Panic Attack!!

[v-taseng]

Hi,
I have my exam on the 31st of May 2012.
This is my second attempt.In the first attempt i had a mere score of only 650(Q48,V30).I knew that i needed a lot of patience while taking the GMAT for the next time as i lagged behind in the verbal section.I started studying again and these were the books that i referred
1)Manhattan SC
2)Manhattan Foundations of maths
3)Kaplan
4)OG 12
5)The princeton review 1,012 GMAT questions

Other than that i have taken quite a few mock exams,those being:
1)Grockit-(the free CAT)
2)4 MGMATS
3)GMATPrep 2

I started with GMATPrep CAT 1 without any prepartaion and got the same 650 which was ok with me because that was my real GMAT score,i was on the right track.
Then i started finished OG(Cover to Cover),Kaplan ,Manhattan books.(Not cover to cover i still jot down a few points whenever i open the book)

I had seen a real improvement while giving the grockit as well as MGMATS :
MGMAT 1:650
MGMAT 2:680
MGMAT 3:700
MGMAT 4:720
800Score:680
But yesterday i gave a Gmatprep exam and i dont know what went wrong i suddenly dropped to 550(Q39 V27)
One thing that i have been doing is i have been taking one test regularly,due to thing that just took a shot at my stamina?
Now i am supremely tensed cos i have like about 8 days to go and i cannot concentrate on anythng but the 550.
I did go through the questions after i finished the test and all of them where stupid silly mistakes.I am panicking to the brim.:(...Help!

[StaceyKoprince]

650 is good! I know you're going for an even higher score, but give yourself some credit for your prior performance. :)

So we need to try to figure out what went wrong on that GMATPrep test. If we know why you dropped, then we can take steps to minimize the chances of the same thing happening on the real test.

There are two broad scenarios: (a)your performance really is in the 700 range BUT something happened on that one test to pull you down or (b) your performance really isn't in the 700 range and those test scores were artificially inflated for some reason (eg, skipping essays, taking longer breaks than allowed, using the pause button, giving yourself extra time, etc).

Keep in mind that you scored 650 on the real thing once before and this GMATPrep dropped by 100 points, so it can't be the case that you're THAT far from 700 now. I wouldn't say that your true scoring level is 550. But it might not be 700, either.

Read this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ent-wrong/

Brainstorm why your score dropped - there will likely be multiple causes. Be *brutally* honest with yourself. If it turns out that the other practice tests were artificially inflated in some way, then you don't want to take the test on the 31st, because you'll just end up with a dropped score!

Then come back here and share with us. Also, we're close enough to test day now that I might not talk to you again till after the 31st. If you think you've figured out the reason(s) and they're things that can be fixed / adjusted by the 31st, then go ahead and take your test. If not, then you're going to need to think about whether to postpone.

Don't stress about the IR thing - a lot of people are panicking / trying to rush because of that, but it's really not terrible to have to take the new test, I promise. :)