My Official score dropped dramatically -- Help!!!!

[NicolasS800]

Hello all,
My name is Nicolas and I took the GMAT Interact course with Manhattan. I am writing to you because, after 3 months of preparation, I decided to finally take the Official GMAT EXAM and got one of the lowest scores throughout my preparation. My test results were 520 (Q36/V26). Let me point out that this is the lowest verbal score that I have ever gotten. (Is it even possible to get worse at verbal after taking the class haha *sad laugh*)
I am writing to you as I am seriously puzzled with what happened on my actual GMAT and I need your professional advice on what to do. My target score is not really high (650-680 ideally) but anything above 620 would be good enough for the schools I am applying to. I am deeply disappointed since I have followed Manhattan tips as closely as possible, but unfortunately I completely failed my exam and cannot find the reason. I have read Stacy's blogs about why my score dropped but I think that I need expert advice tailored to my specific situation.

QUANT SECTION: Q36
As far as how I felt throughout the quant section I felt a little bit nervous, but not too nervous or anxious. I felt focused and that I was following my game plan to perfection. However, I do have to point out that I got behind by about 2-4 minutes in my Quant section. I think I spent too much time on an easy question that I, somehow, ended up getting wrong (probably should’ve guessed on it). I think I struggled a little bit on the first few questions and maybe lost confidence because by question number 20, I felt that my heart was going abnormally fast, something that I had never felt before in any of the prep tests. Regardless, I felt that I did better than a Q36 but I also believe that I missed really easy questions that I should not have missed.

VERBAL SECTION: V26
The verbal section has really got me thinking since I felt that I was doing a great job as far as timing, strategies, etc. I felt that every questions they threw at me, I could answer it, and maybe I now think that the questions were too easy (probably). However, I don’t feel that I deserved such poor score.
I really need your help since I feel that I cannot reach a consistent level at the 600-700 level. I thought I did, but clearly (based on the scores below) I don’t. My scores keep moving back and forth and I don’t know what the best route of action is  Please help!!! Maybe you guys can give me any insights as to why my scores are not consistent (maybe they are, what you think?) I appreciate any help you can give me since I was planning to take a second official test in 3 weeks. But after yesterday’s scores, I don’t think it is wise to do so.
Please take a look at my scores from prep tests and some background info that might be useful. Thank you in advance for any help that you guys can provide.

Background info:
International Student from Colombia. I am currently applying to Graduate Schools in Europe for a Masters in Finance. Although I am an Economics major (I am graduating this Fall at the University of Florida), math has never been a strength or a weakness. In fact, I am usually good with numbers, but I cannot say that I am as good at math as most of the students preparing for the GMAT.
GMAT PREP 1: April 8, 2016: 480 (Q26/V31)
I took this test without even knowing what a DS format was. In addition, I did not skip any sections. Timing was an issue; I had to leave a few questions unanswered in both sections.
Manhattan CAT 1: May 1, 2016: 560 (Q36/V31) (No IR/AWA)
Manhattan CAT 2: June 2, 2016: 520 (Q34/V28) (Normal Decrease in Verbal since the previous score was a little bit inflated) Although this was expected, I had serious issues tracking time because I didn’t have enough time to practice the timing strategies on the scratch pad, so I decided to take another CAT a few days after.
Manhattan CAT 3: June 13, 2016: 620 (Q37/V37) (I practiced the timing strategies before this test and it clearly helped me to improve my time management.
Manhattan CAT 4: June 26, 2016: 620 (Q39/V35)
GMAT PREP 3: July 5, 2016: 610 (Q40/V34)
GMAT PREP 4: July 27, 2016: 560 (Q36/V30) (Two weeks before the official exam, this is the result I got but I had no time to postpone the test again so I decided to relax and do my best)
GMAT PREP 2: August 2, 2016: 690 (Q46/V39) (The week before this exam, I was very hopeless and relaxed since I had done so bad on the previous test, so I told myself to just enjoy it and do my best, and it clearly worked because I did amazingly well in both section. After this result, I gained my confidence back and kept studying hard before the official test.
First Official GMAT: August 9, 2016: 520 (Q36/V26) The days before the exam, I tried to remain calm and have fun with friends and family. In fact, I studied only big picture strategies and only did quant and verbal sets every morning (only 2 – 3 hours). The day of the exam, I woke up very confident and happy about taking the test. Somehow, the end results was seriously unexpected.

