The first two are not relevant because I took the old version back in 2003.
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3. my important question: while taking the test and answering all the problems.. how did you feel? were you confident that you were able to answer most of the questions correctly?
Remember that the test is adaptive and it should keep you on the edge of you seat if you are nailing every question thrown at you.
But the "feel" for how you are doing on the test is not very useful and can be misleading. You will read reports of students "feeling" that they bombed the math, so they didnt care much about verbal because they "felt" would have to take the test again. Turns out they do have take the test again , but not because they did bad at math. They "felt" wrong, ended up doing great in Math and bad in verbal. Others felt that they were doing very well only to be surprised by a low score.
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4. one short advice
I will do you one better.
1)
Humility Tons of advice on the forum. My first advice is to check your ego at the door and tell yourself that it is ok to add/multiply/subtract again. No 700 scorer ever got past 700 without getting the easy questions correct. Force yourself to pay extra attention to the easiest questions.
2)
Starting off Right. Take a diagnostic test, say, GMAT Prep Test 1 with no prep at all. Just go with the details of what the test is about , how much time you have etc. Take this test as seriously as you can. Analyze your results and understand your strengths and weaknesses. This analysis will serve as great input into the areas you need to improve.
When working on problems, avoid guessing. If you get a question correct, you better be sure that you did not get it correct because you were lucky.
Always stay in learning mode.
3)
Measure your progress
The only rational way to understand how you are doing is to measure your progress. Some of your most frustrating mistakes may be arithmetic and not paying enough attention to details in questions. Keep a good log of your errors as you progress in your prep. If you find yourself making the same errors over and over again, you must make some changes in your prep.
Make a point of recording what you learnt after every study session..
At the end of every study session, you should be able to write a small paragraph that details what you learnt that day. This could complement your
error log.
4)
Sleep/Exercise
This is by far the most ignored and underrated factor.
Believe it or not, the most heartbreaking of reasons to not do well on the test is insufficient sleep the night before. The test is 4 hrs long. You are human. If you are not a morning person, dont be a hero. Sign up for a late afternoon test. If you are morning person, dont say I didnt warn you.
Exercise will keep you focused and help you stay positive. If you have a full time job, its even more important.
5)
Practice Tests Scores
Dont take practice tests scores very seriously. Whether you do well or not on the practice tests, try to understand what went right or what went wrong.
6)
GMAT Club
Participate in discussions and explain your answers on the forum. This will help you the most. You will have truly understood something when you are able to explain a concept to someone.
close
29 Mar 2007, 23:13
