100-pt Drop in Actual GMAT vs Mock Tests: Best retake study strategy?

Question

Hi GMAT Experts  ScottTargetTestPrep ,  EMPOWERgmatRichC , etc.

Need your advice on a retake study plan and how to best move forward.

Just took my GMAT last December 1 and scored a 580 (Q42/V28), which was a 100-point drop from my average performance across 10+ mocks taken over a 3-month period (average of 680 with Q46/V38). Breakdown of mocks as follows:

GMAT Official Practice Test 1: Aug 15 – 620 (Q45/V31)
GMAT Official Practice Test 2: Sep 26 – 690 (Q45/V39)
GMAT Official Practice Test 3: Oct 10 – 710 (Q48/V39)
GMAT Official Practice Test 4: Oct 17 – 630 (Q42/V35)
GMAT Official Practice Test 5: Oct 24 – 700 (Q47/V38)
GMAT Official Practice Test 6: Nov 01 – 660 (Q42/V38)
Veritas Free Practice Test: Nov 07 – 670 (Q45/V37)
Kaplan Free Practice Test: Nov 14 – 680 (Q45/V38)
Kaplan Practice Test (Paid): Nov 19 – 670 (Q46/V36)
GMAT Official Practice Test 1  : Nov 24 – 730 (Q49/V41)
GMAT Official Practice Test 2  : Nov 27 – 720 (Q47/V42)
GMAT Official Practice Test 3  : Nov 29 – 710 (Q49/V38)

For additional context on my prep:
1) Study materials – took Target Test Prep courses for both Quant and Verbal, then used OG 2021 for practice before taking the official mock tests.
2) In between mocks – reviewed errors, checked solutions here in GMAT Club, then did timed practice sets using the Official Practice 1 from GMAT Prep (exam mode)
3) All mocks were taken in realistic conditions as much as possible (no pausing, taking the 8 min breaks, etc.)
4) Identified weak points during my study:
QUANT:
- Topics: number properties (divisibility/primes), word problems (algebra translation), inequalities (absolute value, etc)
- Approach/Strategies: inconsistency in testing cases rigorously and using smart numbers for Data Sufficiency, application of concepts consistently under time pressure in harder questions (abstract questions composed mostly of variables)
VERBAL: Overall time management issue: throughout my practice tests I was consistently running out of time at the end and always had to rush through the last quarter of the section

Going into the test, I felt I was trending well in my mocks and establishing a more consistent baseline, so overall I felt good momentum. During the test, I felt pretty much the same way I did in the mocks, especially in Quant. The feel in terms of difficulty and pacing was similar to when I scored in the high 40s in mocks in Quant. Verbal felt similar also in the sense that the same pacing issues caught up at the last quarter of questions just like my mocks. But even with pacing issues, I was averaging V38 in mocks so I was surprised my score dropped to 28 in the actual test.

I’m planning to retake the GMAT within a month’s time. Given that the drastic drop-off from my mocks was caused mostly by my Verbal (drop off from 38 to 28), I’m working on fine tuning my Verbal timing discipline (being more aggressive in eliminating answers, not overthinking, cutting myself off and moving on to manage time, etc.) because clearly I can’t go into a retake with those same timing issues. Additionally, I’m continuing doing Quant drills on my weaknesses.

Would you guys have any advice on how else I can change my approach? Any tips on how best to proceed would be most welcome. I also have my ESR and can share this also as needed for additional insight/analysis to inform my prep moving forward.

Thank you very much in advance!

Best regards!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi nathancjr,

I see you have been using TTP. Can you please paste in a screenshot of your TTP analytics page, so I can see what is going on with your TTP stats and course progress? Once I have that information, we can take things from there.

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi nathancjr,

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) 
 number of hours devoted by you to studies everyday (For how long have you been preparing?) 
 your approach of solving questions 
 your target score

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

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi nathancjr,

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 - and I'd certainly like to see your ESR.

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). If you purchased the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you. Before you can include attachments with your posts/PMs, you need to have at least 5 posts in the forums (right now, you have 4 posts). If you would rather not publicly post your ESR then you can feel free to email me directly (at [email protected]).

In addition, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

1) Over the last 3 months, how many hours did you typically study each week?
2) Is your overall goal score 700 or something else?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to? If you're planning to apply soon, then what specific application deadlines are you facing?

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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]

MathRevolution · Answer

Hello nathancjr,

Your current GMAT score is a bit shaky but a target score of 650+ seems realistic.

Also, I fully understand your frustration because, with my GMAT tutoring, guidance, and counseling experience, we have to accept a fact with a pinch of salt that diagnostic/ mock test scores are above then what one should expect in a real test. There is often dropping in the score. Some students have even experienced a drop of 100 pointers. It is one of the realities, and your preparation should not sideline this fact.

