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Guidance Appreciated: Scored ~100 Points Lower than PT's

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Guidance Appreciated: Scored ~100 Points Lower than PT's

by cgcantrell » Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:59 am
Hello all,
I took the GMAT yesterday (second time overall) and scored a 630 (Quant: 44 / Verbal: 32), which is ~100 points lower than my practice tests. I'm leaning toward taking it again in around a month, however I need to level set on my practice materials and the go-forward approach. Any guidance is appreciated!

For background, over the past two weeks I took multiple practice tests and was consistently scoring in the 690 - 720 range:
- MBA.com (GMAC tests) - 690 - 710 (generally Quant: 48 / Verbal: 35)
- Kaplan - 720 (Quant: 49 / Verbal 40)

I leveraged other materials (Manhattan GMAT, Veritas, etc.) during my first go-around, however I felt that the MBA.com practice test was the most accurate in terms of what I actually received on the exam.

However, after taking the second official test, I believe the Quant was harder than MBA.com and Verbal might've been a touch harder.

My specific ask(s) is whether the practice test materials above are truly the best prep for the exam, anyone has general guidance on how best to execute, and / or any tips / strategies to best improve my score over the next month?

Happy to elaborate, just wanted to get this out there.

Thanks in advance!
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by [email protected] » Tue Aug 08, 2017 2:44 pm
Hi cgcantrell,

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 when you plan to take 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?
6) How many practice CATs did you take in those last two weeks? And how many days before your Official GMAT did you take your final CAT?

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by cgcantrell » Tue Aug 08, 2017 4:05 pm
Hi Rich - thank you for the prompt response. See below for my follow-ups.

When you took your CATs:
1) Did you take the ENTIRE CAT each time (including the Essay and IR sections)?
- I took the entire CAT about half of the time, however I don't think this was one of the factors in my decrease
2) Did you take them at home?
- I took the tests at Starbucks, however I think I may take them in a secluded space (e.g., office on weekend) to truly get the same environment
3) Did you take them at the same time of day as when you plan to take your Official GMAT? Yes
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.)?
- I did have to pause a couple of times, but it wasn't to allocate more time to solve a problem
- I would primarily pause if I received a phone call I had to take or had to urgently use the restroom
5) Did you ever take a CAT more than once? Had you seen any of the questions BEFORE?
- No, I did not receive duplicate questions
6) How many practice CATs did you take in those last two weeks? And how many days before your Official GMAT did you take your final CAT?
- Over the past two weeks, I took five CATS (all within a 690 - 720)
- I took my final CAT a day before the GMAT (MBA.com / GMAC) and received a 700

Does this help? I'm really questioning the overall content / level of difficulty provided by GMAC / MBA.com questions.

Thank you,

Connor
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by [email protected] » Tue Aug 08, 2017 9:33 pm
Hi Connor,

Test Day is a rather specific 'event' - the details are specific and they matter, so you have to train as best as you can for all of them. The more realistic you can make your CATs, the more likely the score results are to be accurate. The more you deviate, the more "inflated" your practice scores can become - and that's what happened here. By skipping sections, taking the CATs at Starbucks, pausing the Exams, etc., you weren't properly training for the FULL GMAT 'experience.' By extension, your practice CAT scores were not accurate.

In addition, the process of taking (and reviewing) a CAT requires a significant amount of energy and effort - and takes time to 'recover' from. This is one of the reasons why you typically shouldn't take more than 1 CAT per week. By taking 5 CATs in the last two weeks before your Official GMAT (and taking a CAT the day BEFORE your GMAT), there's a reasonable chance that you experienced some 'burn out' on Test Day.

Thankfully, these are all relatively easy issues to fix. However, it's unclear what your actual 'ability level' really is - it's probably a bit higher than a 630, but we really don't know for sure. If your score goal is 700+, then you will likely need to make some adjustments to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections - and that work would likely take between 1-2 months of consistent, guided study.

