Severe GMAT Test Anxiety/Feelings of Worthlessness

Question

I’m severely worried about the GMAT. This may sound strange but this examination triggers my anxiety and often times drives me to thoughts of su*cide. I began studying for the GMAT in 2017, took a highly recommended prep course in my city and thought I would succeed. I struggled to see much improvement after 10-12 months. I fell into a deep depression, saw psychiatrist and got some assistance. I dropped my GMAT studying to focus on my mental health.

Fast forward to 2021, I’m back in the GMAT prep class and struggling with my severe anxiety. The course work is thorough and the instructors are great but I just can’t get over how fearful this exam makes me. I hate practice test days because I know I’ll be overwhelmed with feelings of defeat and worry. There are times when I simply fight back tears as I’m doing problems because I’m so nervous. I’m back battling feelings of worthlessness and su*cide.

I really, really want this. I really am working diligently to conquer this goal but my anxiety is an uphill battle. Everything else in profile is great—great GPA, undergraduate institution, work experience. It’s this exam that’s making me feel hopeless.

Please post your GMAT success stories. I’m very, very discouraged.

Posted from my mobile device

Ranasaymon · Answer

Don't be disappointed! Have you heard a quote from the Alchemist 'if you want something from heart, the whole universe starts whispering to help you to get it' ?

Most importantly, it’s just an exam.Life matters. And a person can not be worthless based on just an exam.

You know, I'm a student of a developing country. After completing my BBA from the best University of my country, I was expected from my family, relatives to take a job. I convinced them and started My MBA from the same University. The main purpose was to use my spirit of student life to study for Gmat. Trust me, it's hard to believe. After taking 3 months of rigorous preparation, I took GMAT and got the devastating result.
Then pandemic started and I started to study again. I know, I have sacrificed is lot and I also know that anything can happen in exam. But I should believe in myself. In sha Allah, I will do well this time. Even if bad thing happens, I will do well next time.

My suggestion is that try to be positive. Try to believe that life matters. Try to deal with your strategy, start again.

I personally find TTP is a great platform to help you in quant. And for verbal, check any platform that suits you. It can be Egmat or any personal tutor.

Though I am still far from hearing you a success story of my own, I have just tried to give my insights in this case. Everyone has a unique story, but don't give your mind extreme pressure for an exam.

Best of luck for you.

Posted from my mobile device

Kinshook · Answer

Hi  DallasMavericks1 
It is important to celebrate small wins. 
Please try sub-600 level questions on each topic first after understanding fundamentals.
Then try 600-700 level questions and then try 700+ level questions. 
You will slowly get confidence and overcome anxiety .
Perseverance pays in long run.
Please don't lose hope.
GMAT is also not the end of life.
There are many better things to do in life than committing suicide because of an exam.

bb · Answer

Welcome to GMAT Club and sorry to hear about the text anxiety. it is real and everyone experiences though most have only very mild cases but for some it is huge!

My suggestion would be to do daily 5-10 question quizzes with 2 mins per question, so a total of 10-20 mins. That will help build confidence and get you more comfortable with the practice. I would also talk to your Instructor. It is important and helpful for them to know where you are too. They are interested in your success and may have experience in how to channel anxiety into success.

Let me know how it goes and please remember that GMAT is NOT an indicator of how smart you are. Some people are good at some things and some are good at others. GMAT has been a struggle to some mensa folks and to many business leaders who otherwise have no issues with in other aspects of their professional lives....

P.S. Have you considered applying to some of the programs that have made GMAT optional? It is a bit too late now but Ross, Sloan, Tepper, and others have made it possible to apply without the GMAT in a number of cases.

DallasMavericks1 · Answer

Thank you all for the words of encouragement. I’ve always struggled with severe anxiety and this examination simply exacerbates it.

I consider the quantitative section the biggest source of my anxiety. I can’t seem to really wrap my mind around the content.

The verbal is my stronger area (my first language is English AND I enjoy certain parts of that section) but could also use a boost.

Posted from my mobile device

GMATNinja · Answer

I'll echo everything that  Ranasaymon  and  Kinshook  said above: celebrate the small wins, and keep the GMAT in perspective. The people who love you matter much, much more than anything related to the GMAT -- and I can promise that they'd all agree that the GMAT isn't worth the level of suffering that you're going through.

