Hi letsgogiants,

After reading your post, I can point out some things that likely hurt you during your ramp up to your August Test (and what you can do to fix them).

1) Taking a practice CAT and skipping ANY section - this leads to an unrealistic, often "inflated" score and does NOT prepare you for the rigors of the ACTUAL GMAT. Even doing this on your first CAT sets a bad theme for the rest of your studies (there's no way to tell what else you may have "skipped over"). As you continue to study, DON'T EVER skip a section on a CAT - you need to learn how to handle the endurance aspect of the GMAT

2) You spent fewer than 2 months studying. With our experience, the ideal study period for most people is 3 months (although some people take more time than that). You note that you were planning to take the GMAT again anyway, so I have to ask why you felt the need to rush in to take the Test at the end of August? I'll chock it up to optimism on your part, but you shouldn't have "rushed" in to take the Test.

3) You weren't prepared for the psychological and physical elements of the exam, which is why you got nervous in spots and came back late from your break. Everything on the GMAT can be practiced and prepared for. You didn't get in enough practice, so these "little things" went wrong. The good news is that you now have a reference point, so you should be able to avoid these issues next time.

Business Schools don't care if you retest, so you shouldn't get too down on yourself about this first experience. What were your Scaled Scores for the Quant and Verbal sections? With that data, I'll be able to offer some additional advice about how to proceed.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly.

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