In need of some serious guidance !!

[Donna R]

Dear Stacey/ Instructors,

I appeared GMAT exam on 22 May 2014 from Perth test center and scored a 510 (Q-37 and V-22). With this my confidence has significantly shattered and am unable to figure out how can I fix this problem and need guidance on that. I really feel today that I am in the worst shape and scenario. I am 28 recently moved to Perth, WA from India with my partner unemployed and have been trying to give my best shot for GMAT.I am really sorry if this post goes too long.I am a student of Manhattan completed the online live course (9 sessions) last 9 October 2013 and had appeared for the exams by the month end as advised and had done 3 mock test before appearing and OG 13, Verbal and Quant Review 2 guides twice. I had also maintained a log sheet to track my mistakes during that time and that was the last time I maintained. I took a break and started studying back from February 2014.
Let me first give you a review of my test day, I was not confident on the test day and was even thinking of dropping my exams.I have huge performance anxiety issues. I was not very headstrong for this exam for this day. 3 days before the test I was quiet confident as I knew I have my concepts clear for both Verbal and Quant. The essay topic I had was pretty manageable and boosted my confidence. The IR section was okay and I was not targeting for a high score as it wasn't my priority. After that instead of 8 mins I took a break of 9.5 mins which resulted in having me losing my time for the test. I entered the test room and was panicked.By the time the instructor tried to log in i had lost 2.5 mins. The first question was on Geometry on a ladder leaning to a vertical wall, and I was fumbling to get an answer.I was not sure, so guessed and moved ahead. All that was on my mind to be on track from question no.5 - with 65 mins on hand. I randomly guessed from Q.1 to Q.5. Then once I grabbed the time I started to pay attention and followed the strategy of 1 question at a time and kept saying to myself I can do it. I remember of doing 2 silly calculation mistakes which I realized after moving to the next question. I had to guess on approx 4 questions on Quant as I was not sure on answers on these 4 questions I always had 2 choices and hard to round on one. I remember getting around 7 questions right where I knew I have clicked the right answers. Rest, I dont remember.
After the quants section, I made sure I dont consume more than 8 mins of break. I was back in 5 mins after a quick protein bar and shake. I had 3 mins more I sat at my place gaining confidence to start with the verbal questions. The first one was an SC later with CR which I was confident of getting them right. Till question 15 I was on track with my timing with 45 mins on hand. Then I had a big RC passage which took lot of my time to analyse and go ahead with questions where I was not confirmed with a single answer. Then I had a tough CR problem which again took quiet a lot of my time somewhere 3 mins on that. By question no.24 I had 13 mins left. I was a bit panicked and knew I had to guess on few questions. I guessed on the Next RC passage completely which I dont know regarding which topic, a couple of CR questions though not very lengthy I had to randomly check one of the answers without reading the problem. I was very much pressed on time for CR. All my motive was to get on an SC question and try to get it right. I might have got 4-5 SC questions between Q.24- Q.41. Last Q39 and Q41 were SC out of which I am sure on getting one right. Q40 was CR, I didnt read and marked an answer.
Study materials i have been using:
Manhattan all guides, OG 13, Verbal and Quant Review guide ed:2, E-gmat (Verbal), Magoosh from past 1 month.
Past one month I have been following only Magoosh and egmat, as I was not very good in verbal and couldnt clear my concepts with Manhattan. So the switch was made. All throughout from October 13 to May 22 I appeared for 6 Tests of Manhattan Gmat.I didnt appear for any test with any other provider or with Gmatprep. I fear from competitive exams and so didnt appear for test more but somehow felt better concepts can tackle those issues.
Manhattan test score:
CAT 6 - Q-43, V-32 - 620- (16/4/2014) - last test that I gave.
CAT 5 - Q-40, V-3 -(25/3/2014) - Appeared solely for Quants as I had practiced quiet new concepts.
CAT 4 - Q-41, V-30- 580 - (6/3/2014)
CAT 3 - Q-39, V-24- 540- (26/10/2013)
CAT 2 -Q-34, V-27- 520- (23/10/2013)
CAT 1- Q-28, V-12 -390 (Diagnostic test as advised by tutors during online sessions)
I never appeared for test during the online sessions as guided by instructors.
I had done all questions from Magoosh both for quant and verbal approx 700 questions all under time constraints.Pacing on hard and very hard questions was approx 3 mins.Past one month I didnt review much on OG guide apart from SC as I was quiet exhausted and wanted some fresh material or resources to start. I feel appearing for less mock test has hampered the confidence and made me fall into timing issues. I found it quiet hard to guess which questions are hard and I should make a random guess and move on specially on verbal question.
I wish to apply solely for AGSM - NSW.A score of 620 and above can assure for putting up an application.My Gpa score is 3.5.I really wish to know whether is there room for me to improve on timing and whether I can achieve it in 6 weeks time.The deadlines for AGSM is:
Application Deadline Offer sent out
Round 1 1 May 2014 30 May 2014
Round 2 1 July 2014 30 July 2014
Round 3 1 September 2014 30 September 2014.
The exam slots available at Perth for coming months are:
8 July 2014, 11 August 2014, 8 September 2014.I really want to know what should be my next strategy.Should I go for it, Can I crack Gmat with a 650 score in 6 weeks. After coming so far I really dont want to quit and I dont have time to apply for next year due to some personal issues at home. Past 6 months this is the only area I have concentrated and this is all I know. I really wonder getting a 700 score might be requiring what level of intelligence, hardwork and mental stability. For me its only through hardwork I can move forward.
Please Guide me.
Many Thanks,
Donna.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry that you had a disappointing test day. Did you sign up for a Post-Exam Assessment (PEA)? Since you took our course, you're eligible for a free PEA (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 and request the Post-Exam Assessment.

