610 - need help!

[magnolia]

I was laid off 2 months ago and hence decided to try my luck on gmat. But luck was not on my side today I scored a meager 610( Q 47 and V 28) despite consistently scoring well on practice tests.

I started my perp around 40 days back. I knew that I didn't have much time on my hand and hence studied for about 5-8 hrs a day . I went through the following books:

OG 12 ( Completed All questions under timed condition)
Manhattan GMAT SC ( Went through this at least 5 times)`
CR Bible ( Breezed through this once).

Following are my scores on my tests:
Day 1 - Gmat Prep test 1 - 630
Day 3- Gmat prep 2 - 650 ( with little quant brushup)
Day 7 - Kaplan 570
Day 18- Mgmat test 1 - 590
Day 24 - Mgamt test 2 - 680 ( After finishing mgmat sc)
Day 30 - Mgamt test 2 - 720
Day 34 - Mgmat with essays - 700
Day 38- Mgmat with essays 750.

I panicked during the test and just wanted to finish the test and go home. I could not comprehend any sentence on the screen after that. I was able to do few of the scs by splits and re-splits, as this was very mechanical.

As my previous tests have indicated, verbal is my weakness and have scored from 28-44 on verbal. Even on the very first gmatprep test I had scored 28. In quant my scores ranged from 47-50 on the practice tests.
My weakest segment in quant is RC ( it was SC before I did Mgmat SC ). I just could not comprehend any sentence I was reading in RC today.

I believe I was under too much pressure as I wanted to make it to the R1 (for scholarships) and did not want to go through the grueling study sessions again ( I have a 2 yr old and imagine studying with a 2 yr old around!).

I am planning to re-take the gmat in another 45 days (Yes, I won't make it to R1 and Yes, I will have to go through those late nights again ). The B-school I am targeting needs av score of 700. Please HELP!!!

[rahulbhatia73]

Do the best and not worry about the result is the best advice I can give you - I got a 700 on my practice test 2 days before the exam and ended up getting a 590 on the actual exam, because I was too focused on getting the results.

If you go to the exam worry-free and tell yourself that you will do the best you can and not think of the "score", you will get the best possible score.

For practice it would help to keep a record of the problems you get wrong on the tests and keep redoing them until the concept is crystal clear in your head.

Hope this helps! Good Luck with your exam.

Cheers
Rahul

[magnolia]

Yeah, I guess I was too focused on the score than giving 100% to the test. But does that mean there is no hope for me?

I am planning to take another shot in 40 days and I am weak in CR and RC.. Can anyone give me some pointers on these..?

[beatthegmat]

For Critical Reasoning check out the PowerScore Critical Reasoning Bible, it is a community favorite here. You can check out a free chapter of the book by clicking here.

There's definitely hope for you. 40 days should be sufficient time for you to re-prepare for the test and improve your score. Here's a post that should help, a strategy for how to study for the GMAT in under one month.

Good luck, and please don't hesitate to ask the community for help during your prep! We want you to succeed!

Eric