I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi all,

I just came back from the test center and felt extremely surprised by my score:

Score: 540
Q: 44
V: 21

I cannot believe it because my practice test scores have never been so low before. Rather than feeling depressed, I am actually feeling very angry now. I cannot believe that this is happening to me.

In this 1.5 month, I have studied:

1. OG (about 3 times)
2. OG -VR (about 2 times)
3. Manhattan SC
4. Kaplan Premier
5. Kaplan 800
6. Kaplan Verbal

Since my test was scheduled at 8:00 a.m., I took a week off from work and make myself wake up everyday at 7:00 a.m. and sit in a practice test from 8 to 12 just to get used to the habit of taking the test in the morning.

I moved into a hotel near the test center last night, and I couldn't sleep there for the night. Although I didn't feel tired during the test, I was probably not giving my best because right after the test, I felt extremely exhausted.

I was a little trapped with time from my last few Quan questions and at about 15 mins left in the V, I got a RC at 31. That kind of pushed me off a little as well. Perhaps my main problem was time, which I didn't feel as strongly as the problem before.

Lastly, during the past few days, I have been studying very quickly through OG and I think that also gave me a little trouble as well because I was too familiar with it that whenever I saw the first and last word of the underlined text, I already knew the answer (A, B, C, D, E) to choose from. I think I skipped my thought process a little to get through those questions because I thought there might be some repetitive questions in the real GMAT and I will just need to memorize them. I think that act degraded Verbal analytical ability...

That's a brief analysis that I gave myself. I feel pathetic and angry that I have scheduled another one on Dec 1st @ 12 p.m. I am going to beat the hell out of GMAT next time. My goal is no longer 760. I am going to aim for 800.

Could someone please post some tips for me or take a look at my analysis / situation and see whether I am on the right track?

Also, if you can suggest some study plans for me, that will be great.

Here I am posting my records:

Source Date Score Q V
Kaplan Practice (Take 1) 04-Sep 620 42 34
Kaplan Practice Test 1 10-Sep 640 49 26
Kaplan Practice Test 2 13-Sep 570 38 25
Kaplan Practice Test 3 17-Sep 610 41 28
Kaplan Practice Test 4 21-Sep 680 52 29
Manhattan CAT 2 (Take 1) 29-Sep 610 40 34
Manhattan CAT 3 (Take 1) 30-Sep 650 42 37
Manhattan CAT 4 (Take 1) 01-Oct 640 48 31
Princeton Review CAT 2 03-Oct 610 45 30
Kaplan Practice (Take 2) 04-Oct 650 44 38
Manhattan CAT 5 05-Oct 660 46 34
Manhattan CAT 6 11-Oct 640 48 30
Princeton Review CAT 3 12-Oct 630 51 25
Princeton Review CAT 4 13-Oct 650 50 28
GMAT Prep 1 (Take 1) 14-Oct 670 48 34
Kaplan Practice (Take 3) 15-Oct 670 46 39
Manhattan CAT 1 15-Oct 680 47 35
GMAT Prep 2 (Take 1) 16-Oct 680 49 34
Manhattan CAT 2 (Take 2) 16-Oct 680 47 35
GMAT Prep 1 (Take 2) 17-Oct 710 47 41
Manhattan CAT 3 (Take 2) 17-Oct 620 38 36
GMAT Prep 2 (Take 2) 18-Oct 670 50 30
GMAT Prep 1 (Take 3) 19-Oct 770 49 46
GMAT Prep 2 (Take 3) 20-Oct 740 50 40

Thank you,