Strong deviation between MGMAT CAT and real GMAT

[TobiasM600]

Dear Manhattan instructors,

I’m a fulltime working 30 year-oId professional from Europe and plan to start a MBA program by next year. I started my prep journey a couple of months ago, back in August 2016. Having a non-quant background and being out of high school for around ten years, I literally had to (re)learn quant from scratch. To get started, I subscribed to a GMAT online platform in order to brush up my math foundations. After having watched all the videos I sat for my first GMATPrep CAT and scored a 430 (Q25, V24). Then I worked through all the Manhattan Quant books from cover to cover and did lots of problems in the OG and a few months later sat for my second GMAT Prep CAT (480 – Q31, V25). As my Quant score was slowly improving, I decided to book my first GMAT appointment and to continue studying.

After hundreds of hours of self-study, and as my first GMAT test date was approaching, I decided to reward myself for the hard work with a Manhattan in person Prep Course. I really liked the strategy guides and wanted to stay in the same study frame work. As Manhattan Prep courses are not offered in my home country, I booked a two week Boot Camp in the UK.

The boot camp was a great experience; both instructors were very smart and the syllabus was well rounded. I studied almost non-stop for two weeks, every morning a couple of hours before the course and every night after the course. In addition, I sat for three MGMAT CATS over the course of the two weeks. Here are my MGMAT CAT scores:

1) Start of BC: 570 (Q37, V31) - w/o IR and Essay
2) After first week of BC: 550 (Q37, V29) - incl. IR and Essay and under simulated test conditions
3) End of BC: 580 (Q38, V32) - incl. IR and Essay and under simulated test conditions

My GMAT happened to take place only two days after my last Boot Camp Session. As I am aiming for a 650 overall score and as my prep CATS weren’t in that score range yet, I already knew before taking the test that I would have to retake the GMAT at least once after this initial attempt. This is fine because I am not aiming to apply to Business School before 2018 – so I still have almost one year to achieve my goal.

Anyhow I had a very frustrating but even more confusing result in my first GMAT, in which I scored a 530 (Q25, V37). While my Quant score dropped dramatically to almost before studying level, I had an all-time best score in Verbal. I was anticipating the opposite to be honest, since Manhattan CATS are considered to be a little tougher on the Quant and a little easier on the Verbal end.

Well, my GMAT score shows me something completely different. I was quite shocked when I first saw my very weak quant score since I had almost exclusively studied Quant for the last six months. At test day, I would justify it with my mental condition when sitting for the GMAT. Doing the two week Boot Camp was much more exhausting than I expected and I felt a little burnt out at the end - so the timing probably wasn't perfect. But how could I then achieve such a stellar result in Verbal? I am planning to retake the GMAT in six weeks from now and want to make sure to modify my study plan in the best possible way.

Should I just keep on redoing timed OG question sets in order to gain more confidence in Quant?

Any comments on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks!
Tobias

[StaceyKoprince]

Very interesting. Yes, I think you're right that the mental fatigue certainly explains the quant score—but then how did you get such a good verbal score? I don't know—but we'll take it! It's great to know that, even when you're under mental fatigue conditions, you can still outperform on verbal. Most people can't do that. And it should hold true next time around, too. Obviously we don't want you that burned out again when you retake the test, but just knowing that you can count on your "verbal brain" will help with nerves, etc, next time.

First and most important, you took our bootcamp, so you're eligible for a great free resource: the Post-Exam Assessment (if you haven't done it already). This is a phone call with an instructor to debrief from test day and come up with a plan to re-take the test. If you haven't already done this, please send an email to gmat@manhattanprep.com and request the Post-Exam Assessment.

You didn't provide much detail about your quant experience (timing issues, etc)—I'm guessing that you might not remember much detail? That would go along with the idea of mental fatigue, too. But we need to figure out what we can from that experience. Have you ordered or considered ordering the Enhanced Score Report? The additional data might help us to figure out what happened on quant. Here's more about this report so that you can decide whether you want to buy it (it costs USD25):
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... re-report/

If you do decide to get this, send it to the instructor you're paired with for your PEA. You can also tell us the data here, if you like—your choice whether you'd just like to talk to your PEA instructor or whether you'd also like to continue to discuss here. (You can also feel free to check with us here re: any advice you're given, etc. Get a second opinion, as it were.)

Okay, go sign up for your PEA right now and then let us know what happens! (And feel free to ask any additional questions, etc, both here and during your PEA.)