Please advise why I messed up GMAT

[JT]

I took the GMAT this afternoon and did much worse than expected. I got a 640 (48Q / 31V)

Over the last 1-2 weeks my practice tests have ranged been 700 (Manhattan 6), 650 (Gprep 1 retake), 710 (Gprep 2 retake). I attributed the 650 to just being tired. My math scores are typically 42-44 and verbal around 38-41. I have studied about 2 months straight and know all the basic concepts and my timing is pretty much fine.

I took the GMAT today and got a 48 Math and 31 Verbal. I thought I did a lot worse on math. I was expecting around 41-42ish. I was schocked with my Verbal score. Verbal was harder than I anticipated - a lot of sentence correction (which is usually my strength), but I still did not expect to do this badly.

I was a bit tired this morning - a little bit of an anxious night with not a lot of quality sleep. However, I'm not sure how much I can attribute to being tired because I got my best math score ever today. Maybe it was just fatigue by the verbal part of the exam. However, I have taken over 8 practice tests so I would think I have the jist of it.

Any thoughts?

[mg]

Hi JT - I think you have answered your questions. fatigue and lack of proper sleep are big killers. I am sure Stacey will have better advice / relevant questions. But I really hope you find your peace. 48 on Q is awesome BTW.

[JT]

Any thoughts? I signed up again for the test on Jan 3rd. I'm going to do my bschool apps in tandem so that I can make it for round II. I'm just looking to maintain what I was getting on my practice exams (somewhere close to 700). I'm wondering whether I should continue studying or take a decent break and focus on apps for a while with no studying.

I also have no clue what happened to me. My verbal score completely caught me by surprise.

[StaceyKoprince]

The quant score is awesome. I know you're not happy with your verbal score, but take a moment to feel good (great!) about that quant score.

It would be nice if we can figure out why your verbal score dropped so that we can get your confidence back. So here are some questions that might help us to figure it out:

Did you take your practice tests under full official conditions? (30m each for two essays, 10m break, 75m quant, 10m break, 75m verbal)

If you did do the essays, did you spend as much time and mental energy on the practice essays as you did on the real essays?

How was your timing in the verbal section? Did you generally move steadily through the test, giving appropriate time and attention to each question? (1 to 1.5m for SC, 2m for CR, 2-4m to read a passage, 1m for general RC questions, 2m for specific RC questions) Or did you have to rush at times and possibly make random guesses? If you did have to rush and/or make random guesses, on how many questions would you say you did that? Did you do it on a lot of questions in a row or were the guesses scattered? Alternatively, did you move too quickly and end up with a lot of extra time at the end?

You already mentioned that you were a bit tired. Did you have something to eat and drink on the breaks? Did you get up, walk around, and stretch?

What did you do in the final 3 days before the test? Did you study constantly and/or take a bunch of practice tests? (Essentially, did you tire and stress yourself out?)

What other differences can you think of between your practice test experiences and your real test experiences? Anything, no matter how small, and no matter whether you think it wouldn't have made a difference to your score. Any differences at all?

ETA: If you're feeling burned out, you may need to take a couple of days off before you get going again. You can't afford to take a ton of time off, but a few days of not thinking about this can do wonders.