GMAT test Anxiety wins again from 690 to 530

Hi Akshay.

From what you described, it sounds as if you are becoming anxious about being anxious, and letting things snowball on you.

A great way to address that issue is to learn to focus on the question in front of you and on answering it correctly. If you focus on the job at hand rather than on your anxiety, your anxiety will fade.

Meanwhile, being too strict with your timing is not going to work out. You have to sometimes invest extra time in a question and sometimes answer a question in less than the average amount of time allotted per question. Being a little behind the clock is no big deal. You may run into a couple questions that you can answer quickly and catch up. Ideally you would manage your time well, but the truth is that, even if you are pressed for time at the end of a section and have to guess on a couple of questions, you will probably be better off than you would be in rushing through an entire section to be sure to finish on time.

Finally, while the average score on your the two GMAT Prep practice tests you took is 700, given the information on your ESR and your performance in general, I get the sense that you still have some weak areas that could be significantly stronger. If you spend the next few weeks strengthening weaker areas, you will be that much more confident and prepared next time you take the test. Taking more practice tests could help too. So, rather than relax, keep developing your skills. Work on the types of questions you don't want to see and master answering them. You'll answer questions more quickly and more confidently, and, in so doing, address some of the issues that you have been experiencing.

Thanks Hovkial , DisciplinedPrep , MartyTargetTestPrep thanks guys for taking the time to go through the ESR and analyzing the same. I have already scheduled my exam on 26th August. I will continue with prep.

MartyTargetTestPrep please check message.

Sorry to hear about your test day troubles!

I would have thought that now that you can cancel your score and no one will be the wiser, test day anxiety would be minimum for test takers. Worst case, you cancel your score and try again - why worry, eh?!
Your practice test scores are certainly far more promising.

As for your timing strategy, I am not a fan of that. For some questions, you will need only 30 secs, for others, 3 mins. Review your timing situation after 4-5 questions are to ensure that you don't lose the plot but you don't have to be under pressure every moment. Besides, practice in short spurts of say 5 questions - 10 mins to train your mind to know what 2 mins feels like.

And yes, it helps to calm your nerves for a few days before the test. Just review and practice.