I just Beat The GMAT!

hi all: i've been on the forum throughout the year and have come to really appreciate all of the discussions, tips, and advice that we share. i can really use your advice, thoughts, and direction, given my perdicament.

goal: get into top 10-15 full time mba program (kellogg is dream school)
gmat: test 1 = 640 (Q42/V35/AWA6/IR4); test 2 (just finished today) = 530 (Q32/V30/AWA=TBD/IR5). don't know what happened, i am completely besides myself. i didn't mess up anything tragically; guess it was a bad day.

i am applying in round 2 (due date around new year)

need to decide what to do. it's come down to one of the two options, i would truly appreciate your advice:

a) don't take test anymore. pro: avoid risking score closer to 530 than 640. that would confirm to adcomm where my abilities are, vs. 530 and 640 with them taking 640.

b) take test 3rd time and roll the dice.

don't know what to do. if i had to, i could take test 2 more times before deadline. but clearly i am digressing and need to fundamentally change something in order to turn a corner.

please help. thank you.

Firstly, 640 is not a bad score. Secondly, the adcoms will look at your best score so take that into consideration.

However, if I were you,(I did score 640 on my first attempt)and had my eyes on Kellogs, I would retake. At this point you dont have anything to lose. Your re-attempt came closer to 540 than to 640.
So if you retake the following scenarios may happen
1) Score in the range of 540-620- This was already your score range so nothing new. You will have to go back to the drawing board and seriously analyze your weaknesses. Then come back when you feel ready to write another GMAT.
2) Score in the range of 620-700 or higher - This will give your application a level of support especially if its closer to 700.

In either case, I would suggest you sit down and analyze what your areas of weakness are before re-writing the exam. On your mock exams, did you notice how many DS or PS quetions you got wrong? Were they mostly related to Sets, Probability and the number theory? Did you fumble the SC and RC questions on your verbal? These are the things you need to check. In the process be honest with yourself. If you get a question wrong on the mocks, dont assume that you will get it right on the actual test. Practice as much as you can and once you feel that new DS or SC questions dont intimidate you, that you are confident your answer choices are correct, go for the re-test.

rich: thanks for the pm; i will respond to that msg.

nb1234: appreciate the response, truly. i'm concerned that i've hit and now far exceed the point of diminishing return, where i am not learning anymore and simply digressing. also, i'm definitely burnt out from all of the gmat prep. i need some time away from the books to gain some perspective, re-gain some energy, and plot my path forward. i am definitely leaning towards taking it a 3rd time (DO NOT WANT TO GET BEAT), but with that decision i need the confidence and hope that i can better my score (right now, i have to admit i am somewhat hesitant and think the chances of a 530-640 score is more realistic).

Basso
Man , you do sound dejected. However , remember that the principle of " the harder I work, the luckier I get" also applies and trumps the diminishing return policy. The fact you are on the forum, have a clear goal and have had experience writing GMat suggests that you are serious about achieving the objective. All you need to do is analyze, plan and then work hard to execute the plan. Those who scored 700 + were not necessarily smarter than you, but they probably worked harder. I would suggest you take 2 months before your next exam, theres still time for R2 deadlines. Study 3/4 hrs everyday.
Create a thread / blog/ excel on your laptop where you jot down what you did to beat the gmat everyday. (Hrs studied, qsts practiced, mistakes made)
So take some time off, relax, and get back.

Trust yourself, you'll make it.

nb: appreciate your encouraging words -- definitely helps. i've fairly certain i will take the test a third time. so now what? analyze what? i need to put a solid game plan together and i'm struggling; can you and others help? i agree with you -- i need more than a month to prep; i'm thinking between 6-8 weeks. would love your thoughts. thank you.

Heres what I would do if I were you
1) Write a GMAT Prep mock. Do it as if you were actually writing the test, no stopping in between except where the breaks allow etc.
2) Once you finish, note down the questions you got wrong. Note down what type they refer to, e.g. DS questions, number theory, sets. Did you get 7 SC questions wrong? Were there any idioms in there?
Go through their explanations by searching those questions on the web(MGMAT forums, BTG forums etc).
3) For each question type, collect as many problems as you can. The best resource to do this is MGMAT. Each of their books lists at the end of the book the questions that you can practice from OG.
4) Go through the MGMAT book for that question type. Read it end to end and then practice the questions from OG as mentioned in the list.
5) Do it for every section/type of question. At the end of this exercise you should have finished doing ALL questions in OG, and Quant and Verbal review official books.
6) Now sit down and write the MGMAT mocks. These are tougher but will expose you to think in a certain way. Analyze the results just as you did for the first exam.
7) Once you have finished the 6 MGMAT exams, do the GMAT PREP mocks again.

This is a lot of work but if you do it diligently you will get the score you want. This forum can only "suggest" what you need to do, the actual effort has to be put in by you as a person. Your 24 hours have to be divided amongst work, study , commitments etc.