Getting Panicky-Help

Well, I guess there are 2 ways to look at it. Pumping adrenalin = good, but panic = bad

but I see your point.

My advice...Distribute your energy among three sections wisely. If you get stuck with any question and in 2 min if you don't know how to solve it or dont get any clue, make a guess and move. I would recommend never spend more than 3 min on a question. I think having a 40+ on V and 4 on AWA is much better than having 25 on V and 6 on AWA, so I don't recommend investing much energy on AWA.

And manage break time well. Its crucial to be back at your seat on time. I suffered from that yesterday.

Good Luck!

While I agree that AWA is no big deal in terms of overall score, I must say that it's still a good idea to invest several hours in it. AWA are the first section you have on real test, and if you totally screw up - you may get nervous and bomb the whole test. So my advice is - write several AWA essays, just to get used to timing and essay format. Don't agonize over quality, it doesn't matter much, but do some training to feel prepared on G-day.

I was going to skip AWA preparation at all, but during GMATpreps I saw that AWA's giving me a headache, so I decided to write several more essays. I'm very happy with this decision, as on G-day I was very calm and concentrated, and AWA didn't freak me out at all.

AWA is a cakewalk... I wouldn't worry about it either. Freaking out isn't a good idea, so try to focus on each question individually and don't think about the whole picture/score... just take it one step at a time and of course don't forget to keep up with timing.

good luck today or tomorrow... whenever it is your test!