GMAT in 10 days.. Scared. nervous and feeling under-prepared

Hey guys,

I suggest you should practice as much as you can on Grockit, since the questions are timed and help with time management.
Decent video explanations on most questions. I think redoing OG questions is also a good idea.

I am also scheduled to take the GMAT on the 25th of this month & eve I am undercooked on verbal.
But I hope to somehow pull my verbal upto 40 from 32 in the next 2 weeks !

But I think it's very negative to think of rescheduling the test…all I can say is just give it your best shot & hope for the best !

Regards,
m

I would definitely take MORE CAT's.
If you are feeling not read, then change your test.

Mine is scheduled on September 14th, and i will say there are times when i feel a bit under prepared..
Used to be amazing in maths, but still haven't hit 50 or 51 even once, but i feel i have prepared my verbal pretty well from late 20s to 40-43!

I agree with bb about the date change, but make sure you have a positive attitude while preparing for the test.
5 hours of prep with a positive attitude is way better than 20 odd hours of prep with an negative attitude!

ATB

Gave my first GMATPrep test today.. 1st CAT that I took.. Scored 650 (Q42 ; V38).

made some very silly mistakes in Quant section.. okay with verbal.. need to improve CR's and RC's. found some RC's totally incomprehensible.. need help how to improve..

give gmatprep2,
the first is little bit inflated imo, the second is pretty much accurate, atleast the verbal part.
i gave gmatprep2 1 week before the actual test and scored 700(q 48,v38).
got 670(q44,v38) on the real thing. i blame myself for the quant score, i couldn't sleep well the night before and the change in the way the gmat tests quant didn't help either(earlier they used to start from mid range questions,now the focus seems to be to rattle you with tough ones and then see how you perform ). but verbal was spot on.

Took MGMAT test 1 today. Scored worse than yesterday's GMATPrep test.

Total 640 (Q44 ; V34)

Quant shows a 2 point improvement over yesterday... but Verbal has taken a fall for the worse.

I need tips on time management. I literally ran out of time in the IR and Quant sections.

Also, by the end of the Verbal section, the brain gets extremely fatigued.. made a lot of mistakes in the last 10 verbal questions.

Help please.

what are you drinking in the breaks?
try gatorade. worked for me.

MGMAT Test 2 - Solved only Quant and IR sections..
Pacing problem in Quant is still worrying.. Today it was more than evident.. Scored 42 only..

pace.. pace.. pace... its becoming my undoing.

I second vinzycoolfire's question on what you are drinking during the breaks. I normally don’t believe in Gatorade for athletic activities, but I drank it during both practice tests and actual test since the simple sugars are what your brain needs to function at peak capacity. If you don’t regularly drink energy drinks such as Red Bull and are not familiar with how they affect you, don’t use this as an opportunity to start.

When you take the practice test, try to emulate the same conditions as the actual test. This means take at least one practice test at the same time of day as your actual test, eat "safe" foods, and try to take the same breaks. I also took the full time in every break so I could let my brain unwind a little and reset for each next section.

This test is more about testing mental endurance than anything. Due to the time constraint, the mistakes you make will always be sill. For example, As I was walking out of the building after the test I realized exactly how I could have easily solved the last three quant problems that I had to guess on because I was low on time...but that is just the nature of this test.

Make sure you take the practice tests with the IR section. I took my first test right before IR was added (thinking I would be good on the first try), then had to retake after IR was introduced. As prepared as I thought I was for that section, I actually found myself wishing it had been a second essay instead of an extra 30 minutes of quant-style questions right before heading into the full quant section. Again, it is all about mental endurance…

Oh, and DO NOT take a practice test within at least 24 hours of the real test. The absolute best that could come of that is that you will set yourself in a panic if you don’t do as well as you hope. Take your last practice test AT LEAST several days prior to the actual thing, and spend your remaining time identifying potential easy fixes, like what problems you know you simply spend too much time on and should move quickly to a guessing strategy so you can spend that valuable time on the problems you know you can get. I spent the last 24 hours trying to decompress as much as possible and just did some light reading on idioms (since idioms kill me – I blame it on being a southerner, lol).

Hope this helps!

Fully agree with hunterashmore. Took my 1st try yesterday, not sure if Gatorade helped but came out of verbal still feeling fresh.

Watch out for the breaks during prep test. The real thing is 8mins between IR and Quant, and 8mins between Quant and Verbal. I have been taking 15min breaks in my prep tests and walked in Verbal 2mins late...

A few days before the exam, just relax and read your flash cards, error logs, and essay structure. Don't push your brain over the edge thinking that last minute prep will help. Chances are it won't. Let your brain rest and prepare for the big day.

@whan311 - That is a very very good score that u have got.
However, I have not been so fortunate. Managed to score just 600 - Q44; V29.
Yes, a meager 29 in verbal..!! And the worst part is that I can't fathom my mistakes in Verbal.
I agree that I had to rush through the last few questions in Quant, and hence the low score, but Verbal was far better and I was confident that the answers I had marked were good enough.
Maybe, just maybe, on a second thought, I feel I might have gotten all my CR's and RC's incorrect then.

Well, will prepare once again and re-take exam next month.