Why Was My GMAT Score Lower Than My Practice Test Scores?

Reading Time: 15 minutes

Last Updated on May 11, 2023

It’s a dreaded scenario for any GMAT student: You study for the GMAT for months, hit your score goal on some practice tests, and figure that you’re ready to sit for your exam, only to see a lower score on your actual GMAT than the scores you earned on your practice tests. While this situation is likely to come as quite a shock to any test-taker who experiences it, it’s actually pretty common to see a discrepancy in GMATPrep vs. real GMAT scores. So, where did you go wrong?

There are a number of reasons why a GMAT student may see a drop from her practice test scores to her actual GMAT score, so it’s imperative to troubleshoot key aspects of your GMAT test prep to ensure that you don’t set yourself up for a rude awakening on test day.

In this article, we’ll look at the 10 most common GMAT preparation pitfalls that can lead to a score drop on test day. Whether you’ve already experienced a lower GMAT score than you expected or you’re hoping to avoid one, read on.

• Pitfall #1: Not Taking Practice GMATs Under Realistic Testing Conditions
• Pitfall #2: Taking Mock GMATs That Are Not Representative of the Official GMAT
• Pitfall #3: Not Taking All 6 Official Practice Tests
• Pitfall #4: Using Prep Materials Designed Around Questions from Official Practice Exams
• Pitfall #5: Overinvesting in the First 10 Questions in Quant or Verbal
• 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

Pitfall #1: Not Taking Practice GMATs Under Realistic Testing Conditions

If you expect to obtain an accurate score from a GMAT practice test, the conditions under which you take that test should be as close as possible to the conditions you’ll encounter on the day you take your actual GMAT. If you skip the Integrated Reasoning section, use a calculator during the Quant section, take a 10-minute break instead of an 8-minute one, peek at your notes during the practice test, or do anything else that you would not or could not do on test day, you may not get an accurate practice test score. So, always follow realistic test-day conditions when you take your official practice exams.

To create a realistic GMAT experience for yourself, I recommend the following:

1. Plan to go to the library and rent a private study room, or go to another quiet location to take the practice test. Do not take the test at your home. After all, you will not take the actual GMAT at home (unless you’re taking the exam online because of the COVID-19 pandemic; in that case, taking practice tests at home, in the same location where you’ll take the actual exam, is a good idea).
2. Do not skip any of the test sections. Yes, that means you must do the Integrated Reasoning section and the essay.
3. Do not take any additional breaks or do anything that you could not do on test day (such as pause the exam and go for a walk).
4. Turn your cell phone off.
5. Do your scratch work with a dry-erase marker and pad similar to those provided at GMAT test centers. If you are taking the online GMAT, then use the exact same whiteboard that you plan to use while taking that test.
6. Try to take the practice test at the time of day that you will take your actual GMAT. If you work or go to school full-time and plan to take your actual GMAT on the weekend, then take your practice test on Saturday or Sunday morning, when your mind is fresh. It would not be a great idea to come home after working all day and sit down to take a practice GMAT.

Remember, the practice test will not be an accurate gauge of your current GMAT skills unless you adhere closely to actual GMAT testing conditions when taking it. If you repeatedly pause the test, go over the allotted time for a section, or eat your lunch while you’re answering questions, your score will not be accurate.

Think of the precious hours you must spend on each practice test you take and the limited number of official practice tests available — do you really want to waste those resources by relaxing the rules of the test? The result may be not only receiving an inaccurate score, but also missing out on the valuable training for the rigors of test day that a practice test can provide.

For more on how to maximize the use of practice tests during your GMAT prep, check out our article on taking GMAT practice tests.

Pitfall #2: Taking Mock GMATs That Are Not Representative of the Official GMAT

If you take practice GMATs other than those from GMAC (the GMAT test-makers), it’s possible that you will see inaccurate score results. Does this mean that you should not take any practice GMATs from anyone but GMAC? I wouldn’t go that far. However, it does mean that if you need to see the most accurate score possible, you probably are better off taking an official GMAT practice test.

Similarly, you need to be careful when comparing practice test scores from different sources. For example, let’s say that you took two practice GMATs, one from GMAT Prep Company X and one from GMAT Prep Company Y, scoring 700 and 710, respectively. Then, you took two official practice GMATs and scored 640 and 630. Does this data indicate that your score is dropping? Good question. Perhaps there are inherent differences in the tests you took from Companies Y and X and the official tests. Perhaps the official GMAT practice tests are more accurate. The data could, in fact, indicate that your score is dropping, but since the tests are from three different sources, making that determination is difficult.

You need to compare apples to apples. So, prioritize taking all six GMAC practice exams; you may find, in fact, that you don’t need any further full-length practice exams prior to taking your actual GMAT. If you MUST take more practice exams, then you can take some non-GMAC tests, but don’t be surprised (or stress yourself out) if the results vary from those of your GMAC tests.

