Unexpected results Please help!

Question

Hi,
I am Dimitris, i self study Gmat for 2 months now and i am sitting the exams in 6 of September.
My scores 2 weeks to 4 weeks ago was:
Kaplan free: 590 Q:45 V:26
Manhattan free: 580 Q:42 V:29
Veritas free : 560 Q:42 V:25

Today i took the 1st Gmac test with results:
Score 500 Q:40 and V:20!!!!!?!!
i am really dissapointed with myself, 
my mistakes- RC:11, CR:5, SC:2

I decide to relax 2 hours and retake the 1st test again.
My score was 600: Q:48 and V:25
For your information only 2 question on Quantative were the same, questions that i have already answered them correctly in my 1st attemp.
And only 5 question of the Verbal were the same, questions that 4 of them i answered wrong in my 1st attemp.

I have some questions: I cant understand why the gap in Verbal between Manhattan, Kaplan, Veritas with GmaC is huge!!
 I cant understand why my 1st attemp compared to my second attemp has a gap of 100 points while only 7 questions were the same and 3 of them had the same answer?

Any tricks how can i improve my Verbal score?(i read everything in gmatclub about how)

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Dimitris, I'm happy to respond. :-)

I will say a few things. The GMAT Prep tests are close to the real GMAT, and few free tests can rival that quality. Are you familiar with the cynical assessment " free . . . and worth every penny "? Also, keep in mind, your GMAT-readiness is not a fixed quantity, like the the performance of something mechanical. In particular, your relative stress level can make a huge difference on your performance. Many people do not appreciate this, and the stress of sitting for the real test torpedoes their score. See this blog article: Lower on the Real GMAT than on Practice Tests The links at the end of that article discuss stress-reduction skills. Clearly, Verbal is your weak point. With all due respect, my friend, your written English in this post also has some flaws, the kinds of flaws very typical of an ESL learner. You need to polish your understanding of English, and the very best way to do this is to develop a habit of reading. See: How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score Don't look for a simple trick . A simple trick is not going to give the kind of broad improvement that will really help you. If you can pursue assiduously the habit of reading between now and your GMAT, you will see solid improvement. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

makeleio · Answer

Thank you for your quick respone. 
I would like to ask you if there is a free guide online to improve my verbal skills? 
Something that i will start reading it step by step,understand it, and eventually improve my score?
I know i need some guidance to fill the gaps but money is not an option at least for now!

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Dimitris, My friend, the free options are limited and generally are not the best. Ultimately, market pressures drive this situation---that's Economics 101. Nevertheless, this blog recommends a few free resources: GMAT English As for reading matter, I would say: challenge your self. Read English newspapers and news magazines. Force yourself to read the same stuff that American executives read every day. At first, it will be very hard, and you will have to look up a lot. You have to be consistent in forcing yourself to do this difficult work, because it's precisely through the struggle that you will most grow. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

makeleio · Answer

I will follow your advise and read, articles, the link you posted, and the free e-gmat resources.
In exactly 9 days i will take the second GmaC test and i will post my scores.
If i cant improve my score above 600 then i will definitely buy some online courses and i hope you will help me to choose which one it suits me best.

Thank you for your time and your support!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dimitris,

Since your Official GMAT is about 3 weeks away, you're going to have to be efficient with your remaining study time. To start, it would help if you provided a bit more information about your goals:

1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) What Schools do you plan to apply to?

Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so it's likely that you just have not put in enough time and effort yet.

After taking each CAT, it's important to try to define WHY you got questions wrong (so that you can make sure that you're focused on the proper subjects/ideas as you continue to study). After reviewing each section of this CAT, how many questions did you get wrong....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just didn't know how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to take a guess?

Thankfully, the GMAT is a predictable, standardized Test, so you CAN train to score at a higher level.

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

makeleio · Answer

Hello,

1) What is your goal score? I want a score above 600
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School? Next year (2017)
3) What Schools do you plan to apply to? Stockholm Business School, Stockholm School of Economics.(Finance, Accounting)

I think that i am weak in RC but this depends on the subject of the passage.

In previous tests RC was my strong section and SC my weakness.
In my last test i made 11 out of 12 mistakes in RC and 2 mistakes at SC.

Last time the algorithm of GmaC Pop Up 2 consecutive passages, one had 3 question and the other 4.
I answer all 7 questions wrong

I got lost in hard words and the length of the passages. (This happened for the first time)

I am reading 3-4 hours per day but i know i need guidance and a strategy thats will improve my weak points.
I got plenty of time until test day and i will welcome any suggestion!

