About Re-instating score and action plan for retake!

[VivekT771]

Hi,
In my first GMAT attempt on 15 July 2017, i scored 460 and cancelled the score. Today, in my second attempt for GMAT, i scored 660. My target score is 710 and i am planning to retake the GMAT one more time in order to reach my target score.
One of my friend told me that i should re-instate my cancelled score as it may help to show my perseverance and determination to reach my goal even after having a big set back. I want to get expert advice about two points
1- Whether i should re-instate my cancelled score? My target colleges are Cambridge Judge & Oxford Said, i don't know such top colleges will see it as positive or they will doubt on my capability? I am really confused and unable to take a call on this matter.
2- What should be my strategy for my 3rd GMAT attempt so that i can reach to my target score of 710. In my latest exam i got Q49, V31, IR2. I know that i must work hard on verbal and IR section. Managing time on verbal section is big challenge for me. Today in main exam i had to guess around many questions in row towards end of my exam. Section order i chose was Quant , Verbal, IR and AWA. So by the time i reach IR i got demotivated because of my performance on verbal and couldn't focus on this section. In my last 2 GMAT Prep MOCKs i scored 700 (Q48, V37, IR7) and 690 (Q48, V35, IR6), but i failed to show similar performance on main exam. What do you suggest for me to improve performance in main exam.

Thanks.

Regards,
Vivek Tripathi

[StaceyKoprince]

First, I'd like to say congratulations on raising your score to 660! I know that you want more, but I think it's important to celebrate how far you've already come.

On your first question, yes, it has become more common for people to leave lower scores on the record to show a positive progression. Since you have already canceled the 460 score, though, and it costs money to reinstate it, I would wait to make a decision. If you do get your 700-level score, then you will still have two scores to show progression (660 -->7xx), and so you won't have to pay more to reinstate the other score.

Re: what to do to get there, that's a longer conversation. First, if you took our course, then you're eligible for a free Post-Exam Assessment (if you haven't done it already). This is a phone call with an instructor to figure out what happened on test day and come up with a plan to re-take the test. If this applies to you, please send an email to gmat@manhattanprep.com to request the Post-Exam Assessment.

If you didn't take our course, can you tell me how you did prepare?

It sounds like you definitely had a timing issue on verbal; if you had to guess on a bunch of questions at the end, that would definitely negatively affect your score. So a large component of the solution will be around learning how to fix your timing, and that typically means learning how to fix your mindset / approach to this exam.

Here's what I mean by mindset:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning

And here's more on that idea:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/
(That second one has a webinar linked at the beginning; you can either watch that or read the article, your choice.)

Next, you'll want to dig down into your practice test data to figure out what is slowing you down on verbal—a few questions that are really going over? A lot of questions that are going over just a little? Certain question types? Certain topics that are popping up more (eg, RC science or CR business topics or whatever)?

This article describes how to do an in-depth analysis of your practice CATs:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ts-part-1/

When you get a sense of the specifics related to your verbal timing, come back to tell me and we'll figure out where to go from there. (Or, if you qualify for the PEA, just do that!)

[VivekT771]

Thanks Stacey for your detailed feedback. I have taken GMAT Interact course and will book PEA session. Apart from that i will give another mock, analyse it as per your suggestions, and feedback you.

Regards,
Vivek Tripathi

[StaceyKoprince]

Great. As long as you did the full interact program (not quant-only or verbal-only), you get the PEA. (Note that you also have to have taken 3 MPrep practice CATs—the PEA instructor needs the CAT data in order to be able to advise you. The syllabus assigns 3 CATs, so if you just followed the syllabus, you're fine!)

Let me know how it goes!