Underperformed on GMAT: 680 (Q44, V39, IR6)

Question

Hi all,

After 5-6 months of studying for the GMAT, I finally sat for the exam and did not perform as I hoped I would. To provide some background, I am a native English speaker, and recently graduated from a top 50 US public university. I am also an avid reader. I mention this because the main focus of my studies has been Quant (probably 75% Quant, 25% Verbal), and I have always performed well in Verbal (V41-42 on average) on my CATs. Unfortunately, my Verbal took a slight decline on test day, which obviously did not help my final score. I have seen a good deal of improvement in my Quant ability since I started studying, but I didn't hit the top of my range on test day. I studied relatively quantitative majors at university, and work in a finance role currently. While I haven't always been the greatest at math, I am confident that I can get my score up to Q48 after my past improvement.  My goal is a 730 , which I have hit in official practice tests.

I'd like to ask for advice on how to proceed. I am considering getting a tutor, but I have a somewhat limited budget, and I'd like to make the most of 4-5 sessions. I'd also like to know how experts would recommend I revise my study plan going forward, excluding the possibility of getting a tutor. Also, how soon would you recommend scheduling my next exam? I've taken several days off from studying to do some introspection and formulate a plan to study/practice more effectively.

Resources: 
 - Magoosh : I started using Magoosh's 3 month Quant-focused study plan, and watched all the Quant videos twice. This was great for brushing up my Quant knowledge.
 - OG 18 : I've gone through all the problems.
 - Manhattan Foundations of GMAT Math : Used this early on to brush up on concepts.
 - Manhattan All the Quant Book : Learned some great strategies here.
 - Manhattan Advanced Quant : Good, but not quite as useful as I had expected. Read through it once I had hit Q47.
 - GMATClub Tests : Great for preparing for harder questions. Unfortunately, I think I am still getting too many 600 level questions wrong for these to be very effective.
 - Manhattan CATs : Hard quant, but useful. Manhattan Verbal question can sometimes seem "un-GMAT-like".
 - GMATPrep CATs (1-6) : Best CATs available, obviously.
 - Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension Bibles : somewhat useful. CR had better content than RC.

CATs  (usually 1-2 weeks between CATS, taken on weekend afternoons):
 -GMATPrep 1 (cold, no studying, 1 year ago):  660 (40Q, 40V) 
 -GMATPrep 2 (1 month of light studying, 11 months ago):  640 (39Q, 39V) 
 -Manhattan CAT 1 (3 months into Magoosh study plan):  660 (Q38, V42) 
 -GMATPrep 1 (retake, Feb 20):  690 (Q44, V41) 
 -Manhattan CAT 2:  650 (Q40, V38) 
 -Manhattan CAT 3:  640 (Q41, V36) 
 -GMATPrep 3:  670 (Q42, V40) 
 -GMATPrep 4:  730 (Q47, V42)  
 -GMATPrep 5:  710 (42Q, V44)  Allegedly this particular CAT has more difficult Quant (based on a few GMATClub discussions).
 -Manhattan CAT 4:  (Q45)  Real exam was approaching so I only took Quant section, as that was my focus.
 -GMATPrep 6 (One week before GMAT):  720 (Q47, V42) 
 - Actual GMAT :  680 (Q44, V39, IR6)

My Quant skills improved significantly over this time period, though I scored in the middle of my range on test day. I was hoping I could reach the high end of my range (Q47) or even surpass that. No such luck.

While this was disappointing, I was even more distraught when I saw my Verbal Score (V39!). After months of studying, I scored lower than my first ever practice test score with no studying whatsoever. I could handle the Q44. Obviously, I wanted to improve more, but at least that showed progress. Verbal showed zero progress, or even regression. This really bothered me. Now, not only do I have to work on bringing up my Quant score, but I have to figure out what went wrong on Verbal. If I do get a tutor, I am concerned as to how we will balance our time between Quant and Verbal. Was Verbal just a bad showing due to exam day nerves, or do I really have more work to do? I've also used up all of my GMATPrep Practice Tests - of course, I can retake them, but I imagine my scores will be artificially inflated.  To summarize, I really need a new study plan and timeline to figure this all out.

My practice CATs have been close to test-like conditions, but not perfect. I've taken longer than 8 minute breaks, and paused occasionally when the house gets noisy. For some reason, I had not considered practicing with a mask on, as is required at test centers. While I don't think this made a significant difference, 3.5 hours of wearing a mask was an obvious difference from practice conditions.

Please advise! I'd appreciate any information on how to move forward.

