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rsrighosh
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Hi rsrighosh,

Many Test Takers become too fixated on the 'implied level' of the questions that they're working on - instead of what really matters: defining WHY they're getting questions wrong and becoming more efficient at approaching the overall Exam. It's also worth noting that just because a 3rd party describes a question as "700 level" does not necessarily make it so. There are a number of different factors that could be impacting your performance during your Tests, including how often you take notes (vs. doing work "in your head" - which is the WORST way to approach a GMAT question), the time of day that you take your Exams, how well-rested you are, etc.

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you’re looking for, it would help if you could provide a bit more information on how you've been studying and your goals:

Studies:
1) You have two Official Scores listed in your profile. Were there any other attempts? On what dates did you take each of your Official GMATs?
2) How long have you studied in total? Over the last 3 months, how many hours did you typically study each week?
3) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies? What "brands" of CATs/mocks have you used?
4) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

Goals:
5) What is your overall goal score?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

760+: What GMAT Assassins Do to Score at the Highest Levels
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Hi rsrighosh,

I'm glad you reach out, and I'm happy to help. I actually have the perfect article you can check out, which will provide some ways to fight off testing anxiety. If you have any questions after reading the article, feel free to reach out.

How to Eliminate GMAT Test-Day Anxiety
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EMPOWERgmatRichC


Studies:
1) You have two Official Scores listed in your profile. Were there any other attempts? On what dates did you take each of your Official GMATs?

These are the only 2 attempts. GMAT1 was taken on 24th Jun 2020 and GMAT 2 on 24th Dec 2020

2) How long have you studied in total? Over the last 3 months, how many hours did you typically study each week?

I started studying from 2019 March. Studying here I mean going through all the Quant and verbal concepts in details and learn. This took me around 8 months to complete.

Over the last 3 months I have been practicing around 2 hours for 5 days. Try to balance the quant and verbal practices for 5 days from gmatclub. On Saturdays I go through the concepts and look back at my mistakes. On Sundays I take mock test.


3) What study materials have you used over the course of ALL of your studies? What "brands" of CATs/mocks have you used?

For study material I have used eGmat course for both quant and verbal. For mocks I am currently using manhattan. Earlier I had also used Veritas mocks long back but those were used just to understand the pattern of exam and get a hang of the GMAT test. Before the actual GMAT tests I had used Official GMAT Mocks Practice 1, 2, 3, 4 as well.

4) On what dates (or approximate dates) did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?

This is my report from Manhattan GMAT. I took Manhattan tests after my 1st GMAT attempt. It was the first time I realised that the questions in actual GMAT is not that easy as it seems. They are no where near to Official Guide questions.

After GMAT 2 (24th Dec 2020)

CAT EXAM #3ACompleted 03/28/2021Score: 630 --> This test I literally had to pause exam in between to calm my mind as I was not able to think. Happened once in quant and once in verbal. Otherwise I feel I would have scored somewhere 550 to 600. This is where I realised that I am not able to score when my mind is highly tensed.
CAT EXAM #2ACompleted 03/21/2021 Score: 520
CAT EXAM #1ACompleted 03/17/2021 Score: 570
CAT EXAM #6Completed 03/07/2021 Score: 500

After GMAT 1 (24th Jun 2020)

CAT EXAM #5Completed 11/01/2020 Score: 490
CAT EXAM #4Completed 10/18/2020 Score: 590
CAT EXAM #3Completed 10/18/2020 Score: 400
CAT EXAM #2Completed 10/04/2020 Score: 540

GMAT Official Practice 1


Before GMAT 2 (24th Dec 2020)

3 640 Nov 16 2020 Q47 V31

2 610 Oct 25 2020 Q49 V24

Before GMAT 1 (24th Jun 2020)

1 550 Jun 22 2020 Q46 V21

GMAT Official Practice 1

Before GMAT 2 (24th Dec 2020)

3 660 Nov 08 2020 Q49 V32


2 590 Oct 26 2020 Q49 V21

Before GMAT 1 (24th Jun 2020)

1 630 Jun 23 2020 Q44 V33


GMAT Official Practice 3


Before GMAT 2 (24th Dec 2020)

1 630 Nov 29 2020 Q50 V24

GMAT Official Practice 4

Before GMAT 2 (24th Dec 2020)

2 610 Dec 22 2020 Q50 V22

1 550 Dec 13 2020 Q46 V20


Goals:
5) What is your overall goal score? I am targetting at least 650
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?
Initially I had my plans to apply in 2021 but looking at my score I dropped the idea of applying. So now it would be 2022.


PS:- Yesterday instead of using gmatclub timer on each question, I used a 10 mins phone timer to target attempting 5 PS questions. I felt the exact same issue that I feel during mock tests. I could attempt only 3 out of which 2 were wrong. Once the timer stopped I reviewed the question, realised I could have answered 1 more correctly had it been my mind was steady.
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Hi rsrighosh,

I've sent you a PM with some notes and additional questions.

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rsrighosh
Hey All
I am facing a problem that i am guessing many of us are facing or have faced earlier during timed test like GMAT.

When I am practicing questions specially 700s (both verbal and quant), my mind is calm and I am able to focus on the question content, strategise and solve the questions and select the right answer. While practicing I also use timer that helps me to track the amount of time I am taking for such questions (700 qs is taking me 3:00 mins)

However, when I am taking a mock test, my mind is not steady. It is blocked by multiple thoughts such as "I have to finish maximum questions in less time" or "Oh no! this question is taking too much time to solve" and so on..

Because of this, I am not able to focus on the question, missing important information from the question or understanding the question wrong. I even made mistakes in selecting wrong option even though i solved and got it right (happens in DS question mostly). I start panicking and this feeds to the already blocked mind.

Then at the end my "flight" response gets activated and I want to finish the test anyhow.

After the test is complete when I go back to the questions to review, I realise that I could have answered this but I selected wrong answer because I have missed something from the question.
My mind is again steady and calm to strategise and solve the question.

I really dont know how to change my practice strategy to ensure that my mind is calm and steady and not engulfed with thoughts about timer.

I would really like to know how you guys deal with this? How do you practice to overcome this problem.


Hi rsrighosh,

You might want to take more timed quizzes to get used to the test environment. Initially, set more than the average time required to solve a question. That is, if you take a quiz of 10 questions, you can set the time limit as 25 minutes. Once you start getting a decent accuracy and once you feel confident, you can gradually start reducing the time limit. This process should ideally help you get used to the pressure.

And do go through the recording below to understand how to pace yourself better during the test.


And coming to making silly mistakes, make sure to note down all the constraints mentioned in the question before you start solving it. And once you are done solving it, cross check with the constraints. This will help you avoid the silly mistakes such as the one you mentioned in the post.

In fact, we have a webinar scheduled this Sunday on the topic "Avoiding common Quant traps set by GMAT". Do attend this webinar to learn the right strategies to avoid these traps consistently. You can register using the link below.

Registration Link: Click here

Hope it helped. Feel free to get in touch if you need any more help with the study strategy.

Click here to schedule a call
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