620-I didn't click the NEXT then CONFIRM button

[Nina]

Yes only god knows that. But I will say first get well and then again try for the exam,but this time remenber your mistakes you did in the last exam.

[Guest]

micky first recover and then again try but I suggest not to read new books now just revise and increase your spped and stamina....

[Micky]

I am waiting for your response Stacey

[StaceyKoprince]

Okay, so you didn't practice with the essays, plus you were on serious medication and feeling ill. It completely makes sense, then, that you lost your concentration during the last section (the verbal section) and weren't able to perform as well as you would have liked. I would be extremely surprised if you cannot score better on this test, given what you were dealing with the first time. (This assumes that you no longer have those issues the next time around, of course.)

I talk to people all the time who don't do the essays during practice tests because the schools don't really care about the essay score. That's true, but the essays come before the multiple choice stuff, so stamina is a serious issue. What if you decided to run a marathon but only built up enough stamina to be prepared for the first 2/3 of it? What do you suppose would happen during the last third of the marathon? It's the same thing here - the test is essentially a mental marathon.

So, from now on, all practice tests must be done under exact test conditions - do the essays, don't take more than a 10-minute break, don't eat or drink except during the breaks, etc.

Also, from what you describe, your illness was causing some serious complications, and of course, you're going to feel the worst towards the end of this long test. So this just compounded the stamina issue from above.

First, get better. Start building up that stamina via your practice. You can do this by taking full practice tests, but you can also do things like plan a two-hour study session and, during that session, take one 10-min break halfway through, but otherwise don't stop studying. And that doesn't mean do questions non-stop. Review the questions, too, just make sure you're working actively the entire time.

It sounds like you made some very good progress during your prep, but I'd like to see you take another practice test with the essays and see how you do. There's a decent chance that your practice test scores are a bit inflated because you did not do the essays, so another test with the essays will give us an idea of what we're dealing with here. Then come back and tell us what your strengths and weaknesses were (if you take one of our tests, you can get this data from your assessment reports). In particular, obviously, I will be curious about verbal, since you still managed to do very well on math despite your illness.

p.s. I'm only here to answer questions once or twice a week - I'm not ignoring you! The 24th was the last day I was here to answer questions.

[Micky]

Thanks Stacey for your response.
Now I have recovered from my illness and planning to retake the GMAT in this coming November. Wish me luck.
Micky

[StaceyKoprince]

My pleasure - good luck! And I'm glad to hear that you've recovered from your illness!