Unexpected GMAT Online results

Question

Hi everyone,

I got my GMAT online results on 1st Oct and got a 510 (Q39, V21). The score is very low from what I was getting in the official mocks and the experts' global mocks.

I started my preparation around July end and thought of giving the exam in September end because I am applying for the MIM course and mostly the deadlines are in mid-October. So I thought 2 months will be enough to score a 680. I took my first mock on July 30 on GMAT official prep and got a 570(Q46, V23). So I started with verbal and after studying for a week I took a mock test on experts' global platform and got a 540 (Q43, V22). I figured out that in quants I am making some silly mistakes and that's why I am losing marks there and in verbal I was not clear with most of the concepts. Then after studying for 23 days in which completed most of the verbal and quant part available on the experts' global platform I took another official mock on 31 Aug and got a 570(Q44, V24) again. when I analyzed I found that I am making silly mistakes again in quant and I wasn't able to apply some concepts in verbal SC and CR. So I started watching GMAT Ninja videos and GMAT shots (around 200 2min videos provided by experts' global where every concept from verbal to quant is covered.) After 10 days I took a mock test on 11th Sept on experts' global and got a 670 ( Q44, V38). I was happy but I wanted to reach 680 so after studying for a week I took another Official mock and got a 680 (Q49, V34). Just to make sure I took 2 more mocks 1 from experts' global ( got a 670(Q47, V34) ) and 1 of the official mocks (got a 680 (Q49, V34) ). The last official mock I took was on 24th Sept and then I booked my test on 28th Sept.

These are mock test results in one place 
1. GMAT official prep 1 - 570(Q46, V23)
2. Experts' global platform - 540 (Q43, V22)
3. GMAT official prep 2 - 570(Q44, V24)
4. Experts' global platform - 670 ( Q44, V38)
5. GMAT official prep 3 - 680 (Q49, V34)
6. Experts' global platform - 670(Q47, V34)
7. GMAT official prep 4 - 680 (Q49, V34) - 4 days before the exam

After this day I just revised everything and took the test on 28th Sept. I saw a lot of difficult questions in the quant part so I guess Q39 is not possible I mean it is the lowest and at the end of prep, you can see my score in quant was in between Q47- Q49. I completed the Quant part hoping that I have answered most of the questions correctly. Verbal part started and I was welcomed by 3RCs I mean first 11 questions were RC question. So I started reading and I think I answered most of them correctly. I completed my verbal part in time and then the break time started I asked my proctor and drank some water came back to my seat. the IR section started and when I was on the 4th question. Something happened and my screen showed this message 'DNS server error cannot contact the web page' there was a reload icon I kept clicking on it and nothing happened then I alerted my proctor a thousand times through that chat icon and nothing happened I saw the video feed was on so I thought that it is still recording I raised my hand to alert the proctor still nothing happened. After some time I rushed to my phone to check if there is a missed call or anything from the proctor and nothing was there too. After a sec the screen flashed again and it said we are restarting your exam. I got reconnected but I lost around 6 mins because of this but I was not that sad because its the IR section and then after a min or so my proctor contacted me to know that if everything is ok or not and I explained everything to her and then everything got completed normally.

Now I know was nervous before the exam but I don't think that is going to play a role in a 170 points drop. I don't know what to do. I took a mock test yesterday on experts' global and got a 680 ( Q48, V34). There is only one test centre in my state and that too is closed and I don't know when it will open. Is their a recheck kind of option or some way to contact GMAC about this because I know that I deserve more. So should I take another GMAT online or in the test center? idk when the test centre will open and if it opens in Jan I will miss the round 2 deadline as well. I am so confused so please guide me anyone (  bb  or any other gmat experts).

PS - I took my mocks as per the GMAT online section order and never took a break between quant and verbal. I studied for around 6-8 hours a day. And I took all of the mocks in proper exam conditions with a physical whiteboard.

bb · Answer

Sorry about your score. It’s a gut wrenching story was such a big score drop. Also, that’s a pretty terrible thing to have three RC‘s in a row. Quick question for you, for the official test three and four, have you seen any of those questions before? Any of them? Even one?

I am pretty stumped and puzzled as to why you would perform so poorly on both sections.

Posted from my mobile device

I am pretty stumped and puzzled as to why you would perform so poorly on both sections.

Posted from my mobile device

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Stunking4,

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 510. 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!

Stunking4 · Answer

Thankyou  bb  for your reply. I always solved some SC and CR questions everyday on GMAT club. So as far as I remember I got one question in GMAT PREP - 3 that I attempted around two days ago. But after that I started using filters while selecting questions on GMAT club so that I don't get a question from GMAT prep. And then I never saw a similar question on GMAT PREP - 4 or in experts' global mocks.

