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The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam

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Dreya
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The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam [#permalink] New post   02 Dec 2017, 18:52
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Hello dear GMAT club members :-)

I registered here in 2013, and I studied for maybe 2 weeks for the GMAT, but then my plans changed. Now however, there is no turning back for me :lol:

I booked my exam for the 21st of December (the last available day this month for me), and I'm starting to freak out. I took an official practice test and scored 730 two days ago - with a ridiculously low quant and a ridiculously high verbal score. I'm not a native English speaker, but I love and understand math, so I have no idea what's going on besides me overlooking important details in math problems... I also just went through the Magoosh diagnostic test, and my performance was pathetic!!! :(

I love coming here and reading all the helpful information and amazing advice from you guys, and I haven't written so far as it is so quick and easy to find everything I'm looking for, but I really want to connect with some of you who are planning to take the exam this month, or who took it recently :-)

What do you think the best course of action is when you have only 2,5 weeks left until the exam? Also, do you have any tips for handling stress and not freaking out?? I'd really appreciate them!

Thanks a lot! :-)

Dreya
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HKD1710
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Re: The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam [#permalink] New post   03 Dec 2017, 03:42
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Dreya wrote:
Hello dear GMAT club members :-)

I registered here in 2013, and I studied for maybe 2 weeks for the GMAT, but then my plans changed. Now however, there is no turning back for me :lol:

I booked my exam for the 21st of December (the last available day this month for me), and I'm starting to freak out. I took an official practice test and scored 730 two days ago - with a ridiculously low quant and a ridiculously high verbal score. I'm not a native English speaker, but I love and understand math, so I have no idea what's going on besides me overlooking important details in math problems... I also just went through the Magoosh diagnostic test, and my performance was pathetic!!! :(

I love coming here and reading all the helpful information and amazing advice from you guys, and I haven't written so far as it is so quick and easy to find everything I'm looking for, but I really want to connect with some of you who are planning to take the exam this month, or who took it recently :-)

What do you think the best course of action is when you have only 2,5 weeks left until the exam? Also, do you have any tips for handling stress and not freaking out?? I'd really appreciate them!

Thanks a lot! :-)

Dreya


Hi Dreya,

A calm mind has no space for stress. As you have 2 weeks and struggling with Quant, Focus on the official questions. For next 7 days practice the questions from the areas that trouble you more. Look at your error log for this or workbook of gmatclub for the attempted questions. Revise all the concepts and formulas.

Here are the steps:
Pick up the weak area
revise the concepts for it
do 10-15 questions in a quiz format
and learn from the analysis.

Do not practice so much that you feel burnt up completely. Cover as much as you can.

Keep the learnings in mind from these official questions. These learnings are all about those traps that you fell for even though you knew a concept prettry well.

Also focus on first 10 questions in real exam. But If a question in those first 10 questions seems unsolvable in time then you let it go quickly.

During the exam if you feel stressed, just close your eyes for few seconds and breath well and come back stronger.

On the day before the exam, just relax relax and relax. Get very good sleep and reach exam centre before 30 minutes atleast.

Briefly, Do not keep high expectations. Go give the exam with no pressure.

All the best!
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Dreya
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Re: The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam [#permalink] New post   03 Dec 2017, 07:17
Thank you, HKD1710! Yeah, I feel pressured to just solve and solve, but I guess you're right, I just have to learn to stay calm, keep a cool head and focus on avoiding the traps. But I also need to improve my pace as that's the reason I have to make educated guesses at the end :S
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AjiteshArun
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Re: The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam [#permalink] New post   04 Dec 2017, 20:55
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Dreya wrote:
I took an official practice test and scored 730 two days ago - with a ridiculously low quant and a ridiculously high verbal score.
A school would be willing to overlook a low quant score if you have (good) personal/academic/professional exposure to quant, especially if you give them a total of 730. At least to some extent.

By the way, what was the Q/V split?
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Dreya
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Re: The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam [#permalink] New post   05 Dec 2017, 02:57
AjiteshArun wrote:
Dreya wrote:
I took an official practice test and scored 730 two days ago - with a ridiculously low quant and a ridiculously high verbal score.
A school would be willing to overlook a low quant score if you have (good) personal/academic/professional exposure to quant, especially if you give them a total of 730. At least to some extent.

By the way, what was the Q/V split?


