Steadily decreasing results in GMAT exams, help

Question

Hey together,

I have been preparing for my GMAT exam for exactly 3 weeks by now. I took 5 test Exams in between:

1) 07.03.2021: Score 550, V=17, Q=45
2) 15.03.2021: Score 590, V=34, Q=37
3) 23.04.2021: Score 640, V=31, Q=47
4) 26.04.2021: Score 610, V=27, Q=48
5) 28.04.2021: Score 550, V=21, Q=45

My final Exam is in 4 days on the 2nd of May. I really don't know what I could improve in the last days since I get worsening results in each test since last week. The latest test was especially frustrating since I got way more verbal questions right than in former tests... But yeah I guess its because I answered some easy questions in the beginning wrong...

Do you have any recommendations? I really don't know what to do now

Thank you so much in advance

Best regards

schoko

Thank you so much in advance

Best regards schoko

Russ19 · Answer

Hi,

What materials did you cover so far? You should focus on reviewing the materials covered and managing exam stress.

Best wishes!

Schoko88 · Answer

Thanks for your answer

I am working exclusively with the official Guide books and with the online questions provided by official Guide. I got 60 percent right on all questions so far. My time managing was pretty good in the last exams so I had to hurry a bit on the last verbal questions but finished on time.

mSKR · Answer

whats your target score?

If your target score doesn't match with your average score of previous exams then better postpone it and work on your skills .

Schoko88 · Answer

My target score is 630-680... But I cant postpone the test since its the last possible date for the results to be delivered on time, but thanks anyways for your help

mSKR · Answer

My last moment tip would be:
Read long passages till 1st may.
your reading comprehension can build the momentum to handle some questions with ease on D-day.

Share your score after the exam

Good luck!

Schoko88 · Answer

Thank you, I will do both

I hope this will help

Kind regards

Russ19 · Answer

If possible see some video lessons of gmatninja from the link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-gmat-nin ... l#p2396353

Schoko88 · Answer

thanks for the advice but I guess that time may be to short to watch his videos despite they are probably pretty helpful

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Schoko88,

Are you certain that you could not submit an updated GMAT score after the admissions deadline?

Baburqv · Answer

I have nothing special to give you but I pray to God that your exam will go very well and you will succeed in the score you have targeted

Best of luck

Posted from my mobile device

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

It may be helpful to isolate which sub-topics/type of questions on Verbal for Official Mock 1 and 5 were the most problematic for you.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Schoko88,

Since you are so close to your Official Test Date, you should not try to do too much studying at this point. In these last few days, you should limit your studies to general practice and light review (NO CATs and NO 'cramming') - you would be better served by getting some extra rest so that you can go into Test Day calm, clear-headed and ready to work.

There's a significant difference between a V34 and a V21, so there are some specific details that are worth considering. When you scored V34, was that a CAT/mock that you had taken before (or had you seen any of the questions before during your studies?)? When you scored V21, did you take that CAT late in the day (meaning that you were too tired to perform better)? Did you find that you narrowed a lot of Verbal questions down to 2 choices and chose the wrong option most of the time? Points can be won and lost on the GMAT rather easily, so you also have to consider the number of questions that you got wrong because of silly/little mistakes (meaning that you KNEW how to get the correct answer, but there was some issue with your note-taking or the steps you worked through on your pad). Unfortunately, there's not a lot of time to address (and 'fix') these types of broader issues, but these details are a big part of properly assessing your situation - and how you might continue to study (if necessary).

Once you have your Official Score, you should post back here (or you can feel free to PM me directly) and we can discuss the results.

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

Schoko88 · Answer

Hi Scott, Yes, unfortunately I am, thanks anyway for the consideration

Schoko88 · Answer

Thanks for the detailed answer. I already found some helpful ideas in it

I always did my mocks in the morning, so that could not be the problem. Generally my 550 score exam felt like a "walkthrough" (for my experience), but it appeared that I mostly got low difficulty questions. Especially the sentence correction questions were pretty easy so that I solved 11 of 14 correctly, although this is the section in which I struggle the most normally. So I guess the result may be influenced through my bad start with only 4 of the first 10 questions right?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Schoko88,

With an adaptive Exam, earning longer 'strings' of correct answers in a row (especially early-on in the Quant and Verbal sections) is a significant factor in your Overall Score. However, this does NOT mean that you should 'over-commit' to those earlier questions - since you still have a responsibility to get through all of the questions in each section (and there are always 'gettable' questions spread throughout each section regardless of how well you are performing). Thus, spending a little more time early-on is generally a good choice, but not too much time. At this point, since your Exam is just a couple of days away, you shouldn't overthink any of this. Do your best on Test Day - and let us know how you scored - and we can go from there.

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

Schoko88 · Answer

Thanks fo all the supportive replies.

Just a quick update on my progress: I just finished my 6th test exam and got a surprising result of 710 points with 49 in Quants and 36 Verbal. That gave me at least some hope for my final exam but the enormous fluctuation of the results is still strange

Schoko88 · Answer

Hi together,

I just received my result:

Total 560
Q39
V27

I know that this result is pretty bad and far from my goal. However I know that my Quant performance was not matching my skills since I was very excited and panicked sometimes during the test...

The latest date on which I can schedule my second attempt would be the 18th of may. I hope the result comes early enough to send it to my university. 
Do you think it is possible in 10 days to reach 650 with my performance as I wrote in this thread?

Thank you for your judgment.

Best regards
Joko

bb · Answer

Lots of posts and replies. I will throw in my hat as well... I made a post about it a year or two ago: https://gmatclub.com/forum/why-do-gmat- ... 85544.html

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Schoko88,

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 CAT score results - along with your Official Score - show that you essentially performed the same each time (about 580 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes.

While it's possible that you had a bit of a 'bad day' when you took the Official GMAT, it's also possible that you got a bit 'lucky' on your better CAT performances. Statistically-speaking, raising a 560 to the point that you can consistently score 650+ would likely require that you commit to at least another 2 months of consistent, guided study - and you would have to make significant improvements to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. Thankfully, the GMAT is a consistent, predictable Exam so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

1) What specific application deadlines are you facing? When is the next application Round after the upcoming Round?
2) What is the minimum GMAT Score that you 'need' to apply?

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

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