Messed it up

[LFalken]

Hello, I took the big test last friday sept. 11th after 4 months of preping almost everyday. I ended up scoring about 30-50 below my aim and was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to do next. My practice tests are as follows. I took on every sunday leading up to the exam.. all timed and at the same time every sunday..(noon, same time as my exam)

Princeton 1 530 Q35 V28 (no practice, diagnostic)
Princeton 1 (repeat) Q37 V(didn't take) projected 560
GMAT PREP1 550 Q33 V33
Manhattan 1 530 Q33 V31
Manhattan 2 620 Q43 V32 (started timed practice before this exam)
Manhattan 3 630 Q43 V33
Manhattan 4 640 Q41 V36
Manhattan 5 660 Q45 V35
Manhattan 6 610 Q35 V38
GMAT PREP 1(repeat) 630 Q39 V38 (only 1 or 2 repeat questions)
GMAT PREP 2 610 Q39 V35
GMAT PREP 2(repeat) 680 Q41 V41 (7-12 total repeat questions)

Actual GMAT 580 Q41 V28


I was hoping for a 610+ and As you can see I didnt reach that. My quant score was acceptable, but I dont know what happened on verbal, I felt pretty good, maybe a bit anxious while doing the verbal and maybe I lost attention to detail. I seem to notice a decent amount of people who have messed up on the verbal of the actual test and was wondering what they did to fix it for their retake. As you can see my 28 score on verbal was the lowest verbal I had in 4 months, it was the score i got with no practice at all, when I took it cold. Basically I need to know 2 things...

1) does anyone know what to do about the verbal? or should I just practice the OG as I have been and hope I dont screw up on test day again. (all OG practice was under timed conditions with the excel file found on this BTG site)

2) what is the adequate amount of time off, I was thinking to take off 2 full weeks, and then push hard for 1 month and retake, any advice?

If some people could give me some heads up I would really appreciate it, I want to "beat" this damn thing.

Thanks to all.

[ogbeni]

Are you running out of time on Verbal? If not, then it means you are not paying enough attention to the detail that the questions require?

What is your strongest point in Verbal? SC, RC or CR? Answers to these questions will enable folks provide the proper guidance that you need....

[LFalken]

I usually end verbal with no time remaining, and I usually feel pretty good doing it. My best is usually CR, followed by RC... then SC is my worst. I have read through the manhattan SC 1 time in full, and skimmed it once more...

[ogbeni]

If CR is your strong suite, then you should be able to get a perfect score in RC!! Think about it, the difference between CR and RC is that in RC you actually have more context to the question stem but conversely, you have to spend more time comprehending the passage. Half the battle is won if you can increase your accuracy in RC - it can be done!! I'm actually of the opinion that RC is the easiest in Verbal because the answer is right there in front of you!!

If you have gone over the bible of SC (Manhattan GMAT) then make sure you read the OpEd pages of the WSJ and NYT. Furthermore, develop a liking for The Economist - especially their Leaders, Book Reviews and Science and Technology articles.

Do these with more practice and you'll raise your verbal