ScottTargetTestPrep   egmat   EMPOWERgmatRichC   bb   DisciplinedPrep   GMATNinja   mcelroytutoring   HanoiGMATtutor   AjiteshArun   VeritasKarishma   IanStewart   ccooley   AaronPond   generis   daagh   souvik101990   EMPOWERgmatVerbal   BrentGMATPrepNow   GMATinsight   EgmatQuantExpert

bhhv225 · Answer

For even more background, here are some relevant parts of my  Enhanced Score Report:

Your Quantitative score of 44 is higher than 49% of GMAT Exam scores recorded in the past three years. The mean score for this section is 40.2.
Your performance on Problem Solving questions was equivalent to a score of 46. Your score is better than 57% of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years. The mean for all test takers is 40.2.
Your performance on Data Sufficiency questions was equivalent to a score of 42. Your score is better than 40% of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years. The mean for all test takers is 40.17.
Your performance on Arithmetic questions was equivalent to a score of 46. Your score is better than 55% of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years. The mean for all test takers is 40.33.
Your performance on Algebra/Geometry questions was equivalent to a score of 40. Your score is better than 38% of all sub-section scores recorded in the past three years. The mean for all test takers is 40.1.
Your performance of 66% on Geometry questions is considered Above Average.
Your performance of 33% on Rates/Ratio/Percent questions is considered Weak.
Your performance of 44% on Value/Order/Factors questions is considered Weak.
Your performance of 50% on Equal./Inequal./Alg. questions is considered Weak.
Your performance of 83% on Counting/Sets/Series questions is considered Strong.
You completed 31 questions in the Quantitative section.
You responded correctly to 71% of the first set of questions, 29% of the second set of questions, 57% of the third set of questions and 57% of the final set of questions..
The average difficulty of questions presented to you in the first set of questions was Medium High, the average for the second set of questions was Medium High, the average for the third set of questions was Medium High and was Medium High for the final set of questions.
The average time it took you to respond to the first set of questions presented was 2:05, the average time for the second set of questions was 2:10, the average time for the third set of questions was 1:49 and 1:58 for the final set of questions.

Your Verbal score of 39 is higher than 89% of GMAT Exam scores recorded in the past three years. The mean score for this section is 27.08.
Your performance on Critical Reasoning questions was equivalent to a score of 37, which is better than 76% of GMAT Exam scores recorded in the past three years. The mean score for this sub-section is 27.57.
Your performance of 66% on Analysis/Critique questions is considered Above Average.
Your performance of 60% on Construction/Plan questions is considered Average.
Your performance on Reading Comprehension questions was equivalent to a score of 38, which is better than 80% of GMAT Exam scores recorded in the past three years. The mean score for this sub-section is 27.24.
Your performance of 83% on Identify Inferred Idea questions is considered Strong.
Your performance of 75% on Identify Stated Idea questions is considered Above Average.
Your performance on Sentence Correction questions was equivalent to a score of 41, which is better than 91% of GMAT Exam scores recorded in the past three years. The mean score for this sub-section is 27.27.
Your performance of 80% on Grammar questions is considered Above Average.
Your performance of 71% on Communication questions is considered Above Average.
You completed 36 questions in the Verbal section.
You responded correctly to 88% of the first set of questions, 43% of the second set of questions, 71% of the third set of questions and 88% of the final set of questions.
The average difficulty of questions presented to you in the first set of questions was Medium, the average for the second set of questions was Medium , the average for the third set of questions was Medium and was Medium for the final set of questions.
The average time it took you to respond to the first set of questions presented was 1:43, the average time for the second set of questions was 2:14, the average time for the third set of questions was 1:48 and 1:30 for the final set of questions.

Varunsawhney8 · Answer

Hi please provide your strategy for verbal, I am facing the similar problem in verbal part.

Posted from my mobile device

IanStewart · Answer

It happens quite often that people underperform on their first real test, for a couple of reasons. Sometimes people perform differently on test day, whether because of a bad night's sleep, or test day stress, or distractions in the test centre. If you were affected on test day by fatigue or anxiety or some other factor unrelated to your ability, you'd ordinarily be aware of that. Often those issues go away on a retake, because you'll know what to expect on test day, and what the test center experience will be like, and you'll likely be less affected by stress as a result.

But from your official diagnostics, it seems like your true level right now is around Q44/Q45 and V42 (I'd just ignore your company tests, since there's no reason to think those scores are anything more than vague approximations of your level). It will definitely happen to test takers at that level that they will score Q44/V39 on test day purely because of bad luck, and for no other reason. It's possible you just got unlucky almost every time you needed to guess at Verbal questions. Of course that's not likely to happen, but a V42-level test taker will probably get a V39 score on about 10-15% of their tests. There's truly no chance you've regressed at Verbal, so I wouldn't be concerned about that, and I'd bet if you took a test tomorrow, you'd get a score very close to the V42 level you seem to be at right now. One feature of luck is that you're just as likely to have good luck as bad, so while it's true you'll sometimes get a V39 by bad luck, you'll get a V45 by good luck just about as often, so there's a chance luck will work in your favour next time. If your Verbal score instead had been V37 or lower, that would be very unusual, and then you'd certainly want to look for an explanation other than luck (and also do what you can to ensure you don't underperform for the same reason on a subsequent test) but in your case, there may not be anything you need to do.

