770 in mock to 620 in real

Question

Hi all,
I have been preparing for GMAT for about 4-5 momths now. I rescheduled my exam to 21st of Nov(today) as I wasn't much confident last month. Now in my last 4 mocks in the last month(all official), my scores were 700,700,770,760(this was day before yesterday). Q51,V42.
Today I took my exam and got a shocking 620. V31 and Q44.
Some of the reasons which I assume were responsible are : I was quite anxious,I really want to apply this year and this was like the penultimate days before preparing the applications. Another, my anxiety was mostly for quant,turns out during exam none of those given markers worked properly,they needed an exact amount of pressure to make sure the ink flows. Asking for replacement didn't help as all 6 pens did the same. Needless to say,from the very first question I was totally frustrated and tensed. Strangely my Verbal score also tanked.
In all the practices I have done in the last month, my accuracy was above 90%. Not sure where I went so horribly wrong (apart from my nerves) to get my score 150 below mocks.

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MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi Mdebolina.

Were any of those practice tests retakes, or were they all fresh tests?

It sounds as if the marker issues and anxiety are to blame for the score drop, but you may get some other ideas from this post.

Why Was My GMAT Score Lower Than My Practice Test Scores?

TheWrongGrammer · Answer

Hey in same boat, I was doing 690-710 in fresh practice test, consistently hitting 49-51 in quant and 35 in verbal but I got 640 in exam, quant 46 and verbal 31 .. not sure if it’s because I had only 3 hour sleep due to anxiety …

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

rn1112 · Answer

It would have been really frustrating !! Still, would advise you to reattempt the Test after a few weeks.

For revising the study, GC Forum Quiz provides an excellent resource to test yourself.

All the Best.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Mdebolina,

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) How long have you studied? How many hours do you typically study each week?
2) What study materials have you used so far? What “brands” of CATs/mocks have you used?
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)?

Goals:
4) What is your overall goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

If you took your Official GMAT 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

Contact Rich at: [email protected]

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Probably fair to say going from multiple 700+ scores on Official Mocks to a 620 actual exam score isn't the norm. Might be good to shrug off this experience and go into the next attempt with a positive mindset. Consider repeating an old official Mock if you've done them all to boost your confidence perhaps. Some quick Quant and Verbal tips you may find helpful on the gmatknight blog.

TheWrongGrammer

hitting 49-51 in quant and 35 in verbal but I got 640 in exam, quant 46 and verbal 31 .

Here's someone who went from a V31 to a V40 (retake) in about 30 days. May be some helpful info you can quickly leverage.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-online- ... 68599.html

egmat · Answer

Hi Mdebolina , I’m sorry to hear about your experience. The external factors you mentioned might have affected the score. Such disturbances certainly increase a test taker’s stress levels. Staying calm and composed in such situations is the best advice I can give you for such a situation. Internal Factors to consider: 1. Test Day Anxiety That said, there could be some internal factors responsible for this anomaly as well. Test day anxiety gets to a very large percentage of test takers. It has a way of messing with your head. It can throw off your timing completely, make you spend more time on questions by destroying your focus, and even make you revert to old habits. If this is true in your case, the positive side to it is that you now know what to expect and you can use that to your advantage in your next attempt. If your mock scores are any reflection of your testing ability, then it means you’re ready for the test. If you’ve truly mastered the right core skills during your 5 month preparation, you need to apply the exact same skills and methodologies during the exam. Remember, the questions WILL vary, but not the SKILLS tested. Of course, there can be a dip of 10 to 20 points, but not more. 2. Inflated Mock Scores However, at times, it is even possible that the student’s mock scores are inflated. We have seen this happen to students before. Here is one example – Edison scored 710-780 on official mocks but got a 640 in the 1st attempt. He had to revamp his approach to score a 750 in the next attempt. Quick question: Did you see any questions you practiced from GMAT Club on the official mock tests? If so, the mock scores might have been inflated. Next Steps: Your immediate action plan should be to get confirmation about your current skill level. For this, I recommend you take our SIGma-X mock test here - https://e-gmat.com/sigma-x/ If you get a 700+ score on this mock, then your ability level is surely high. And after a few days of revision, practice, and strategic review (of errors), you may plan for a re-take. But if you score around 620 in the SIGma-X mock, then it is a red flag on your approach. At this point, you should consider revamping your strategy. Feel free to write to us at support@e-gmat.com once you complete the mock test. We can do a quick analysis and share our recommendations. Hope this helps! -Sundeep

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