can't improve verbal score

[zafar.rehan]

Hi

I've been preparing for GMAT for the past 2 weeks and have overcome most of my weaknesses. Starting from 550, I am now wandering around the 650 region. I took 3 MGMAT tests in two days and scored a 680, 650 and a 640. I just took the GMATprep test and was surprised to see a much lower verbal score (25).

On the MGMATs, I consistently score around 33-37 (depending on the concentration). I am scheduled to take the test on Monday (Nov 15; in two days) and I have no idea how I'm gonna do. The following things confuse me the most:

I try to look for similar cases on available forums. I've noticed that most of the test takers score higher on actual GMAT verbal than they do on their MGMATs. If GMATprep is more accurate, as most people say it is, then why are MGMAT tests misguiding me by showing me a different percentile?

I do admit that MGMAT improves your quant score. I was scoring not more than 44 in quant when I started taking the MGMAT preps. I just scored a 48 and am happy with it. Verbal's really giving me a hard time.

Is there anything I can do to make my score better, or at least guarantee a 35+?
I can even postpone my test date for another week but that's the best I can do.

Please help!

-Rz

[StaceyKoprince]

For future reference, the forums aren't the place to go when you have last-minute questions. All questions do get answered, but it typically takes 3 to 5 business days in this folder. :(

I know your test date is today, but I'll still address your questions.

There are any number of reasons why you might be seeing variability in your test results - for example: timing problems, testing conditions, etc. Lots of people skip the essays on practice tests for example, and then their verbal score suffers when they do take the essays (because you're used to being done with verbal at the time that verbal actually starts when you've included the essays - there's a stamina factor).

And there's nothing anybody can do to guarantee a particular score, of course. For the most part, you have made unusually rapid improvement - you seem to have improved by about 100 points in 2 weeks (assuming that you did take those practice tests under 100% official conditions). That's great, but that's also atypical - most people need longer than that. In general, if you're also noticing wide variability in testing scores, you obviously need to figure out what's going on, and that also typically takes more than a few days - it often takes weeks to correct whatever the problems are.

For example, if you are having some timing issues, then that might have led to you missing too many lower-level questions or getting too many questions wrong in a row on one test. That would drop your score. Did you take all the tests under 100% official conditions? If not, then some of the scores might have been inflated. Skipping the essays or taking longer-than-allowed breaks can inflate your score. Taking the test at an odd time of day or taking a second test within a day or so of the first one can deflate your score.

If you didn't take the test today, or if you took it and then decide to take it again, start with this article to try to figure out what was going on with that dropped verbal score:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/26 ... went-wrong

If you can figure out the causes, then we can figure out what to do about those things!