1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
3) What Schools are you planning to apply to?

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by cgcantrell » Tue Aug 08, 2017 10:19 pm
Thank you, Rich.

I am looking at M7 schools and therefore will need at least a 710 (preferably 720 - 730). I am planning on applying round 2 (January 2018).

Could you please expand a bit on 'then you will likely need to make some adjustments to how you handle BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections - and that work would likely take between 1-2 months of consistent, guided study.'?

Between the two exams, I have studied for about 6 months now (all-in). I'm curious to what you feel the best strategy is for the next month in order to achieve my score?

I'm looking at taking the exam again in early September.

Thank you
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by Ian Stewart » Wed Aug 09, 2017 10:14 am
There is some variance in GMAT scores, as there is in the scores on any multiple choice test, but that variance is small. If you scored in the 690-710 range on several GMATPrep tests, your level essentially has to be in the 690-710 range right now.

It's very unlikely, though not impossible, that a 690-level test taker will score a 630 on one test, just by bad luck. That probably happens one time in fifty, and of course things that happen that rarely still do happen. So that might be the only explanation for your score. If so, then even with no additional prep, it would be very likely you'd score in the 690-710 range if you took a test tomorrow.

But sometimes test day scores are lower than practice test scores because test takers do not perform the same way on test day. Sometimes people perform worse because they're distracted by the new environment, or they experience test day stress, or they use (consciously or not) a different pacing strategy from normal, or they didn't sleep well the night before. And if you perform differently on test day, your test day score might not fairly represent your true level.

So you'd first want to work out if there might be some reason you didn't perform as well on the real test. If you can't think of any such reason, it was probably just bad luck. If there might have been a reason, then do what you can to address it before the next attempt.

You're so close to your target level now that if you can just work out a few areas where you could improve, and focus on those, you should be able to raise your level enough that you're comfortably above your target score. If you can do that, then even on an unlucky day, you should see a score that you're happy with. You only need to raise your level 10 or 20 points overall to give yourself a good chance at a 710+, and that kind of improvement is achievable through self-study, as long as you're working with good materials and spend your time productively. Good luck!
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by [email protected] » Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:19 pm
Hi Connor,

In my earlier post, I mentioned that there are 2 likely causes for score drops. So before we talk about how to 'fix' your situation, I want to make sure that we're not ignoring any other possible causes. Thus, I have a few additional questions about the lead-up to Test Day and Test Day itself:

1) What did you do in the 3 days before your GMAT?
2) How did you sleep the night before your Test?
3) How long was the ride to the Test Center from your home?
4) Were there any distractions at the facility or during the Test?
5) What did you do during the two 8-minute breaks?
6) Did you finish any sections early?
7) Did you have to rush to finish any sections (and guess on questions just to finish on time)?

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by Gicquecced » Thu Aug 10, 2017 7:49 pm
Try www.gmatric.com for verbal practice.
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by cgcantrell » Mon Aug 21, 2017 6:29 pm
Gicquecced wrote:Try www.gmatric.com for verbal practice.
Thank you, Gicquecced. The Verbal practice was great. A couple of follow-up questions when you get a chance:
1) There is a summary dashboard displaying your results at a high-level, do you know if gmatric provides a question by question view to see which ones you get incorrect?
2) Do you happen to know of a similar site that provides the same for Quant?

Thank you!
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by MBA Ivy » Tue Aug 22, 2017 11:42 am
I see this a lot with clients. My best suggestion is to take again, but prepare this time by doing something different -- a different book, a different online course, a different physical class. I will say that I have noticed over the 15+ years I have been working with students, that the MOST improvement is made in the shortest amount of time, when someone sits in an actual physical class, so just putting that thought out there.
Looking for help on this year's MBA applications? I'm a former Harvard admissions interviewer and Harvard graduate. Check out my blog for great MBA advice and tips, or contact me for a free consultation today! www.MBAIvyLeague.com
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