GMAT Sucks: 620 two times in a row. (Help Please!)

[jssaggu.tico]

Hello Stacey, Ron, and friends,

I have read lot of your posts and highly appreciate your concern for students taking GMAT. I have taken GMAT twice.
GMAT 1: Q(50), V (25) --> 620 in Dec 2010

After that test, I joined 9 session course of Manhattan in Phoenix, AZ.
GMAT 2: Q(49), V(25) --> 620 in Dec 2011

Both the time I felt that I did great on GMAT. My College GPA is 3.75 out of 4.0. I have very good profile other than GMAT. I was expecting a solid score. I am completely disappointed.
In one year, I was confident that I have improved verbal a lot. I was having more than 90% accuracy on most of verbal SC questions (fresh ones).
On second GMAT, I think that I sailed smoothly on verbal. I did pretty well on it. I have no clue what went wrong.

I have taken MGMAT in official conditions:
MGMAT 1 : 690 Q(51), V(35)
MGMAT 2 : 710 Q(51), V(36)
MGMAT 3 : 730 Q(51), V(39)

GMATPrep 1: 700 Q(50), V(35)
GMATPrep 2: 740 Q(51), V(40)

On the test day, I was very relaxed and refreshed. Even at the last question, my energy level was strong. I was very prudent during verbal. I hardly faced any anxiety level at all.
Still, I have no idea why? Why it happened to me? I thought about timing issue. I might have some timing issue, but that wasn't a problem because I finished the section within required time.
I didn't guess. I would do the same if I were in the home. Now, do you think that algorithm consider how much time I took to answer a question? I don't think so.

Yes, I am non-native speaker of English. So, is it a game plan of GMAT to get rid of the people like me by putting some nuances in exam and highly penalizing the student for missing them?
I have started seeing these cases too often with people who are very capable, and who are from my native country.

Please enlighten me. I have gone through all the links, which you gave on forums to see what went wrong. I couldn't think of anything which can hurt my score to such an extent.

The only thing I can wonder is very stringent scoring on verbal.


-Thanks,

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi, sorry we're so slow in replying - it's been really busy here the last 2 weeks.

You mentioned that you took our course, so contact the office right away to request a post-exam assessment (PEA). This is a free phone call with an instructor to debrief and figure out where to go from here. (call 800.576.GMAT or send an email to studentservices@manhattangmat.com)

I might have some timing issue, but that wasn't a problem because I finished the section within required time.

I have met with many people who have finished the section on time (and thought they didn't have timing problems), but when we looked at the data, they did indeed have serious timing problems. So there might be a timing problem - look into this with your PEA instructor.

You can also use this article to analyze your practice tests to see whether there might be timing problems yourself:

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ice-tests/

The test writers aren't purposely trying to hurt non-native speakers; in fact, they are being very careful to remove idioms that are too US-centric and that sort of thing. It is true, though, that there have been some changes and evolutions to the test that might make some things more difficult. For example, they've been increasing the emphasis on meaning for SC. People who have been concentrating only or primarily on grammar are going to find SC harder.

You may want to look at these blog posts:

http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... orrection/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... on-part-2/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... h-meaning/

Did anything feel different - harder or easier or just different than what you were used to - on the real test?