Shocked by my verbal score on actual Gmat.

Question

I scored 660 (Q50 V29) on my actual Gmat
but my scores on gmatprep was quiet different.
GmatPrep 1 720 (Q49 V38)
Gmatprep 2 720 (Q49 V39)
MGMAT 720 (Q49 V38)
Kaplan 690 (Q49 V36)
Economist Prep 720 (Q50 V38)

I did not have any qn that I practiced before in these mocks. During my verbal part there was a class going on beside my exam hall. I even raised my hand to complain to the admin but that did not bring any change. Eventually I used the earplugs to cover my ears. But even that didn't help much.

I am confused whether it was the sound or my preparation that is responsible for such a bad Verbal score. If it was my preparation then where did i go wrong?

Did anyone experience anything like that before ? What's the solution ? Did your score actually improve in your next attempt?
i'm really confused right now. Please help me with suggestions please. I would really appreciate it.

saswata4s · Answer

You can order ESR to check in which area you performed poorly. Once you identify you weakness, focus to improve in that area.

cxa0897 · Answer

The noise may have been an issue, but a 10 pt drop is probably not caused by that exclusively. Did you do anything different during the test than the practices?

If not, it may have just been stress, anxiety, or a bad day. It does happen, especially on the first attempt. I think an ESR is a good idea, just to rule out any other possibilities. You may have bombed one section of verbal, and its worth knowing for sure. If nothing seems out of the ordinary on the report, I think you should do better on the retake.

pushpitkc · Answer

Hi  Takdir

Did you see any repeat questions when you took the practice tests
leading to the GMAT. A few repeat questions could give you an 
elevated score. Alternatively, the pressure of the exam or the
external factors(such as the noise) may have caused the decrease 
in the Verbal score

As someone has already pointed out, it would be best to get the ESR 
for this GMAT score. I would suggest you to then post it on the forum.
The experts on this forum might be able to suggest areas of improvement. 
Work on these areas and give the test again with focused preparation on 
your weak areas.

If you have not already purchased the GMATPrep bundle (EP1,EP2,QP1), 
for more official questions and practice them before your next attempt.

All the best for your preparation. Hope this helps you!

amanvermagmat · Answer

In my humble opinion (though I have not given any timed test since last so many years) that noise could have been a big issue, if it caused anxiety in you at the start. Sometimes a small thing is all it takes to trigger us (our anxiety I mean) and its quite possible that it caused a series of wrong questions at the start, which eventually led to low score (ESR would help).

It might also be a good idea to complaint about this 'class' that was going on beside the exam room (especially if it was in control of the centre authorities) to the GMAC.

It might also be a good idea to complaint about this 'class' that was going on beside the exam room (especially if it was in control of the centre authorities) to the GMAC.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Takdir,

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?

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

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Shocked by my verbal score on actual Gmat.

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