Practice Test Scores-Need your thoughts

Tarmac, what did your practice scores look like before you pulled out your insane score on the real deal?

Thanks guys for your inputs. I randomly selected GMATPREP -2 initially without any preparation.

Also, I found that I have enough time while working on the Quant Section,but falling a little short in the Verbal Section and scoring less in sentence correction.I will probably go through MGMAT's Sentence Correction Guide

I scored 710 and 730 on the gmatpreps 1st pass, before reinstall. I think 20-ish points is reasonable to expect to get via an adrenalin boost on game day, for most people (some people do worse under pressure).

I took the GMAT Today and I ended up with 580..little disappointed.. I was expecting atleast 650 and aiming for 700...
I think I skewed because of mismanagement of time...for some reason in the real exam i could not manage time... and ended short on both Quant and Verbal. If I had completed both sections I guess I would have scored more.

I might re-take the exam..maybe in april... is a long gap advisable?..

The schools that I am aiming for Emory and Georgia State ..will still take 580, but I am thinking of increasing my chances by getting a better score...

Sorry to hear it. My first test didn't go as well as planned either; my timing got way off after I got stuck on a hard math question.

Timing is definitely important. Make sure you know the math formulas, grammar rules, etc., and how to apply them. Knowing your fundamentals so you can quickly recall them is really key. Also work on timing strategies, like process of elimination. I used Cracking the GMAT (Princeton Review book) for strategy and found the tips very helpful when I got stuck.

And keep taking practice tests, but be sure to review your answers carefully. If you're getting questions right untimed but wrong on the timed tests, then continue to work on GMAT-specific skills especially.