If you took our course, then you're eligible for a free Post-Exam Assessment. This is a phone call with an instructor to figure out what went wrong and come up with a plan to re-take the test. If this applies to you, please send an email to
studentservices@manhattangmat.com and request the Post-Exam Assessment.
Re: big drops in scores (100+ points), those are usually caused by some combination of:
1) major timing problems
2) major stamina problems
3) both
tm03, if you'd like to have a discussion about your problem, please start a new thread - you can copy and paste your original post from above and then also include the answers to the below questions. I just don't want to mix up info from two different people in one thread as I try to advise you - too confusing.
When you took the practice tests, did you also take the essays? Did you spend as much time and mental energy on the practice essays as you did on the real essays? Did you generally take the practice tests under full official conditions? (30m each for two essays, 8m break, 75m quant, 8m break, 75m verbal, at the same time of day as the real test)
How was your timing in each section? Did you generally move steadily through the test, giving appropriate time and attention to each question? (2m for quant, 1 to 1.25m for SC, 2m for CR, 2-4m to read a passage, 1m for general RC questions, 1.5 to 2m for specific RC questions) Or did you have to rush at times and possibly make random guesses? If you did have to rush and/or make random guesses, on how many questions would you say you did that? Did you do it on a lot of questions in a row or were the guesses scattered? Alternatively, did you move too quickly and finish with a lot of time (>3min) left over?
How was your stamina? How did you feel toward the middle and end of the verbal section? Did you have something to eat and drink on the breaks? Did you get up, walk around, and stretch?
Did you do anything or have anything happen in the final week that would have messed up your stamina? Examples: taking a practice test within 5 days of the real test, not getting enough sleep or not having a steady sleeping schedule, an extra stressful work or life event / environment, studying for more than 2 hours on the day before the real test or the day before that, studying for more than 30 minutes on the day of the real test, etc.
What other differences can you think of between your practice test experiences and your real test experiences? Anything, no matter how small, and no matter whether you think it wouldn't have made a difference to your score. Any differences at all?