GMAT is a test on ANXIETY ( 700, 4th attempt)

Hi Everybody.

Let this be a message in the form of a big thank you for all the people involved in this community.

Today I sat the gmat for the 4th time, and got a 700 (finally) which is enough for my masters degree. what i learned is that the gmat is a mental game, where you need to manage your stress and anxiety as good as possible!

First attempt in October 660, Q45 and V36
- I knew my quant was weak before starting the test, and so I didn't excpect a great score. Was reasonably satisfied with this score as I though that only quant needed improvement.

Second Attempt in November 620 Q48 V28
- This was too weird for me. I had practiced my quant, which had gone up, luckly, but my verbal had decreased a lot! Ordered my ESR, which shows i had got 19th percentile in RC. So i started to improve that, while mainiting other areas of the gmat

Third Attempt in December 630 Q48 V31
- I Was completly lost. How could i not achieve my verbal score of the first Gmat? I had improved my weak area (rc) but when i ordered the ESR it showed 19th percentile again... I didnt know what to do, i was scoring great verbal scores in the practice exams, but I seemed never be able to get my first verbal score from my first gmat attempt. Until i found the cause: anxiety. During my first attempt I didnt had anxiety, because I was 100% sure that I would get a great score and thus would have to reatke is. This relaxed state of my mind is what allowed me to get a V36 ( which i couldn't achieve anymore).

So I started studying anxiety instead of Gmat material, which I Had mastered.

Fourth attempt in January 700 Q49 V37
- This basically confirmed i Was right. It was anxiety, all the time. i even bumped my quant by studying anxiety


What I want to share with you:
Gmat is all about anxiety. Imagine this. Imagine you are 18, can drive car very well, but you go and take the driving exam. You are driving fine, but all of the sudden, you shift from 2 to 4, and the car breaks. U think in yourself, '' mann, i need to practice shifting gears more, because apparantly I dont know how to do it". So you start practicing it like crazy. What you don't know is that you had the skill all this time. U didn't need to improve it. It was stress which was preventing you to fully demonstrate the skill. This is EXACTLY what Gmat (especially verbal) is all about.

To study anxiety moreI HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING 2 sources:

-Lsat Test Mentality Webinar. ( EYE OPENER, talks about anxiety specifically for test taking situations)
-book: Dare - The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks (talks about anxiety in general, read this before webinar)


If you want a 700 plus score, your mental game needs to be strong!

what I did to manage anxiety on test:
-converted anxiety into excitement by blasting songs on my way to the test center( will make more sense if you read the book). This was so counter intuitive for me, but it helped so much! In my first 3 attempt, i always went to the test center without any music to fully concentrate. what i didnt knew was that this brought me in a wrong state of mind every time
- no caffeine whatsoever, even not in tea (replace regular tea with camomile, bc camomile tea has no caffeine
- limit alcohol as much as possible
- dont try to calm down, get excited

what i did not do:
-meditate/mindfulness. I felt like this was doing nothing for me.

what i recommend:
do what works for you

I hope this will help at least one person in his or her gmat journey!!