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It’s a dreaded scenario for any GMAT student: a GMAT score lower than your practice test scores. After all, you studied for the GMAT for months and hit your score goal on practice tests—what went wrong?
While this situation comes as quite a shock to most test-takers who experience it, it’s actually pretty common. There are many reasons that people ask, Why is my official GMAT score lower than my practice test scores? So, it’s imperative to troubleshoot key aspects of your GMAT test prep to diagnose and correct the problem. Luckily, you’ve come to the right place!
If your official vs. practice GMAT scores didn’t sync up as you hoped, one of the GMAT preparation pitfalls in this article could be the culprit. From test environment distractions to time-management problems, we’ll look at the 10 most common causes of a GMAT score drop on test day. In addition, we’ll provide score-improvement tips to get you back on track.
Here are the topics we’ll cover:
- Pitfall #1: Not Taking Your Practice Tests Under Realistic Conditions
- Pitfall #2: Taking Mocks That Are Not Representative of the Real GMAT
- Pitfall #3: Not Taking All of the Official Practice Tests
- Pitfall #4: Leaving Gaps in Your GMAT Knowledge
- Pitfall #5: Overinvesting in the First 7 Questions in Each Test Section
- Pitfall #6: Putting on the PRESSURE!
- Pitfall #7: Burning Yourself Out Before Test Day
- Pitfall #8: Having a Bad Day
- Pitfall #9: Falling Back on Bad Habits
- Pitfall #10: Making Last-Minute Changes to Your Routine
- Key Takeaways
- What’s Next?
Let’s start with perhaps the most common preparation pitfall: not taking practice tests under realistic conditions.
Pitfall #1: Not Taking Your Practice Tests Under Realistic Conditions
If you expect to obtain an accurate score from a GMAT mock, your exam conditions
have to be as close as possible to those you’ll encounter when you take your actual GMAT. If you use a calculator during the Quant section, answer a text message, eat a sandwich, or do anything else that you could not do during your actual exam, your practice test accuracy will be compromised.
So, replicate the test-day experience as much as you can anytime you take an official practice test. Let’s discuss how.
TTP PRO TIP:
Mimic the test-day experience every time you take an official practice test.
How to Replicate the Test-Day Experience
There are a few simple steps you can take to simulate the actual GMAT testing environment during your practice tests. By taking these steps, you’ll reduce the chances of unwelcome score variation on test day.
- If you’ll take your actual GMAT at a test center, don’t take your practice tests at home. Instead, rent a private room at the library or in a coworking space. If you plan to take the online GMAT, take your mocks in the space you’ll use for your actual exam. Make sure to set up the space as you’ll be required to on test day.
- Do your scratch work with a dry-erase marker and pad similar to those provided at GMAT test centers. Or, if you’ll take the online GMAT, use the exact same whiteboard that you plan to use during the exam. Use the same computer as well.
- Take your practice tests at the time of day you’ll take your actual GMAT, and even on the same day of the week. For example, do you work or attend school full-time? Then you probably won’t take your actual GMAT on, say, a Wednesday evening, when you’re tired from a busy day. So, why take a practice test then?
- Don’t take additional breaks, pause the exam, or do anything you can’t do on test day. Turn your cell phone off and stow it out of sight!
Of course, it’s impossible to replicate the test-day experience with 100% accuracy, but we can get pretty darn close. So, with a limited number of official practice tests available, you don’t want to waste those resources by relaxing the rules of the test. Not only will you jeopardize your practice test accuracy, but also you’ll miss out on valuable test-day training.
Pitfall #2: Taking Mocks That Are Not Representative of the Real GMAT
If you take practice tests other than those from GMAC (the GMAT test-makers), it’s possible your scores won’t be accurate. Why? Because only official GMAT practice tests use the actual test algorithm. So, even though mocks from other sources may use an adaptive test format like the GMAT does, they can’t use the same scoring methodology the real test uses.
