Absolutely gutted, down 80 points from 1st exam!

Question

Hi All,

I gave my first attempt in Dec 2019 and got a 660(Q47/V34). It was below my goal of 700, so didn't apply anywhere.
I started prepping again these past few months and just gave the test today and got a dismal 580 (Q44/V26). Cancelled the score as it was worse in every regard.
I definitely struggled on pace as I had over 5-6 question that I didn't even answer on Verbal and 2-3 on quant.

My last practice test on GMATPrep I got a 740 and was hoping to get at least 700 in the actual exam. I felt stronger about my verbal this time around but somehow struggled even more.
While giving the exam, I knew my score was going to be low and that didn't help much. Not sure what I should be doing next, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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Laveshan · Answer

Sorry, to hear, I did a 650 in my mock today so I know a little about that gutted feeling. All I can say is regroup, clear your head and hang in there. Keep on trying.

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ash409 · Answer

GMAT OG questions and advanced lately. Then going through gmat club for each questions reasoning and solutions.

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Laur1n1 · Answer

Hey! I feel you so much. On my last Gmat preps I had been scoring 730/710 and today at the center I got a 620 with a very low quant that I don’t even know where it came from. I’m thinking of retaking it in 16 days.

Will you be applying this next round or will you wait for next year?

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Will you be applying this next round or will you wait for next year?

Posted from my mobile device

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi ash409,

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:

1) How long have you studied for this 2nd attempt? How many hours did you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies?
3) On what dates (or approximate 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)?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

If you took this 2nd attempt at a Test Center, then you might also choose to purchase the Enhanced Score Report. 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 purchase the ESR, then I'll be happy to analyze it for you.

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

Toffelfabriken · Answer

If you spent most of your time on the OG, then I'll just refer to my post  here . The OG does not really teach you how to become better at the GMAT. That is learned from other sources.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi ash409,

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 660. 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

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!

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  ash409 , you might want to consider ordering a ESR, to see which sections you mostly faltered with and also an insight into time management.

ash409 · Answer

Hi all, I did end up getting a ESR. Surprisingly, I didn't do well on CR, which is probably my strongest portion in verbal. 
I missed answering 7/8 questions between Verbal/Quant (as in didn't even submit a response) and randomly clicked through a bunch too. I spent too much time on the earlier question, generally when I got stuck and I think that messed up my second half of test where I rushed through. I'm going to trying to improve my timing. Going to give the test again in 1st week of Jan.

I used Manhattan books to learn Quant and Verbal. And used OG/GmatClub questions to practice.

Laveshan · Answer

You are penalised heavily for not answering at all, so that's why your score is so low. I think your new strategy will work well. Good luck

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Consider using a time-management technique to keep yourself on track.

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Absolutely gutted, down 80 points from 1st exam!

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