Scores tanked form 720 to 610. Need to give GMAT in 6 Days

I agree that I have repeated the first 2 gmat prep mocks, but not with the third. In the GMAT Prep 4 mock. I ran out of time with many questions in the Verbal section with around 7-8 as there was some disturbance during the test. For the GMAT prep 5 , I ran out of time for last 4 questions in Verbal. For Verbal I am currently following the e-gmat strategy. Also any recommendation for practise material I have already purchased the Official extra questions pack. I havent heard good reviews of the GMAT club Verbal tests. I have access to those as well.

I scored a 690 (Q49, V34) on the GMAT I took on Sep 9 . I am yet to order my ESR. Any tips on how to further go about and improve my score?

YOu need to improve your concepts further. Once you reeive your ESR, you can ping me and we will analyse it together.

Hi rush123.

My best guess regarding what's going on is that you scored relatively high on the verbal sections of some GMAT Prep tests because the questions on those tests resembled the questions that you had seen in the course of your preparation. Then, when you took the later versions of the GMAT Prep tests, you saw questions that were different from those you had seen in the course of your preparation, and you didn't have the knowledge and skills necessary for answering them.

So, somehow, what you have done to prepare for GMAT verbal has not resulted in your developing the skills needed for correctly answering GMAT verbal questions the logic of which doesn't match the logic of questions that you have seen before. Such an outcome is quite common. In fact, if you look through the posts on GMAT Club, you will see many in which people mention their being quite surprised by their scoring much lower on the verbal section of the GMAT than they had on their practice tests.

So, the solution is for you to change how you are preparing for GMAT verbal and continue to train, but in a way that will result in your actually developing the knowledge and skills necessary for answering GMAT verbal questions.

Given the foregoing, would you like some information on how to effectively prepare for GMAT verbal?

Hi rush123,

First off, a 690/Q49 is a fantastic Score, so it could be enough to get you into your first-choice School. As such, a retest might not be necessary. Depending on the Schools that you plan to apply to, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile. There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ask-admissio ... tants-124/

GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Assuming a similar 'swing' in how your CATs function, most of your recent CAT score results - along with your Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 700 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes. There's certainly no harm in continuing to study - and you have the potential to pick up some serious points in the Verbal section. Before we discuss how to best continue your studies, 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? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far?

Goals:
3) What is your overall goal score?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
5) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

While the ESR doesn’t provide a lot of information, there are usually a few data points that we can use to define what went wrong on Test Day (and what you should work on to score higher). If you purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

Hi Scott,

I would surely be interested in knowing further.

Also please take a look at my attached ESR.

Hi Rich, thanks for taking a look at my post.
Below are the answers to your questions -
1) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week? - I have been studying since March end. I have been able to study 4 hours a day, but in between, in June I took a 10 day holiday which broke my schedule. And also I realised that I wasnt studying the right way as I did not maintain any error log as such

2) What study materials have you used so far?
I have used the following - e-GMAT verbal online course, Official Guide 2017, Verbal Review 2017, Quant Review 2017, GMAT club Quant tests.
Inconsistency has been a problem for me since the very beginning even while practising questions in e-GMAT. Sometimes I would get 90% , and sometimes even 33%. Also I remember that I was a bit anxious and nervous during the exam. I had even done my signature wrongly the first time the test centre lady asked me to register. In the quant section as well I remember getting stuck and understanding the third question due to anxiety, but as I knew the 1st 10 questions are important, I wanted to get it right and spent around probably 4-5 minutes over it.

In the verbal section also I remember getting stumped by RC passages and trying to guess most of them which is reflected in my ESR.

Goals:
3) What is your overall goal score?
My overall goal score is a 760.

4) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
I currently have 2 years of work experience. I wanted to apply this year, by I think my score is not good enough to get me into the top business schools.

5) What Schools are you planning to apply to?
I am currently working as a software engineer at Microsoft. Hence I look at the MBA to add value to my profile. I am not able to enjoy the technology area as much. I am surely doing well in my job, but I want to see how the MBA can add value to me. Hence I am only aiming for the top business schools. I majorly want to get into entrepreneurship and find a bschool which provides me with the same. Hence My top schools are - Stanford, Harvard, MIT Sloan, Wharton, UC Berkeley Haas, Ross.

Hi Rashmi,

I've sent you a PM with an analysis of your ESR and some additional notes.

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