Please help! Very confused with practice tests results.

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Hello,

I'm following the 60-day study guide, I'm on day 43 and today I took the GMAT Prep #1 (2nd attempt) instead of taking the #2 (1st attempt).
Three years ago I took an official GMAT without studying much and my score was 570 (Quant 37/44% and Verbal 31/59%), so I used that as my "baseline".

Now I'm studying seriously (four to six hours a day) and after finishing the Quant content I took the practice test for the first time and got 580 (Quant 39/50% and Verbal 31/58%). I was a little frustrated but as I still had all the Verbal content to tackle and I noticed that I got a little lost with time during the practice, I tried not to worry too much.
Today my total score was 610 (Quant 46/73% and Verbal 28/48%). During the practice I got a little lost in time and thought I was doing really bad in math. I didn't recognize any question from my first practice. During Verbal I felt more confident, my time was on track and I did see some of the questions that I did on the previous practice, but for my surprise my new verbal score went considerably down!!

Please help me to figure out what I did wrong. My real test is scheduled for March 15th and I can't postpone it (application deadline). I know I have only 10 more days, but I can dedicate them to my studies full-time.

Thank you so much!
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:50 pm
First of all, 610 is still an improvement, so that's a good thing.

It's not surprising that you felt you were felt that the math section went poorly and the verbal section went well. After all, a 46 quant score indicates that you were answering some very tricky math questions, and a 28 Verbal score means you were seeing some pretty easy verbal questions.

It sounds like timing was an issue. Perhaps it was the primary factor that lowered your score. I suggest that you use a Milestone Chart to keep you on track time-wise. This is covered in our free GMAT time management video at https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gener ... es?id=1244

Keep in mind that the GMAT is a test of your math and verbal skills AND it's a test of your test-taking skills. You may already possess the necessary GMAT skills, and all that's needed is some work on your test-taking skills.

My advice: don't place too much emphasis on one practice test. See how you feel after the next practice test.

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by lcris » Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:11 am
Thank you for your encouraging words Brent! Now things are clearer :-)