Pitfall #3: Not Taking All 6 Official Practice Tests

Let’s say that your GMAT score goal is 700+ and you take two official GMAC practice exams from mba.com. You score 710 and 720 on those exams, so you figure that you are ready to sign up for the GMAT. Needless to say, you’re shocked when you score 660 on test day. How could that have happened?

This is a mistake that many GMAT students make. Although you scored high on your practice exams, because you took only two exams, your average score was not a true representation of your abilities. Your sample size was too small.

As I just mentioned, GMAC offers six full-length practice exams. There is a reason why the Target Test Prep study plan recommends that every GMAT student take all six of those exams prior to taking their actual GMAT. By doing so, you give yourself a substantial enough sample size of data to get an accurate picture of whether or not you’re prepared to hit your GMAT score goal. If, after taking all six official practice exams, your average score is 700+ (or whatever your goal may be), chances are you’re ready to go!

Pitfall #4: Using Prep Materials Designed Around Questions from Official Practice Exams

Imagine that you have a high school math test during eighth period, and your friend Beth takes the same test during third period. If Beth tells you what questions were on the test before you take it, do you think that you’ll perform better than you would without that information? In other words, do you think that your score will be inflated? Probably, right?

Not shockingly, this same thing happens with GMAT test prep materials. Perhaps you are using study materials designed by GMAT Prep Company X, and when building its practice materials, Company X heavily drew from questions on official practice tests rather than designing materials focused on the content, knowledge, and skills necessary for a high GMAT score.

Is researching official questions necessary? Of course. However, if a large percentage of the sample questions with which you are practicing are just models of the questions on official practice tests, then you may not learn what you need to learn and, consequently, you may see strong practice test scores that are not indicative of true GMAT mastery.

When you use GMAT prep materials that focus heavily on content from official questions, you may pick up on concepts and patterns that appear in a relatively small number of official materials but NOT actually improve your logical analysis, critical thinking, and analytical reasoning skills, all of which are necessary to earn a solid GMAT score.

In other words, some study materials can create the illusion of GMAT mastery, an illusion that can be reinforced even when you take official practice tests. In reality, you may be mastering the art of performing well on practice tests without truly gauging your strengths and weaknesses and mastering the GMAT. This is a recipe for disaster on test day, when any lingering GMAT weaknesses you have will likely be exposed.

So, to avoid a score drop and a low GMAT score in general, make sure that you thoroughly research GMAT test prep materials and select a GMAT course that provides the depth you need to truly master the GMAT, not just do well on official practice exams. In fact, give Target Test Prep a try. Poets & Quants found that GMAT test-takers ranked us the #1 GMAT prep platform for showing deep GMAT expertise.

Pitfall #5: Overinvesting in the First 10 Questions in Quant or Verbal

A common misconception is that if you correctly answer the first 10 questions on GMAT Quant or Verbal, you automatically get a great score. Maybe at some point during your GMAT test prep, you heard about this tactic. Maybe you decided that by adding this “secret weapon” to your arsenal on test day, you could give your score that extra little boost it was missing. Maybe, as a result, you saw your score decline.

Myths about the GMAT are never in short supply, but the myth of the first 10 GMAT questions is one with serious staying power. Unfortunately, the reality is that overinvesting time in the first 10 questions of a GMAT section can have a negative impact on your score.

For one thing, just because you answer the first 10 questions correctly does not mean that the GMAT scoring algorithm will have you pegged as a “high scorer,” and thus regardless of what happens on the remaining questions, you will get a great score. Furthermore, by spending more time on those initial 10 questions than you normally would, you most likely will end up having to rush at the end of a section to make up time, and maybe even guess on several questions, both of which will hurt your score.

For example, let’s assume that you use 40 minutes to answer the first 10 questions of the Quant section correctly; how will the rest of the section go with only 22 minutes remaining to answer 21 questions? You won’t have sufficient time to correctly answer many of those questions, even if they are within your skill level, and those incorrect answers will degrade your Quant score substantially. As you near the end of the Quant section, more than likely you will be forced to guess on a string of final questions, further dropping your score. So, even though at question 10 you had a very high score, by question 31, there is a high likelihood that your score will have plummeted. In fact, your quant score likely will end up being much lower than it would have been had you devoted a reasonable amount of time to each question in the section, pacing yourself from beginning to end.

Are the first 10 questions of a section important? Of course. If you answered all of them correctly, would you be scoring very well on that section at that moment? Yes. However, overinvesting time in the first “X number of questions” is a poor GMAT strategy because any gains that brings will more than likely evaporate by the time you reach the final “X number of questions.”

Pitfall #6: Putting on the PRESSURE!

