Last visit was: 20 May 2026, 09:02 It is currently 20 May 2026, 09:02
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
Taresh
Joined: 23 Mar 2017
Last visit: 16 Jul 2018
Posts: 5
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 3
Posts: 5
Kudos: 1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
AkshdeepS
Joined: 13 Apr 2013
Last visit: 15 May 2026
Posts: 1,423
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 1,002
Status:It's near - I can see.
Location: India
Concentration: International Business, Operations
GPA: 3.01
WE:Engineering (Real Estate)
Products:
Posts: 1,423
Kudos: 1,944
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
hanamana
Joined: 11 Jan 2018
Last visit: 21 Dec 2024
Posts: 128
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 25
Posts: 128
Kudos: 60
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
Sajjad1994
User avatar
GRE Forum Moderator
Joined: 02 Nov 2016
Last visit: 20 May 2026
Posts: 16,721
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 6,357
GPA: 3.62
Products:
Posts: 16,721
Kudos: 52,228
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Taresh
Hi Guys,

First of all just want to thanks this amazing website which has helped many like me to at least kick start their MBA prep.

Today I took my GMAT after almost 3-4 months of preparation.
Although there were on and off breaks during my whole study time as am a working professional and my job at times drain all the brain and time needed. Still, when I took few mocks in the last days I was at least scoring 550+.
Though the score I got on mocks was low what I aimed for (680+), however, I was hopeful that at least I will get a 550+ on the D-Day.
I gave several mocks like GMAT Prep scoring 530, 560, 570 etc.
I also gave free tests by Veritas and Kaplan and scored 580 and 610 respectively.
In the last week I gave Kaplan free mock twice and got 610 and 600 both the times - Q47 V 25-28.
I was hopeful that I will score at least 550+.
But today something devastating happened. I am not sure what went wrong.
May be I took a real competition exam after 5-6 years in my life and anxiety took over me.
Or, may be I finished both verbal and quants almost 3-4 minutes early meaning I did not pay adequate time to question stems and screwed myself up.

I am targeting colleges that usually need 650+ scores and the score I cam up with today left me astonished.
Any guidance will be really helpful for me to get to my desired score.

Thank you in anticipation.

You should better focus on a solid study plan with sound strategy. Here is a study plan for you

Best Books

For learning Concepts

Manhattan Quant Guides
Manhattan Verbal Guides
For CR: The Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible
For RC: Aristotle RC Grail

For Practice

The Official Guide for GMAT 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review 2015-18
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2015-18

Best Courses

1. e-GMAT
2. Empower GMAT
3. Math Revolution (Only Math)

You can start with Quant or Verbal which suits you. If you have started with Quant then Start with the Arithmetic but if started with verbal then start first with Sentence correction. One month for learning Quant concepts and one month for practicing question and same practice for Verbal. During you Practicing question don't forget to make an error log to track your weak areas after practice. Once you know your weak areas revise your Concepts related to those areas and do some more Practice. 6-8 CATs are enough for practice the real tests. Make your Stamina for sitting 3 hours in the test and don't study more than 2 hours in one sit and 4 hours per day

Top CATs for Practice

1. Official GMAC CATs
2. Manhattan CATs
3. Kaplan CATs
4. GMAT Club Quant CATs

Good Luck
User avatar
EMPOWERgmatRichC
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 19 Dec 2014
Last visit: 31 Dec 2023
Posts: 21,777
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 450
Status:GMAT Assassin/Co-Founder
Affiliations: EMPOWERgmat
Location: United States (CA)
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V49
GRE 1: Q170 V170
Posts: 21,777
Kudos: 13,084
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi Taresh,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as hoped. Is this the first time you've taken the GMAT? I ask because in some prior posts you had planned to take the GMAT late last year, but it's not clear if you ever did. If you have other Official Scores besides this recent Score, then they might help to define patterns in your performances (and studies) that we would want to analyze.

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. If you can answer a few questions, then we should be able to figure this out:

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as when you took your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE (re: on a prior CAT, in an online forum or in a practice set)?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
User avatar
hanamana
Joined: 11 Jan 2018
Last visit: 21 Dec 2024
Posts: 128
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 25
Posts: 128
Kudos: 60
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi OP,

Have you retaken the exam yet? If so, did your score improve? My test is in two weeks and want to hear how you did!
User avatar
anzio129
Joined: 25 Feb 2018
Last visit: 28 Mar 2019
Posts: 10
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 10
Location: United States
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
What's your target score? You mention:

Though the score I got on mocks was low what I aimed for (680+), however, I was hopeful that at least I will get a 550+ on the D-Day.

It seems like you may be putting a lot of pressure on yourself signing up for the test before you're ready to nail it and get your goal score?

I wouldn't worry too much about the 430, based on your practice test scores it seems like a bit of a fluke. With that said, you may want to make sure you can semi-consistently achieve your goal score on practice tests before reattempting the real thing.
Moderators:
203 posts
General GMAT Forum Moderator
474 posts