One of those Days 650 (V33, Q47)

[brazenhellion]

Hi,

Took my GMAT today for the third time! got a horrible 650! (V33, Q47) previous scores were
1st 650 attempt (V35,Q44) (May 09)
2nd 590 attempt (V28,Q43) (August 09)

Preparation:
Started about 45 days prior to the test day. Bought the Manhattan SC guide and OG Verbal review 2nd edition. I had read a lot of posts and blogs to create a study plan which i was most comfortable with. Applied the "Active Reading" strategy in Verbal for RC and CR. Always read the question of CR first before reading the argument. It took a while to get use to this strategy but i got better and my accuracy was about 90-95% in both RC and CR 1 week prior to the D-Day. I was always good at SC so practiced only 10 problems everyday but went through all of them thoroughly to understand why my answer was correct and others were wrong.
For quant i signed up for the GMAT club tests, and solved 22 of 25 given tests and 80% of the "Hardest questions" on specific topics. All the while,triying to understand the concept; it proved to very useful, increased my score in quant from 43 previously to 47

Tests taken:
I found the quant in mgmat tests a lot tougher and mainly time consuming as compared to the actual GMAT.
I gave all the tests in proper GMAT conditions, wrote awa, took 8min breaks, had redbull and a snack in each of the breaks and i even gave the practice tests on the same day (Monday) as my actual test except for one powerprep
MGMAT 1: 600 (V30, Q44) - 6 weeks before D-Day
Powepre 1: 710 (V38, Q48) - 6 weeks before (Just to gain confidence)
MGMAT 2: 650 (V35, V44) - 5 weeks before D-Day
MGMAT 3: 650 (V34, Q45) - 4 weeks before D-Day
MGMAT 4: 680 (V34, Q48) - 3 weeks before D-Day
GMAT Prep 1: 710 (V42, Q45) - 2 weeks prior to the test (Hadn't started OG 12, saw no questions i had solved earlier in quant or in verbal), committed very silly mistakes in the quant section, could have easily got 49-50
GMAT Prep 2: 710 (V38, Q48) - 1 week prior to the test (Started OG 12, but still saw no questions i had solved earlier in quant or in verbal, so i knew that the results weren't skewed)

Last Week:
Finished the OG Verbal 12th edition and 2nd Edition, focussed mainly on the problems i had got wrong and tried to revise math concepts.

One day prior:
Read the notes i had made for quant and verbal sections. Went through a few posts on AWA. Slept at a good 8 hrs before the test (Test was schedules at 1pm)

Test Day Experience:
AWA:
Was normal, wrote about 450 words for each essay

Break:
Had a redbull and half a crackle. Told myself repeatedly "GMAT Math is NOT TOUGH only TRICKY"
Quant:
Wrote this on the booklet when the 1min screen appeared: "GMAT Math is NOT TOUGH only TRICKY"
As i had performed badly in the previous 2 attempts in the quant section, i was very cautious initially. Section started of with very easy questions, almost too easy. i got stuck in question 9 which was a tricky ds problem, after that it was mostly smooth sailing till about question 25 which was a little lengthy and took up about 5min. I had to guess 4-5 of the last 10 questions. But overall not very difficult, i have been a prone to making silly mistakes so i guess thats the reason for the paltry 47 in quant.

Break:
Had another redbull and remaining half of the crackle. Felt good about the quant section, told myself "I have done decently in quant, all i need to do now is ace the verbal, and i will break the 700 barrier

Verbal:
It was a shocking and horrible experience, i really dont know what happened. The questions were not that tough but somehow i just blanked out. First 2-3 questions were SC's and they were not that tough, but once i saw the first CR, I wasn't able to focus at all and completely lost it on the RC's and most of the CRs. I was just not able to "actively read" the RC's, i felt like killing myself. I took 2 min, to regain my confidence and focus but to no avail. And because of my gmat prep analysis i knew i couldn't afford to get more that 5-6 questions wrong if i was serious about getting around 40 i verbal, and in hindset i guess it was playing on my mind. I tried my best to concentrate but could only manage to do it in the last 15 questions. Out of the 13-14 RC questions, i guessed around 10. Apart from SC questions which i think i got all right, the whole verbal experience was horrendous given the fact that it was my strong section and in both the GMAT prep tests i had done pretty well and i had never blanked out before.

Once the test ended i though for about 30 seconds, and i decided i wanted to know what i got!
In the end i just wasn't able to deliver when it really counted. I was planning on applying to Kellogg (My dream school), but now all the dreams seem to have crashed. Really frustrated with the result because i never dropped below 700 in both my gmat prep tests

I read other posts on GMAT club, people had posted that its not advisable to write GMAT for the 4th time! I am not really sure what i should do? Should i reschedule after a month and give it one FINAL try! or else give up on my dream to get into Kellogg and apply to schools which accept 650? or give it another year prepare for 3-4 months and schedule a test in march or april 2011 at the risk of failing yet again! I dont know how to regain my confidence or whether i will be able to muster the courage to start preparing again

any advice would be appreciated

Thanks in advance,
Ajay