GMAT Phobia

I've heard a lot of people freaking out about the GMAT, taking expensive courses, and studying for weeks in general. I don't understand all the anxiety.

I'd taken 3 graduate level MBA classes, passing with B's, at Creighton University prior to taking the GMAT for the first time and was confident in my abilities. My undergraduate degree was in Criminal Justice, however, and I had'nt taken a math class since 1996. I signed up for the GMAT 2 months in advance and recieved the free practice test software. I had set aside the 3 weeks prior to my scheduled testing date of Jan 13th, but before I could begin to study I contacted the Norovirus during Christmas and was sick and/or recovering my strength until the weekend before the exam. I took the first practice test, without studying, and scored a total of 410 due to finishing only half of the questions in each section. I was very happy with this knowing I could easily improve my score. I studied the next day for a few hours and took the second practice test and scoreda 610, this time finishing all of the questions. I felt very confident I would score at least this level. I studied for a few hours the two nights before the test to review some material. I knew that I was not adept enough in math to answer many of the questions in less than 2 minutes, but I reviewed the practice questions and study material in that section in order to improve it as much as possible. I also worked on my grammar skills, as I scored very high in every other area of the Verbal on the practice test.

I took the GMAT and felt I had done well, but knew my Quant portion was more difficult than anticipated. I scored a 620. My Quant score was a 34 (43%) and my Verbal was a 41 (96%). I know that if I spent weeks on the test studying up on my math I could have scored much higher, but my score is very representative of myself. I have very high Verbal skills and lower math skills because I use verbal skills everyday at my job and read/write often. I rarely if ever use math at work. Im happy with my score and it is well above the median at most universitys.

Don't spend too much time or money obsessing over your scores. The GMAT practice software works very well and will accurately project your score. Try your best and be confident. Don't let the pressure get to you and don't spend too much time on questions you know will take to long to answer. Just guess and move on. This test is as much about confidence and time management as it is about knowledge of material.