A couple of things that can be a noticeable barrier to your scores would be some or all of the below.

• No expert support (maybe) who can tutor, analyze, and guide you during your learning especially on hard-level questions while stably hitting middle-level questions.
• Lack of many updated questions and practice in the recent exam trend
• Not well aligned with time to solve questions.

We would recommend you make a note of various possible combinations of your target score. The possible scores will help you track your performance after taking the mock or practice test. It will also help you maintain balance in both the sections, and you will always be in a great position to allot the study hours to a specific area accordingly.

You can try our free diagnostic test(Quant only) and receive a comprehensive study guide by topic. This test will clearly help you understand your weak areas.

You can schedule a Free counseling session for 20 mins with one of our experts:https://calendly.com/mathrevolution/1-on-1-session for detailed advice on your current study plans.

You must schedule your day smartly to revise the topics and also practice more questions. We would suggest you register with MathRevolution https://www.mathrevolution.com/member/signup to get access to our 7-days on-demand course for free trial lessons.

Since we are a math expert, we will recommend you go through our post on the GMAT club: Breakdown of GMAT math questions and types: https://gmatclub.com/forum/overview-of- ... l#p1641411

Regular tests will reflect the positive change in the score, and hence, your confidence will boost up. Gradually, with the help of mock tests, you will be able to compete with time and hence will be able to learn time management.

We appreciate your time and patience in reading this reply.

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]

Success is within your reach.
Good luck!

Math Revolution Team

egmat · Answer

Hi nathancjr, I'm sorry to see that you could not score well in this attempt. This problem - scoring high in mocks and low in the official attempt is something we see in many candidates. There is a solid reason for this and you can fix it as well (I'll explain the same in the response below. But let me first give you a couple of examples of students who faced the same issue and overcame this - Students who scored high on mocks but scored low on the official attempt Hitesh scored up to 760 on his official mock tests but scored only a 580 in his first attempt. He then changed the overall strategy and approach to score a 720 in his next attempt. Here is his GC debrief - Hitesh, GMAT 580 to 720 . Edision scored around 710 to 780 in his official mock tests, but ended up with a 640 in his first attempt. He took the help of e-GMAT mentors to overhaul the approach and achieved a 750 in less than 2 months. Here is his GC debrief - Edision, GMAT 640 to 750 I'm sure you would easily relate your journey to the above examples. What should you do to improve your score? 1.Change your approach (learn the right methodology) - First of all, you should never reset the mocks and retake them. It gives an inflated score (due to repeat questions). And there is some fluctuation in your official mock test scores ( you have already identified this in your earlier post ) which suggests that there is inconsistency in your approach to solve questions. You must work on changing your approach. Your current GMAT score (580) indicates that you might have a good understanding of most of the concepts, but you are faltering while applying them (to solve medium-hard and hard level questions). You need to learn the right methods to apply the concepts to build the ability. 2.How to address your timing issue The timing issue is not a problem. It's just a symptom. The real issue is with ability. If you master the right methodology to approach the questions, timing will automatically fall in line. Both Hitesh and Edision worked on learning the right methods (example - meaning-based approach in SC, Prethinking in CR etc.) to fix their ability issues (and timing) as you can see from their debriefs. Here is a snippet from Edision's debrief. https://e-gmat.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Meaning-in-SC_Edision-SS.png As you can see from the above screenshot, using the right method is important to eliminate the answer choices in a limited time. 3.Use better metrics to track your improvement Mock test score is not the only indicator of your test readiness. You need to track some other important metrics too. For example, to score a 730+, you need to consistently score 85 percentile in SC, 75 percentile in CR etc. You must set these percentile targets for each sub-section and track whether you are performing consistently or not. By mastering the right methodology (such as meaning based approach in SC, Prethinking in CR) you can score high consistently in each sub-section. There are other important metrics as well which you need to track - such as your accuracy and timing in every topic within a sub-sections (in various difficulty levels such as Easy, medium and hard questions). Improvement in 1 month with tracking If you are ready to make the changes to your approach and put in the effort, we can help you set up a study plan and help you with the following - Help you with customized metrics to track in each sub-section Give precise time estimates and effort required for improvement in each sub-section And help you track the improvement every day so that you don’t get stuck at the same level. If you need this, please drop an e-mail to rajat@e-gmat.com or book a one on one strategy session with one of our experts using the below link - One-on-One Strategy Session with e-GMAT experts Here is an example of a student who improved by 110 points in just 30 days - Arshita was stuck at a 620 (V29) after 6-months of preparation using books and other resources. She then changed the aprpoach, learned the right methods and improved to a 750 in just 30 days. That’s the power of using the right methods and tracking. Watch her debrief here - Arshita, GMAT 640 to 750 in 30 days . Here is a snapshot of how your study plan should look like - https://e-gmat.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/580-to-720-in-30-days.png

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