Struggling to reach Target Score

Question

All
I am seeking some help to realize my target GMAT score of 710+.

I started out GMAT prep in October 2020 primarily relying on Magoosh and official guide only. I scored 620 and 630 on the first 2 mock tests and realized I am not ready. I signed up for TTP and worked through it for a month before deciding to take GMAT in November 2020. I scored only  630(Q45, V31)  w/ ESR showing CR - 70th, RC - 47th and SC - 59th. I was very confident of my RC abilities so I was perplexed by my performance. I took a bit of a break and went back to studying again in January. I signed for up EGMAT to improve my verbal capabilities and I think it did help. I kept studying on TTP as well as Magoosh. I took the next 2 mock tests and scored 670 (Q46, V36) and 720(Q49, V40). I thought I was ready and decided to take the test in April 2021. However, I only scored a poor  650   (Q44, V35) . The detailed ESR showed the following breakdown: CR - 33rd, RC 72nd, SC - 85th. In my mock tests I consistently scored highest on RCs with somewhat similar performance on my CR and SC. Furthermore, In quant section, the first 2 quarter of the test showed 86% and 86% of questions correct, while the metric dropped steeply to 29% and 43% in third and fourth quarter. I thought it was fluke and more to do with test day anxiety than my own true capability. I registered for Exam again in the month of May and took the last 2 mock tests. I scored 720 (Q50, V38) and 720 ( Q50, V39). I thought now I was definitely ready for the exam and took it again. This time I scored only  660 ( Q48, V33) . The ESR showed the breakdown as follows: CR 66th, RC - 57th, SC - 68th. 
I think I have consistently gotten better on my Quant but Verbal has very inconsistent performance. I still can not understand how my RC's are generally better in mock tests compared to actual tests. But there is definite difference in my performance on mock tests vs actual exam.
At this point I am not sure what else I can do to enhance my score or even realize where exactly I am lacking.

I would appreciate any advice.

Regards
-harman

Russ19 · Answer

Hi,

In the given scenario, exam stress can be a factor for the difference in RC performance in the actual test. MartyTargetTestPrep might show some ways for you here or you can dm him. Did you go through GMATNinja 's video lessons for RC? The link might be useful: https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-gmat-nin ... l#p2396353

Good Luck!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Harman,

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. GMAC has publicly stated that the Official Score that you earn on Test Day is within +/- 30 points of actual ability. Your 3 Official Scores show that you essentially performed the same each time (650 +/- a few points). You handle certain aspects of the GMAT consistently well, but you also make certain consistent mistakes.

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:

1) Over the last 3 months, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) On what dates did you take your 3 Official GMATs?
3) Have you only taken the 6 Official GMAC CATs/mocks or did you take any others? 
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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). Since you have purchased the ESRs for your 3 attempts, then I'll be happy to analyze them for you. If you would rather not post them publicly, then you can feel free to PM them directly to me.

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

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Harman.

From what you have said, it appears that much of what you have picked up as you have prepared for GMAT verbal has been geared toward getting correct answers on the official practice tests rather than toward setting you up to arrive at correct answers to the variety of verbal questions that appear on the actual GMAT.

There are many ideas and strategies out there that apply to "what the GMAT does." In other words, they apply to what the GMAT DID IN THE PAST, which is often not what it does today. In fact, some of the GMAT verbal questions the have been released in recent years seem to almost play a joke on people who know all about "what the GMAT does" by doing things quite differently from what everyone thinks the GMAT does.

It's as if the people who write GMAT verbal questions read course material and GMAT Club and come up with questions that you can't answer correctly by using the verbal hacks that people have come up with.

So, your move is to keep preparing for verbal but adjust how you prepare. You have to make sure that you are developing thorough, and correct, understanding of verbal concepts, learning solid strategies that always work, rather than hacks that work sometimes but are not reliable, and practicing in ways that result in your developing the key skills, such as skill in seeing what's going on in GMAT verbal questions and skill in using logic to support your answers, that you can use to consistently arrive at the correct answers to verbal questions.

For some more ideas, you could read the following.

How to Score High on GMAT Verbal

https://gmatclub.com/forum/verbal-tip-b ... 59527.html

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-critica ... 58573.html

https://gmatclub.com/forum/mastering-th ... 58019.html

https://gmatclub.com/forum/verbal-prep- ... 57059.html

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-practic ... 56936.html

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Harman

I wouldn't take it too hard as a score of 660 is still a big deal. With regards to your performance on Quant, I think you're pretty much there. I would recommend brushing up on your weaker areas again to try and reach the Q50 mark. I would also suggest you to go through practice questions of these weak areas and analyse the solutions step-by step to see what you're doing wrong.

As for Verbal, as you have already pointed out correctly, your scores are quite inconsistent to say the least. This can only happen when you are either unclear on your concepts or not following a fixed approach to each question. It also depends on what kind of resources you are currently using for your verbal prep. What you need are detailed solutions that explain exactly what to do at each step and how to tackle each question type. Using a fixed methodology on each question type is the key to acing the verbal section. Another mistake that most students make commonly is the order of prep. Are you using a structured approach or just randomly practicing topics ? In case of the latter, I would highly recommend this order for you verbal prep - SC->CR->RC. This is the most efficient way of learning. I would suggest going back to verbal prep with this approach and only moving from one topic to another after you've achieved an accuracy of 90% or more.

If you want to get into a more detailed discussion on the way forward, I'd be happy to get on a call to elaborate on the above mentioned strategy. You can do so here ->

Click here to schedule a call

Hope this helps....Good Luck !

Struggling to reach Target Score

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