Devastating result (620) --> turned out better (710)

[confused13]

Dear GMATers,

today I took my first GMAT and scored a ridiculous 620 (Q 44, V 31, IR 4, AWA 6.0).

These were my CAT results

GMATPrep 1 23.4.2014
IR 4, Q38, V26 || 540

MGMAT1 25.5.2014
Q39, V26 || 540

MGMAT2 2. Juni 2014
Q43, V 27 || 580

MGMAT3 17. Juni 2014
Q48, V 37 || 700

MGMAT4 27. Juni 2014
Q44, V38 || 680

GMATPrep 1 Retake 5.7.2014
IR 4, Q47, V34 || 650

GMATPrep2 9.7.2014
Q49, V35 || 690

MGMAT CAT 5 16.7.2014
Q49, V45 || 760


As you can see, especially my verbal was the reason for the embarrassing score. All the prep, all the money and more importantly all the time invested was for nothing.

I actually thought my Quant was worse than my verbal, because during the quant section I had too many too easy question. So when the verbal section started, I shook everything off and ACTUALLY THOUGHT wow Verbal is going great. I had easy reading passages, good CR & SC. And I did not feel tired or something during the verbal. I don't know what happened.
I try to retake the gmat asap, but I am unsure whether I should do this.

[[email protected]]

Hi confused13,

This is a surprising result, based on your recent CATs. The good news is that Business Schools don't care if you take the GMAT more than once. The bad news is that now you have to try to figure out what went wrong.

To try to explain the score drop, there are a few common causes to consider. The first set of things I look for would be based around your studies. Was there ANYTHING you did during your practice CATs that did NOT match your Test Day experience? Sometimes the differences can be obvious (skipping the Essay section during your CATs) or subtle (taking the CATs at a different time of day), but you have to define those details, so that you can remove them from your study routine. The details matter, so really think about them. Here are some things to consider:

Comparing your CATs to your Official GMAT:
1) What time of day and day of the week did you take your Tests?
2) Did you take the entire Test every time (including Essay and IR)?
3) What type of "setting" did you take your CATs in? Was it at home? Were you using a desktop computer or a laptop computer?
4) Was there anything about your practice environment that was unrealistic (listening to music, eating food during the Test, etc.)?
Etc.

Then there's the last 48 hours before Test Day and Test Day itself:
1) What were you doing for the last 2 days before your Test? Were you up late studying? Cramming?
2) How much sleep did you get the night before?
3) What did you do the morning of the Test?
4) Did you have to travel a significant distance to get to the Testing Center?
5) Were there any administrative problems or surprises at the Test Center?
6) Did you do anything different on Test Day that you did NOT do during your practice?

If you can't pinpoint any factors that could have "thrown off" your performance, then the other answer is that you just had a bad day. A few too many little mistakes at inopportune times would be enough to cost you those points. The GMAT is a "sensitive" exam in that way - 1 silly mistake won't kill you, but too many and the computer has no choice but to adapt (drop your score and make the Test easier). Based on your description of how the Test "felt", this is clearly what happened.

Relative to your earlier CAT scores, this 620 is an improvement. Based on your latter scores, you can clearly score higher - so you should not wait too long to retest. You should take the weekend off - NO STUDYING - and then come back on Monday with the idea to study for another 4 weeks and then retest. This shake-up should serve as a reminder that you cannot take anything for granted. Some of your work was imprecise on Test Day; your next few weeks should be based on the removal of any inconsistencies in your work.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[confused13]

Hi Rich

thanks for your response.

Yes, different in the CAT was e.g. the essays and the IR. I did them only twice during the prep cats. But I am not sure whether this caused a problem because as I said I didn't feel tired at the end of the verbal section. The time of the day was similar, but I did not sleep very well the night before. I was a bit hungry during the test, but again I didn't care about it that much. I did the tests in a library, which was quite similar to the test center. Rest was also like the real gmat.
Actually, I fear that I have some conceptional deficits or "silly" mistakes. I feel like I chose the trap answers.

Do you recommend to redo all the OG questions as practice? I feel like I was "tuned" to the MGMAT CATs but not fot the real GMAT. As my CATs show, my MGMAT Cats were higher than the gmatprep results.

[[email protected]]

Hi confused13,

Physical stresses can certainly lead to mental stresses. Fatigue and endurance can be subtle issues - if you're slightly "off", then you might not realize it - then the little mistakes occur. A poor night's sleep can significantly impact a Test Taker's overall performance, and the other details you noted could have also.

For this next few weeks of studies, a mix of old and new material is probably warranted. Re-doing the OG is a fine idea, as long as you're actually going through the process of answering the questions (looking at a question and doing it in your head is NOT how you would do the work on Test Day, so you shouldn't do it that way during your practice). You can also comb through the various resources that you used before and continue working with them. The OG subject-specific books (one for Quant and one for Verbal) are also good sources for practice questions. For CATs, I suggest that you work with "new" CATs (don't redo any CAT that you've previously taken) - 1 CAT/week should be it.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[confused13]

Just to let all of you know:

I MADE IT TODAY.

Gmat score of 710 Q49,V38, IR 3, AWA 6.0

What I used and worked:
Empowergmat - quant part (100% recommend), E-gmat CR (best thing ever), e-gmat SC (great as well), MGMAT RC (totally sufficient).

What I used but didn't like:
Magoosh, MGMAT books geometry and number property, empowergmat-verbal, Powerscore CR bible


Finally- 6 months, 1200 USD and 2 attempts later- I can say it is over.
Thanks to Rich from EmpowerGMAT and to the e-gmat team. I think in the end these two products really made the difference.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:
GMAT assassins aren't born, they are made. So true.

[[email protected]]

Hi confused13,

That's fantastic news! Over the last year, I've gotten a real sense for the amount of work that you were doing and the effort that you made to improve. With a 710/Q49, you have a score that every Business School would be happy with, so you shouldn't hold back when it comes to your applications. Have you thought about what schools you're going to apply to and when? Congrats again!

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[confused13]

Thanks Rich!

Since I plan to pursue another master degree (LSE or HEC Paris - both finance) I am officially looking for a consulting firm. If you can recommend someone, Rich, please feel free to reach out.

[fermar84]

Hi confused, I am in exactly the same situation as you regarding the GMAT. I took the GMAT today and scored 620 (IR 5, Q45, V31) and I am really disappointed (the same as you were in July). What do you think it is the best material to cover CR and RC, I bought e-gmat SC and I am already strong in that department, however those two sections are my weakness.

Thanks in advance,
Fernando

[confused13]

hi fermar84,

I don't know about e-gmat RC, but the CR course is great! It really improved my accuracy. I go as far as to say, the CR course is even better than the SC course. Before the course, it was kind of a guessing game. Actively thinking about the arguments is what they teach you. So if you can, go for it!


I guess the RC course is also like the rest quality-wise, but I didn't use the RC course so I can't tell. I took notes on RC as the MGMAT book says and as Max from Empowergmat says. Don't know if the method e-gmat shows is more effective or not, but to me it was just not worth the additional money at least not to me.

So: 100% Yes to the CR course, and RC I assume it is a good course. Especially if you have no other resource. People, for some reason, don't get how important the RC passages are.

[fermar84]

Hi confused13, I sent you a private message. Thanks in advance, Fernando.