Q48/V42 - this might not sound bad, but the percentiles (78/96) do freak me out. I had to make a lot of educated guesses for quant in the last portion of the test as I struggle letting go of the "normal" processes in favor of time saving methods... And I feel that the verbal is a huge gamble, that's why I always loved math cz it's clear and straightforward. The more I study, the more I think that verbal comes down to luck. There are topics for me, in which I'm so NOT interested that I might just fall asleep while reading the paragraph lol Also, as a non-native, there are a lot of idioms I don't know. I only studied English for 4 years in high school and 1 year in college - and we didn't study grammar THAT extensively. So I just have a hard time deciding what exactly should I focus on now :|
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Re: The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam [#permalink] New post   05 Dec 2017, 03:06
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Q48 is just fine. The max is Q51, so you are only 3 points off.
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AjiteshArun
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Re: The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam [#permalink] New post   05 Dec 2017, 03:15
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Dreya wrote:
Q48/V42 - this might not sound bad, but the percentiles (78/96) do freak me out. I had to make a lot of educated guesses for quant in the last portion of the test as I struggle letting go of the "normal" processes in favor of time saving methods... And I feel that the verbal is a huge gamble, that's why I always loved math cz it's clear and straightforward. The more I study, the more I think that verbal comes down to luck. There are topics for me, in which I'm so NOT interested that I might just fall asleep while reading the paragraph lol Also, as a non-native, there are a lot of idioms I don't know. I only studied English for 4 years in high school and 1 year in college - and we didn't study grammar THAT extensively. So I just have a hard time deciding what exactly should I focus on now :|
Might not? It does not sound bad at all. In fact, it's a very good split. And don't worry about the percentile for Q48.

Also, the average GMAT score for Hungary is 574. You'll definitely stand out with a 730. That said, with a little effort, you could overcome those timing issues you're facing and get a higher quant score on your GMAT.

Finally, with a V42, don't worry about whether you're a native speaker or not. You're better at GMAT verbal than at least 90% of all native speakers who take the test.
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Re: The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam [#permalink] New post   05 Dec 2017, 03:21
bb wrote:
Q48 is just fine. The max is Q51, so you are only 3 points off.


Yeah, thanks, but as I wrote, I did have to guess quite a few ones in the last portion, and the percentile is not THAT great, considering how good I was at math in high school. And if I'm unlucky with the verbal, then I'm easily below 700. I have a hard time understanding how do people solve these problems so fast. Lots of practice, obviously, but still, even if I grasp everything at first glance, write out the correct equations, do the calculations... For the majority of questions it's well above 2 min o_O And if I choose another route, which then doesn't work out, then I still have to start with the traditional solution, or just let go. I don't like either of those options...
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Dreya
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The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam [#permalink] New post   05 Dec 2017, 03:27
AjiteshArun wrote:
Dreya wrote:
Q48/V42 - this might not sound bad, but the percentiles (78/96) do freak me out. I had to make a lot of educated guesses for quant in the last portion of the test as I struggle letting go of the "normal" processes in favor of time saving methods... And I feel that the verbal is a huge gamble, that's why I always loved math cz it's clear and straightforward. The more I study, the more I think that verbal comes down to luck. There are topics for me, in which I'm so NOT interested that I might just fall asleep while reading the paragraph lol Also, as a non-native, there are a lot of idioms I don't know. I only studied English for 4 years in high school and 1 year in college - and we didn't study grammar THAT extensively. So I just have a hard time deciding what exactly should I focus on now :|
Might not? It does not sound bad at all. In fact, it's a very good split. And don't worry about the percentile for Q48.

Also, the average GMAT score for Hungary is 574. You'll definitely stand out with a 730. That said, with a little effort, you could overcome those timing issues you're facing and get a higher quant score on your GMAT.

Finally, with a V42, don't worry about whether you're a native speaker or not. You're better at GMAT verbal than at least 90% of all native speakers who take the test.


Thank you for the encouragement! :-) I'm not applying for Hungarian programs though, so my competition is the whole world haha I also struggled with depression for quite a long time, and this shows on my GPA - destroying 12 years of hard work that preceded my bachelor's studies. I need to make up for some deficiencies with this score :-)
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The anti-''freak out" thread - tips for the last weeks before the exam [#permalink]
05 Dec 2017, 03:27

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