GMAT Strategy

Hi Eric,others

Need help, I have given GMAT 3 times and am not able to score more than 530 ,this time I was highly disappointed ,I prepared for 10 weeks and did the following

1.OG-11
2.Kaplan 800
3.Power prep tests
4.GMAT prep tests
6.Paper based tests from ETS
7.Manhattan 6 online tests
8.GMAt flash cards
9.Kaplan verbal and Maths

I scored 530(Maths-39,verbal 25)

In the Manhattan tests I was scoring in the range of 650-680(I can share the detail scores as well), I am actualy wondering as to what could have gone wrong.

In the GMAT prep ,I scored 650 in the first and 600 in the second.
I was scoring in the ramge of 630- 650 in the paper based ETS tests.

Along with this ,I analyzed all the tests, was making notes of the mistakes I was making and was learning from my mistakes,but yes I cannot say for sure that i did not repeat any mistake.

Could anyone help me in understanding what could have gone wrong.
Only thing I could figure out is that in the Manhattan tests I was getting around 15 questions wrong in both verbal and Quant and was scroring 680, I doubt the scoring of Manhattan tests? Did anybody has a similar expereince. I was certainly confident after I was scoring good in Manhattan tests ,as other tests I gave once before also so may not be a clear indicator of my preparation.

I am still not sure whether I will give the exam again,but certainly will not be very happy if I leave it without succedding,since I have enough work expereicne and am targeting executive MBA,any score above 650 should be good to get me admission .

Can anyone please assist/advice me on what steps I should take to score above 650+,I am a hard worker and am ready to put in any kind of effort,I am planning to appear in August ,please assist me.

Hi bhat_y,

I think that quite possibly you may have psyched yourself out and suffered from test anxiety. Even though scores on practice tests are not always indicative of scores on actual tests, in this case, it seems that you were scoring very consistently on your practice tests and just did not perform up to your usual standards on the actual GMAT.

I always recommend that you do not study the DAY OF OR THE DAY BEFORE the actual exam, to give yourself time to relax. Also, don't change your routine before the exam (for example, don't get up extra early on the day of the exam if you usually get up at noon, or if you usually only have a cup of coffee for breakfast, don't have a huge pile of pancakes with extra syrup, and etc.). You may have just been dealt a bad set of problems that weren't your forte.

Since now you've taken an actual exam and know what the conditions are like, you will know how best to prepare for it and I recommend taking the GMAT again soon!

Hope this helps and good luck!

Thanks VP_Jim for your response ,this will certainly help me, I to get over exam anxierty ,can you suggest some ideas, I was very confident till the exam day and night before the exam I slept well also.Anyways I dont want to look back but just want to take the learnings and move on,

One problem I have now ,I have attempted all the good tests that are available for GMAT(Manhattan,scoretop,Power prep,GMAT prep,Kaplan), if
I take those tests again it will not be a clear indicator of my preparations, what tests should I be taking ,can you recommend?
Also is 2 months a sufficient time to reprepare( 2 hours a day on weekdays and 4-5 hours on weekends),
do you recommend joining a GMAT preparatory class? or should I do self study?

Your suggestions will certainly help.

Regards
Yash