ESR Evaluation

Question

Hi everyone,

Just gave my official GMAT (in-person) a week ago and scored a 730 (Q49/V40). I've previously scored a 750 but that score is expiring so I'll be re-taking the test in a week. In the meantime, I'd love some feedback/thoughts from anyone on this forum about my performance and, more specifically, the ESR.

In particular:
1. I was surprised to see I got a Q49 despite only getting 5 counted questions wrong in the order 1/1/2/1 across the 4 quarters of the test. Is that expected? I would've expected this to be a Q50.
2. I seem to have got V40 with 7 questions wrong. What do you think I need to do to go from V40 to V42 and V44 in the next couple of weeks? Also, my ESR suggests my RC sub-score is 38 and CR is 37. I was surprised to see this considering I only got 7 questions wrong across the whole Verbal section. Assuming I only got 2-3 CR/RC wrong (my SC sub-score was 42), is it expected for the sub-scores to be so low? 
3. Should I practice the LSAT RC/CR over the next 1 week to try and get a V44?

Thank you all in advance - really appreciate any thoughts and feedback I can get.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

For Verbal, it appears you were rushing in the 4th Quarter which may point to room for improvement in regards to time management. Consider working on your solving approach if you feel your Verbal fundamentals are solid. May boost your score a bit. Had a 6-hour student go from a V41 to a V45 in about 10 days. Perhaps find a study buddy with ace verbal skills whom you can teach Quant to.

rs5713 · Answer

Hello - can anyone of the experts here please provide their thoughts? I’m taking the test in exactly a week so would love to know what you think. Thank you!!

KarishmaB   egmat   GMATNinja   RonTargetTestPrep   EMPOWERgmatVerbal 
   Posted from my mobile device

egmat · Answer

rs5713 - Here are my two cents. Let me know if this makes sense. I think you have your task cut out for you. https://www.loom.com/share/ff5d49c12b04 ... 257f30ba3b -Rajat

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi rs5713.

Since you were running out of time toward the end of the verbal section, you may find that the tips in this post help you to improve your verbal performance.

How to Get Faster at GMAT Verbal

KarishmaB · Answer

In both Quant and Verbal, the questions you got incorrect were much tougher than the average questions so the penalty you faced for them would not have been very high. Likely you performed up to your current potential and that is great. It means you are a strong test taker. 
I would suggest you to focus on DS and CR for the next week. Ensure you understand the pitfalls DS presents and the concept of 'sufficiency' really well. In CR, ensure that you understand all question types very well and focus on exactly what each expects from you. This should help you get a 20-30 point score increase for which you are looking.

rs5713 · Answer

Hi egmat Thank you for the detailed feedback. I really appreciate it. Just wanted to close the loop and say I took the test again and got a 760 (Q50/V44). Been a wild ride since the 7th of Aug when I got a 660! Thanks so much to everyone else who replied too.

Posted from my mobile device

egmat · Answer

rs5713  - congratulations on scoring 760. I am glad that the analysis helped. What did you do during this time? Where do you plan to apply?

-Rajat

rs5713 · Answer

Hi  egmat  (Rajat)

Thanks! In the week or so I had, I did the following:
1. Deep-dive on my ESR Verbal to figure out I had 3 CR, 2 SC and 2 RC wrong, to make up a total of 7 Verbal wrong.
2.   Used LSAT to do 100 CR questions above over 30 RC passages to try and get down to 3-4 verbal errors in the next test; I suspect my V44 means 4 questions wrong, and I'd wager I got no RC wrong, and 2 of CR/SC wrong or 3 SC and 1 CR (this is the most likely scenario in my head based on how the test went).
3. Did no quant but got lucky with the Q50 instead of 49; I suspect this was just getting 1 / 2 more questions right, and not making silly mistakes as you suggested in your ESR evaluation. 
4. Changed test day routine - incorporated some sugar (half a chocolate bar) before each of the Q/V sections and did pushups before the V section (2nd in order).

Hope that helps but let me know if any more questions!

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