Give up?

Thanks for the replies. Honestly, I did feel nervous taking it the first time around, but I did not feel nervous the second time. I took the first test at 12:00PM and the second test at 4:00PM. I am not sure if that has any influence at all. My target schools are Georgetown, Hopkins, and Baruch now. Originally, I was planning on applying to NYU, and Yale also, but because of the wonderful GMAT, I had to modify my list of schools.

In terms of the studying that I did between the two tests, I took 4 practice GMAC tests: 1.) 580 2.) 490 3.) 510 4.) 490. I am not sure how I did worse after the first one. Before the the first real test, I was studying with Knewton GMAT and not doing too well. My baseline score was 510, so I should have gotten at least a 560.

My application is strong aside from the GMAT. I have 4 years of international experience, including USAID project experience, Peace Corps experience, and working at an Arabic Language school in Yemen, not to mention the fact that I speak 6 languages. Just the GMAT holding me back.

I also heard the Manhattan GMAT is a good resource. Maybe I should purchase those books and focus on learning it cold and retake the test in June or July...

My suggestion is hold off until next year because unless you can score a 700+ R3 will be very difficult. Actually, R3 will be very difficult even with a 700+.

If you really want to get into the best school you can then give it one more year if possible.

My suggestion is to develop a strong foundation. Purchase the Manhattan GMAT guides and know the material cold. These books have great information. Make sure you are learning the fundamentals.

Practice tests tend to be pretty inaccurate, plus there's the fact that they don't replicate test-day conditions--it's not reasonable to say you "should" score 50 points higher than your baseline score. I think you took too many practice tests and didn't do enough learning...sorta like a beginner doesn't get better at golf by playing full rounds, he gets better faster by going to the driving range and hitting a few thousand balls with each club.

I only did 3 full-length tests during my 9 off and on months of GMAT prep--one for diagnostic purposes at the beginning, then two during the last few weeks prior to my real test. My time in between was spent memorizing rules, equations, and problem-solving methods as I worked through the books.

Get the Manhattan books and start from scratch--you'll learn everything you need to know for the quant and verbal sections, as well as how to take the test itself, how to spot common GMAT shortcuts, etc. I referred a friend to the Manhattan books after he was disappointed with his 530, and two months later he got a 650. Anecdotal evidence, yes, but the point is that any dedicated study program will pay off.