640 in 3rd mock test, actual test just 2 weeks away :(

[PriyankaA473]

Hi,

I have been studying for GMAt for the last 1.5 - 2 months. I had joined a coaching centre called Ivy gmat, which has pretty good reviews. Today I gave my 3rd mock test (Manhattan Test 1) and got a 640. My 1st two tests: GMATPrep 1 & 2 were 670 and 680! I am not seeing any improvement in my scores clearly, infact its shocking and disheartening to actually see the scores going down even after studying almost 8-10 hours every day.

I had my actual test date planned in 2 weeks and my target score is 740. Looks unlikely for me to make it now.

I feel if i do not have a very clear study strategy in which i know exactly what to study, where to study from, where to practice: if i do not have this, I will be wasting more days probably studying the wrong stuff.

Can someone please help me on what should i be doing next to get to my target score and ideally how many days it might take to reach a 740?

Thanks a lot in advance!

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry that the study process has been so frustrating for you. You're not alone; most people struggle with this test.

It's not unusual for scores to fluctuate up and down while you're studying. As you learn more, it's very common to feel more often that you "should" be able to do a certain question on the test...which leads to spending too much time on that question (and probably other questions too)...which means you run out of time later in the section...and all of that negatively affects your score. This doesn't necessarily mean you are not making progress—in fact, you can be making a lot of progress and still have your score drop down due to timing issues or mental fatigue.

Speaking of mental fatigue: 8 to 10 hours a day is a LOT of study. Most people would be extremely mentally fatigued halfway through that kind of day, and when you are mentally fatigued, two things happen. First, you don't make great memories in the first place. Second, you struggle to retrieve the memories that you have made. It may be the case that you actually need to step back and not study so much every day—you might literally just be overloading your brain and actually learning less than you would if you studied for half that time.

You are correct that it's unlikely you'll be ready to earn a 740 in 2 weeks. My first question for you is this: Do you want to take that test anyway, just to get used to the testing center and have a "dry run"? There are benefits to doing so as long as (1) You can afford the extra $250, and (2) You think that you can really approach this in the spirit of "I know I'm not ready and I don't care what score I get. I just want to see what the experience is like so that it won't feel so foreign / uncomfortable the next time I take the test."

Next, in terms of figuring out what your study plan should be going forward, we need to start with your test data to figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are. You can use this article to analyze your MPrep practice tests:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ts-part-1/

You'll also use that analysis to figure out whether you are having timing problems that caused that drop in your score. (Most people do on their 2nd or 3rd CAT. We actually warn our course students about this, when they take their 2nd CAT around week 6/7 of the program—it's very common for scores to stay the same or go down at this stage.)

Next, I have a question for you about the materials you're using and how you're studying. There's a certain baseline level of knowledge you need to have: how each question type works, the math and grammar content (facts / formulas / rules), and certain strategies for tackling different kinds of questions. We call that the "first level" of studying for the test.

That's not enough to get someone to a 740, though. A "second level" of study is needed for that—and I describe that here:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/

How do you feel on your first-level skills? And have you also been able to study in the second-level way? Or are you still mostly on the first level at this point? (That's okay—the first level does have to come first! Knowing where you are will help you to gauge how much more time you might need to get to the level you want.)

Speaking of how much time you will need to reach 740—I can't give you a specific estimate, as the timeframe is different for everyone and how you study can also affect your timeframe. Most people study for about 3 to 4 months in order to get to a level they are happy with—but I have to give you a couple of caveats.

First, it's not unusual for me to hear, at the beginning, that someone wants a 740...but then 3.5 months later, they're very happy with a 710. People do decide to lower their goal scores for a whole variety of reasons.

Second, someone who does want an especially high score (like 740!) is, on average, more likely to need more time than someone who has a lower goal score.

Third, the starting point matters—it will obviously take longer for someone to go from 400 to 700 than from 600 to 700.

And finally, as I mentioned earlier, both the quality of your study materials and the effectiveness of your study process will make a difference. It's possibly to study really ineffectively and take 2 or 3 times as long as you might have with a more effective process.

You've only been studying 1.5 to 2 months now, so it's not surprising to me that you'll need more time. This is a good time, though, to take stock of your process to see whether it is really working effectively for you. Start by using the article linked above to analyze your practice tests and then tell me why you think the third test dropped to 640. Tell me whether you can see signs of progress in certain areas even though the overall score dropped—or whether you feel that your process and materials to date have, in fact, not worked and maybe even hurt your preparation.

It might be that you can see lots of signs of progress but you can also see that you really messed up your timing—and, once you fix that, you will be much more likely to see a score increase. Alternatively, you might realize that studying for 8-10 hours a day has actually impeded your progress by making you too overwhelmed / mentally fatigued to process the lessons effectively, and so you don't really know how to apply the material effectively to test questions. Or you might realize something in between those two. Let's find out what that is and then we can take steps accordingly!