HELP! Scored a 590

[zarrah_s]

Hi

I took the test today for the second time and scored a 590 :( Please help!

The first time I took the test I scored a 560: (2 months ago)
Quant: 36 Verbal 31
I was rushing on math and guessed on the last few questions.

Today I scored a 590:
Quant: 41 Verbal 30
I was okay on timing on both sections this time. I thought I did REALLY well on verbal. The SC didnt seem too hard and RC ques were pretty straightforward. I was also able to identify the type of CR questions.
I have been practicing math AND verbal because I feel verbal is my strength and I know it weighs a bit more. However I needed to work on math to bring the score up a bit. What could have happened? or what am I doing wrong?
I have been self-studying using MGMAT books which have helped a lot. I have also been taking practice tests (under real testing conditions) to build stamina and get my timing down. Please help me!

The score on my last 2 mba.com prac exams:

Q 42/ V32--> 610

Q 42/ V38-->650

And I took a MGMAT test two days ago:

Q 44/V32--> 630

I was pretty sure I would get something around 630...Or ATLEAST a 600! My goal is a 660..Please give me some tips to improve my score. I need to take it again in a month if I want to apply to B-school this year.
I KNOW I CAN BEAT THE GMAT...but I have lost the motivation

Thank you :)

[StaceyKoprince]

Your official test score seems to be generally in line with your practice test scores. All standardized tests have pretty wide standard deviations - 30 points for the official GMAT and 50 points for MGMAT's CAT. In other words, 610 and 630 are within one standard deviation of 590 (your official score).

You did have one GMATPrep test at 650 and the major difference there seems to be a big jump in your verbal score. Was there anything different about that test compared to the others? Did you do the essays and take the test under full, official conditions? Did you see any problems that you'd seen before? Did you get lucky more often than usual when you had to guess? Had you just studied certain things that then showed up on the test, so you were better prepared than usual to answer them?

I'm asking these questions because you had that big jump only once - your other tests were all consistently in the 30-32 range - so something unusual must have happened. That unusual thing may not be able to be replicated (eg, if you skipped the essays) or you may be able to replicate it (eg, if you did an intensive verbal review in the week before the test).

In terms of where to go from here, it's great that you just took an MGMAT practice test. Use this article to help you analyze your results so you can set up a study plan:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/a/2009/09/23/evaluating-your-practice-tests

If you have any questions about your analysis or want to discuss your study plan, come back here and ask! In general, your quant and verbal are at about the same level right now, so you'd probably want to give about equal attention to the two areas going forward, with a slight bias towards whichever area you feel is more naturally a strong area for you.

Finally, because you only have about a month before you have to take it again, I would recommend that you post here again after you've done the above test analysis. You don't have a lot of time, so we should discuss how to prioritize your studying - but we can't do that until we know what your strengths and weaknesses are.