need help- score dropped

Question

Need help!
I took GMAT twice.
First - around 3 years ago and second - Today.
Last time, I scored 590 [Q49, V22] and today 530[Q44, V20].
It was so hard to see clearly while driving back home.
Last few months, I thought I was focused, I knew what I had to do to improve especially verbal.
I thought I had tools in my repertoire this time, unlike last time.
For last 5-6 months, I have been reading NY Times and Economist, though, I admit I didn't really analyze the paragraphs.

To improve on verbal, I referred following books-
1: PowerScore CR Bible
2: Manhattan SC
3: PowerScore Bible
4: Manhattan RC

I spent last 2 days on 700+ level SC questions and the success rate was around 80% - it seems all the questions I got wrong were in that I didn't understand the meaning clearly.

In last 2-3 months, I took following practice test -
MGMAT CAT 1 - 650 Q44, V35
MGMAT CAT2 - 630 Q42, V34
MGMAT CAT 3 - 660 Q43, V37
MGMAT CAT4 - 600 Q42, V32

In last month-
GMATPrep 1- 710 , 740 (I think scored were inflated as I'd already worked on 700+ Quant questions and as there were quite a few repeat questions.)

For some reason, I was quite anxious today. I think I wrote a pretty good (awa-argument) but got out of time

; hit 'Next' button too late. I guess I will know when official score arrives in a week or so.
Also I exceeded my break time, after AWA, by 1 min and 38 seconds

I don't know what to do now. I am in my 30's. May be to obtain MBA degree from a reputed school will remain a dream.

Thank you,
Mahi

; hit 'Next' button too late. I guess I will know when official score arrives in a week or so. Also I exceeded my break time, after AWA, by 1 min and 38 seconds

I don't know what to do now. I am in my 30's. May be to obtain MBA degree from a reputed school will remain a dream. Thank you, Mahi

mohater · Answer

Sounds like you had a fairly bad test day.

You still have 2 more MGMAT tests that will not have any repeat questions. Use one of those tests as a new baseline for preparing. From there, through an error log, begin working through any unique problem sets you can find (MGMAT problem banks, Veritas, GMATClub Tests, our forums, etc.). Keep an error log to help identify any subconscious things you were not aware 9f (skipping steps in algebra, using incorrect formula in geo, extreme words in RC/CR, consistent mistakes in SC, etc.) and work forward. Use your last MGMAT test go gauge progress and if you feel ready, schedule the test.

Since you have trouble sleeping, I suggest going with an afternoon session. Leave you the morning to rest, eat a proper meal, be alert, etc. Manage your time better on the test and you should be set to reach your goal.

Wwdrok1 · Answer

I read that the last 2 MGMAT tests are easier than the rest to boost your confidence. I will use the official test sim for a more accurate estimate.

mohater · Answer

That would generally cause a great deal of customer disatisfaction and I don't buy it.

Please provide some support for that claim.

sengarmahi · Answer

Thank you all for replying.
I'm still a little bit depressed - I was quite confident that I would get at least 660 or so.
I thought I had decent command on Quant but now that I reflect back , I can easily recall that almost in all the practice tests I took, I had to rush through last 4-5 questions at least.

I definitely have pacing issue, especially for verbal questions though I think that I understand (obviously my gmat scores tell otherwise) most of SC, CR and RC questions.

Obviously in some CR questions, I struggle to correctly understand answer choices - sometimes they don't match at all what I guess it should be after reading questions stem and argument.

In a nutshell, it's about pacing and pacing translates to understanding concepts to a certain extent.
I still need to figure out what kind of CR questions I have difficulty with - is there any way I can find easily?
 
And of course, I still need to understand how to make best use of this great forum.

Thank you,
Mahi

novanative · Answer

In terms of reading materials, if you don't understand what you're reading in the paper, then it's not a good thing...

Two, with breaks, just go there to use the bathroom, gather your thoughts together and get back to the test room. The break is technically 8 minutes long but you really should get back in there after six minutes or so..

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need help- score dropped

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