Inconsistent Verbal (30 Mock to 21 Real)

Question

I started preparation at the End of Dec 2019 and continued till End of Jan 20. Later, I continued my preparation starting from May 20. I have complete OG20 and OGR20 three times. I attended recorded lectures on youtube from GMATNinja, Jamboree, VeritasPrep, etc. For practice, I solved many SC 600-700 Level questions.

I booked my test dated 30-Jul-20. I completed my verbal test and during the break, there was a server problem at the test center. Unfortunately, the test got canceled and my profile got locked. After numerous followup, my account was unblocked on 10-Aug-20. I booked the exam for 11-Aug-20. This time there was a problem at the GMAT cloud. Finally, I took the test on 14-Aug-20 and I got 590 (Q-49, V-21). It was a surprise for me. In the mock tests, my score was between 29 and 33 in verbal.
------------------------------------------------
Date...........Test..........................V.....Q
------------------------------------------------
20-Jul-20...Veritas............650....30....49
22-Jul-20...Manhattan.......660....33....47
23-Jul-20...eGMAT............640....29....48
24-Jul-20...ExpertGlobal....660....29....50
25-Jul-20...Princeton.........660....31....51
28-Jul-20...GMAC..............660....33....49
--------------------------------------------------------
11-Aug-20...GMAT............  590 ....  21....49

Today, on the occasion of Independence day in India, there are free CAT Mocks from GMAT Clubs. I grab this opportunity to re-evaluate my verbal skills. I completed 3 mocks and got 28, 35, and 34.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
 Test-1 ->  28  
Difficulty....Number of questions....Average time....% Correct
500-LV.........11..............................1:23..............100%
600-LV.........12..............................1:42................67%
700-LV.........13..............................2:09................31%
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 Test-2 ->  35  
Difficulty....Number of questions....Average time....% Correct
500-LV.........11..............................1:19................91%
600-LV......... 9.............................. 1:41................89%
700-LV.........16..............................1:45................31%
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 Test-3 ->  34  
Difficulty....Number of questions....Average time....% Correct
500-LV.........15..............................1:12................87%
600-LV.........13..............................1:42................77%
700-LV......... 8.............................. 1:51................63%
---------------------------------------------------------------------

I have one month to reappear for another GMAT test, before the first-round deadline of ESADE. I am seeking help to understand the probable reason behind my poor score and to prepare for the next test.

Any help will be highly appreciated!

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

You've done plenty of studying for the test so I think there may be a reason to look more closely at your in-test process. There's a simple fact that for each level of 'content' expertise a test-taker has, there's a variation in their test performance due to how they tackle each quant or verbal question.

It would useful to get an expert coach to look at your in-test approach to verbal questions -- are you rushing to the answer choices without carefully reading and capturing everything the prompt tells you? Are you eliminating answers in SC to improve your chances of being able to focus on the real reasoning that will find the right answer? Are you focusing on core question when reading the passage in RC and then allowing secondary questions to be answered by quick pop-backs into the passage?

These are all examples of critical areas that I drill with test-takers to improve their actual test day results. I'd be happy to discuss more specifics and assess your core verbal skills and process if you reach out.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Vin5,

I'm sorry to hear that Test Day didn't go as well as planned. 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, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) Since May, what type of study routine have you been following? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) Did you take any other practice CATs/mocks besides the ones you listed from the end of July? On what 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:
4) Is your overall goal score still 670 or is it something else?
5) Are you planning to apply to any other Schools besides ESADE? What are the exact application deadlines that you are facing?

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

Vin5 · Answer

Thanks Ric for your response.

1) Since May, what type of study routine have you been following? How many hours do you typically study each week?
Since May, I consistently studied for 3 months. I have studied on average 50 hours per week. Among these 50 hours, I spend 40 hours on verbal.
2) Did you take any other practice CATs/mocks besides the ones you listed from the end of July? On what 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)?
I took 10 mock test, which were not CAT, from IMS Learning. These tests were part of my study packages. I was told to use this test only for sitting and timing practice. I also got 5 adaptive mock tests from IMS -
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date................Test..........................V (Correct)..Q (Correct)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
19-Jun-20......ADMATGMAT 1......600....26 (21)....46 (22)
20-Jun-20......ADMATGMAT 2......560....21 (20)....46 (22)
21-Jun-20......ADMATGMAT 3......660....32 (23)....49 (21)
03-Jul-20.......ADMATGMAT 4......600....26 (21)....46 (22)
19-Jul-20.......ADMATGMAT 5......570....23 (19)....45 (21)

Goals:
4) Is your overall goal score still 670 or is it something else?
My target goal is 670.
5) Are you planning to apply to any other Schools besides ESADE? What are the exact application deadlines that you are facing?
I plan to apply to ESADE, and maybe IESE. Dealine for R1 is 01-Oct-2020.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Vin5,

I've sent you a PM with some additional notes and questions.