Moreover, if you take unofficial practice tests from multiple sources, you could see quite a bit of score variation. After all, each company will use its own scoring algorithm. So, if your score increases over the course of a practice test or two, what is the reason? Is that increase the result of better performance or the fact that you used a different company’s test? There will be no way to make that determination for sure.
You need to compare apples to apples. So, take all 6 official practice tests before you consider taking unofficial mocks. You’ll probably find that 6 tests is plenty! If you MUST take more mocks, then you can take some non-GMAC tests. Just don’t be surprised (or stress yourself out) if you see some score variation.
TTP PRO TIP:
Take the 6 official practice tests that GMAC provides before you consider taking mock GMATs from any other source.
Pitfall #3: Not Taking All of the Official Practice Tests
Many GMAT students make the mistake of sitting for the real GMAT after taking just a couple of practice tests.
Listen, it is a great feeling to hit your score goal on a practice test. But if you take just a couple of mocks, even if you perform well on them or surpass your score goal, your average score on those tests may not be a true representation of your abilities. Why? Because your sample size is too small.
That’s why the Target Test Prep study plan recommends that every GMAT student take all 6 full-length, official practice tests. Doing so is the best way to ensure that your scores are accurate and you’re ready for test day. Think of it this way: you can feel a lot more confident on test day that you’re ready to hit your score goal if you’ve taken 6 tests and hit your goal on many or most than if you’ve taken just 1 or 2. And that confidence is only going to help you perform at your peak on the actual exam.
TTP PRO TIP:
Don’t skimp on the number of official practice tests you take before your actual GMAT.
Pitfall #4: Leaving Gaps in Your GMAT Knowledge
One of the major challenges of the GMAT is that it can test a single topic in numerous ways. So, let’s say you’re good at most but not all types of questions on certain topics. It’s possible you could see mainly the types you’re good at on practice tests. Conversely, you may see the types you’re not well-versed in on test day.
For example, being skilled at answering most, but not all, types of Rate problems leaves you open to getting the types you’re not skilled at on your actual GMAT. If by chance you experience that issue with several topics, you could be in for some serious test-day disappointment.
Unfortunately, you can’t predict how any given GMAT (mock or actual) will test the GMAT topics and concepts. Additionally, you can’t predict what exact mix of topics you’ll see. So, you have to be prepared for anything that could possibly come your way on test day.
In other words, you must achieve thorough, not partial, mastery of each GMAT topic. To do so, make sure you’re using comprehensive GMAT preparation materials. Look for materials that teach every Quant, Verbal, and Data Insights topic, concept, and question type and provide comprehensive practice.
Additionally, make sure to closely analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Even within your strong content areas, you want to fill in any knowledge gaps. If you weren’t doing that work before, it’s time for a study plan adjustment!
Think your GMAT preparation materials aren’t up to scratch? Poets & Quants found that GMAT test-takers ranked Target Test Prep the #1 GMAT prep platform for showing deep GMAT expertise. See for yourself with a free 5-day trial!
TTP PRO TIP:
Make sure you’ve achieved thorough, not just partial, mastery of each GMAT topic.
Pitfall #5: Overinvesting in the First 7 Questions in Each Test Section
Maybe at some point during your GMAT test prep, you heard that if you correctly answer the first 5-7 questions in each GMAT section, you automatically get a great score. Maybe you decided that this “secret weapon” would give your score that extra little boost it was missing. Maybe, as a result, you experienced a GMAT score drop.
Myths about the GMAT are never in short supply, but the myth of the first 7 questions is one with serious staying power. Unfortunately, overinvesting time in the first 7 questions of a GMAT section to better your chances of getting them correct can actually have a negative impact on your score.
For one thing, answering the first several questions correctly does not mean that the GMAT scoring algorithm will have you pegged as a “high scorer.” Furthermore, by spending extra time on those initial questions, you’ll likely end up rushing at the end of the section. You may even have to guess on several questions. Either of those scenarios could hurt your accuracy and your score.
