Why Is My GMAT Score Not Improving?

Reading Time: 12 minutes

Last Updated on November 22, 2023

In preparing for the GMAT to apply to MBA programs, you may experience a problem that many GMAT students experience. You may hit a “GMAT plateau.” In other words, your GMAT score may not increase even though you’re putting a lot of energy into preparing. So, you may wonder, “Why is my GMAT score not improving?”

If you’re experiencing just that or wondering how to avoid that situation, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, I’ll discuss the most common reasons why GMAT aspirants hit score plateaus. I’ll also discuss what you can do to get your score to start increasing again and achieve your goal.

Here are the topics we’ll cover:

• Reason #1: What the GMAT Tests Hasn’t Quite Clicked for You
  • Solution for Reason #1
• Reason #2: You Haven’t Studied Fundamentals Sufficiently
  • Solution for Reason #2
• Reason #3: You Prep Hasn’t Included Much Beyond Learning Concepts and Strategies
  • Solution for Reason #3
• Reason #4: Practice Is the Weak Link in Your Prep
  • Solution for Reason #4
• Reason #5: Your GMAT Prep Resources Are Misinforming You
  • Solution for Reason #5
• Reason #6: You Need to Work on Handling the Test Itself
  • Solution for Reason #6
• How Much Can You Realistically Improve Your GMAT Score?
• How Long Does It Take to Improve Your GMAT Score?
• How Many Questions Can You Miss on The GMAT and Still Get a 700?
• Key Takeaways: Why Is My GMAT Score Not Improving?
• What’s Next?

Let’s begin by discussing a common reason why people don’t get the results they want from their GMAT preparation. What the GMAT tests hasn’t quite clicked for them.

Reason #1: What the GMAT Tests Hasn’t Quite Clicked for You

The fact that you’re preparing for the GMAT, an entrance exam for graduate business school, indicates that you’ve already taken many written tests. So, it follows that you’d have an understanding of what tests are all about and how to prepare for them. However, the GMAT is a fairly unique test whose purpose and question types are different from those of other tests. So, your preconceived notions of tests and test preparation can hamper your GMAT success.

For instance, many tests are designed to test knowledge. So, you may be great at preparing for tests of knowledge. However, while you need some knowledge to master the GMAT, the GMAT is not just a test of knowledge. So, if you have the impression that the main thing you need to do to master the GMAT is gain knowledge, your GMAT progress could stall.

Solution for Reason #1

If the reason your GMAT progress has stalled is that what the GMAT tests hasn’t quite clicked for you, then the solution is to understand exactly what the GMAT tests.

Regarding the Quantitative section of the GMAT, GMAT Quant uses fairly simple math concepts — basically junior high and high school math — to create sophisticated questions. So, the point of GMAT Quant is not to test your math knowledge. It’s to test your skill in mathematical reasoning. Specifically, the Quant section tests your ability to analyze situations and solve problems. It also uses Data Sufficiency questions to test your skill in using resources and determining what information is relevant.

Notice how GMAT Quant is different from an ordinary math test. The point of an ordinary math test is to confirm that you understand and can apply math concepts. In contrast, the point of the Quant section of the GMAT is to test your ability to reason and to get things done. In fact, many GMAT Quant questions are designed to be answered without the use of much math and through the use of moves such as seeing patterns or plugging in the answer choices.

Similarly, the Verbal section of the GMAT is not really a test of verbal knowledge, such as grammar concepts. Rather, it’s a test of verbal reasoning skill, such as skill in analyzing written material to understand relationships and implications of statements.

We can see that, overall, the GMAT is a test of skill in reasoning. So, much of what it takes to master the GMAT involves developing our reasoning skills.

Reason #2: You Haven’t Studied Fundamentals Sufficiently

We’ve just discussed that the GMAT is to a large extent a test of reasoning skill. However, it’s still the case that we need some fundamental knowledge to master the GMAT. So, a second reason why people’s GMAT scores plateau is that they haven’t spent enough time learning fundamentals.

One reason why people don’t learn fundamentals when they study for the GMAT is that some GMAT resources, such as the Official Guide, don’t cover fundamentals in depth. Rather, such resources provide practice questions and explanations without discussing concepts. So, it’s easy to end up trying to master the GMAT by just answering a mix of practice questions.

Whatever the reason for not studying fundamentals, the outcome is that you get only so far. You may be able to answer easy questions or questions involving concepts you already know. However, when faced with questions you don’t have the fundamental knowledge to answer, you don’t make progress.

So, if your GMAT score isn’t improving, consider whether you’ve skipped the step of learning fundamentals or studied concepts only superficially or only in some areas.

