Gameplan for re-test please!!

[radhika88]

I took my GMAT for the first time today and got the shock of my life. I scored an unbelievable 510! Obviously something went terribly wrong but I still can't fathom as to what that was(* still reeling in shock*). My GMAT prep test results were 600(GMAT prep 1), 640 (GMAt prep 2), 680 (GMAT prep 1A) and 690 (GMAT prep 2A) (with 2-3 repeat questions on each test). My average on prep tests had a Quant 45 and Verbal 35.
On the test day, I seemed to be getting a fair set of difficult questions too and I thought I had performed well until I saw the score. I do understand that stress, anxiety and other factors can lower scores but what I got was lower than my unprepared 1st GMAT prep. (And believe me I wasn't stressed, finished all questions on time and seemed to get harder questions towards the end, on both sections)

I realize what's done is done. Could someone please advice what should be my gameplan now? I plan to take another one in the next 2 months and definitely don't want a part 2 of this day. Additionally to give you some background, I took a GMAT course here in India but that was 2 years ago(never took the exam then). This time around, I bought the Manhattan GMAT strategy guides, OG and studied by myself. Should I join one of the coaching programs now?

Thanks a lot in advance

[MBACrystalBall]

Probably just a bad day, Radhika.

If you are willing to re-take it, rather than joining a class where you'd be going through the whole course all over again, creating a personalized strategy might work best.

Here are some study plans (1-month, 2-month, 3-month etc) that you can use for reference: GMAT Study Plans.

Probably it's just a matter of brushing up on the weak areas and taking a few more mock-tests to build up the mental stamina to take on the test.

In parallel, start working on the non-GMAT content for your applications i.e. selecting bschools, working on the essays, working with recommenders etc.

There's a lot to be done there and it's equally time-consuming.

Good luck!