utterly shocked with my GMAT Score

[p.anumalla]

Hi Dear Instructor,
I am very sad to report that instead of using all MGMAT materials, section tests and all 6 CATs i got s very low score of
590 Q-48, v-23, i did not even get such a low verbal score in my diagnostic test.
I took the MCAT all 6 twice first with relaxed time constraints and second with exact timings.

First 6 MACTS scores:
MCAT1 : 630 q-43 v-33
MCAT2 : 620 q-47 v-29
MCAT3 : 590 q-43 v-29
MCAT4 : 660 q-46 v-34
MCAT5 : 630 q-45 v-32
MCAT6 : 640 q-47 v-31

Then i took 2 GMAT Prep:
CAT1 GMP : 710 q-49 v-37
CAT2 GMP : 670 q-47 v-35

Then again i took MCATs all 6 with below scores:
CAT1 M : 740 47 45
CAT2 M : 730 48 41
CAT3 M : 730 49 40
CAT4 M : 730 48 42
CAT5 M : 710 48 38
CAT6 M : 700 47 38

Then again i took 2 GMAT Prep with some repeated question with below scores:
CAT1 GMP : 700 49 35
CAT2 GMP : 750 50 40

Through out the exam i felt good and and that i was doing well but that is reflected only in Quant but not in verbal. In addition i used OG12, verbal review and Quant review guides.

I was totally shocked to see the scores. Is there any chance with 1 in 1000 probability that the computer might fail to gauge the true ability, because i am cent-percent convinced that these verbals scores (23 and 28 percentile) are not the one which i deserve. As i solved the verbal section, i felt quite comfortable.
I am student of Manhattan by buying the materials, please help clarify and consult what should i do further.

[cmugeria]

I personally feel that the exam has changed - The verbal is way much difficult. I have recently noticed a trend, you are the 6th person that has taken the exam recently and dropped their score drastically. I am not sure whether its because of integrity that the GMAC folks have changed the exam. Thats my personal take.

I However encourage u to take it again. i wish u the best

[p.anumalla]

Thanks... but what would you suggest me to improve my score in verbal, i also noticed sometimes GMAT prefer the choice which is not all correct according to manhattan SC techniques. I took the exam on 2nd of June can you please tell me whether this trend is observed around same period.

[StaceyKoprince]

The "trend" you're talking about isn't actually a trend. There are always some people who feel that the test is much harder than what they were prepared for. More than 200,000 people take the test every year. Talk to enough people on the web and you're going to find some who think the test was "strange" or it changed or something like that. I've found people saying this for the past 15 years (which is as long as I've been teaching the GMAT), although it's more common conversation now because GMAT students can find each other on the web much more easily. :)

It isn't even all that unusual (in a pool of 200,000) to find people who had quite a big score drop on one or both sections of the test. Such score drops are typically a combination of timing problems, stamina issues, and artificially inflated practice test scores. It's not fun when it happens, but it's not totally unheard of other - and, best of all, there is something you can do about it!

p.anumalia, your quant score was about what you expected it to be, but your verbal score dropped in a big way. Please read and do the analysis described in the below article, and then come back here to tell us what you discovered. When we have that data, we can start to figure out WHY your score dropped, and once we know why, we can then help you figure out what to do about it.

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

[p.anumalla]

Hi Stacy,

I have gone through the link you mentioned, and these are relevant details:
I took most of the CATS atleast 8 CATS (6 Manhattan and 2 GMATPrep) from those i mentioned in my 1st post in one sitting and along with the AWA essay and argument. Let me tell you some other issues, the day before night i could get any proper sleep, but i ensured i was fresh enough before the exam by having good food and fluids i did not feel any tiredness during exam hours. I had also an incident because of not furnishing my passport initially at exam centre and i had to post pone exam by 1 hour, but then i forgot all this and was fresh minded as if nothing were happened when i entered in exam room.

[StaceyKoprince]

That's a good start. I think there are probably some additional things going on.

Did you have any timing issues on your practice tests? (Even if you finished the sections on time, you might still have had timing issues, as described in that article.) Do the analysis described in the below article on the verbal section of the most recent MGMAT test you took under official testing conditions.

http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23 ... tice-tests

Also, the scores on some of your repeated tests might be inflated because you would have seen some of the same questions repeated. When you did see a question repeated, how did you handle it? If you answered it in less time than you normally would have if it had been a new question, then the score would be especially inflated, because you would be saving time in a way that would never happen on the real test.

You may have felt a lot of adrenaline while taking the test, so you may not necessarily have felt tired, but if you weren't able to sleep the night before, that would have affected your ability to concentrate and you likely would not have been able to think as clearly or as effectively as you normally do.

Can you give more detail on the passport issue? Did you forget to bring it and have to return home to get it? Did they tell you that you might not be able to take the exam that day if you didn't return by a certain time with the passport, or anything like that? That kind of experience almost certainly would have caused a jump in stress hormones, which again would have affected your ability to think as clearly and effectively as you normally do.

