Please help me (My Score 660, Q50, V30)

[leaonae]

All,

I took my test today. I could complete the Q section on time.

In Quant section, I saw all basic questions and thought that I was not performing well, but I was surprised to see 50.

I did not write verbal with full concentration. I took more time for the first few questions, and was left with 14 mins for the last 10 questions.

I thought that I will atelast get a score of 680. but I am very depressed aftering seeing a score of 660. Really dont know what to do now..

This is my third retake.. (620, 640 before)

This time, I got good scores in GMAT Prep
My socres were
GMAT Prep1 - 740(Q50, V41)
GMAT Prep2 - 680(Q48, V35)
GMAT Prep1 - retake ( 750, Q50, V42)
GMAT Prep2 - 690 (Q50, V32) ( While writing this test, i was not at all interested, so, did not wirte this well wtih much concentration.)
Also, I wrote all the tests with AWA. always with new topics

Otherwise, about 85 to 90 percent of the questions that i saw in GMAT Prep were new ones. and my strike rate was also very good, except in the last test.

But today, The first SC Question was cryptic, and I think I got it wrong.

Also, Questions were very hard compared to GMAT Prep. and I lost focus, The passages were also very sick, I totally bombed my Verbal.. I think I guesse on most of the SC's. I could not really concetrate on RC(which is my strength).

I really dont know what to do. I am planning to apply to schools in the top 20. I know this score is not good.

I am a Indian IT Engineer,
With 6 years of experience.
Undergrad from one of the top 10 schools in Indian(IIIT Hyd)
3.1 GPA.
I have 3 yrs of exp in India and 3 years in New York.
Currently working for NY City Govt.
Progressive experience
Current position : Team Lead(Leading 5 members).
Published a paper in PML International Conf on Project/Process Management
lot of extracurriculars..

Please someone tell me what should I do now.. I am lil confused..

Also, If I want to take GMAT Again, how to restart my preparation.?

[myohmy]

I was in a similar situation to you in that the first time I took the test, my practice test scores were much higher than my test score (I'm taking it again on Monday ::gulp:: )

The glaring thing that stands out to me is that you only did GMATPrep tests and you did them twice (or perhaps more than twice -- did you take them before your first two exams as well?) As you pointed out, you saw about 10-15% question repeats which can skew your score upwards of where you truly should be.

I think from an overrepresented pool (Indian IT) you'll need to retake to be competitive at top B-schools, FWIW. I would definitely take more practice tests (MGMAT tests seem to be the favored ones around here).

Since your Q is obviously fantastic, I would focus on improving V to at least 35. Study sentence correction primarily (MGMAT has a book for this), and read things like the WSJ or other publications online. Read an article and then try and determine the main idea, attitude and purpose of the piece.

If you do decide to retake, good luck! If not, I would think you just need to make extra sure that the other parts of your application are strong.