I apologize for the long post, but I really need your help and guidance as soon as possible.

To summarize:
1. Do you have any idea why my score dropped so dramatically? Would you say that I am not consistent enough?
2. When should I take the next exam? (I was planning asap, but could wait)
3. How should I prepare for the next exam? I really have no idea how 
Thank you again for all your help. I hope hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Nicolas Suarez

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry that you had a disappointing exam experience. The good news: you generally had a steady improvement in your practice tests and you had several practice tests at or above 620, so those scores are not a fluke. It's possible that your one 690 score was a bit inflated for some reason, but you should be able to score in the 620 range (at the least) on the real test, assuming we can figure out what went wrong this time and fix it for next time.

I felt that my heart was going abnormally fast

This is a sign of pretty severe anxiety. There may have been other physical symptoms too (there probably were, in fact) and these symptoms would have interfered with your ability to concentrate. That would lead to you making mistakes, not noticing important details, not following your standard process for various question types, and so on. In short, it would pull your score down.

Regardless, I felt that I did better than a Q36 but I also believe that I missed really easy questions that I should not have missed.

If you miss easier questions, then you will not be offered even harder questions at the level you were earning when you scored the Q46 on your practice test. So you might have felt that you were doing better because you were getting a decent number of questions right...but they wouldn't have been as hard, and so they wouldn't have lifted your score.

Because the algorithm depends on the difficulty level of the problem, not just the number of problems that you got right, it's almost impossible to gauge how you are doing while you take the test. Thinking about that during the test also tends to increase anxiety...

Verbal:
I felt that every questions they threw at me, I could answer it

Unfortunately, this is not how you want to feel when taking an adaptive test. By definition, you will not be able to answer every question, because if you are getting everything right, the test will just give you even harder stuff until it "breaks" you / you start getting stuff wrong.

If you feel like everything is easy / you can handle it all, then you are missing questions without realizing it. That can be an outcome of anxiety and mental fatigue: you don't even realize what you're missing or that you're missing things. (Often, these are things that you would not miss if you weren't experiencing anxiety and / or mental fatigue.

Your GMATPrep 4 test was close to your official test score, so that's actually lucky, in a way. Let's try to use the data from that test to diagnose any holes in your foundation or process or other issues that could cause a dropped score. Look through those questions carefully. How often did you miss something that, later, you realized you really did know how to do? Alternatively, how often did you miss something that you now realize wasn't crazy hard after all, even if you didn't know how to do it at the time? (These are the kind for which you read the explanation and think, "Oh, yeah, I can totally do that next time. I just didn't realize that's what they wanted or I just didn't know that rule / formula.")

Next, we need to address the anxiety and possible mental fatigue. (Anxiety also exacerbates mental fatigue, by the way.) Think about what you did in the last several days leading up to the test; did you tire yourself out too much? How did you sleep? What was going on in the rest of your life?

For anxiety issues, take a look here:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/

Here are two resources for mindfulness exercises:
https://soundcloud.com/user-91744640/15 ... s-practice
http://www.10percenthappier.com/mindful ... he-basics/

For serious anxiety (a heavily-pounding heart qualifies), you should plan to spend a solid 4 to 6 weeks doing exercises similar to the above before you think about taking the test again.

Take a look through all of that, do the analysis on GMATPrep 4, and tell me what you think.

[NicolasS800]

Hello Stacey,

Thank you very much for your response. After writing my original post, I realized that I had been very nervous/anxious on my first official exam, so I decided to do the mindfulness and meditation exercises on my own for about 3 weeks and quickly take a second official test before fall classes started.

