Hey folks,
Firstly, I thank the manhattan GMAT team for their excellent material. I particularly like the way the practice tests capture the time spent on each question, the assessment reports, and also the needfully lengthy explanations of the answers. So, here goes my story:
Practice Test #1 : 690
Practice Test #2 : 650
Practice Test #3 : 660
Practice Test #4 : 710 (exactly one week before the test)

GMAT : 660.
I am disappointed with my GMAT score. I scored low on the Verbal. I had difficulty concentrating and staying focused. And I had time problems (my reading speed is low) - I had to random guess ~5-7 questions, and I was a bit impulsive answering a few others, that hurt my score :(, I was hoping to get close to a 700 score. The score is on the lower side (lower than avg score) for most of the schools I am applying to, but presently, I am not thinking of retaking GMAT. I am hoping that I can make up for the low score with the rest of my application.
I liked the advice given by one of the instructors regarding the last 2-week preparation and how one should spend a lot of time analyzing practice tests. I diligently followed the advice. Thanks manhattanGmat! I already recommended your books to a couple of my friends!

On a final note, can someone advice me on retaking GMAT? Typically, does re-taking the exam increase the score? by how much? And how much time is a good time to prepare for a 2nd attempt?

thanks & regards,
-Sankar

Hi, Sankar

Now that you've taken the real test, you can sign up for a free Post-GMAT Assessment; send an email to studentservices@manhattangmat.com to request this. This will be a phone call with one of our instructors to debrief and figure out what to do for your next attempt. (FYI to others: this service is only offered to people who have taken our courses.)

You mentioned that you had to guess randomly on 5-7 questions in verbal. I'm assuming you did this at or towards the end? Everyone has to guess on approximately 5-7 questions in each section. Everyone - no matter how good you get, the questions just keep getting harder. So, your only option there is to spread those guesses out over the length of the test, and to make those guesses educated instead of random. Don't be forced to make random guesses on a string of questions in a row towards the end b/c you're running out of time. Instead, selectively choose the hardest questions for you as you see them throughout the test. Find some way to narrow down the answer choices a bit using your available time (1-1.5 min for SC, 2 min for RC and CR), then guess from among the remaining choices and move on. DO NOT spend extra time on problems that are really too hard for you (and, of course, don't spend extra time on ones that aren't too hard for you - but the point is that you can do the ones that aren't too hard for you in normal time).

If your random guesses were clustered toward the end, you were scoring higher in the verbal section until you ran out of time and brought your score down by randomly guessing. For every question you get wrong at the end of a section, you lose about 2 to 2.5 percentile points. So if the last three questions in a row are all wrong, that will drop you 6 to 7.5 percentile points from whatever you were scoring before you hit those.

Sounds like you also might have run out of steam - the real test is definitely nervewracking. If you do take it again, you'll have to work on stamina. Make sure you take full practice tests in which you really try on the essays, eat something energizing at the breaks, etc.

Finally, the average score change for 2nd-time test takers is a 30-point improvement. (This is not just for MGMAT students - this figure is from GMAC, for all people who take the test a 2nd time. Also, that number does not apply to 3+ retakes.)

Hi Stacey,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, you were right, the 5 or so random guesses were towards the end. You see, the thing is, what do you do when you get a 3 or a 4-question RC towards the end (say from question #36 and beyond)? That's what happened to me on the real test, and I am afraid it also always happened during the practice tests. I wanted to consult someone regarding the strategy for this situation, but didn't get myself to do so. Since my reading speed is low and the clock is really ticking towards the end, and adding the mental state at that point of time, it's very hard to read the RC and answer the questions. So, I opted to go for a C - C - C - C and hoped to get to SC or CR (preferably SC) as the final few questions. And by the time I got there, the clock was at less than 2 mins and I really couldn't focus and went with a partially-analyzed/partially-resolved solution.
Thanks for the tip to consult studentservices. Will do.
Btw, I got the email with the official score report. Got a 5 on AWA, which is okay I guess.

regards,
-Sankar

5 on the AWA is great! Now you know you don't need to worry about that portion of the test anymore.

For the RC thing, that is a tough thing to manage. Keep track of the number of RC passages you see as they're given to you. Most people get 4 on the test. You need to adjust your timing depending upon whether you know you've probably got another one coming. So, if you're at question 33 (so you have 8 questions left) and you've only seen 3 RC passages so far, you need to have maybe 16-18 minutes left, but if you've seen 4 RC passages, you may need only 14-15 minutes to finish.

If you follow the general timing for the question types, it will work out in the end:
SC: 1-1.5 min
CR: 2 min
RC reading: 2-3 min
RC questions: 1 min for general question (What is the main idea?); 2 min for specific questions

You mentioned that your reading speed is slower. Remember from class that your read-through of the passage should be fairly high-level - don't get down into all of the tough detail. Get the big picture - you should at least then be able to answer the one "what is the main idea" type question even if you're running out of time. You may need to revisit this lesson from class.

And go sign up for that post-exam assessment ASAP (if you haven't already)!

Hi Stacey,
Thanks again for your response. Actually, I didn't take manhattan GMAT's course. I have only purchased your books and went through them and I was complimenting the books' material and the online material. Sorry if I gave you the impression that I took the course!
Secondly, I am most likely not going to retake the exam.

regards,
-Sankar

Ah, got it! I'm glad you found the books and online materials useful. Good luck as you tackle applications! We have other threads devoted to that, so make good use of them! :)