680 to 710

Well, I just finished my second GMAT. Did a little better than first time around but still not really satisified. I ended up with a 710 - Q48 V39

The quant section was difficult for me and I barely finished on time. On practice tests I have time left over for quant but on this test I guessed the last question. I thought I did bad but ended up with a decent score.

My verbal result was totally unexpected. I thought this was the easiest verbal section ever. I zoomed through it and was confident on almost every single question. I thought I nailed it and as I sat there with 12 minutes to do the last question, I had a smug grin on my face. The smug grin was erased when I saw the results screen. Obviously I missed something becuase my verbal score was really low compared to my practice tests.

I'm not sure what to do now. 710 isn't a bad score but I still feel I can do better. My quant score is in range of my practice tests but verbal killed me once again. There is something about the real test makes me perform way below my capabilities for the verbal section.

Eh, I don't know if it's even worth taking again though. I'd like to do some volunteer work rather than study for the GMAT again but the adcoms may think this sudden volunteer work is inauthentic.