Before you get in there again, you'll certainly need to address the test anxiety as much as possible. Here are some resources that might help:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... mat-score/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... anagement/

Unfortunately, the too-long break would have added to your anxiety and caused the adrenaline to really spike. It's harder to think straight when that's happening, so that may have affected your performance and concentration. Even with all of that, though, your score dropped only a bit on quant, so that's a good sign.

That may even have been part of what led to your timing problems on the verbal. By that time, the anxiety and adrenaline would have used up a lot of your mental energy. When that happens, people are much more likely to mess up the timing - either going too slowly or too quickly. If you still had 16-17 questions to go and only 13 minutes left, your score definitely would have dropped quite a bit.

If you can fix the verbal timing issues, that should get your score up into the high 500 / low 600 range. You'll need to do some additional work to improve your score from there.

You can certainly do those things, but 6 weeks may not be enough time. (Most people would need more time.)

For timing issues, read this first:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/

That will start to give you an idea of how to make decisions on this test - when to keep going and when to let go.

Next, read these two articles:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -to-do-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

And start doing what they say. In particular, start developing the 1-minute time sense from section 4 of the article. Until you have a decent sense of that, you're going to struggle with section 5 of the article (timing for the overall section).

Next, in terms of studying / getting better, read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

Your goal is not to do thousands or even hundreds of problems. Your goal is to pick apart and learn as much as you can from a decent-sized set of official problems.

Also start working on the anxiety-reduction techniques and, if you have not yet done a PEA, go sign up for one.

If you have already done a PEA, then we can do another modified one here on the forums, but you'll have to do the test analysis yourself.

Use the below to analyze your most recent MGMAT CAT (this should take you a minimum of 1 hour):
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... ts-part-1/

Figure out your strengths and weaknesses as well as what you think you should do based on that analysis. Then come back here and tell us; we'll tell you whether we agree and advise you further. (Note: do share an analysis with us, not just the raw data. Part of getting better is developing your ability to analyze your results - figure out what they mean and what you think you should do about them!)