So, even if at question 7 you had a very high score, by the time you reach the last question in the section (if you make it there), your score will have plummeted.
Are the first 7 questions of a section important? Sure. But all of the questions in a section are important. So, stick with a timing strategy that allows you to pace yourself methodically throughout a section. This approach gives you the best chance to correctly answer each question, not just the early questions.
TTP PRO TIP:
Pace yourself as you normally would throughout each section of your actual GMAT.
Pitfall #6: Putting on the PRESSURE!
As prepared as you may be for your GMAT, test-day pressure could get to you and cause a score drop. Of course, if you felt relatively calm and cool during mock tests, you may not have expected GMAT test anxiety to get the better of you during the real deal. And if you weren’t expecting to feel any different on test day, you probably weren’t implementing any strategies to alleviate stress and anxiety in the weeks leading up to your GMAT. That is a common mistake.
One of the most frequent questions I get from GMAT test-takers who experience a score drop is, How can I overcome test anxiety that affects my GMAT performance? Many of those people did not anticipate feeling such a huge weight on their shoulders when test day came. So, test anxiety was one area of the GMAT (maybe the only area!) that they weren’t prepared for.
Even if you’ve been feeling fine during practice tests, and thus performing well, my advice is to implement some stress-reduction strategies in your routine in the weeks leading up to your actual exam. For example, consider creating a calming mantra for yourself, trying some confidence-boosting visualization exercises, or practicing some stress-reducing breathing techniques.
Remember, if you were able to work calmly and perform well on practice tests, then you are capable of doing the same on your actual GMAT. But it doesn’t hurt to have some stress-fighting tools ready just in case test-day pressures start weighing on you.
TTP PRO TIP:
Use techniques such as visualization and deep breathing to relieve test-day pressure.
Pitfall #7: Burning Yourself Out Before Test Day
Have you heard about the GMAT student who took 5 practice tests in the 5 days leading up to his GMAT and got only 5 hours of sleep each night? Are you surprised that his actual GMAT score was lower than his practice test scores?
In the week before GMAT, you must avoid over-studying, taking too many practice tests, or cramming for your exam. These practices will not only affect your sleep patterns (and your mood), but also overload you and potentially burn you out right at the moment when you need to be at your sharpest.
In fact, rather than going all out the week before your GMAT, you should start tapering down your studies. Sure, you may have a final practice test to take, and you’ll still want to keep your skills fresh with regular practice and review of the concepts you’ve learned throughout your GMAT prep. But thinking about your GMAT 24/7 or trying to cram in a bunch of new topics is not going to do you any favors in that final week.
If you were strategic in scheduling your GMAT, there isn’t much left to do to be prepared for test day. So yes, keep your skills fresh, but also do some fun, stress-relieving activities to take your mind off the test. Go out to dinner with friends, binge-watch a new show on Netflix, or take a long bike ride. You want your mind to be fresh and your body to be relaxed on test day.
TTP PRO TIP:
Instead of cramming or taking one practice test after another in the week leading up to your GMAT, taper down your studying and do fun activities that take your mind off the test.
Pitfall #8: Having a Bad Day
Even the most seasoned professional athletes and musicians sometimes fumble the ball or sing off key. Likewise, even the most well-prepared GMAT test-takers sometimes have a bad day on test day.
Perhaps a few questions didn’t fall your way. Before you knew it, things spiraled out of control, and you didn’t perform up to your ability level. Perhaps you slept for only a few hours the night before your test. Maybe you had issues with unfamiliar technology at the test center, or test environment distractions got the best of you. For whatever reason, you weren’t on your game, and your score suffered.
GMAT underperformance because you had a bad day can be demoralizing, but it happens to the best of us. The important thing is to dust yourself off, tell yourself that you got your bad day “out of the way,” and retake the GMAT as soon as you feel ready.
