Talk me off the ledge...and answer a question or two.

[nerdysuit]

Don't worry, I won't jump. But I do need some advice or perhaps an explanation as to why my recent prep test went so poorly.

I have been studying for about 2 1/2 months. I average around 2 hours a day/6 days a week. I haven't made an appointment for the GMAT yet since my testing center usually has openings that I can schedule only 1 - 2 weeks out.

I have taken the following practice tests:

1) GMAC Prep GMAT - 550
2) GMAC Prep GMAT - 570
3) Manhattan GMAT - 570

After these first three tests, while I did show slight improvement, I knew I wasn't getting enough out of what I was doing. Thus, I reevaluated my study method and essentially went back to the basics in the different Quant sections and I concentrated on reading the verbal section much more carefully. I also worked on my stamina. After about 1 1/2 weeks after I redid my study strategy, I scored the following:

4) Manhattan GMAT - 670

I was obviously very excited. I recognized that a 100 point jump is a big, so I knew to not completely believe that I was at the 670 level yet. However, I figured that even if I subtracted 50 points (which, I believe, is the range that Manhattan GMAT believes their tests predicts) I would still have a score above 600, and I was showing continual improvement. So, while I wasn't satisfied, I was happy.

Then I took my 5th practice test after reseting the GMAC software:

5) GMAC Prep GMAT - 480

I stared blankly at the screen. I could not believe I scored that low. I really can't explain why. I did not feel too fatigued during the test, and I felt confident for the most part.

Specifically, what I really don't understand is why the Quant section unfolded the way that it did, which I only scored a 31 on:

- I got the first 5 out of 7 questions correct.
- I then missed the next 6 out of 7, including 4 in a row. I clearly realize that is not good, however...
- I then got 18 of the final 23 questions correct.

I understand that the GMAT is scored by the difficulty level of the questions answered. However, since I did bad on only one group of questions and I got so many questions correct in a row, why didn't the test give me harder questions to give me a chance to improve my score?

I'm also wondering if anyone out there has had similar circumstances in terms of doing well on a practice test and then doing so poorly afterwards. From what I understand, the MGMAT practice tests are not easier than the GMAC practice tests, correct?

Anyways, any advice would help out! Thanks!

[nerdysuit]

*crickets*

[StaceyKoprince]

FYI: please don't respond to your own post unless you have something new to add. We answer the posts in order from oldest first, and the timestamp is based on the date/time of the LAST post in the list. So your response to your own post moved you later in the queue - it just made you wait longer for a response.

Also, it typically takes 3-5 business days to get a response. It had been only about a day and a half when you responded to your own post. You will get a response - but you will often have to wait a little while.

Hmm. What you describe for the GMATPrep test is puzzling. When you say that you got 18 of the final 23 correct, were the incorrect answers spread out? (I assume so, because your second bullet shows that you know enough to call out when you get a bunch wrong in a row.) Give me the data on the placement of those wrong answers and I'll ask our "algorithm guru" what he thinks.

From what I understand about GMATPrep, it mimics the real test fairly well but the pool of questions is shallower. I suppose it's theoretically possible to "use up" the hardest questions earlier in the section, but I don't think the pool is THAT shallow that you could have used up the hard ones in the first half of one test.

There are a lot of circumstances in which people have setbacks on practice tests. Be glad that it happened on a practice test and not on the real thing. :) The next thing to do is to figure out why your score went down so that you can take the necessary steps to prevent it from happening again.

Read this article, do the analysis described, and come back to let us know what you discovered. Then we can figure out what to do from there.

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

Do post more of that data, though, about the GMATPrep experience. Something seems very odd there - that might be part of what went wrong on this test, though there may be other factors as well that are more in your control.