Third Attempt - 350

[LiliyaG403]

Hi Stacey,

Here is my story. I have been studying for the GMAT on and off for about a year. I took the test last week for the third time and was shocked to see a miserable 350. I don't know whether I should give up on my dream and move on or try again.
I am a non-native speaker, but have been living and studying in English speaking countries for more than 5 years. I started preparing for the test last year and used mainly Kaplan and Magoosh resources until I discovered Manhattan GMAT, which I used for my studies since September last year. I went through the Foundation of Math book and did not have any problems. However, I really struggled with the word problems for which I have devoted a couple of months using Foundation of Math book, Khan Academy and MGMAT Word Problems book. I also went through GMAT OG Math (green cover book) and solved pretty much everything with ease. Another story with GMAT OG book, some problems took me awhile to understand how to solve, but I went pretty much through all the problems and made an error log on problems I have struggled with.
So below are my scores:

GMAT Practice test: 560
MGMAT: 560 (Q32;V35)
MGMAT: 510 (Q30;V30)
GMAT1: 330 (Q10;V10)
GMAT2: 450 (Q28;V15) I dont really remember a verbal score here, was it 10 or 15 but was way lower than Q score.
GMAT3: 350 (Q13;V22)

I never thought of myself as a stupid person but now I do. I feel so miserable. I thought that studying for a year will bring a better result. I studied really hard sacrificing parties, going out and seeing friends. I was studying almost every day for at least one hour, some days I studied for 4-5 hours a day, 10-12 hours a week.

I'll tell you now a bit about the exam experience. The first attempt was horrible. Even before I entered the testing center I knew I am going to fail. AWA went pretty good but I have not had any idea how to solve IR so I guessed on all the IR questions. Quant: I don't know how it happened but everything I saw on the screen looked unfamiliar. I couldn't recognize any question and had to guess a lot. I finished the Quant section and still had 25 minutes left. On verbal part I felt so tired that I couldn't understand any question and had to read each sentence at least twice.
Since I had the deadlines coming up, I decided to try again and scheduled the test again. I traveled and couldn't study this time, so went to the exam without any preparation. This time I felt more comfortable with Quant section but got really exhausted on the Verbal part. I was upset to see 450, but got motivated since I saw 100+ points improvement.
I decided to give it a try and studied for another 1.5-2 months for at least 1 hour a day. I thought I really mastered word/work/rate problems, I felt absolutely comfortable with algebra and number properties. My knowledge of probability, statistics and combinatorics were still a bit shaky but all and all I feel confident. I went through RC, SC and CR again. Answered all the GMAT OG CR questions correctly, had some mistakes on SC here and there, RC went good but slow ( I am a slow reader).
So here is my third attempt experience: when I saw the first question on Quant, I had no idea how to solve it, I tried for 2.5 minutes, then guessed. The next question I got was a rate question, I was happy since I thought I have mastered all the rate problems, but this one was kind of different rate problem, it was kind of mix of everything. I tried to solve it for 2.5 minutes then guessed. Then I couldn't recognize any of the following questions. I expected work/rate/overlapping sets/age problems - I did not see any of those. I expected to see some questions related to fractions/number properties - I did not see any of this questions either. I did not get any probability or statistics or combinatorics or formula questions. The whole section was like a joke. Nothing looked familiar. I had to guess again and again and again. When I finished I had still 25 or 30 minutes remaining. Verbal part was better, I thought I am doing pretty well till I saw 11 minutes remaining and I had 11 unanswered questions so I had to guess on many of them.
I took all the practice tests under test conditions with AWA and IR, I had 8 minutes breaks between the sections, I did not eat or drink anything during the practice tests. I did not have any timing issues on my practice tests. The biggest problem for me was a word problems, which I have mastered since (at least I thought so). I never had any learning disabilities and have passed many tests that my friends/colleagues failed. I do not know what to do next, I have no idea how to study. Perhaps the test is not for everybody and I should just give up. Stacey, could you please tell me what am I doing wrong? What strategy should I take? Thank you so much in advance.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry this test is giving you such a hard time.

Your verbal score has increased on the real test, though it is still below your practice test scores. You did have timing problems on the last test, though, and had to guess on many questions at the end, so it's likely that you can get a verbal score closer to your practice test scores if you can learn to manage your timing better.

Your quant score went up but went back down again, and only the 2nd score was close to your practice test scores.

I have some ideas, but we're going to have to investigate.

Read this:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... t-wrong-2/

Do any of those pieces apply to your case? If so, please describe.

I'm sure that there are at least some aspects of timing and mental stamina, because everyone struggles with those to some extent. But we also need to know whether one aspect has to do with artificially inflated practice scores.

And I noticed this:

Even before I entered the testing center I knew I am going to fail.

Everyone is anxious when taking the GMAT, of course, but thinking--before you even start--that you are going to "fail" indicates some significant anxiety. So we need to work on that.

These comments are also indicative of anxiety and mental fatigue:

everything I saw on the screen looked unfamiliar

I felt so tired that I couldn't understand any question and had to read each sentence at least twice.

Nothing looked familiar. I had to guess again and again and again.

Start with this:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/

And these:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/2012/ ... anagement/
https://hbr.org/2015/02/pronouns-matter ... ourself-up

Next, the mental fatigue is partially a product of stress and partially a product of decision-making fatigue. Read these:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... you-crazy/

When you are trying to do a lot of things that you don't know how to do well (eg, IR, or trying to answer a quant question that you don't *really* know how to answer), then you will tire yourself out before the test is over. It's very important to make sure that you are also deciding what NOT to do:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/

I've given you a lot to read and think about, so let's just start there. Tell me what you think about all of that. Then we'll talk more about time management and other strategies to help you do better.