Hi people,

I took my GMAT today and got a dismal 620!
Following is the break up.. Q48 (86%ile) V28(51%ile)

Quant, I thought was going horrible. My weak point in quant was DS - inequalities and it was like the test had known that. Got 5-6 inequalities DS+PS. Quant was definitely an inch above OG 11 and second the opinion that the questions were similar to GMATPrep.

I dont know what happened in Verbal. I thought my Verbal was going well as compared to Quant. All along, my weak point has been critical reasoning. My strongest was SC, but on the test the distinction between the options was minimal and most of them idiomatic. So, I cannot comment on it. I've gone through most of the CR stuff on the forum and could solve it, but in a timed test I get most of them wrong. I can get to the point where I have 2 options but cannot get past that. May be I think too much on the two options and the time left and finally botch it up. However, I could complete the Verbal with just 30 secs left, but had to pay a heavy price for it. I guess I would have been better off spending time on the CR questions and guessing whatever remained at the end.

I need some advice on improving the verbal score. I have gone through KAPLAN and OG. I found this forum quite late in my prep but I believe that it can still help me redress by problems as I prepare for a retake in early September.

Also, please tell me whether retaking the GMAT will affect my chances of admit adversely. I mean, does the number of times you take the GMAT affect your chances?

I am vacationing in Honduras at the moment, so I'll keep this short because the beach is more interesting than the GMAT.

In short,

(1) A 620 is not a dismal score. At all. It's not a 700+, true, but a 620 is pretty darn respectable. I know how you feel, but congratulate yourself first --- you did do pretty well.
(2) You can retake GMAT without fear or repercussion. I cant remember which school it was - maybe harvard, but I saw it written down somewhere that they do not recommend taking more than 3 times. Most people I know take it twice, some three times. I know of a few who have done four.
(3) There are great ways to bump your verbal. I will write more when I return (August 5th)