Actual GMAT Quant tougher than mock tests?

Question

Hi Team,

Just wanted to understand why I observed a good amount of difference between my quant scores in the official practice materials and the real GMAT. My quant skills have been strong and I have never scored below Q49/Q50 while taking the tests. On the D-Day however, I did notice few question patterns that have never come up in my mock tests or even official PrEP materials as such. Hence, I score Q46, way below my expectations.

Kindly let me know what I might be doing wrong. I have never seen many questions for upstream/downstream or very difficult probability in GMAT but I, unfortunately, faced a few of such questions on the exam day. I even looked up for similar types of problems online, to understand the type but didn't come across one. Please help!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi arjayitaroy,

Here is a helpful article to check out. If you have any questions after reading it, feel free to reach out.

Why Was My GMAT Score Lower Than My Practice Test Scores?

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  arjayitaroy . I am sorry to hear that your test day did not go as planned. Even so, I am guessing that the questions you are referring to fall into one of two camps:

1) They are testing familiar concepts in unfamiliar ways. (Perhaps the stream question was just testing your knowledge of triangles, specifically the Pythagorean theorem.)

2) They are less formulaic, more logic-based questions.

I have read mixed reviews in debriefs regarding the difficulty of both sections (well, the ones that everyone cares about). Some people express the same shock as you, others claim the opposite, that the test was basically an extension of the GMAT Prep mocks. I suppose the truth lies somewhere in the middle and that, to an extent, it depends on luck of the draw. (Some high-scoring members have even said they encountered zero probability questions. Go figure.)

Test-day nerves can also cloud your ability to think clearly. At this point, the best you can do is to put your head down, study what you can, with purpose, and, if you are unhappy with your score, put everything you have into that next effort.

Good luck.

- Andrew

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi arjayitaroy,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day did not turn out better. Getting a couple of hard Quant questions wrong would not have been enough to turn a Q50 into a Q46 though, so it's more likely that you got some mid-level questions wrong that you thought you had correctly answered (for example, in DS). There are also a number of factors that can impact your performance on an individual Exam, including the time you take the Test, how well-rested you are, the testing environment, etc. Before we discuss any of those potential issues, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) When did you take your Official GMAT and how did you score (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
3) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used? 
4) 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:
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

arjayitaroy · Answer

Hi,

Thankyou for your response. I have been preparing for a span of 4 and a half months before preparing for my exam. I studied 3-4 hours on weekdays (balancing my work) and close to 7 hours on the weekends. My official test verbal scored always revolved around V36/V37 but the quant score was always above Q48.

2 days prior to my exam I took the official Practice test 6 and scored a 760! (Q50 and V44).
I also took the MGMAT practice series and scored in the range of 640-660. I read multiple reviews that the MGMAT is actually tougher than the actual GMAT but I would be very honest that my actual GMAT seemed totally like an MGMAT mock! I always had spare time while attempting official mocks while completing the quant section but sadly on test day, I had to leave 2 questions unattempted, I am unable to understand where the discrepancy came from. Is it just bad luck? I even encountered more than 2 probability questions (quite difficult ones), a type I never observed before either in GMAT or MGMAT.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi arjayitaroy,

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, we really need to define the specific details of prior studies and goals:

1) What specific study materials have you used so far? 
2) 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)?
3) What is your overall goal score?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

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

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

Hi arjayitaroy,

There's a very specific solution to your problem: focus on more RESILIENT in-test processes and strategies.

Why resilient processes? Because the real GMAT is exactly like game day for athletes. Shots they can make easily in practice suddenly are misses in the real game. There only way to overcome that is to more precise in their technique/process.

There are multiple reasons why Test Day is so different from Practice Exams. 
1) There's an audience watching (family, partner/spouse, admissions coach, tutor, friends, work colleagues, boss). Whoever is aware of this big challenge you've undertaken and is cheering you on.
2) Practice test scores don't affect what MBA school you gain admission to or what scholarship you receive. 
3) The real test is the best and most innovative new way the GMAC has come up to push your skills to the limit. Practice tests don't show their absolute best innovative questions.

There's more but you get the point. So the only way to overcome the test day drop-off is recognize all these factors and use more RESILIENT processes during the test (in both quant and verbal).

Happy to discuss this more in a FREE Diagnostic Session where we'll identify the gaps that are making your test day approach less RESILIENT and costing you points in Q and V.

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi arjayitaroy,

Sorry about how things went with your GMAT. There could be a couple of reasons for the drop in the score. Please go through the article below to find out the probable reasons.

Scored well on mocks but failed miserably on the test?    
Having said that, it would be too early to conclude anything without knowing the actual reason. To understand what could have led to the drop in the score and to suggest you the plan of action, I need a little more information about your GMAT preparation. I would like to know more about:
  the way you prepared till now (your study strategy) 
 your weak areas 
 your approach of solving questions 
 the resources you have used

Answers to these questions will help me guide you in a better way. And I personally suggest to go for the retake only after you prepared well and are 100% confident.

Having said that, I would like to have a one-on-one conversation with you. The discussion would be mostly around the answers to the above questions, the approximate time you have for the next attempt and the plan of action. If you have an ESR with you, that will be even more helpful to get the insights about your performance. You use use the link below to schedule a call with me.

Click here to schedule a call

Bahubali06 · Answer

Quant in actual GMAT is easier than that in GMAT Prep or OG.
The difference in Mock scores and Actual GMAT results from anxiety, nervousness and change of environment (Yes these factors does play a role when it comes to minor errors leading to difference in scores, a calm, relaxed mind can make a huge difference)
Actual GMAT Quant tests advanced application of basic quant concepts, something that a logical mind having an understanding of basic concepts can solve.

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