Hi All,
I gave my third GMAT attempt today and ended up with a score of 700 (Q50, V34, IR6).
I took my previous two attempts last year at a gap of 20 days from each other without much preparation and scored:
GMAT 1: 670 (Q48, V34, IR7)
GMAT 2: 690 (Q49, V35, IR7)
700 is way less than what I had expected or received in my official gmatprep tests. I scored a 740 in my last gmatprep CAT.
Quant has been my strength, yet I decided to go with verbal first, and it turned out to be a major fiasco.
1) After selecting the test order preferance, I saw a page that said that I'll be taken to the verbal reasoning section now. I thought I'll see the verbal section instructions first, instead the test started immediately. I feel maybe I wasn't ready for it and got a bit flustered.
2) I was reading the arguement/passage/sentence slowly to understand it but was totally lost for the first 4-5 questions. Even though I was reading it, i wasn't able to comprehend anything. As a result, I wasted a lot of time and probably even marked many of the first few questions incorrectly.
3) In between I picked up my pace and started solving a few questions. But when I saw that I was way behind schedule and won't be able to complete the test on time, I got perturbed again and couldn't comprehend anything.
4) I may have also misssed marking the last question as I remember the timer was at 00:02 when I clicked on next....not sure whether that answer got accepted or I bore a penalty for it.
My questions:
#) Is it best practice to start with the section you feel most comfortable with? What do you recommend I should do? Starting with verbal clearly didn't help me today.
#) Why wasn't I able to comprehend the questions? To be honest, this has never happened with me before. The tests I gave last year were without preparation or understanding of the type of questions and strategies to be used. This time, I was certain I'll score well because I had put in a lot of time and effort.
#) How should I increase my comprehension? Any specific books you'd suggest?
#) I believe my nerves got the best of me. How should I work towards tackling it so that I don't squander my next test opportunity?
#) On second thoughts, even after putting so much effort in GMAT, if I'm unable to perform to my level of expectations, would you recommend me to maybe try GRE?
Any and all help is appreciated!
Thank you so much in advance!