Chances are that lightning won’t strike twice, and you’ll have a much better day the second time around.
TTP PRO TIP:
Don’t let one very ill-timed bad day discourage you. Chances are, lightning won’t strike twice!
Pitfall #9: Falling Back on Bad Habits
Often, when people find themselves in stressful situations, they revert to their comfort zones—old habits that are easier to keep at bay when the pressure isn’t so great. In the context of the GMAT, these habits might include rushing through questions, skimming passages, trying to do math calculations in your head, or worrying about what questions lie ahead, to name a few. Even if you start off your GMAT with supreme confidence, if you fall back on bad old habits when the going gets tough, you could see a drop in your score.
To ensure that bad habits don’t get the best of you on test day, first off, make sure that you’ve eliminated these habits well before you take your GMAT. Each time you take a practice test or do a set of practice questions, make sure you’re implementing best practices. Work efficiently and methodically through each question, don’t rely on mental math, focus only on the current problem, etc.
When taking the actual GMAT, try to maintain an awareness of how you’re moving through the test. If you feel the urge to rush through a question or start calculating in your head, take a breath and do a quick “reset.” You do have the power to stop yourself if you’re sliding into old habits. Be aware of what your bad habits are, so you can halt them in their tracks if you need to.
TTP PRO TIP:
Work to eliminate bad habits well before test day, and if you catch yourself falling back on them during your GMAT, take a breath and do a quick “reset.”
Pitfall #10: Making Last-Minute Changes to Your Routine
Maybe you decided that a superfood diet in the week leading up to your exam would help your mental sharpness. Maybe on the morning of your GMAT, you drank more coffee than you normally would, for an “energy boost.” Maybe you recently started an exhausting new exercise regimen.
Big, last-minute changes in your daily routine can have a significant effect on your test-day performance. For instance, if you typically run outdoors a few times a week, there is no reason to stop doing so in the weeks leading up to your exam. In fact, you may find yourself feeling more stressed and less energetic if you do. And if your friend who already took the GMAT gives you a recipe for the kale-bee pollen-wheatgrass smoothie she had for breakfast on the morning of her exam, do your stomach a favor and don’t try it out for the first time on test day.
It’s true that implementing healthy changes in your routine, such as going to bed and waking up earlier, eating a more vitamin-rich diet, and drinking plenty of water each day, can produce physical and mental benefits that may boost your test-day performance. The point is to implement those changes gradually over time. You’re not, for example, going to transform from a night owl to a morning person in a matter of days. If you try, you run a serious risk of derailing your GMAT readiness.
Sleep patterns, diet, hydration, and physical activity can all affect how you feel when you take your GMAT. So, last-minute experiments involving routines that are radically different from what you’re used to are not advised.
TTP PRO TIP:
Implement healthy changes to your routine gradually, so that by the time test day arrives, they feel normal.
Key Takeaways
To minimize the chances you’ll see a GMAT score drop on test day, avoid these 10 all-too-common GMAT preparation pitfalls:
- not taking practice GMATs under realistic conditions
- taking mocks that are not representative of the real GMAT
- not taking all of the official practice tests
- using prep materials designed around questions from official practice tests
- overinvesting in the first 7 questions in each test section
- putting on the PRESSURE!
- burning yourself out before test day
- having a bad day
- falling back on bad habits
- making last-minute changes to your routine
Now that you know how to avoid these pitfalls, you can make the necessary adjustments to your GMAT test prep to ensure that you perform at your true ability level on test day.
What’s Next?
Are GMAT practice tests easier than the real test? We answer that question in our article Is the GMAT harder than practice tests?
Wondering what strategies can help improve time-management on the GMAT? Check out our Verbal timing strategy guide and our Quant timing strategy guide for expert advice.
Additionally, learn about the best GMAT prep resources here and get expert GMAT retake strategies here.
