While most people write about their excellent strategies, I would like to do the same, but also contribute a little more on the mistakes I’ve made.

I just wrote the test five days ago and was shocked to see my less-than-desirable score of 650 (83rd percentile). Most disturbing of all was that I did poorer on the math than on the verbal section. In light of the fact that I have a technical background (chemical engineering) and that I actually enjoyed the math, I was truly dumbfounded.

Then I analysed (and agonized) my score over the weekend and identified some mistakes I had made over the course of my prep and T-day.

For starters, I took the Kaplan course about 5 months ago, but delayed writing the test until now. I tried to juggle work and study, which led me to delay the test. Following the end of my studies with Kaplan, I should have taken the test within a matter of days.

I only say this because Kaplan had me on a very regimented schedule of weekly assignments and weekly practice tests. I studied during lunch, after work and all of my weekend time just to stay on top of the work.

Once Kaplan ended, I was more relaxed in my approach, usually just reserving weekends at the library for hard studying. I also lost access to the free practice tests, so had about 2 months of non-practice test prepping.

To my detriment, I lost my momentum and even forgot some principles, like the compound interest formula. Realizing this a few days before the test really shot my nerves as well and on test day, I panicked over things which I would have bounced back from any other time. For example, I freaked when, as I was typing up my essays, I tested the pen in between the AoA and AoI parts, only to find that it wasn’t working well at all.

Additionally, I rushed through the Quant section too quickly and finished with about 25 minutes left on the clock. Whether you run out of time at the end, or you have too much time left, either case is a bad example of test time management skills. Looking back, I could have spent more time on difficult questions and I could have afforded time to re-read the question stem to ensure I had covered it all.

I am going to take advantage of Kaplan’s Higher Score Guarantee and re-take the course and then the big test later this summer. My diagnostic test was 630, and since my final score was a mere 20 points higher, I think I owe it to myself to retest.

The only thing I cannot change is the fact that my score was already sent to my choice schools. I am unsure of how these schools regard re-testers.

In the meantime, I aim to be a more frequent contributor to this forum and use the experiences of others here to serve my efforts in the near future. Afterall, it is likely why this site was created in the first place!

Thanks to the creators and admin team who coordinate this shizz...