Terrible verbal surprise on test day

Question

Hello everyone,
I'd love some advice as I'm feeling discouraged and lost after today's test. I've been studying for six months and completed the following practice simulations:

MGMAT - 630
MGMAT - 650
GMAC - 770
GMAC - 760

I've always considered my quant skills to be weaker. During the test, I faced timing issues in the quant section so I expected a low quant score. However, I was shocked to receive a 630 score with a quant 46 and a verbal 31! I never received such a low verbal score! I took the simulations seriously, ensured realistic testing conditions to the best of my ability, had sufficient sleep, and primarily used official OG materials for practice. While practicing questions I usually answer most 700+ verbal questions correctly. I'm confused about what went wrong - I wish I could blame it on nerves, but that's not the reason! 
I felt okay during the verbal section and didn't even notice that I was doing so poorly!
 It did feel as though the questions are a bit different.. 
If official questions aren't predictive, which questions can I trust? 
What am I supposed to do now, solve more 700+ OG verbal questions? That's exactly what I've been doing, and excluding the test - with pretty good results... 
I feel so lost...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi HaSmamit,

I see that you used OG questions for practice but what materials did you use to actually learn the content?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi HaSmamit,

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. Before we discuss any of those potential issues though, 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? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
3) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

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

If you took your Official GMAT at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. 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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]
www.empowergmat.com

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Consider getting the ESR. May provide some helpful insight into what happened. For practice questions, using questions from the Official-Guide 2022 would be a solid choice. If you feel you fundamentals are solid, consider working on your solving approach. May boost your score a bit. Had a 6-hour student for example who went from a V31 to a V40 in about 30 days on a retake. Perhaps work with a study buddy who is really strong on Verbal to see how they approach the section/certain questions. Might be worth replaying what happened during the exam and thinking over whether there was anything you did differently than your mocks. Were you re-reading or double-checking things a lot more, for example.

5 Verbal tips

HaSmamit · Answer

Hi Scott,
Thank you for your reply. To learn the content, I used the materials of highly-recommended local private tutors - so no big names there. Unfortunately I had to switch verbal tutors during the process, maybe that contributed to what happened on test day..

HaSmamit · Answer

Hi Rich, 1. I've been studying for six months now, usually between 15 and 20 hours every week. 2. + 3. Original content by private tutors to learn the material, OG GMAT CLUB questions to implement it. I took the following mocks in the two weeks before the test, within 3 days of each other, in the following order: GMAC - 760, V47 Q49 MGMAT - 630, V35 Q40 MGMAT - 650, V36 Q43 GMAC - 770, V46 Q48 Actual test - 630, V31 Q46 IR7 AWA6 4. I need a 715+ 5. Top schools, second round of this year. Please see the ESR attached. I also have some issues with timing in quant - do you have any suggestions what to focus on to cut times? Thank you very very much.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi HaSmamit,

To start, since you are interested in some highly-competitive Schools, you would likely find it beneficial to speak with an Admissions Expert about your overall profile and plans. Those Experts should be able to answer your Admissions questions and help define the specific areas of your profile that could use some improvement (and the more time that you have to implement those suggestions, the better). There's a Forum full of those Experts here:

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

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

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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]
www.empowergmat.com

Terrible verbal surprise on test day

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