best to simulate the actual test situation. 
(5) I never took a CAT more than once. However, when I took PREP 3, I did notice two questions that I had seen before.

Materials used:
OG 15 (only finished the verbal part)
GMAT Prep
CR Bible
Manhattan SC
GMAT Club Math Book
The Economist GMAT Tutor (I did not finish it. Its math review is very basic and even misleading. Its review for number theory is a joke. I regret a lot that I chose Economist Gmat Tutor as a supplement material to review for GMAT.)

This was my first attempt and due to time constraint, I did not prepare for IR and essay. I spent the most time preparing for SC and I hardly prepared for RC because I notice that in all the CATs, I get most of the RC questions right and make most of the mistakes in SC/CR. I spent a few days going over the GMAT Club math book and I also did a bunch of math problems using The Economist GMAT Tutor. When I got 48/49 in quant in prep, I thought I would be ready for the real GMAT. A 45 in quant is really out of my expectation. (When I was a junior in high school, I got a 780/800 for the math part in the SAT)

I'm very confused right now. Also, Rich, do you think it's wise to postpone the second attempt to December? My deadline is January, 2016.

Thank you for your questions.
hyzk

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi hyzk,

Given your scores, and the prior work that you've already done, I think that you could retest in a month (or so) and have a reasonable chances at a Q49+. Thus, you do NOT have to wait until December to retest.

You answered one of my questions incorrectly - I did not ask what DAY you took your CATs, I asked what TIME of day (and was that TIME of day the same time that you took your Official GMAT)? If those times vary enough from your Official GMAT time, then that could help to explain your Quant/Overall drop (you might have been training yourself to work well at a different time of day).

Taking the CATs at home is also NOT realistic. Taking 2 FULL CATs in the 4 days before your Official GMAT could also have led to a bit of 'burn out.'

Since you admit to not studying for RC, that lack of practice could help to explain the variation in your Verbal Scaled Scores - RC represents about 1/3 of the Verbal questions that you'll face on Test Day (and a few more correct/incorrect answers in RC could account for the range of your Verbal scores).

It might just be that you had a bit of a 'bad day', but there are enough 'minor red flags' in what you've described that you have some things to work on. Since you took a 'book-heavy' approach this first time around, you might want to invest in some new computer-based resources.

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

hyzk · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thank you for your reply.

Regarding to question (3), I took all my CATs from 6 pm to 10 pm but I took my real GMAT from 8 am to 12 am. I had a headache the morning I took the gmat because I'm not an early bird. But I did try my best to focus on the test while taking the real GMAT. I notice you mentioned choosing a new computer-based resource, and indeed I'm currently deciding between e-gmat and empowergmat. I heard many good things about egmat, and it seems they offer in depth analysis of various quant concepts and they also have many 700-level quant problems for practice. I'm wondering what are some distinct ways that empowergmat use to approach the quant section? With a 45 in quant I really doubt my math ability now.

hyzk

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi hyzk,

Based on everything that you described, I don't think that you necessarily need to emphasize any particular GMAT concepts during this next phase in your studies (you don't need "700" level questions since you're arguably performing at that level already). What you DO need though is to make sure that your next round of CATs matches up with your next Test Day in every way that you can reasonably make happen. This means that you should take your CATs at the SAME time of day as your Official GMAT and NOT take them at home (since doing so is unrealistic). Having a headache the day of your exam was something that you probably could not have anticipated, BUT you should plan for that possibility this time around (and maybe take some aspirin with you as a precaution).

You might find it beneficial to learn some new tactics and insider tips (which are both BIG aspects of the EMPOWERgmat Course), but some new practice materials and CATs will be required regardless.

Have you scheduled your next GMAT yet?

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

hyzk · Answer

Hi Rich,

Thank you for your reply. I haven't scheduled my next GMAT. I'm considering taking it again in late August/early September.

hyzk

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi hyzk,

660 is close enough to a 700+ that you could retest relatively quickly and hit your goals. A retest in late August or early September is realistic (but even testing in early August is a possibility).

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

KarishmaB · Answer

Here is one reason why someone getting 48-49 in practice tests might score a 45 in the actual test: someone having great retention power will perform better in practice tests because of familiarity. When you use a book/curriculum to prepare, you work on their practice questions too. Often, these practice questions are modelled after official questions to make them as close as possible to the actual test. Also, you might have solved some questions on open forums such as this one. If you retain information easily, you will have no problems solving similar questions (the ones that appear in GMAT Prep) later on. When you are faced with "new" questions on the actual GMAT, you might make more mistakes and lose the edge. There is one way of rectifying this problem (if indeed this is your problem) - you must focus more on the concept. If you understand the concept very well, no new question will faze you. In that case, what you need is a source of discussion on advanced GMAT relevant concepts. I will suggest you to check out our blog. It caters to the needs of people like you: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/categor ... er-wisdom/

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