Solution for Reason #2

The solution to the problem of not knowing fundamentals is to study fundamentals, and the way to do so is to work topic by topic. So, if you haven’t studied fundamentals, you could find a good GMAT prep resource, such as the Target Test Prep GMAT course, and start working on one topic at a time.

To master a topic, the best approach is to first learn the concepts involved in the topic. Then, learn strategies for the topic. Finally, practice applying the concepts and strategies by doing practice questions involving the topic.

Reason #3: You Prep Hasn’t Included Much Beyond Learning Concepts and Strategies

We just saw that sometimes GMAT aspirants experience score plateaus because they didn’t learn fundamentals. Well, basically the converse can also occur. People’s progress can stall because they don’t do much beyond learning concepts and strategies.

I hear this type of story from people all the time. They watched some GMAT prep videos or read some lessons and did some practice questions and experienced little to no score improvement. They’re wondering what’s going on because they know so much more than they did but haven’t seen results.

The issue is that, as we have discussed, the GMAT isn’t a test of knowledge. It’s a test of reasoning skill. So, merely studying concepts and strategies may not have much effect on your GMAT score. You have to learn to apply those concepts. In other words, you have to learn to execute and arrive at correct answers. You have to learn to play the GMAT game.

Solution for Reason #3

If you think it may be the case that your score isn’t increasing because you haven’t done much more than learn concepts and strategies, then the solution is to learn to apply concepts and strategies by doing topic-focused practice. For each topic, start by doing easy questions until you can get them correct consistently. Then, move on to medium-difficulty questions, and then hard questions involving the topic, and do the same thing.

As you practice a topic, keep a log of your errors. Review the log regularly to identify patterns to why you’re making errors. Then, address the issues you find to improve your performance.

You may have to do many dozens of practice questions to master a topic in one of your weak areas. If you do, don’t worry. Doing many questions to master a topic is a normal part of GMAT preparation.

Reason #4: Practice Is the Weak Link in Your Prep

We just discussed that practicing is a key part of GMAT exam preparation. So, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that possibly the most common reason why people don’t get the results they want from their GMAT prep is that the way they’re practicing isn’t effective.

One issue is that doing just a handful of practice questions for each topic may not be sufficient. As we discussed earlier, you may need to answer many questions involving a topic to master it.

At the same time, quantity of practice questions isn’t the only variable that matters. In fact, you can answer hundreds of questions without strengthening your skills significantly because how you answer questions matters as well. For instance, if you take the approach of simply answering many practice questions timed, and then checking to see which questions you missed and reading explanations, your results may be unsatisfactory.

Solution for Reason #4

The solution if practice is the weak link in your prep is to improve the way you’re practicing. I discuss how best to practice for the GMAT in this post on the best GMAT practice methods. Nevertheless, I’ll provide a summary here.

To get the results you want from your GMAT preparation, practice in the following way:

• Practice one GMAT topic at a time.
• Start practicing a topic by doing easy questions untimed. Do easy questions untimed until you achieve high accuracy. In other words, keep answering as many easy questions as you need to in order to become skilled enough to get easy questions correct 90 to 100 percent of the time.
• Do the same with medium questions. Answer them untimed until you’re achieving high accuracy, such as 80 to 100 percent.
• Do the same with hard questions, achieving accuracy of at least 60 percent in Quant and at least 70 percent in Verbal.
• Once you’re achieving the above accuracies consistently, work on answering questions involving the topic at test pace. You can do so by working the time per question down bit by bit or by simply seeking to answer questions in an average of two minutes each.

Possibly the most important of the above steps is practicing untimed with as many questions as necessary to become skilled enough to achieve high accuracy. Any time you miss a question during this step, identify the reason you missed it. Then, address the issue, so that it doesn’t cause you to miss questions going forward.

Reason #5: Your GMAT Prep Resources Are Misinforming You

If you’re learning fundamentals for each GMAT topic and practicing diligently yet your score isn’t increasing, it could be that the prep resources you’re using are misinforming you or not providing the information you need.

For example, if you see your GMAT Quant score not improving, it could be that the Quant strategies provided by your prep resources are too gimmicky to work reliably. If the resources you’re using recommend such strategies, your Quant section score could plateau at a level well below your goal.

Another way resources can misinform you is by telling you to do things that are inefficient or time-wasting. For example, a resource may recommend taking a lot of notes for or prethinking the answer to every Critical Reasoning question. Taking too many notes or prethinking answers can use time you can’t afford to waste when taking the GMAT.

