My Score Dropped! Figuring Out What Went Wrong

by , Oct 26, 2009

It's always disheartening when we have a score drop, whether it happens on a practice test or (worst case scenario) on the real test. If this happens to you, the most important thing to do next is figure out why this happened. If you can figure out why, then you may be able to do something to prevent a score drop from happening again.

This article contains the questions to ask yourself as you try to figure out why your score dropped.

1. Official Test Conditions

Did you take your practice tests under official test conditions? Did you:

• Do both essays?
• Take only two 8-minute breaks (the first between essays and quant, the second between quant and verbal)?
• Complete the test in one sitting (e.g., you didnt do the verbal section later that evening or the next day)?
• Pause the test, look at books or notes, eat and drink during the test, or do anything else that wouldnt be allowed on test day

If you did not take your practice tests under official testing conditions, then your practice scores were likely inflated possibly just a little or possibly a lot, depending upon how far you were from official test conditions. If your practice test scores were inflated, then the bad news is: your scoring level wasnt as good as you thought it was, and your official test didnt represent as much of a drop as you first thought (and, possibly, the official test didnt represent any drop at all).

While this is not great news, it is crucial to know, because it tells you what the problem is. You need to figure out in which areas youre falling short and do what you need to do (math, grammar, problem-solving skills) in order to improve. (And dont forget to take tests under official conditions in future, so that you get a true picture of your current scoring level.)

2. Stamina

Did you prepare yourself adequately for the stamina required to perform at a high mental level for more than 3.5 hours? Did you:

• Take the tests under official conditions? (including essays and breaks see Section 1.
• Take the practice tests at the same time of day as you took (or plan to take) the real test?
• Avoid taking a second test (practice or official) within 3 days of taking another practice test?
• Eat good energy food before the test and during the breaks, drink liquids to stay hydrated, and stretch or do light exercise to loosen up and get your blood flowing?

This is a long test; stamina is critical to our ability to perform well. Dont tire yourself out in the days before the official test (dont study too much, dont take a practice test within a few days of the real thing, etc.). And experiment with food and liquid until you find a combination that gives you good energy without making you overly stimulated (too much caffeine is a bad thing).

In addition, many people skip the essays on practice tests and then see a substantial drop on the verbal section of the official test. People are surprised when this happens, but if you use your Critical Reasoning skills, it shouldnt be that surprising! If you dont take the essays, then youre only spending about 2.5 hours on your practice tests. The real thing, with the essays, will take a bit more than 3.5 hours. Your brain is, quite simply, not prepared to last for that entire 3.5 hour period and verbal is the last section. So, the verbal score drops.

Thats why, although nobody cares about the essay scores, I still tell my students to do the essays on their practice tests. Your mental stamina is going to affect your quant and verbal scores, and you do care (very much!) about those scores, so you have to make sure youre prepared to function at a high level for the entire 3.5 hour length of the test.

3. Timing

Mismanaged timing can cause a lot of variability in test scores. If your scores keep jumping up and down on practice tests and youre not sure why, your timing may be the culprit. Also, whenever I talk to a student who experiences a more than 100 point drop on a test, timing is almost always a factor.

Timing is so crucial because of certain consequences that can kill our score. We tend to make more careless mistakes when were rushing. We may get multiple questions wrong in a row. We may run out of time entirely before the section is over. All of these things will have a negative impact on the scoring.

There are two major categories for mismanaged timing: too slow and too fast. Some testers will run out of time before the section is over; others will finish with lots of time left. Many testers mismanage the time badly, yet actually do finish the test on time. Just because you finished the test on time does not mean that you managed your time well throughout the section.

The vast majority of students who mismanage time badly enough to experience a big score drop will do so by going too slowly at some point on the test and, consequently, being forced to move too quickly at other points. Alternatively, people sometimes do move too quickly throughout an entire section because of general test anxiety; if you finish with more than 5 minutes left, you definitely moved too quickly through that section, and likely made careless mistakes as a result.

The common factor in either scenario: we have to go too quickly at some point. When we go too quickly, we make careless mistakes. We also tend to choose to go too quickly on problems we think are easy (or, at least, easier than others). So going too quickly basically equates to giving ourselves lots of chances to miss lower-level problems.

The death spiral (otherwise known as my score dropped in a big way!) occurs when you start to get a lot of lower-level problems wrong that you knew how to get right if only you werent rushing and making mistakes.

(By the way, think about the other side of things: the problems on which you would go too slowly. Youre going to do this on the really hard problems, right? Well, the chances arent very good that well get those problems right, even by spending extra time precisely because the problems are really hard!)

4. Anxiety

The test is a nerve-wracking situation for everyone, but some people experience anxiety symptoms that are strong enough to interfere with rational thinking and the ability to perform. Below are links to a couple of articles about managing GMAT-related stress. If you are experiencing physical symptoms (nausea, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing), you should consult a medical professional.

• Managing GMAT Stress
• Stress Management on the GMAT

The most important thing to remember

If you can figure out what went wrong, then you can do something to prevent another score drop in future - so please take the time to think through everything that happened. Also, use the Beat the GMAT community to help - your fellow students and the GMAT experts can be great resources in helping you figure out what went wrong and what to do next.