So, those two things may have been partially responsible for the drop in your verbal performance, although I would also think that there are some other issues as well - holes in your foundational knowledge, a timing problem, or both. Do the analysis with that article I linked above and let us know what you figure out.

[p.anumalla]

Hi Stacy thanks a lot for your support and consultancy, well here are the more details:

1. There were some time issues for verbal section because of RC or complex SC in practice tests, even in official test because of 3 long passages i got a little less time like 1 min/Q for last 3 or 4 questions. Through out my preparation and practice tests i just analyzed the weak areas and improved on them, didn't do anaysis as mentioned in the given article.
2. For the repeated tests, i solved the repeated questions as if they were new but still sometimes unwillingly i used to match the answer to the correct answer as i remembered the answers, and this is why i stopped taking the repeated MGMAT. So though i did not save time but i got them right.
This is a big question now. How would i get the CATs which do not contain the previous questions, because the questions in the GMAT Prep too get repeated?
3. I actually had applied for US visa and i didn't had my passport with me, luckily passport was received in my office and colleague provided me the passport at test centre, though i must say i was totally stressed for first 30-45 mins after i reached the centre. But as i said i forgot all these when i entered the exam-room, so i am not sure how much did this event affected my abilities that time.
4. I analysed my latest MGMAT and found that, there are couple of SC,CR and RC in "too slow" case and no other issues

[StaceyKoprince]

Okay, so we have to assume that your practice test scores were a bit inflated. Your "true" scoring level on those was probably closer to mid-600s than 700. Which means that, while your score did still drop on the real test, it didn't drop as much as it looked like at first.

Next, that drop was pretty much due to the verbal section. You had to work way too quickly on the last 3-4 questions, so let's assume the worst case scenario (that you got them all wrong). That would account for part of the drop. You didn't sleep well the night before and you had a big stress-inducing incident right before you took the test. Those two things combined would affect you over the course of a 3.5 hour test to the point that you likely would not have been thinking as clearly and as well as you normally did at that point in a practice test. (You may have felt that you forgot all about it and were fresh when you entered the testing room, but those stress hormones don't just magically disappear. They're still running through your body. You might not notice because of the adrenaline rush you get when you start the exam.)

You can still take both GMATPrep and MGMAT CATs with repeats as long as you follow a few guidelines to minimize the chance of artificially inflating your score via question repeats. First, anytime you see a problem that you remember (and this means: I know the answer or I'm pretty sure I remember the answer, not just "hmm, this looks vaguely familiar..."), immediately look at the timer and make yourself sit there for the full length of time for that question type. This way, you don't artificially give yourself more time than you should have. Second, think about whether you got this problem right the last time. If you did, get it right again this time. If you didn't, get it wrong again. If you *completely honestly* think that you would get it right this time around if it were a new question (even though you got it wrong last time) because you've studied that area and improved, then get it right this time.

On the timing issue, try this article:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... management

It also sounds like you need to spend time analyzing your practice questions. These articles can help you learn how to study in the best way:

These three are on overall strategies for that question type (one each for RC, SC, and CR):
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/04/ ... mp-passage
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/06/ ... on-problem
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/05/ ... -reasoning

These three specifically demonstrate how to analyze a sample problem (one each for RC, SC, and CR):
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/03/ ... c-question
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/01/ ... r-question
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... e-question

Use these to learn HOW to study. Also, I think this article on how to learn from your errors would be useful for you:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/04/ ... our-errors

That should keep you busy for a while! :) Get started and check back in to let us know how it goes.

[p.anumalla]

Hi Stacey,

Past one week i started preparing for my second attemp to test, while i noticed that i am aware of answers of almost all questions in OG12 and Verbal Review and manhattan tests. can you suggest any other QB or test for testing the real improvement.
Also as i just started to prepare, i want to knw what would be the safest late date to take the exam so that i whould not miss any B-school during the first round for fall 2011 admissions.

Thanks.

[StaceyKoprince]

i am aware of answers of almost all questions in OG12 and Verbal Review and manhattan tests

Just to make sure you know: while you're studying, it doesn't matter if you already know what the answers are.

When you think you've made some progress and want to test your new skills, then you do want some new problems for which you don't already know the answers. Official problems are best, so I would go back to older books: OG11, Verbal Review and Quant Review First Edition, even OG10 if necessary.

There is significant overlap in the questions, but you basically just start a new problem and, if you look at it and think, "Oh, I know this one, and the answer is B" then you just skip that one and do the next one. If you don't recognize it, then it doesn't matter whether this one is old or new - for you, it's new, because you don't recognize it.

i want to knw what would be the safest late date to take the exam so that i whould not miss any B-school during the first round for fall 2011 admissions.

I have absolutely no idea. :) I'm a GMAT expert, not an admissions expert. The schools all set their own deadlines. You need to check with each individual school in order to know what that school's deadline is.

I believe that most U.S. full-time b-schools have first round deadlines in Oct or Nov sometime, but again, they can set any dates they want. Just go look on the websites of the schools to which you plan to apply.