unhappy with results but working towards improvement

I took the GMAT 3 times last year and one time in 2013.
My very first GMAT score was 560 and I got this with about 1 month of self-preparation. I had used only the OG and Foundation of Math by Manhattan.
2 1/2 years later I started preparing again for the GMAT.
It took me forever to break through the 600 despite hours and hours of studying with different test companies.
I achieved my best score in July of last year with 630. Well, I thought I could do better so I continued studying and took the GMAT one last time in early October.
Between July and October I had finished another online class, 40 tutoring hours, solved thousands of problems and what not.

The result was heartbreaking. After 9 months of intense studying I got my lowest score ever: 530. Ouch!
I was so shocked but realized what the problem was immediately. By my fourth attempt I was completely mentally fatigued and had developed test anxiety.
I was ready to give up and probably still am. Not sure where I am right now.
Anyway I took my 630 and submitted my applications at the end of last year. I once tried to open the OG during the last 3 months and it made me feel nauseous. Not kidding!
Well, I am not sure what happened today. I decided to take an official practice exam "just for fun." I wanted to see where I stood in terms of knowledge.
610! Now isn't that funny? I haven't looked at a single GMAT problem in 3 months and scored 80 points higher than on my last official exam.

To me this means that I still remember a few things or I was just lucky guessing today?
Either way, all I am saying, yes there can be extreme fluctuations. I depends on SO much and NEVER underestimate test anxiety. It's a real thing!
I did not believe this because I never had test anxiety once when I was in college. I always thought it was just a lame excuse of students who had not studied. Well, sometimes it may be, but test anxiety DOES EXIST!

Good luck!

Actually i took egmat sc course coz i thought my accuracy was too low in sc part of the verbal section. I improved in that particular part but still unable to score above 600. My quant is average . I am getting points in 35-40 range. I studied all by myself. I took 7 days free trial from economist and sc individual course from egmat. When i got 490 i prepared for 2 months from kaplan book

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Tanyanagra,

Since it's been a month since you took the GMAT, have you taken any FULL-LENGTH CATs (with the Essay and IR sections) since then? And if you have, then how have you scored on each of those CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for each)?

Those scores are important because if you're not currently close to your score goal, then you should consider pushing back your Test Date. To rescheduled an Official GMAT appointment, you have to make the change at least 7 full days before your appointment - which means that you'll have to make that decision really soon (perhaps TODAY).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich