Why is my GMAT score not improving?
Your GMAT score is not improving because you did not change how you perform quantitative and verbal reasoning under timed conditions in any meaningful way. To improve your GMAT score, you have to become better than a large proportion of smart, ambitious, and hardworking professionals on a standardized timed test. This is really hard. Learning new concepts is not enough, you have to drill a lot of questions to assimilate anything you need for a great gmat score, and they you must solve official gmat questions under timed conditions to improve solving form and efficiency.
7 reasons your GMAT score did not improve
Reason 1: You’re competing against other ambitious professionals
GMAT test takers are a self-selecting group of ambitious, hardworking professionals who are as committed as you are to improving their gmat score. All resources available to you to prepare for the GMAT are available to them as well. If you want to improve your gmat score by a certain percentile point, you have to become better than a corresponding segment of test takers.
Reason 2: The GMAT is a standardized timed test
Timing makes all the difference in your performance. You must read, process, devise a plan, and execute in on average 2 minutes per question. This is really fast. Unless you fundamentally change your reasoning under timed conditions and drill many questions to lock-in new skills, your gmat score is not going to improve.
Reason 3: Progress on the GMAT is not linear
We are not linear beings and your progress is not going to be linear either. Imagine trying to land the triple jump on the day of a competition. Landing it once or twice on a good day of practice does not mean you will land it on the day of the competition. You have to rehearse so many times to develop the ability to summon your talent at will 90% of the time not 40% of the time.
Reason 4: You’re wasting official GMAT questions and material
GMAT resources and official practice questions are relatively few. If you are far away from your dream score you must use them with caution. Develop your quantitative and verbal reasoning abilities and only use the official gmat resources when you are close to your goal.
Reason 5: You did not practice paying the mental tax and are cracking under pressure and stress
Developing mental stamina is key to improving your gmat score. You have to maintain the focus required for a great performance for 3 hours, not 15 minutes.
Reason 6: You’re using unofficial GMAT questions that do more harm than good
Non-official gmat questions harm you in two ways:
- They are based on official gmat questions. The newness factor, a key requirement for effective test day preparation, will be diluted.
- They compromise your test day calibration. The nuance of a gmat question, especially verbal questions, are subtle and take expensive resources to develop. Non-official gmat questions are poorly designed and offer a poor calibration: you tweak/adjust your reasoning on bad data and so your thinking will be off-mark on the day of the test.
Reason 7: You’re not building and sustaining momentum to unleash on the day of the test
Life is hard and many things get in the way of building momentum. A good gmat study plan is at least 8 weeks long, but sometimes they are not enough to reach your dream score. When life gets in the way and you feel far away from your goal, you can lose momentum. This is bad for preparation. So, you have to design your study routine using the guidelines below.
To improve your gmat score, a good gmat study plan must
- Start with a clear diagnosis of your strengths and weaknesses.
- Setting a gmat score objective that is realistic.
- Breaking down a goal into a series of sprints if you’re far away from your dream GMAT score.