My goal is to apply to universities around mid-October, so I decided to take my second official exam on August 29th (today). I have better news than I did before. I got a 660 (Q38, V42). I did not feel such horrible anxiety on the test and the verbal section was literally horrible and extremely difficult (so it makes sense that I got that score). Unfortunately for the Quant section, I still do not know what the issue is. I felt challenged on the test and made sure not to make mistakes on easy questions but unfortunately I still did not do as well as I was expecting. I did some stats on my quant numbers based on the previous 12 exams (10 prep tests and 2 official tests) and here is what I got: Mode: 36Q/31V Median: 37.5Q/33.5V Mean: 37.75Q/37.75V. To me these numbers tell me that a Q38 is not an unexpected score based on my previous performance (Would you agree?). I wonder how much higher I can get that quant score and at what cost

Although I feel very happy and proud about my score (since my first prep test was an 480), I am worried about my quant score. I am afraid it is too low (the percentile is awful) What do you think? Is Q38 such a horrible score based on my background? (see below)
I know that for a masters in finance quant skills have to be demonstrated throughout the application. I feel that the rest of my application is very strong (economics major with a business concentration,a 3.94 GPA and a banking internship (very heavy in analytics). I know that my quant score will definitely not be a strength, but do you think it will be seen as a total weakness?

I know that you might not be an expert in graduate school applications (hopefully you are), but based on my previous (long history) with the GMAT and my math background, do you think it is worth the time to re take the gmat for a third time and aim for a higher quant score?
I would gladly retake the GMAT, but I have not yet written my application essays and asked for the letters of recommendation since I dedicated the whole summer to the study of the GMAT. I wonder if it is best to move on from the GMAT and focus on the rest of my application.

I appreciate any help or guidance that you can provide. I apologize if these kinds of questions are not allowed in this forum, but it is worth the shot!

Thank you, and I hope hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,

Nicolas Suarez Rivera

[StaceyKoprince]

Congratulations! I know you're worried about your Q score—we'll get to that—but you scored in your goal range! That's fantastic.

I am not an admissions expert, so I definitely recommend asking an admissions consultant. They may even know something about the specific programs to which you're planning to apply. It seems to me that the rest of your profile demonstrates very strong quant skills, I would hope enough to offset the GMAT score...but, again, I'm not an admissions expert.

We do have a folder here called Ask an Admissions Consultant, so post your question there. Give the names of the specific schools / programs, too. And take advantage of any free offers that the admissions consulting firms offer. For example, MBA Mission offers a free phone call consultation, so that would be a great way to get some one-on-one advice.

If you're willing, let me know what you find out; I would be interested to hear!

[NicolasS800]

Hello Stacey,

Thank you for your response. I just talked to an admissions officer at Bocconi University. They told me that my profile is very strong but they are worried that my G.P.A. won't be enough to offset the low quant score. They said that although the total score is good enough (above 650), it could be a gamble since their program is highly quantitative. In short, they advised me to retake the test since I still have time (first round applications close on December 12th). I have decided to continue studying for the GMAT, but I cannot figure out what went wrong with my quant score or how should I prepare for the next exam.

I was wondering if you could help me out analyzing my ESR for quant. These are the results:

QUANT:

Raw Score 38, 38th Percentile. overall time management: 2:01
Sub-section Rankings and Sub Section Time Management Average
1. PS: 36/36th Percentile|2:10
2. DS: 40/45th Percentile|1:52
3. Arithmetic: 42/49th Percentile |1:57
4. Algebra/Geometry: 35/33rd Percentile | 2:10

Performance Progression and Average Difficulty
1. First Quarter: 71% correct/29% incorrect |Medium: Wrong Difficulty went UP|Right Difficulty went up
2. Second Quarter: 57% correct/43% incorrect|Medium: Wrong Difficulty went slightly DOWN|Right Difficulty almost flat
3. Third Quarter: 71% correct/29% incorrect|Medium: Wrong Difficulty Stayed Flat|Right Difficulty went up
4. Last Quarter: 57% correct/43% incorrect|Medium: Right and wrong difficulty ended at same level
Note: The wrong difficulty was always higher than the right difficulty.

