Shocking GMAT performance

Question

Hi all,

I took the GMAT at a test center on June 22nd 2020 and scored a meager 670 (Q45 V37). This is my second time taking it; the first was in July 2017 and I scored a 720 (Q49 V39). I took 6 Official GMAC practice tests scoring a 760, 760, 780, 770, 770 and 770 in each of them. I was flabbergasted to see the 670 even though the exam felt unusually difficult. Sentence Correction options were very diabolical and that's usually my strongest verbal section. I had put in almost 300 hours of studying and was looking to improve my 720 to a 760+. I am yet to receive my ESR (it's been nearly 48 hours) so I'm holding out hope that GMAC senses an error in the algorithm used in my second attempt. Could the exam be this unfair at times and if I retake, is there a chance that an unfortunate scenario like this could recur? I have scheduled another exam for July 30th 2020.

Raxit85 · Answer

Hi, I'd suggest not indulge in estimation of future probability of event but rather focus on weak areas to improve your game. All the best for next exam.

Posted from my mobile device

Kinshook · Answer

Hi  Rashdaddy

I also got GMAT score 690 (Q50,V34,IR8,AWA5) in my first attempt and studying to improve my score to 700+. I also faced problems in verbal section and could not attempt RC passages properly and ran out of time in verbal section. Hoping not to repeat the same problems again in my next attempt.
Please don't get disheartened and focus on your weaknesses and work on them.
Best of luck for your next attempt!

Russ19 · Answer

It can be a lesson for candidates and readers preparing for retaking or sitting for the test. In the OGs, we see lots of traditional idioms and well-oriented concepts. Didn't have a reflection of OGs in the real test?

Best wishes on your next attempt!

Best wishes on your next attempt!

unraveled · Answer

This is really not good news. Sorry that you are facing such a humiliation. I too have gone through such a bad experience when i was expecting 670-690 and improving beyond, scoring 580, instead. I would suggest reflecting on your test day experience. Was there anything unusual, anything odd that might have had left you with a bad taste prior to test.? There are things which we don't care about much but they affect us without us knowing them.

Of course ESR can be your starting point. Also, i don't think Q45 is your usual quant score.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Rashdaddy,

I’m sorry to hear how things went with your GMAT. Assuming that you took your official practice exams under realistic testing conditions, the results show that, on a good day, you are capable of scoring higher than 670. Thus, it’s quite possible that nerves, stress, tiredness, or a combination of all three negatively affected your test-day performance. However, it’s also possible that you have some lingering weaknesses that were exposed on test day. Although I’m unsure of how you prepared, it’s possible that, in your preparation, particularly in verbal, you did not really learn to do what you have to do in order to score high on the actual GMAT. Rather, you picked up on some patterns that were effective in getting you relatively high scores on practice tests. So, for you to hit your score goal, your preparation, particularly for verbal, probably needs to be more complete, meaning that you have to go through the various types of GMAT questions carefully to find your exact weaknesses, fill gaps in your knowledge, and strengthen your skills.

For verbal specifically, you have to become more skilled at clearly defining the differences between trap choices and correct answers. Otherwise, you will get stuck guessing between two choices or be surprised to find that you incorrectly answered questions that you thought you answered correctly. Becoming more skilled in this way takes carefully analyzing all of the answer choices to lots of verbal questions to develop an eye for the logical differences between the choices. In other words, you have to go beyond answering practice questions and reading explanations to doing deep analysis of questions to learn to see everything that is going on in them.

In order to follow the path described above, you may need some new quant and verbal materials, so take a look at the GMAT Club reviews for the  best quant  and  verbal courses .

You also may find the following articles helpful:

how to score a 700+ on the GMAT

Why Was My GMAT Score Lower Than My Practice Test Scores?

If you’d like more specific advice on how to improve your quant and verbal skills, feel free to reach back out. Good luck!

Rashdaddy · Answer

Thanks all. I received my ESR yesterday and it seems I let my Quant slip in the last two quarters. I was at 100% accuracy through the first two but dropped to like 30-odd% in the final two. My Verbal performance was just meh across the board. I consider myself pretty strong at SC and CR so hopefully lightning doesn’t strike twice in the retake because some SC/CR questions I saw on that exam were not GMAT-like.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

Rashdaddy · Answer

Update: Took the exam again today (16 days later) and got a 740 (Q49, V41) with 1.5 hrs of sleep. That’s more like it although it’s still a bit off my practice tests. Will retake in another 16 days to see if I can hit 770+. Thanks for the recommendations everyone.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

Shocking GMAT performance

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards