Scored extremely low in GMAT despite higher scores in Mocks

Question

Hello,

I took the GMAT on 2nd Sept and got a 620 (V28, Q47). I was disappointed seeing my score as I was improving in my mocks and never scored so badly in mocks. I prepared for around 3-4 months. I took guidance from Kaplan and started giving mocks. I gave 10 mocks in total, 6 KAPLAN mocks and 4 GMAT Unofficial Mocks. My scores were always in the range of 660-680 and dipped to 640 once when I gave a mock after a painful tooth extraction. Last 2 weeks of my preparation were most productive and I scored 680 and 700 in the Unofficial GMAT mocks that I gave. Few days before the Exam,after my last mock, I started practicing 700+ questions from GMATCLUB and my accuracy was also improving. My lowest quant score was Q48 and lowest Verbal score was V30 across the 10 mocks I took. I was shocked to see a 620(V28, Q47) flash on the screen after I submitted my Exam and I immediately cancelled my score. I was expecting something between 680 and 700 as I scored 680 4 times during mocks and took all mocks in the same environment as real GMAT. Though I didn't take any at the same time as the test, except the last (that too I took at 4:40 PM instead of 4PM).

I don't really know what even went wrong on test day last time. Has this problem been encountered by anyone before? I need help and some guidance to get back on track.

Regards

nik98 · Answer

Hey,

Can you think back to what could’ve gone wrong during your test? Any hiccups while attempting any particular questions?

I’ve read on other platforms, wherein people say they were expecting 700+ but on their very first attempt of the real thing they scored much lower than their expectation. After minimal studying and in a short duration, they attempted their second test and achieved their target score. I don’t know if this some conspiracy against GMAC ?? but I’ve read such stories. You can try googling this.

I would suggest if you have time, then register for a second attempt. Also, give yourself enough time to revise and prep some more. During this period focus mainly on your verbal as it’s on the lower side. Aim for at least a V35+

Also, for your second attempt you can try the manhattan prep mock tests, since they’re better than Kaplan. Let me know what you think

If you find this post helpful, please give it a kudos ?

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KartikeyaRai,

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) Did you take the At-home GMAT or did you take your GMAT at a Test Facility?
2) How many hours did you typically study each week?
3) What study materials have you used so far?
4) On what 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:
5) What is your overall goal score?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

If you took your 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

KartikeyaRai · Answer

Hi,

So I would start by answering all your questions serially 
1)I took GMAT at a test facility.
2)My hours of study varied each week. Sometimes it went up to 40 hrs per week and sometimes it was just zero. 
3) I have studied from Jamboree and Kaplan GMAT Prep Plus.
4) 1st mock-Kaplan-Feb-660(Q48 V33)
 2nd Mock-Kaplan-June 28-680(Q48 V36)
 3rd Mock-Kaplan-July-660(Q49 V31)
 4th Mock-Kaplan-July-680(Q49 V35)
 5th Mock-OG1-July-670(Q49 V33)
 6th Mock-Kaplan-July-650(Q45 V34)
 7th Mock-OG2-Aug-640(Q48 V30)
 8th Mock-Kaplan-Aug-650(Q48 V37)
 9th Mock-OG3-Aug 22-680 (Q 49 V34)
 10th Mock-Aug 29-700(Q50 V34)

5)Goal Score-I am aiming for 680-700
6)I was planning to apply for B-Schools during Round 1 after my GMAT, but that's not possible now. Now I am aiming for Round 2. I am aiming for ISB, INSEAD, HEC Paris and LBS (for now).

I would like to get in touch with you and get a copy of my ESR to evaluate what went wrong during the test day and how to overcome it.

Regards

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

I’m sorry to hear how things went with your GMAT.

The good news is that you scored really well on quant, right? That said, I understand that you are not satisfied with your verbal score, so the question we need to ask is why you scored so high on your practice exams but lower on the real 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 V28. 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 it helpful to read the following articles:

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!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi KartikeyaRai,

I've sent you a PM with some additional notes and questions.

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

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Kartikeya, looking at your actual scores and your mock scores as well, it does seem to me that Verbal definitely needs a drastic improvement. The volatility of scores that you witnessed, is generally symptomatic of shaky concepts.

So, 70-80% of your efforts in your retake, should be dedicated to Verbal.

So, 70-80% of your efforts in your retake, should be dedicated to Verbal.

3pleM · Answer

I took my first GMAT Prep with no preparation- scored a 630 (Q37, V39) 
After getting decent scores consistently on MGMATs, I took my second GMAT Prep a day before the real test and scored 720 (Q48, V40)
On the real test, I was shocked to see a score of 620 (Q43, V33) flash on my screen. Booked a re-test on the next available date, 3 weeks later, as I knew that this score was an aberration.
I took few MGMATs and took two GMAT Preps in the days before my retest. 
Scored 660 on my third GMAT Prep. Meanwhile I received my ESR and on comparing with my mock 3, I realised where I went wrong. Focused on correcting the wrongs.
I took my 4th GMAT Prep a day before the real one and scored a 710 (Q49, V38).
Retook the GMAT about 3 weeks after my first attempt and ended up with a 690 (Q46, V39).

So, if you have a shockingly low score on the GMAT after consistently good scores in mocks, an ESR should help you in identifying where you went wrong.

Scored extremely low in GMAT despite higher scores in Mocks

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