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Confused. Went from 730 to 640

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Confused. Went from 730 to 640

by kunalmatt » Thu Sep 01, 2016 11:12 pm
Hi guys,

I just took the GMAT this week n scored a 640(Q44/V35). This is the lowest of my Practice tests. I took the Economist GMAT tutor. It did help me with certain concepts of Verbal and Quant. I gave 5 Economist Practice tests.
Economist Test 1: 640 ( Baseline test, without any preparation)
Economist Test 2: 680 ( 40% Preparation)
Economist Test 3: 720 (Q49 V40) (60% Preparation)
Economist Test 4: 710 (Q48 V39) (75-90% Preparation)
Economist Test 5: 660 (Q46 V34) ( Lack of concentration. Was in no mood to take it and was under the weather)


3 weeks before the Actual GMAT i decide to start with GMAT Prep tests:

GMAT Prep Test 1: 700 (Q48 V38) ( I was a little taken aback with the difference in the GMAT questions and the Economist questions)
I purchased the GMAT Question pack to practice on more GMAT questions.. to familiarise myself with GMAT questions..
GMAT Prep Test 2: 660 (Q43 V38) ( I found there was a big difference the sort of questions I encountered in the GMAT Prep)
GMAT Prep Test 3: 690 (Q49 V35) ( New Test.. GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1)
GMAT Prep Test 4: 730 (Q48 V42) ( New Test.. GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1)

I was expecting a score of 670-720. 720/730 on a good day and 670/680 on a bad day.

But seeing a 640 was shocking. Clearly was not expecting this. Im planning to take it again in 45 days time, as I clearly don't think, this is where I stand.

Any comments??

I'm trying to rethink my strategy and a 45 day study plan to ensure that I score 700+.

I want to take my Quant score from 48-49 to a 50/51. In none of the tests have I crossed the 50 marks in Quant.

Any suggestions on what strategy i could adopt.

Thanks in advance
Kunal
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by [email protected] » Fri Sep 02, 2016 8:46 am
Hi kunalmatt,

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. If you can answer a few questions, then we should be able to figure this out:

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
2) Did you take them at home?
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as your Official GMAT?
4) Did you ever do ANYTHING during your CATs that you couldn't do on Test Day (pause the CAT, skip sections, take longer breaks, etc.)?
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?

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by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Sat Sep 03, 2016 7:56 am
Hi kunalmatt,

Based on your practice test scores, it does seem a bit surprising that your actual GMAT score was a 640. Before providing retake advice, I would like to learn more about your GMAT experience.

1) Did you get your enhanced score reports? If not, could you do so and share the score breakdown from your exam?

2) When you took your practice tests, did you take them under realistic conditions (e.g. in a quiet environment, no extended breaks)? Did you complete the entire CAT, including the IR and Essay sections?

3) Describe your study routine. What resources did you use to study? How many hours a day did you study and for how many total months?

4) Describe your experience on test day. Did you feel nervous while taking the exam? By the end of the verbal section did you feel burned out? Did you take all of your assigned breaks? Feel free to include any other relevant information.

5) If you do retake the GMAT, how many hours a day can you commit to studying?

6) What are the MBA programs to which you plan to apply? What deadlines are you targeting?

Jeffrey Miller
Head of GMAT Instruction
[email protected]

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by kunalmatt » Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:24 pm
Hi Jeff,

1)I haven't gone for the enhanced score report.. Have heard mixed reviews about it. Do you think it's a good idea to go in for it?
2) The CATs were at the same time of the actual tests. For the GMAT Preps I took the entire tests, including the IR and essays.The breaks were always timed. Always took just one break.. Between quant and verbal and that too just to have a glass of water. However for the last GMAT Prep I didn't take any breaks. Did the entire test in one go, and I felt my concentration was better that way without breaking the momentum.
3) I woke up at 5am everyday and studied from the economist GMAT tutor for an hour. Went to work came back from work at 8pm and studies 1/2-1hour, depending on how tired I was. On an average 1.5hours a day. On the weekends it was usually 2hours on Saturday and Sunday. And towards the last month weekends were for taking the CATs and reviewing each question and sometimes resolving them.
The last 2 weeks I purchased the extra practice questions from GMAT prep and started solving them for the last 10-12 days.

4) I was a little nervous on test day, but nothing I couldn't overcome. Didn't stress myself with last minute study.. The Essay and IR calmed me down. However the 1st question on the quant took me by surprise. Was a little different and it took me 3-4minin to solve. The first 3 questions seemed a little strange and difficult. I thought I'd spend time solving them correctly and catch up on time when I encounter questions I'm comfortable with. After that I got a little more relaxed and was able to do it well. I didn't want to loose momentum and felt I was concentrating well so continued with the test without any break. The start of the verbal was good and was feeling quite confident. I noticed a passage which seemed unusual to me(5 para) loong.. It was the towards the last 5-6 questions where I encountered questions where I was stuck between two options (SC) SC are generally my strong area.

5)I can probably put in the same amount of effort if I have to retake it. Probably amping up the study time for the weekends.