Supposed GMAT experts and prep resources say many things that are incorrect. Also, a resource may simply be not comprehensive enough to get you to your target score.

Solution for Reason #5

If you’re wondering whether your GMAT score isn’t improving because your GMAT preparation resources are misinforming you or missing information you need, you can take the following steps.

Consider whether resources you’re using provide solid, logic-based methods or suggest that you can answer every GMAT question using hacks. Some hacks or shortcuts can be helpful. However, a resource that provides only hacks and shortcuts may be misinforming you about what it takes to achieve your score goal.

Consider whether what your resources are telling you makes sense. Does it make sense that you need to take extensive notes when reading a short Critical Reasoning passage? Does it make sense that the meaning of the original version of a sentence in a Sentence Correction question is special? What about the idea that you can ace GMAT Reading Comprehension by reading only the first sentence of each paragraph in a passage? Without being a GMAT expert, you can at least somewhat gauge what makes sense and what doesn’t.

Identify why you’re missing GMAT questions. If you’re constantly lacking concept knowledge or strategies when answering questions, then perhaps the resources you’re using aren’t sufficiently comprehensive.

Finally, you could just try another resource and see whether it provides things that make more sense and are more comprehensive than the things your current resource provides.

Reason #6: You Need to Work on Handling the Test Itself

A final possible reason why your GMAT score isn’t going up is that you’ve made a lot of progress but haven’t learned to handle the test itself very well.

For instance, maybe under the pressure of the test you fall into old habits or have difficulty remembering what you’ve learned. So, all the preparation you’ve done doesn’t have the expected impact on test day.

Alternatively, you may not be that good at handling the timing aspect of taking the GMAT. So, you’re spending too much time on questions you’re unlikely to answer correctly or simply not completing the sections.

Whatever the case may be, if you’ve studied a lot and are achieving high accuracy when answering practice questions yet your test scores aren’t improving, then you may have to work on handling the test overall.

Solution for Reason #6

If everything else about your GMAT prep is going well but your test scores aren’t improving, then much of the solution may be simply to take many GMAT practice tests. You can take both official practice tests and third-party practice tests. Third-party tests may not be ideal, and the scores they generate may not quite match how you’d score on the actual GMAT. All the same, the better third-party practice tests do provide good practice in handling the test.

After taking each practice test, analyze your performance to determine what you can do to score higher. For instance, you may need to improve your time-management in Quant. You may need to work on your guessing strategy. Or you may need to figure out how to make fewer careless mistakes when under pressure.

By continuing to take practice tests, analyze your performance, and address issues, you’ll become a master at handling the GMAT.

Let’s now answer some common questions about improving your GMAT score.

How Much Can You Realistically Improve Your GMAT Score?

If you’re wondering how much you can realistically improve your GMAT score, the simple answer is that you can improve it as much as you want. Effective preparation works. So, as long as you continue to prepare effectively, your GMAT score will continue to increase. In fact, I’ve seen someone increase her GMAT score by 530 points, from 250 to 780.

That said, how much you improve your score can be limited by how much time you spend preparing. So, if you plan to prepare for the 2 to 6 months people typically take, you can reasonably expect to increase your score by around 100 to 200 points.

As long as you continue to prepare effectively, your GMAT score will continue to increase.

How Long Does It Take to Improve Your GMAT Score?

What really matters is how long it will take you to achieve your score goal. How long achieving a GMAT score goal takes varies from person to person. However, we can say that the average GMAT student takes about 200 to 300 hours to score 700 or higher. That said, since 200 to 300 hours is a rough average, the amount of time you’ll need to achieve your target score could be much greater or smaller than 200 to 300 hours.

How Many Questions Can You Miss On The GMAT and Still Get a 700?

I answer this question in depth in this post on how many GMAT questions you can get wrong and score 700. That said, the short answer is that you can miss around 14 to 16 Quant and Verbal questions on the GMAT and score 700.

Let’s now wrap up by summarizing what we’ve discussed.

Key Takeaways: Why Is My GMAT Score Not Improving? 

Here are the reasons for GMAT score plateaus that we’ve discussed:

• What the GMAT tests hasn’t quite clicked for you.
• You haven’t studied fundamentals sufficiently.
• Your prep hasn’t included much beyond learning concepts and strategies.
• Practice is the weak link in your prep.
• Your GMAT prep resources are misinforming you.
• You need to work on handling the test itself.

What’s Next?

Now that you better understand the reasons why people’s GMAT scores don’t improve and what to do about score plateaus, you could learn more about how to master the GMAT from this post on how to increase your GMAT Quant score and this one on how to score high on GMAT Verbal.