Time Management
1. First Quarter: Correct avg time: 2:08 |Incorrect avg time: 2:03|Total avg time: 2:07
2. Second Quarter: Correct avg time: 2:19 |Incorrect avg time: 2:45 |Total avg time: 2:30
3. Third Quarter: Correct avg time: 1:57 |Incorrect avg time: 3:21 |Total avg time: 2:21
4. Last Quarter: Correct avg time: 1:12 |Incorrect avg time: 1:13 |Total avg time: 1:13

My Analysis:
When I look at the difficulty progression, I can tell that the algorithm did not test me at all. It just feels as if I started at a medium level and went up just a little bit and then stayed flat the whole exam. My guess is that I probably missed questions that I should not have missed (Same thing happened on my first exam), maybe easier level questions (but I don't recall having issues with a particular concept or question type. In fact, I felt that I did really well.)

As far as timing, clearly I was lucky that I did not get more wrong questions because I was rushing at the end, luckily the questions were not very challenging. This tells me that I made some really bad decisions in the previous quarters. The second and especially the third quarter is where I spent an unforgivable amount of time on wrong questions ( Does this have to do with bad decision making? if it does, how do I fix it. It seems that it has happened to me before and keeps repeating )

In short, I think that I am having issues with my decision making and that I am missing lower-level questions, keeping me at the same difficulty level. I feel that I learned the concepts very well, and understand them, but do you think that these results indicate serious conceptual flaws? or just the two weaknesses pointed above?

Questions:
1.Based on the stats and my analysis, how do you think that I should prepare for the next exam? Do you think I should read the books again (re-learn concepts) or work on my decision making through problem sets and prep tests. Or maybe both?
2. The applications for Bocconi and some universities close on the 3rd week of November, do you think that taking the exam on the first week of November will be okay? I would almost have two more months of preparation. Or rather, do you think is best to take the test sooner?
3. Finally, Bocconi, along with some universities, only look at the Total Score (Quant and Verbal) and not AWA and IR. Do you think that I should only take those two sections? I might be able to get an even higher score if only taking those two sections.

Stacey thank you for all your help, guidance, and diligence throughout this process. I know this is a super long post, with a lot of information. I really appreciate any help that you can provide.

I truly hope hearing from you soon, since every day counts . I hope you have a wonderful day. Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Nicolas Suarez

[StaceyKoprince]

Let's see. The first set of numbers (sub-section rankings) doesn't tell us much. The numbers are close enough that the differences could just be "noise." (Within about 10-15 %ile points = not statistically significant.)

There's a slight preference toward Arithmetic (over Alg / Geo). Sometimes, that can signal that someone is trying to use primarily textbook math approaches, which start to become less useful as the math gets harder. That's when you'll need to start using smart numbers, working backwards, estimating, etc. Have you been using those techniques much or have you mostly been defaulting to textbook math on algebra and geometry?

Difficulty & Timing: Your wrong difficulty went up only in the first quadrant. Your right difficulty went up in the 1st and 3rd quadrants. So you lifted your overall level in the 1st quadrant, but you didn't really lift after that, as you said. Most worrisome, your avg diff wrong came down in the 4th quadrant to basically match avg diff right; you want avg diff wrong to stay above avg diff right—otherwise, your score is going down.

And, yes, you made some bad timing decisions in the 2nd and 3rd quadrants. Generally, here's what happens: you do well (which you did in the 1st quadrant) and then that lifts you into a harder overall range of questions. You then allow yourself to get sucked into spending too much time on some of those questions. As evidenced by the data, you generally did that on the questions that you got wrong. (Note: experimental question data is removed from the dataset, so we don't know how you did on those...but we can generally assume that you were consistent in your decision-making throughout.)

