The Tragedy With My GMAT Attempts - Need Help!

Question

So, in my first GMAT attempt (for which I literally gave my blood sweat and tears..), I scored a Q50 but a V27, Quant being my first attempt.
I thought maybe I wasn't very well prepared for verbal and began preparing even harder for verbal while maintaining my quant practice. I scored a V37 and Q45, verbal being my first attempt.

From Q50 to Q45....That hurts!

I was always intimidated by verbal and wanted to finish with it first when my mind is relatively fresh and ready to take in large amounts of information. Then again I gave GMAT and scored V40 and Q47, verbal being my first attempt.

I have noticed that my performance drops significantly in the section I choose to attempt second. I have exhausted most resources for both sections by now and don't know what to do.

I seriously do not know how to fix this issue. Despite practicing for long hours both quant and verbal, thinking that I have a stamina problem, I have not been able to solve this issue on the test day. I receive fairly balanced scores during mocks...I do not really overthink about my previous section while solving the next. I did have some sleep issues but managed to get sleep of 3-4 hrs before all my GMAT attempts.

This has become a single big reason for my performance drops.

Can some one give me tips regarding the same?
How can I get a balanced score on Quant and Verbal sections on the GMAT Test day?
Has anyone gone through the same?

A Big Thank You in advance for your time and valuable thoughts

Have a Joyful Day!

EducationAisle · Answer

So, what's your best total score and how have you been preparing?

p.s. V40 is quite phenomenal, by the way.

animagreborn · Answer

My best is 700 (V40, Q47) Nothing new in preparation. Revisiting my error logs and solving OG and GMAT Prep questions. I need a solid test day strategy so that I get a balanced score.... Hey, did you make it to ISB? Thanks for asking!

ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

What are you doing BEFORE the test, and during the break BETWEEN sections? The best thing you can do:

Before the test:
--Make sure you get a good *weeks* sleep before the test. 
--Make sure you are ACTIVE (regular exercise is great for energy). 
--Make sure you are EATING WELL. 
--Practice MINDFULNESS and MEDITATION. 
--Do long question sets. 
--Take practice tests! The only thing that 'gets better' *during* a practice test is endurance (other improvements come from *reviewing* practice tests).

In the break between sessions: 
--Get up, move around, stretch, get blood flowing.
--Do some deep breathing/mindfulness focus.
--Get some SUGAR in your blood (studies show blood sugar levels drop significantly when 'thinking' hard, which the test demands. This drop makes one tired and makes their reasoning worse. I brought a brownie for the interim when I took the test).
--If you're a caffeine slug like I am, maybe a little coffee (I put a cup of coffee in my locker, along with my brownie).

I have also heard teachers recommend, somewhere along the halfway point of the second section, finding a question that makes you wanna die, and instead of skipping the question immediately, just rest for a moment. Take some deep breaths, use the time to rejuvenate for the last half of the test.

If that makes you freak out, you're not thinking about how the test is scored! You think you should try to get every question right. You shouldn't, and you won't!

IanStewart · Answer

It does sound as if fatigue is the most likely explanation for your scoring pattern. Everyone's different, so I'd suggest you read the advice in this thread and in other places (there's a lot of advice about how to best address fatigue and endurance issues) but then filter all of that advice based on your personal experience -- you'll know better than anyone else how much sleep or food or caffeine you might need, and how useful you find some of the techniques people are suggesting.

It wasn't clear from your post what scores you received on official diagnostic tests, so it's a bit hard to know if some of your test day scores were outliers. If you are normally scoring Q49-Q50 and V38-V40 on your recent diagnostics (you've made enormous progress in Verbal, so only the Q scores from older diagnostics would be at all significant), that makes fatigue a very plausible explanation. But if instead you've been scoring more in the Q47-Q48 range, then it might just be true that the Q50 was a bit lucky, and the Q45 a bit unlucky, and luck alone explains the scores. It's best not to view a single test score as an exact value, because luck always plays some role -- it's better to think of each score as if it has a margin of error of a couple of points around it.

And if you do feel you've exhausted all of your resources, and you're looking for additional Quant material in particular, I've written some very challenging problem sets that are intended only for Q45-Q51 level test takers, and which I'm confident are the most realistic high-level problems available outside of official resources, so if you might find those useful, feel free to email me at ianstewartgmat at gmail.com, and I can send you pricing information. But if your Quant and Verbal scores on your diagnostics are at or above the level you're hoping to reach, then additional preparation should not be your main focus -- instead you should just be trying to pinpoint the reason for your scoring pattern, and doing what you can to address it. Good luck!

MBAaustralia · Answer

Sounds like you're in a good place to begin with. Follow the advice of others in the thread about getting into the right mindset before test day and I think you'll smash it! 💪

Posted from my mobile device

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi animagreborn,

I'm sorry to hear about what is going on with your GMAT. Can you also provide some more details on what you have been doing to prepare?

-- for how long have you been studying?

-- what resources have you been using?

-- what were the scores and dates of your official practice exams?

Lastly, when you sit down to study, for how long do you typically study?

Once I have all this information, I can provide some further advice.

The Tragedy With My GMAT Attempts - Need Help!

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