Improving on Verbal scores as high as yours is extremely difficult to do. You're already almost at the very top of the scale at V42-V44. I'd be surprised if any prep materials or tutoring would make any difference for someone at a level as high as yours. So while you should do what you need to in order to maintain your Verbal level, I'd suggest you prioritize Quant, since I think you should be able to improve your Quant score much more easily. The essential abilities tested in Verbal -- abstract reasoning and logical thinking in CR, pattern recognition n SC -- are the same abilities you need in Quant. You just need to learn how to apply them in a new setting. I'd normally expect someone with your Verbal score to be capable of reaching the Q49-Q50 level with the right kind of preparation, so it's possible you should learn a different approach to Quant, one based more on conceptual reasoning than on methods and formulas. That would let you take advantage of your natural strengths.

How long it will take depends on how ambitious you want to be. If you'll be happy with a 730, you really just need to raise your true Quant level by a couple of points and have average luck on test day. It's certainly realistic to think you could achieve that within a month. If you wanted to raise your level even higher (which gives you a bit of a safety net in case you have bad luck on test day), that could take a bit longer, but not more than two months if you're preparing effectively. Good luck!

mcelroytutoring · Answer

As others have already written, you probably just had a bad day with some careless mistakes, given the GMAT's question-level adaptive scoring algorithm and the outsize importance of questions earlier in the section.

It's true, of course, that anyone's first official GMAT attempt is especially likely to yield to lower scores due to nervousness, but luck is always a factor too.

In general, I find that Quant and Verbal scores will vary up to 5 points from your "true score" on G-Day, and that composite scores will vary up to 50 points in either direction, even for most GMAT experts.

For example:

On Quant I have scored as high as 50/51 but as low as 42, and my average is about 47.

On Verbal, I have scored as high as 48/51 but as low as 40, and my average is about 44.

These Quant and Verbal score ranges mean that my best-case scenario is about 790, my "worst case scenario" is about 690, and my average score is about 740: a 50-point swing in either direction from my "true score."

Keep trying and good luck!

-Brian

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  bhhv225 ,

No new points here, but I agree with Ian. The variation in your scores is not too bad (verbal 96% - 89%, quant 60% - 49%), but yes, getting a lower score than you're capable of never feels good. The good news is that your verbal score indicates that you're most likely capable of getting  at least  a Q49.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Hello bhhv225 ! We totally understand that trying to study for the GMAT on a budget is tough! If you need some extra practice with Sentence Correction questions, we're running a contest in the forums here that's free to participate in. You can find it here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/empowergmat- ... 06912.html We post new questions every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. After 48 hours, we'll post the OA with an explanation of how we would tackle the question, and we award kudos to explanations that follow the contest guidelines. If you get the most kudos in a round, you can win a month of free access to our EMPOWERgmat system, which contains practice tests, video tutorials, and more! There are also old contest "packs" you can go through for extra practice! We wish you the best of luck with studying! Feel free to check out our contest or PM us if you have questions!

gmatway · Answer

While others have already addressess to your problem . I would suggest CHANGE THE MASK . DIY mask . Its very imp that you get comfortable mask . Ask if your test centre can allow you to keep the mask on chin as you have breathing problem .

ayushkumar22941 · Answer

your verbal score did not fall by much and thus did not affect your score by more than 20 point , your quant score is low , you should work more on quant ,revise all official problem and gmatclub test problems in quant .as for mask when I gave GMAT last month they allowed me to keep mask down at my chin when I told them that I have breathing problem .

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi bhhv225,
 
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 680. 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  helpful

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!

KarishmaB · Answer

You need to hit Q48+ consistently on your practice tests to get 730. Your Verbal is top of the range already.

For Q48+, you should get no 600 level question wrong. If that is the case, there are some major gaps in your concepts. Address those first using the data from your practice tests. Once you do, you should see more consistent scores. Thereafter, start working on advanced applications.

A mask can play a big role in bringing your score down. Try a surgical mask (the blue ones). People work for hours in them so they are not very uncomfortable. Also, take a couple of practice tests at home in a mask to learn to ignore it. When outside, I would not suggest to pull it down since it is important for your and others safety but wearing an effective yet comfortable mask would be the right approach.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi bhhv225,

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 purchased the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you - but I would need to see the FULL ESR. Before you can include attachments to your posts and PMs, you need to have at least 5 posts in the forums (right now, you have just 4 posts). If you would rather not go through that extra step, then you can feel free to email your ESR to me directly (at [email protected]).

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

Underperformed on GMAT: 680 (Q44, V39, IR6)

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