When you spend too much time on a subset of questions, you then have to rush other questions to make up for it. That leads to careless mistakes. (And you won't notice careless mistakes while you're making them—that's the point. You think you're doing fine.)

So even though you did gt 57% of questions right in the 4th quadrant, the difficulty level came down and you were rushing. You missed some lower-level questions relative to what you'd been doing earlier in the test, so your score came down at the end. The GMAT is a "where you end is what you get" test, so...where you ended (down) was what you got.

One thing you need to get better at before you go in next time is knowing what's not worth your time. You spent (avg) 2.75 to nearly 3.5 min on a group of questions you got wrong anyway. What do you need to be able to recognize in order to cut yourself off on those questions faster next time? Yes, literally, the goal is just to get them wrong faster. Then, you can spend normal time on those other, rushed questions and avoid careless mistakes and a score drop at the end of the test. Most people can lift their score 10-30 points literally just by making better decisions about how to spend their time.

It's probably the case that you do have some holes in your knowledge / skills—we all do. But your main issue right now is probably the timing / decision-making.

Did Bocconi give you any idea of the kind of quant score that they'd like to see? 40+? 42+? It's just nice to have an idea of the goal you're trying to reach.

For your re-take:
(1) No, don't go through all of the books cover-to-cover again. Your book / lesson review should be driven by the specific issues that you diagnose from problem sets that you do. Start with a practice test or a set of 8 or 12 problems. When you do a problem set, make sure that it is mixed and timed. Make decisions the way you want to make them on test day. Don't let yourself take extra time because you're "just studying" and you "want to try it." You can try it again all you want after you're done with the set. The first time through, stick to official test conditions and official test mindset.

Analyze your results. First, look at how you spent your time in the overall set. (Time yourself per question while you take the set. I turn off the screen saver on my phone and then use the lap function in the stopwatch app. Just hit the lap button every time you finish a problem.) In hindsight, did you make good decisions about how to spend your limited time and mental energy? Or are you now realizing you spent 3m on a problem that you got wrong anyway? (Or you guessed and got lucky.) At what point should you have bailed? How will you know to pull the plug next time? Literally, go through your decision-making and articulate the good decisions and why you made them (so that you reinforce that behavior) and figure out what you should have done instead on bad decisions and how you will know next time.

Then, analyze each individual question:
http://tinyurl.com/2ndlevelofgmat

Then use that analysis to determine what / how you need to study that particular thing. If you messed up the actual content, go back into your book. If the content was fine but you used a less-efficient approach, practice the more efficient approach and also make yourself a Know the Code flash card to help yourself choose the better approach in the first place next time. (See that article above for more on Know the Code.)

If content and timing were fine but you made a careless mistake, figure out how to minimize that type of mistake in future:
http://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/ ... -the-gmat/

If you used to know that content but you haven't looked at it in a while and you forgot it, practice it. Make flash cards if it's something you have to memorize.

And so on. Basically, let your analysis drive what you need to practice / study / make better.

(2) My answer re: when to re-take depends some on your goal score. Did they tell you anything about the kind of quant score they want to see? If they didn't, assume you're trying to get to 42+. Giving yourself a solid 6 to 8 weeks is a good idea, so early Nov sounds about right. Note that you have to wait 16 days for a re-take, so if you want to have time to take it twice more, factor that in. (Also: in two different places, you told me two different dates for Bocconi. You said Dec 12th at one point and 3rd week in Nov at another point. Which is it?)

(3) The GMAT test makers reserve the right to cancel a test score if they think there are any irregularities to the test, and this can include skipping / not answering entire sections of the test. (It's not the case that they will definitely cancel if you skip a section, just that they reserve the right to do so.) So, no, don't skip those sections entirely. Consider them a warm-up and a way to work your way into the test / reduce your nerves. Plan to spend maybe 20 minutes on each section. Write an okay essay and answer only the IR questions that look okay to you; guess randomly on any that look hard.