WTH?! Not sure what happened?!

[Bummed out]

Short version:

I have no idea what happened today... Took the test and finished about an hour ago. Did a little worse than expected on math, but bombed the verbal. Got a 650 (Q44 / V35). Completely lost.

Long version:

Admittedly started the process late, was hoping I could squeeze in round 1, so took the test without much preparation about two months ago. My friends at work got 760+ without much studying so I figured I could do the same. Took the GMAT practice test and scored 710 (v41, forgot Q) after remembering that Rsq * pi = area. Took the test and knew that I bombed the math due to timing problems. Decided that I didn't want to see the score at the end and knew that I could do better with more prep.

Studied in the past month, mainly on math as my verbal wasn't that bad other than SC. Did 2 sets of Focus questions online and even got the last one I took 100%. Took GMAT practice test 2 yesterday (without the essays) and scored 740 (was happy enough with the score and didn't really look at the breakdown before I closed the app). Never really had any issues with verbal until today.

Essays were fine on the test, and math was hurried to the end, but felt ok about it. Verbal actually seemed very easy for some reason - I didn't really have any questions that bugged me that much. (I usually remember questions that I thought long and hard about but I can't even remember one hard verbal question right now.) Felt comfortable enough to see the score and expected 700-720 based on math (assumed verbal was on par with what I've gotten). Well, I was right on the math but verbal was a huge shock.

So now I'm home on a saturday night unsure what my next step should be. Getting all the apps together by R2 deadline would be more than enough in the next five weeks. If I have to worry about GMAT than it'll be even harder. Obviously if I bomb again then I'm not submitting any apps, but what's worrying me more is the fact that any confidence I had is now completely gone. I have no clue what happened...

Any thoughts? Comments? :(

[mg]

take a deep breath and relax. i can really imagine how you feel. I guess you know your options - focus on your applications and let your story shine out and your undergrad grades speak. You can always try again and send in your fresj GMAT to colleges that accept it.

I have been sailing in the same boat and I really wish no one has to go through the gruelling attack the GMAT has on one's confidence. It is only an exam. Don't let it control you.

[JT]

That is odd. The same exact thing happened to me. I was scoring around 700 - 710 on practice exams and I was always doing much better in verbal and math was the hard part. Usually 43Q / 41V split. Today I got a 640 on the real exam - 48Q / 31V. Ten point drop in verbal!!!!!

[Bummed out]

That is odd. The same exact thing happened to me. I was scoring around 700 - 710 on practice exams and I was always doing much better in verbal and math was the hard part. Usually 43Q / 41V split. Today I got a 640 on the real exam - 48Q / 31V. Ten point drop in verbal!!!!!

I honestly don't know how it happened but here is my hypothesis:

I had my usual mini panic attack towards the end of quant section, which basically made the last 15 min go by in a blur (with the heart pounding and all), and then I had to settle myself down for 5 minutes during the break. The rush basically wore off and I went through verbal without much energy and focus. Prob fcked up on the first few verbal questions as well (there were 3-4 SC questions at the beginning of verbal and SC is my weak point) so the rest of the verbal was doomed from the get go.

I'm taking it a month from now. Planning to do more prep, especially on SC, and consult a doc for meds. Not sure how many other people suffer from test anxiety (mine is only on standardized tests, since the SATs) but for those who do, you might seriously consider talking to a doctor about it.

[StaceyKoprince]

Lots of people suffer from test anxiety - try this article to see whether anything there might help:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/strategy-series-stress.cfm

I do know some people who have used meds for severe anxiety. Just make sure that you test the meds out for a while to give your body a chance to get used to them. Don't want any surprises of that sort on test day.

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

If you skipped the essays, essentially, you prepared yourself for the first 2/3 of a marathon. That last 1/3 really sucks if you're not prepared to run it to the end. :) If that was the case for you, make sure you do practice tests under full official conditions from now on.

You can't doom yourself via just a few missed questions - but, certainly, if you underperformed on the first third to half, that would cause major problems. Alternatively, if you started out a little slow and then also lost steam / stamina towards the end, that would also cause major problems.

The other lesson learned here: just because it's a strength doesn't mean that you can neglect it. Make sure you practice your strength regularly too - especially because verbal is weighted more heavily in the overall score.