Advice needed ! Mock Cats score fluctuating

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mitaliisrani: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 56; Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:06 am

by mitaliisrani » Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:56 am

Hi,

I have been preparing for the GMAT since the last 3 weeks....Scored a 580 - Kaplan test 1, 520-Princeton 1, 540- Princeton 2

I have used the following materials for my prep
1) OG12
2) Cracking the gmat by princeton review
3) MGMAT book for number properties

My verbal score has been dropped drastically from my first test...Scored a 34 scaled score on my Kaplan test and then a 28, 27 on the other 2 princeton tests...Thou my math score has improved but the sudden fluctuation in my verbal score is difficult to understand.

I have realized once into the verbal section i lose concentration and cannot manage even the simplest questions which i am generally good at when i attempt them standalone.

I intend to take my test in the next 15-20 days...Please help

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Source: Beat The GMAT — GMAT Strategy | Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:56 am

uwhusky: Legendary Member; Posts: 1172; Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:20 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 74 times

by uwhusky » Wed Jun 02, 2010 10:22 am

If OG12 and Cracking the GMAT are your only study materials for verbal, then you are in trouble. There are several recommended materials for verbal under Resources tab, and I would highly recommend pushing the test date back.

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papgust: Community Manager; Posts: 1537; Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:10 pmFollowed by: 252 members; Thanked: 653 times

by papgust » Wed Jun 02, 2010 10:00 pm

What is your target score? If you are aiming for a 700, I would strongly recommend that you postpone your test date. Use the right resources for your preparation. As uwhusky suggested, take some time to go through the Resources tab.

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Dan@VinciaPrep: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 384; Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:54 amFollowed by: 13 members; Location: Paris; Thanked: 92 times

by Dan@VinciaPrep » Thu Jun 03, 2010 1:41 am

mitaliisrani wrote:Hi,

My verbal score has been dropped drastically from my first test...Scored a 34 scaled score on my Kaplan test and then a 28, 27 on the other 2 princeton tests...Thou my math score has improved but the sudden fluctuation in my verbal score is difficult to understand.

I have realized once into the verbal section i lose concentration and cannot manage even the simplest questions which i am generally good at when i attempt them standalone.

I intend to take my test in the next 15-20 days...Please help

Score fluctuation is somewhat normal when your scores are in the 500s and low 600s because how well you do really depends on the questions that you are given. You are probably strong on some parts of SC and weak on other parts, and depending on what questions you get your score fluctuates accordingly. Only after you know most of the SC rules and have done more practice will your score fluctuate less, but even then you score may change depending on you level of awareness at the time that you are taking the test. That is, if you're taking the test at the end of the day you'll probably do worse than if you had taken the test in the middle of the day

If my post helped you- let me know by pushing the thanks button

I'm a private tutor in Paris, I provide online and in person consulting for the GMAT and MBA application essays.
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Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pmFollowed by: 694 members; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Fri Jun 04, 2010 7:56 am

Received a PM asking me to respond.

I'm going to echo the other posters and ask what your goal score is. You just started studying 3 weeks ago and you're planning to take the test in another 3 weeks, so you aren't spending a ton of time studying (most people study for 3-4 months). That doesn't mean you have to spend that much time, but the fact that you're concerned about your test scores leads me to believe that you want to be scoring a lot higher than you are. If that's the case, then you may need to think about postponing your test date.

The general rule is that we should expect to score in the same range (on the real test) as what we're scoring in the last 7-10 days before the real test. This assumes that we are taking practice tests under full, official testing conditions (including essays). If you are not taking tests under official testing conditions, then you should generally expect your official test score to be LOWER than your practice test scores (because, for the most part, the deviations from official conditions tend to result in higher practice test scores than we could normally expect).

Next, it would be good to figure out why your verbal score is dropping. A 34 down to a 27 is a 20+ percentile point drop, which is a somewhat significant drop. The drop could be due to timing issues, stamina, stress, more questions in your areas of weakness... or any combination of the above. You can use the analysis described in this article to help you try to figure out what's going on:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/26 ... went-wrong

(Note: your overall score drop doesnt represent a huge score drop - it's really only the verbal score that dropped.)

Next, again I'll echo what another poster said above: if you want to see a significant verbal improvement, you need to have sources for verbal that will teach you all of the grammar you need to know as well as techniques for tackling the reading tasks and all of the different question types on the CR and RC portions of the test.

Finally, let us know what your goal score is and whether you still plan to take the test in 15-20 days. (Note: if your goal score is much higher than your currect practice test scores, then you would be wise to postpone the test.) Once we know what the plan is, we can advise you better. You may also want to read this article:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... study-plan

Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me

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mitaliisrani: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 56; Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:06 am

by mitaliisrani » Thu Jun 10, 2010 3:16 am

Stacey Koprince wrote:Received a PM asking me to respond.

I'm going to echo the other posters and ask what your goal score is. You just started studying 3 weeks ago and you're planning to take the test in another 3 weeks, so you aren't spending a ton of time studying (most people study for 3-4 months). That doesn't mean you have to spend that much time, but the fact that you're concerned about your test scores leads me to believe that you want to be scoring a lot higher than you are. If that's the case, then you may need to think about postponing your test date.

The general rule is that we should expect to score in the same range (on the real test) as what we're scoring in the last 7-10 days before the real test. This assumes that we are taking practice tests under full, official testing conditions (including essays). If you are not taking tests under official testing conditions, then you should generally expect your official test score to be LOWER than your practice test scores (because, for the most part, the deviations from official conditions tend to result in higher practice test scores than we could normally expect).

Next, it would be good to figure out why your verbal score is dropping. A 34 down to a 27 is a 20+ percentile point drop, which is a somewhat significant drop. The drop could be due to timing issues, stamina, stress, more questions in your areas of weakness... or any combination of the above. You can use the analysis described in this article to help you try to figure out what's going on:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/26 ... went-wrong

(Note: your overall score drop doesnt represent a huge score drop - it's really only the verbal score that dropped.)

Next, again I'll echo what another poster said above: if you want to see a significant verbal improvement, you need to have sources for verbal that will teach you all of the grammar you need to know as well as techniques for tackling the reading tasks and all of the different question types on the CR and RC portions of the test.

Finally, let us know what your goal score is and whether you still plan to take the test in 15-20 days. (Note: if your goal score is much higher than your currect practice test scores, then you would be wise to postpone the test.) Once we know what the plan is, we can advise you better. You may also want to read this article:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... study-plan

Hi Stacey,
Thanks for replying your advice was highly appreciated.My goal score is in the range of 680-720....Have postponed my gmat date by a month...Started brushing up on verbal concepts along with a regular practice of questions.

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Stacey Koprince: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2228; Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pmFollowed by: 694 members; Location: Montreal, Canada; Thanked: 639 times; GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Fri Jun 11, 2010 9:03 am

Okay, then yes - postponing is a good decision. After you've done the analysis described in the "my score dropped!" article, let us know what you uncovered and we can help you to figure out what to do about it (depending upon why your score is dropping).

You may also want to do the analysis described in this article on your most recent practice test (a test taken under official testing conditions):

https://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23 ... tice-tests

(Note: the analysis described is based on using an MGMAT practice test. You may also be able to adapt the article for use with other practice tests, depending upon the kind of data that the other test gives you.)

This analysis, combined with the "my score dropped" analysis, will give us more specific data about your strengths and weaknesses - and that will be useful in order to figure out how you should be spending your time.

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