Problem in my GMAT basics?

[Nobendu_Roy]

Recently i appeared in GMAT twice: first time in January and then in April and scored 640 (M-48, V-30) and 530 (M-48, V-16) respectively. I appeared in April only to lift my verbal score, but encountered miserable results. Are my basics not getting evaluated in the mock tests? Could you please let me know what was going wrong in my approach? Following is the list different mock tests i practiced till end March 2010:-
1. Two CATs from Peterson online - scored 640 in both - Dec 09
2. All CATs from Kaplan - median score 640 (scored 28 - 33 in Verbal) - Jan 2010
3. All tests from GMAT Club - generally got around 10-15 questions wrong in Maths and around 10 questions wrong in Verbals - Jan 2010
4. 800 Score - all 5 tests - 45-50 in Maths and 36-45 in Verbals - Jan 2010
5. Prinston - all 5 tests and generally scored 34 to 38 in Verbals - March 2010
6. Manhattan GMAT - all 6 tests and scored 650 - 710 (Maths - 43 to 48 and Verbal - 34 to 41)

Regards,
NR

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm not familiar with all of the different practice tests you listed, but something strange is going on, and we need to figure out what that is!

Read this article and do the analysis described. Then come back here to let us know what you discovered and we'll figure out where to go from there!

http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/10/26/my-score-dropped-figuring-out-what-went-wrong

[Nobendu_Roy]

The topic was useful. I did not take my practice tests under official testing conditions. I always skipped the AWA, sometimes paused the test and took break and even paused after Quant section and continued with Verbal section on the very next day. Moreover in the last week before the test on 1st April, i appeared in one online MGMAT mock test almost every and thus completed the 6 tests and one GmatPrep test (scored 700) in 7 days.

The above could be the possible reasons however i still don't think that stamina was a problem. The bigger reason should be that my verbal basics are still not clear and i always make careless mistakes.

Please let me know your thoughts on the same.

Regards,
NR

[StaceyKoprince]

There's probably some aspect of both going on - it's usually not just one thing.

From the way you described taking your practice tests, your practice scores were probably inflated. You may want to take a practice test under FULL 100% official conditions (including essays) so that you can get a better sense of your current strengths and weaknesses. Don't use GMATPrep for this - use a test that will give you lots of data about your performance so that you can effectively determine your strengths and weaknesses.

Something more than this was going on, though, because you scored 30 on the real test in January but then dropped to 16 on the real test in April. I would say that stamina likely played a part in that, given the other things that you described.

Note: you may not necessarily realize that you lack the necessary stamina because you have a lot of adrenaline pumping through you during the test. At the same time, that doesn't mean that you have the stamina to do brainwork at a very high level for 3.5 hours straight! Did you have any times where you read something and then had to read it again immediately because you didn't really take it in the first time? Did you take longer than usual to read or comprehend especially hard / convoluted things? Those would be signs that your brain was getting fatigued and not performing up to its potential.

Did you have any timing issues during the verbal section on the 2nd test - either too slow or too fast?

[Nobendu_Roy]

Thanks for your reply. In my latest GMAT, i was very confident when i finished my Maths. I was really dreaming of a good score. The first 2 questions in Verbals were SCs, followed by a CR and then another 2 SCs. The 6th, 7th and 8th questions were from RC and i was quite confident. May i know what does this pattern indicate?
Subsequently i encountered more of consequitive SCs and one odd CR in between and then i came across the second RC in question 15. Here i took a lot of time. I wanted to ensure that at least all my first 15 questions were correct. By the time i ended the RC(4 questions) ie the quation no 18, i observed, i had only around 30 mins left. Thereafter i was not confident of any of my answers and i had to move fast. Although i finished in time without random marking, probably i got many of my answers wrong back to back. This could have brought my score down heavily.
Before this GMAT exam, i was very confident based on my past GMAT January performance. There was no tension and i was completely at ease. However as i said, i was not confident from 19th question onwards.
I would like to have your valued inputs particularly when i was somewhat less prepared before i appeared in GMAT in January.

Regards,
NR

[StaceyKoprince]

The first 2 questions in Verbals were SCs, followed by a CR and then another 2 SCs. The 6th, 7th and 8th questions were from RC and i was quite confident. May i know what does this pattern indicate?

It doesn't indicate anything as far as your performance is concerned. That's just the random order in which you happened to get the first 8 questions.

Here i took a lot of time. I wanted to ensure that at least all my first 15 questions were correct.

You need to break this habit. You can't ensure that your first 15 questions are correct. No matter how good you are, the test will just give you something harder, and it will find your limit. It is MUCH more important to work your way steadily through the test, letting some questions go when you have to, so that you have a chance to attempt all of the questions. Part of your task on this test is to (a) recognize when you're given something that you canNOT do in the expected timeframe, (b) make a guess, preferably educated but random if necessary, and (c) move on.

So, now we know what happened - you messed up the timing on verbal, and you did so in a BIG way. You had to answer most of the questions in just over 1m per question, not even counting any time to read the 3rd and 4th passages. That's why your verbal score dropped so much.

You have an account with us (because you have the MGMAT CATs). Log into your account and look for the free e-book The GMAT Uncovered. Read it, particularly the section that discusses the scoring and timing. If you have any questions, come back here and post.

The nutshell: the timing problem killed your score and you have to fix that problem before you take the test again.