I know may be three RCs in a row, nervousness and everything may have contributed to a V21 because this was the hard part for me. But in quants I really don't understand that how can I score a 39 because my lowest in quants was 43. I am sure that there were tough questions so that means I must have answered most of the easy and medium difficulty level questions correctly and I am sure that I submitted the section also so there cannot be a penalty for that. And because it's GMAT online I cannot order an ESR to know what went wrong. So I am stuck with a 510 and left with only one more attempt because the test center is not going to open soon. Now I am confused as to what should I do because I took a mock test two days ago on experts' global and got a 680(Q48 V34). I know I could have at least scored a 650. Right now I am thinking of giving GMAT online again because I don't have any other choice but I just don't want the same thing to happen again, so I am confused.

And there was also this one thing that I felt kind of unusual on the GMAT that the questions were very different from the questions in GMAT prep or OG. I mean I know that GMAT questions feel different but hard quant questions were on a different level. I am also preparing for CAT ( A test for Indian B-schools) where Quant part is more tough as compared to GMAT so that's why I was able to solve more questions on GMAT quants but the questions on GMAT felt very different from what I solved in GMAT club, OG or on Expert's global

Stunking4 · Answer

Thank you  ScottTargetTestPrep  for your reply. I know I was nervous on the test day because it was GMAT online and it was my first time and I agree with you on this but I feel that this would not result in a 170 points drop I mean this is a big drop. Thanks for your advice and I will surely read those post you mentioned.

For my prep I used the following:-
Experts' global full course
GMAT Ninja videos 
Attended webinars from different test prep companies 
Solved a lot of questions from GMAT club, OG and from experts global platform.

I know I can do better than this but I am not sure as to what should I do next because I am embarrassed and also confused about whether I should attempt another GMAT online or not.

bb · Answer

Hm... I don’t really have much ideas to offer an explanation. That’s a huge score discrepancy. Perhaps things went really wrong that day. Unfortunately with the pandemic you only have one more online option left. Though you have time before R2 in Jan..... sorry 😢

Hoping things will be more cheerful and more open in a month.

Posted from my mobile device

Hoping things will be more cheerful and more open in a month.

Posted from my mobile device

Stunking4 · Answer

Ok thanks bb for your reply. I will give GMAT online again when I will be sure that I can score around 680.

bb · Answer

Try the mgmat test or free Veritas prep and see what you hit. ?

Stunking4 · Answer

Ok I will do that bb . Now I have started a verbal course on GMAT whiz because I exhausted everything on experts' global platform. Let's see what happens next and If something good happens I will update it here.

Stunking4 · Answer

Hi  bb ,

I took the veritas prep mock today and I scored a 650 (Q47,V32). The test was a little harder than the official gmat prep and experts' global mocks.

I am still confused about the score I got in the actual test. Can you suggest anything like whether I will be able to score around 680? Should I take another GMAT online exam in 2-3 weeks?

Ps: I didn't do any special preperation just went through some questions in OG. And I took the mock in proper GMAT online conditions.

Thanks in advance

Posted from my mobile device

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Think things over a bit. I'm here if you have any further questions.

junii · Answer

Hello there. May i ask how was your outcome after Gmatwhiz verbal? Was it worth it, have you improved your score, because for me i have also similar situation

Stunking4 · Answer

Hi  junii

Sorry for this late reply. I saw your reply today and I am confused as to why I didn't get a notification about this. So I don't know if my answer is relevant to you or not.

So I would say GMATWHIZ verbal is very good. They explained each and every concept in a very detailed manner. So I completed all of the SC and CR material in the next 3 weeks or so and solved a lot of questions from OG 2020 and Verbal review 2021. The best part about GMATWHIZ is that after every topic they give you a list of questions from OG. So that you can practice the Official questions which I think is a good way to improve.

Another thing I noticed that in the GMAT exam first 10 questions are important more than the others. I mean all are important but the first 10 questions set the way what kind of questions you are going to see next. So try to answer correctly as many as you can. And my suggestion is don't be nervous, don't think about whether the last answer you gave was correct or not and most importantly don't judge yourself from the questions you are seeing. Like I used to think that this question is so easy that means I must have answered the last few questions incorrectly. This is a mistake that we all do. See for example let's say Geometry is easy for me and I got a question from that. Now I will start thinking that oh it is so easy I must have attempted some questions incorrectly. But actually that question might be a difficult one according to GMAT. So never judge yourself in the middle of the exam just try to give your best.

So after studying for around 25 days and keeping all these points in my mind I gave my second GMAT online attempt on 11th Nov and got my results on 14th Nov. I scored a 660 (Q49,V31). I could have scored a bit higher in verbal but I was happy as my score improved so much. And then I went ahead with this score and recently received an admit from EDHEC business school in their MIM-BM program.

I hope you also improved your score and got into a good B-school.

Thanks,  bb  and  ScottTargetTestPrep  for your suggestions. Your suggestions really helped me a lot.

PS: I wanted to update it here when I got the score but I got too much involved with the applications so I forgot to update this topic.

bb · Answer

Wow! Great job and congratulations on getting into EDHEC MiM!

Posted from my mobile device

Stunking4 · Answer

Thanks ☺️

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Congrats! Thank you for the update.

Unexpected GMAT Online results

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