Fear and Anxiety in taking GMAT Mock tests

Question

Hello all,

I have a strange situation.When I take Mock tests (Only Verbal section.Because I am good at maths),I kind of engulf myself in fear,anxiety.Due to this I cannot apply all the rules and techniques which I have studied and prepared over time.After the test,If I analyze the wrong questions I could easily spot the correct answer.

Let me know how to over come this situation.

Thanks in advance.

-Ravi

bb · Answer

And when you were practicing and learning (doing exercises) did you time yourself?

mvrravikanth · Answer

Yes.Especially for CR and SC,I followed within 2min.And moreover when I am solving the wrong questions after the test,I could very well apply and finish within 2min itself.

Thanks.

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

This is NORMAL for everyone. You perform much better when you are relaxed and not stressed out. Everyone loses their ability when they are hurried and pushed. If you have practiced with a timer then the time crunch on the test should not be anything new to you. Moreover, if you are trying to solve a question you already read/tried solving a few hours later and looking at it the second time, YES, you will be able to solve it much faster. Just like if I have already practiced on a certain mountain skiing, i will be able to do much better even though the first time I have fallen down. Everyone here has the same issue - we are all dealing with it. Improve your speed - memorize crap - memorize questions if you have to - practice with a timer always; search the forum for debriefs and what helped others to deal with timing. Quite a few posts about this. https://gmatclub.com/forum/timing-strate ... ml?fl=menu

humboldt · Answer

Bb has a good point and good recommendations (hat-tip to that Bb)

Ravi - do sympathise with what you're going through as I tend to go through the opposite motion in mock time where I can completely freak out (I'm relatively crappier at maths hence I have this entire anxiety/gag reflex thing going on when I've been doing the quant maths sections till recently - which was not allowing me to perform at my best level even though my other practice sessions were studiously timed).

How am I combating it/getting over it? Well it's understanding the reasoning why I'm freaking out (I have a mock tomorrow so lets see how this goes). I think anxiety comes because you want your mock score at the end to show an improvement - otherwise its yet another waste of your weekend's 4 hours looking at a quant score of 48 or a verbal of 39 or whatever. Looking through the advice on the forum though, my take on this is its a complete waste to think of score whilst doing the GMAT including mocks. After all, did you think of whether you were on your way to an "A" in your O Level History exam when you were 4 minutes in? Or a job interview where 4 minutes in you go into "all is lost unless I muster up something special" mode? In other words, maybe the way forward is to stop judging yourself while you do the exam and just focus on the content itself - the score will take care of itself.

To use a cricket analogy - if you stay on the pitch, the runs will come. From my experience, the worst thing you can possibly do is over-hype yourself during the start of a difficult section in your mocks as you'll learn that behaviour for test day too - learning the right mindset is possibly as important as learning the ways to tackle a tricky CR question on nuclear physics and Fermats theorem.

Interesting question and look fwd to if anyone has any similiar experiences and how they tackle anxiety in mocks/

	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

Fear and Anxiety in taking GMAT Mock tests

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards