GMAT nightmare 430 (Q29, V21)

[kathy_naz]

After almost a year of preparation, taking the MGMAT class, doing the MGMAT exams I took the real gmat and score a devastating 430. What makes me actually upset is the fact that I could have answer the verbal part by choosing random answers and I would have propably scored the same.
I study with all the MGMAT books + I used grockit website as a complementary study + GMAT quantitative, verbal and 12th ed review.
Also in the exam specially in the verbal part I saw questions that in the books and practica exams where classified as 700-800 but they appear on my exam even do I got a 21 in Verbal.
I don't know if the GMAT is turning out very difficult or what's going on. I just don't know what to do. I have been devoted 100% to this exam for the past 4 months.

My average score in the MGMAT exams was 680 with a 42 in Quant and 40 in Verbal.

I heard that Ron Purewal is the master of the GMAT,so I will probably will steal his brain the next time I take this exam.

Any suggestions will be more than welcomed ;)

[la2ny]

I'd be curious to know how you performed on the GMATPrep exams from GMAT.com. Did you take any of those? Those are the closest to the real GMAT as they are the party who publishes the real GMAT. The MGMAT tests are great in regards that it tells you what you're strengths and weaknesses are, but I think many MGMAT students put too much faith in them.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry you had such a rough test experience. Something definitely went wrong for your score to drop so much from practice tests to the real thing, and our first task is to figure out what happened. Read this to help figure that out, and then come back and tell us what you think:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ent-wrong/

Also, you mentioned that you took our course, which means that 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 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.

(And do that right away, if you qualify, because that's the best debrief / advice session you can get!)

Then come back here and tell us what you learned during your PEA and while reading that article and we'll help you going forward.

[abozic25]

Same happened to me today
q, 42 v20 (520),
I took the test one month ago and scored quant 41 verbal 33, I was not satisfied with score because I got around 650 on gmat practice test. I used Mgmt SC book and og 12 and OG verbal and quant reviews. I have spent 1 month focusing on verbal because I knew I can improve it from meagre 33. So in last few tests I was getting from 35-40 in verbal section.
I can not explain what happened today. V 20 i could get if I have clicked the whole section without reading it at all ;)

[StaceyKoprince]

You got a 33 on the official test a month ago and then 20 this time? That's very surprising - something serious had to have gone wrong in order for that to happen.

Did you have any timing issues? Did you finish on time? Early? Rushing at the end?

Look back at your last couple of practice tests and use the below article to analyze:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

Are there any timing issues popping up from that analysis?

Mental fatigue is also a possible culprit - though you didn't succumb to mental fatigue last time, so it's less likely that that was the issue this time. What did you do for the last few days before the 2nd test? How did you feel during the test itself? Read this article - do any of the mental fatigue symptoms sound familiar?
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... you-crazy/

One big difference: you had to do IR today (you didn't one month ago). Could that have been the difference? How well prepared were you for IR? Could that have drained you mentally?