Low GMAT score - Please Help!

[aapegasus]

Hi all

I just got back from my test center after a real dismal performance and need your help. Managed to score a bare 580 (Quant 44 Verbal 25 ). I was not surprised to see my score, as half way through the test i realized that i was not doing good. AWA was fine although i got a topic for analysis of an issue which was pretty vague. Quant problems really boggled me down starting with four problems on inequalities. I took my time in solving those 4 questions(about 8-9 mins). The problems just got more and more tough and i managed to mark the answers although i was not confident or sure of the answer for atleast one single question . Most of the answers were a guess. Geometry problems were also tough (or should i say that i have not prepared well. Actually i have never encountered such questions in OG/Quant Review or any other source. BTW i did not refer to any manhattan gmat books or tests)
One after the other the questions all seemed so tough to me and the lack of confidence whether my answers were right or wrong pushed me to do more mistakes and lose my concentration and confidence. Also i feel that i have mismanaged my time. Took more than 4-5 mins for pretty simple problems and finally made a guess after realising that i have wasted much time.

Once i finished my Quant section i was feeling low and dejected because Quant was my forte considering my engineering background. (BTW i have a 8.51 GPA in my under grads from one of the premier institutes in India and 4 years of IT experience). In the second break i realised that Quant was a flop show but somehow decided to make up in verbal section. Verbal started off good with a few SC and reading comprehension's. Again i was not sure whether my answers were correct or not. I was really not confident of the answers. Half way through i completely lost interest in the test and was hardly trying to concentrate for the rest of the questions. Before reporting the scores I felt that i would get much less than 580. I did not expect to score more than 44 in quant but was more dissapointed when i saw the verbal score of 25. BTW i never scored less than 32 in verbal in any of the GMATprep tests.

Things i learned:
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1.) OG quant/GMAT prep is really not the indicator of GMAT Quant. BTW I have attempted all the questions and managed to get 80% of them correct although i never timed myself while solving. Solving in time( less than 2 mins) is the most important thing to do for GMAT. I guess this is one major reason for my poor show in Quant.
2.) SC/reading comprehension/critical reasoning questions in real GMAT seemed to be of the same difficulty of those in GMAT prep or OG (or may be because i never encountered the toughest ones while writing the test).
3.) Although i never wrote a test with AWA, i feel that did not really effect me while writing the test.
4.) Lack of confidence really beats you when attempting standardized tests.
5.) I did not write many mock tests. I just wrote the two GMAT prep tests in which i got scores of 580 and 660(3 days before the test with 3-4 repeats).

Materials used for preparation:
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1.) OG 11/12 - OG 11 Quant Review and Verbal Review
2.) Manhattan SC Guide
3.) 1000 series for reading comprehension/critical reasoning/SC
4.) Magooshdotcom for quant practice.
5.) All Quant and Verbal questions from GMATPrep. This atleast helped in losing fear about that white and blue screen.

Ask:
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I was actually targeting for a 650 in GMAT but now after this poor show my confidence seems to be completely shattered .I dont want to miss the second round deadlines for the Top 35-50 universities.

What are the materials that i should follow now?
Will i be able to reach the 650 mark with another 45 days of preparation?
Can some one please suggest some ways as how to overcome my fears and build some confidence ?

Thanks in advance. Will be eagerly waiting for your response.

[sushkan2008]

Dont worry yourself.Its ok.It was not your day.
I would say Manhattan GMAT quant books are extremely good,I have found my quant improve a lot.

Good luck and I hope you get the score you want.

Cheers!!

[Meggieski]

Sushkan. I think Princeton Review verbal will help you out. Your verbal is very low and you can really pump that up with some good prep. Sentence correction is the easiest to improve. That is what I have found! Good luck... you will rock it next time!!!