Shot down!

Hi everyone,

I took the GMAT 3 days ago and was shot down with my all time low of 580 (Q42, V27). In my case, I didn't have a good testing centre experience. It was extremely uncomfortable, my computer screen would change colour whenever it pleased, the attendant was busy doing other stuff so when I'd raise my hand for extra scrap material I was waiting for like 2-3 mins sometimes. I tend to write big when I'm giving an exam so this was a big problem for me. Half way into the exam I started panicking for the above mentioned reasons. I got extremely paranoid, stressed and started feeling sick etc, it was horrible! Anyhow, I think I lost my concentration, time and it all went downhill from there on.

During my prep I was scoring between 46 - 49 in Quant and 30 - 37 in verbal. So when I saw the 42 in quant I felt the score was not a true reflection of my ability. I have decided to retake the exam as I am aiming for some of the top schools in Europe. Round 2 GMAT - 7th of November. Eventhough my profile is not so common, I still want to give it another shot and try and get a score somewhere in the 600s atleast. I think the whole testing experience threw me off a little and I hadn't factored that in. All my mock tests were done at home with a decent sized screen, enough desk space etc. The testing centre was a bit of a shocker! I have checked out another centre and that looks much better.

This time around I plan to work on my test taking strategies, maybe go to the local library with my laptop and take a test there. In addition to this I need to work on my verbal techniques. I found myself guessing most of the answers in Quant DS (due to timing) and Verbal CR. What would you guys recommend? In particular, how would you work on verbal? Its taken me a while to come to terms with my score. I still get that sinking feeling everytime I think about it!