Think back to any important event you’ve had to prepare for in life: a recital, a speaking engagement, a sports game, a test. If you think back to the actual event, I’m sure that you would agree that you performed at your best when nerves, pressure, and anxiety were kept at bay, right? The same is true for the GMAT. As prepared as you may be for your exam, if you let test day loom too large in your mind, the pressure may get to you and cause a decline in your score.

The fact is, no matter how well you approximate test-day conditions when you take practice exams, your practice runs are never going to feel exactly like the big race. With that in mind, it’s all the more important to do everything you can to alleviate the amount of pressure you put on yourself, not only as you prepare for the GMAT, but also on test day. If you can walk into the test center with a “calm but ready” attitude, you will be much better able to focus and perform than you will be if you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders.

One trick for managing your nerves in the weeks leading up to your GMAT is to try some visualization techniques. Imagine test-day scenarios such as getting stuck on a question, having issues at the testing center, feeling pressed for time, or worrying that you’re underperforming. As you feel your stress responses start to kick in, practice pulling yourself together and focusing on answering questions correctly. By practicing responding calmly to stress, you’ll reduce the pressure you feel during your GMAT prep and train yourself to cope with stressful situations on test day.

When taking the actual GMAT, the best way to deal with stress is to get busy answering the question in front of you, focusing completely on the task at hand, so that you redirect all of your nervous energy and naturally calm down. In other words, you distract yourself with a goal. Just tell yourself that all that matters is getting the correct answer to the question in front of you, and then when you have finished that question, take the same attitude toward the next one. Focus on winning each “mini-battle” and you won’t have time for anxiety. If you can win enough of those battles, you can win the GMAT war.

Remember, if you were able to work calmly and perform at your best on your practice tests, then you are capable of doing the same on your actual GMAT.

Pitfall #7: Burning Yourself Out Before Test Day

Have you heard the story of the GMAT student who took 10 practice exams in the 10 days leading up to his exam and got only five hours of sleep each night? Are you at all surprised that doing so was a GMAT score-killer?

In the week leading up to your GMAT, you must avoid overstudying. Cramming not only will affect your sleep patterns, but also will overload you and potentially burn you out before you set foot in the test center. So, rather than thinking about your GMAT 24/7 in the days leading up to your exam, do some fun, stress-relieving activities to keep your mind off the test: go out to dinner, go to the movies, binge-watch Netflix, go for a run.

You want to be well-prepared for the GMAT, but you always want your mind to be fresh and your body to be relaxed. Thus, spending the days leading up to your exam studying (and worrying) nonstop is likely to do more harm than good.

Pitfall #8: Having a Bad Day

Although this may seem obvious, it’s completely reasonable to think that you just had a bad day! Even professional athletes and musicians at the top of their fields sometimes strike out or sing off key all night.

Perhaps a few questions didn’t fall your way, and 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 (see Pitfall #6 again). Bad days happen, and when they do, you simply need to get back on the horse, study for a few weeks, and retake the GMAT. Chances are that lightning won’t strike twice, and you’ll have a much better day the second time around.

Pitfall #9: Falling Back on Bad Habits

Often, when people find themselves in stressful situations (such as taking the GMAT), they revert to their comfort zones — old habits that they were able to keep at bay when the pressure didn’t feel so great (for instance, during practice tests). These habits include rushing through a question, trying to do math calculations in your head, and being too worried about what questions lie ahead, to name a few. Even if you walk into the GMAT with supreme confidence, if you fall back on any of your bad habits when the going gets tough, you could see a drop in your GMAT 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, be sure to do the right things: work efficiently and methodically through each question, don’t rely on mental math, focus on the problem in front of you.

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 be sure to avoid them.

Pitfall #10: Making Last-Minute Changes to Your Routine

Maybe you decided that a “superfood” diet for 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 in a week. Maybe you were too nervous to eat or sleep much in the final days before the test, or you started an exhausting new exercise regimen.

Big, last-minute changes in your daily routine can have a significant effect on your GMAT score. For instance, if you typically go for a 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.

Implementing healthy changes in your normal routine — changes such as going to bed and waking up earlier, eating a more vitamin-rich diet, taking yoga classes, or making sure to drink eight glasses of water a 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, and you run a serious risk of derailing your GMAT readiness if you try.

Sleep patterns, diet, hydration, and physical activity can all play a role in how you feel when you walk into the test center on test day, so last-minute experiments involving routines that are radically different from what you’re used to are not advised.

Now that you know the 10 most common pitfalls that can cause a score drop on test day and the strategies to avoid them, you can make the necessary adjustments in your GMAT test prep to ensure that your score report on test day reflects the kinds of scores you earned on practice tests

Remember, with the right study plan and attitude, you can crush the GMAT!