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Vin5,

Given how you scored on your practice exams, I would not say that your actual GMAT was a total disaster right? In any case, it’s clear that verbal is holding you back, so would you like some general advice on how to improve your GMAT verbal skills?

kaloox · Answer

I have exactly the same issue. I passed the two free mocks on GMAT prep and a CAT for MGMAT and I got the following scores 660 Q42, V40, 670 Q47, V35 and 640 Q40, V37. However I just passed the official one today and got 600 with Q44, V28. My verbal scores are soo low and I do not understand why😭 I had a network issue during verbal and got disconnected but not sure that’s the reason behind the verbal score difference

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi kaloox,

Depending on how the At-home GMAT is coded, I suppose its possible that if your Exam was disconnected at a certain point, then it might not have property logged your answers after the Exam was reconnected. However, that's a difficult assumption to make, especially if all of the other functionalities of the Exam were properly working (re: the countdown timer, the 'confirm your answer' and 'submit' buttons, etc).

1) You have a GMAT Score listed in your profile that includes a V40; is that a result from a prior Official Exam?
2) At what point (re: what question number) were you working on during the Verbal section when your Exam disconnected?
3) Assuming that you would have scored in the high-V30s or a V40, you would have ended up with a Score that was fairly close to the one listed in your profile (re: 660). What is your overall Score Goal? I ask because if you're interested in scoring a lot higher than a 660, then you will almost certainly need to pick up those additional points in the Quant section.

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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]

Vin5 · Answer

Hi  kaloox

It happens sometimes. Do not feel that a test will decide your knowledge and capability. It is just a test, in which only two kinds of people can perform - i) Natual talent with Quant and Verbal, ii) Hard workers who prepared a lot

I feel that quant is quite natural to me, but Verbal is something worrying me. I reappeared for GMAT on 02-Mar-2021 with an increase in Verbal from 21 to 27, with the help of a GMAT class for 2 months.

After thorough retrospection, I realized that the format of GMAT verbal is not well suited to me. Instead of putting more time into GMAT, I started preparing for the GRE. For the first 3 months, my score was in the range of 150-155. I keep remembering words and reading articles, as a result, my score increased up to 160 in Verbal by the last week. This was my ideal score and the ideal time to appear on the test in order to apply for R1. However, I could not appear for the exam in August because of some personal problem, but I did not stop revising words. Finally, I appeared for the GRE test on 20-Oct-2021 and got 163 in the Verbal. My overall score in GRE was 333 (V163, Q170), which is equivalent to the GMAT 770 as per ETS.

Coming back to the GMAT, I believe that I could get a V35 if I would give 8 months to the GMAT instead of GRE. But I was not comfortable with an exam in which I cannot review my answers and skip tough questions for later. Moreover, I want to pursue a career in my current domain - Technology. None of the technology companies is asking for a GMAT score, although some of the strategy companies ask for a GMAT score during recruitment. Hence, I put my effort into the GRE and I could not be happier.

I would suggest you reappear for the GMAT once, and if you did not get the expected result try something else such as GRE or EA.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

If you find yourself running out of stamina, spending too long on question, running against the clock in the last quarter of Verbal working on your  solving approach  may be helpful.

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

Hi kaloox,

Honestly, people spend massive amounts of time prepping for retakes because they don't get a clear answer to the WHY? question. Exactly why did you fall short on the GMAT?

We've found that from out past client pool of 1200+ test takers, 60+% are falling short more because of weak Test Taking Skills than quant or verbal concepts.

Happy to discuss further and in more personalized details. There are ways to quickly figure and fix your gaps in Test Taking Skills that are holding your score back.

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi kaloox,

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

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