Thank you,

I got lost in hard words and the length of the passages. (This happened for the first time) I am reading 3-4 hours per day but i know i need guidance and a strategy thats will improve my weak points. I got plenty of time until test day and i will welcome any suggestion! Thank you,

HanoiGMATtutor · Answer

I second what mikemcgarry said. You need to improve your English if you want to get far. Make reading a habit and you'll see improvement soon enough. The beginning will be very difficult, but keep in mind that students that do not have a good math background are going through a similar struggle with building a foundation for math. If they can persevere in their math conquest, so can you in your English conquest.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dimitris,

A score goal of 600+ is absolutely achievable in the time that you have left. Since there are a variety of different Quant and Verbal score 'combinations' that will lead to a 600+, you can find your missing points in EITHER the Quant or Verbal sections. As such, it's really important to review each CAT after you take it, with the goal of determining WHY you got questions wrong.

After reviewing this last CAT, how many questions did you get wrong in each section....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake?
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just didn't know how to do?
3) Because the question was too hard?
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess?

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

makeleio · Answer

Hello, 
Thank you for your response,
Do you have any specific news site that upload grammatically correct articles so i can study daily 3-4 articles?

HanoiGMATtutor · Answer

Any legitimate US news site will do. The Economist, the WSJ, the Washington Post, the New York Times, etc.

Posted from my mobile device

makeleio · Answer

After reviewing this last CAT, how many questions did you get wrong in each section....
1) Because of a silly/little mistake? Q: 6 out of 11 Verbal: RC:2 SC:1 CR:3 out of 18
2) Because there was some math/verbal that you just didn't know how to do? Q: 5 Verbal:12
3) Because the question was too hard? After i review the questions Quant become clear / Verbal is not that it is that hard but i am always between 2 answer choices especially in SC
4) Because you were low on time and had to guess? I had to guess not because i was out of time but i thought i spend a lot of time in RC so i answered without knowing what the passage talking about.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dimitris,

From the information that you've provided, you could very easily be scoring 600+ right NOW, but the silly/little mistakes are keeping you from that goal. If you can eliminate most (if not all) of those little mistakes, then you can easily hit your score goal (and potentially score much higher), so the big question now is whether you can eliminate those mistakes on your own or whether you need some assistance. If you can stay calm and do a bit more work on the pad (take notes, do NOTHING "in your head", etc.), then you might be just fine. However, if you'd like to learn exactly what you need to do to eliminate those little mistakes form your work, then you might want to invest in some new GMAT study materials that will show you exactly how to do that.

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

makeleio · Answer

I just noticed that at the first test i break the time barrier. 
1 hour 15min and 35s in the Verbal section.
Is it true, that i exceeded the time by 35 sec so my score got lowered so much?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dimitris,

The timer shouldn't have allowed you to go past 75 minutes in the Verbal section, so the information on that screen is likely an error. There are no 'time-related' penalties/bonuses in the Scoring Algorithm either, so finishing early (or at the last possible second) would not influence the score result.

When you reviewed the Verbal section, were you credited with answering EVERY question?

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

makeleio · Answer

I cretided for all questions thats what i remember.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dimitris,

If the program shows that you answered every Verbal question, then I have to assume that everything else is accurate (and only timer 'data' is incorrect). However, IF the data showed that you left questions unanswered (even if you actually answered them), then those unanswered questions would likely lead to a score penalty.

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

makeleio · Answer

Hello,

I just took the second test today:
Score 610 Q48 V26

I did some silly mistakes this time too, but fewer than the last time.

But i have a question!
I made 16 mistakes this time at Quant (Previous time 11 mistakes, Q48)
I find that Quant section was a bit more difficult.
How it is possible to do 5 more mistakes and have the same high score?
Is there a trick? or a method? i read that if you answer the first 8-12 correct is good. Is that true?

OC2910 · Answer

hello
i gave gmat in the month of april this year scored a 600 only(v28,q49) ,very low compared to my mocks ranging from 630 at start to 720 at the end. i have already vested in lot of amounts in magoosh and egmat buti m still not confident for a retake
every new coaching i join teaches the same concept ,but when it comes to 700 level questions i really struggle a lot and not to say timing is my greatest issue in sc sometimes i can spot in just 60 seconds where as my average pace is of 2mins 30 seconds 
i struggle in rc a lot , my accuracy in individual section is around 80 percent while in a mixed bag its just around 65 to 70 percent ,
please help with some tips to improve :a coaching material woudnt be an option i guess

thanks
regards
oishik

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Dimitris,

The scoring algorithm on the Official GMAT is far more complicated than most people realize. It takes into account a number of different factors - and the number of correct answers is NOT the only factor. As such, you shouldn't be spending time trying to figure it all out. You'd be better served working on building up your skills. A far more useful gauge would be to review each CAT and determine how many questions you SHOULD have gotten correct, but didn't (due to a silly/little mistake). Those mistakes are the things that you have to eliminate from your work to score at a higher level.

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

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