5) I'm planning to apply to 3 schools only. Indian School of Business, INSEAD and Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) (IIM-A) even if I retake the GMAT by October 20th I still have 1-2months for the deadlines..
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by kunalmatt » Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:34 pm
Hi Rich,
The CATs were at the same time and all the GMAT prep tests were full. I took just one break during the tests that too for only a minute to have a glass of water. Took all the tests at home but ensured I followed all the test protocols. Tried to keep it as real as possible. No repeats on tests. That's the reason I took the extra GMAT Test prep so I don't see questions I've solved before.
I believe I am capable of a higher score..
Based on my practice scores I feel I need to take my quant score up to 51 and be a little more consistent with my 700+ scores.
I feel my baseline was 640.. So after studying for 2-2.5months I feel I should have been above 680 at the very least. Based on the actual test I feel that I was stuck between 2 options on the SC towards the end. I'm guessing I marked the wrong ones, which caused my score to drop to 35 on verbal.

Thanks in advance for your help 😀
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by kunalmatt » Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:45 pm
Hi guys,

I was looking for a 1 month course which would help take my quant score from 47/48( on the CAT) 44( on the actual GMAT) to a 51. I don't believe I'm weak at quant as I've generally done well in anything to do with quant. My verbal would need some polishing which would help me choose with certainty on the last 2 options I've narrowed down. Clubbed with that I would be practicing from the OG and the extra practice questions on the GMAT prep.
I've noticed that most course materials are different from the actual GMAT.
Do you think this is the right approach to take?
I have booked my next test for the 22nd of October 2016. Hoping things go well I can meet the Jan deadline.
Now that I've got the date fixed I want to work towards a score of 730. Would be needing the help from our experts to get there.
I believe 640 was a sign I need to retake and get a score of around 730. If I would have scored a 680 I might not have taken the test again.

Thanks in advance!! 😀
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by [email protected] » Mon Sep 05, 2016 12:49 pm
Hi kunalmatt,

Your Official Score scores that you have the potential to pick up some significant points in BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections - and with a score goal of 730+, you will have to pick up points in both sections. The Q44 means that you were pretty good when it came to the 'math' questions that you faced in the Quant section, but you made a number of little mistakes throughout the section and you missed out on lots of 'strategy-based' points. The V35 means that you didn't have a big 'weak' category, so you have to 'nitpick' your work a bit to find the missing points in that section. You've identified RC as a potential 'problem area', so that could be an area in which you could spend some extra time on Tactics, questions types and common wrong answers (so that you can spot them and avoid them). In addition, the "narrow it down to 2 choices" approach isn't particularly strategic - it's what you would do when you didn't know what else to do, so some broad review of Verbal Tactics, patterns, etc. would be worthwhile.

With a retake on October 22nd, you have about 6.5 weeks of study time, which is good. Based on everything that you've described, I think that you would find the EMPOWERgmat Total Score Booster to be quite helpful. Most of our clients complete that Study Plan in well under 2 months, so the time commitment wouldn't be that bad. We have a variety of free resources on our site (www.empowergmat.com), so you can 'test out' the Course before setting up an Account.

If you have any additional questions, then you can feel free to contact me directly.

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by kunalmatt » Mon Sep 05, 2016 7:25 pm
Thank you very much Rich. :)
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by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Tue Sep 06, 2016 7:50 am
Hi kunalmatt,

Thank you for answering my questions. I do think it's a good idea to get the ESR. Although it does not provide too much detailed scoring information about quant, the report provides a detailed verbal breakdown of your percentile scores in Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension. From those percentages, you can determine where to focus the majority of your verbal study efforts for your retake.

Based on your description of test day, it does not appear as though nerves played a major factor in the drop in your GMAT score. So it's possible that you simply had an "off day" or that some hidden weaknesses were exposed on the real GMAT.

Thus, for your retake, you may consider doing some more focused quant and verbal practice to help find and fix any remaining weaknesses.

For example, if you are practicing Number Properties you want to make sure that you can practice a variety of questions from that topic: LCM, GCF, prime factors, divisibility, remainders, etc. The results of that practice will help you to determine how well you have mastered that topic and to determine your remaining weaknesses within that topic. Such focused practice should help you further build your quant knowledge and help you achieve a top quant score. You may want to follow a similar routine for verbal.

If you would like some help determining your quant strengths and weaknesses, I welcome you to take my free 37-question quant diagnostic. After completing the diagnostic, you will be provided with a detailed analysis of your proficiency level of GMAT quant topics, as well as an opportunity to discuss your diagnostic results with me or another TTP instructor/coach.

In regard to your one-month study plan, I see that you plan to use the OG and official question packs. While those resources are useful because they have questions from past GMATs, they do not have enough questions given about each topic to provide full exposure to all GMAT topics. Additionally, the questions are presented in a random order, so it's challenging to use those materials for focused practice. Thus you may consider using some more robust prep materials in addition to the OG.

If you need any further advice about your study plan, feel free to reach out to me directly and we can even hop on a call. Good luck!!

Jeffrey Miller
Head of GMAT Instruction
[email protected]

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