I also think it's important to recognize how little the GMAT really means, even in the scheme of your career or business-related talents. Almost a decade ago, I wrote down a list of the most talented business minds I'd ever tutored, and then wrote down their scores.  Here's the rant that resulted from that little exercise.

I hope that helps put things in perspective a little bit. And you're doing the right thing to lean on this community -- there are some wonderful, wonderful people here (much love to  Ranasaymon  and  Kinshook  for being the quickest today!) who will always have your back.

Keep all of us posted, and please don't suffer through this alone.

Ranasaymon · Answer

DallasMavericks1 Just want to share something. There's an ongoing project called Project SC Buttler in Gmat club. After the devastating result of my first exam, I found it, and started to follow it. I forgot the exact day. Somehow I wrote an explanation of a sub-600 level SC, and the moderator generis gave me a kudos. Trust me, it was one of the sweetest feelings that helped me to be positive, and to believe that even I could write a correct explanation. On an another day, the moderator mentioned my name and appreciated my explanation. You know, this type of small success motivates us to look forward. It is true in an every aspect of our life. I just hope that you will gain your confidence, celebrate the small success, and be positive in real life. The journey of GMAT is not smooth for every one, but this journey creates beautiful memories. And these memories help you to learn something new,and apply them in real life. Enjoy this journey,and attach yourself with this community.

GMATNinja Thank you for your beautiful words. A teacher can be good easily, if he or she delivers properly. But the best teacher is someone who has given his student mental support during the rigorous journey of learning. Always love the way how you give us support in the GMATCLUB

ramlala · Answer

Hi  DallasMavericks1 
I would like to share my experience.
I got Q50 in GMAT official mock test, but V20 & V25 in the same tests.
In spite of depress, I started looking the blogs of  GMATNinja , a master mind of verbal.
Now I am comfortable in SC and will soon start RC.

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

DallasMavericks1  - Welcome to the GMAT Club forum! We have got your back, my friend. Please do not let a test make your life so miserable; it is absolutely not worth it. I am exceedingly confident that you will do very well on the GMAT. I shall keep in touch with you via PM to make sure you feel okay during your GMAT preparation. I strongly recommend rereading all the comments in this thread, to understand how we as a community will help you get past this phase.

EducationAisle · Answer

Truly endorse this. It's just an exam. You are giving it way more importance than it deserves.

unraveled · Answer

Once in a while there is a post that disheartens this GMAT journey and this is one of them, and I can relate to the highlighted parts of your post. First thing first, my friend you have to note that anxiety in general is common in tests and it is more in GMAT for the way it is designed. You have to know(may be you already) that what is anxiety and what are reasons behind it. Try to identify the patterns of your fears and work on them. Why i am saying so!!? Because once you start working on what causes your anxieties you will feel confident about being anxious. Your fears will be with you forever but how you tackle them - whether you give up or you face it head-on - decides which way you turn up. In our daily routine we get anxious because of uncertainty of life. Similarly, the uncertainly(right or wrong answer) this test brings on the table makes it notoriously frightful to many, eventually to depression and suicidal thoughts. Because we have given this test so much of importance that it overcomes our mental processing powers, we suffer from its frugalities - hope you get this point. If, during an exam, you keep thinking about whether the answer you are choosing is right or wrong then mostly likely you are going to screw up. So, keep an eye on the process/approach while solving the questions. Coming to the negative thoughts, I think anyone can conquer them once they realise that it is not that big a deal what they make out of it, in general as well. I can share a video link where the presenter has nicely explained why such thoughts arise and what can be helpful in such situations but its in hindi which i guess you don't understand. I looked upon for some in English but have not found any that good. However, I can say that if read about works of Émile Durkheim you surely would be relieved and find peace of mind. For greater GC community's help, here it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6oTJlXyLL4 (2 hours long). Finally, I'm sure it is not just the thoughts you worry about always but you must be looking for solutions, which is more important. It is not important that we have to tell you that you are taking things too heavily but that you realise that it is not that big a deal. https://gmatclub.com/forum/debrief-onli ... l#p2571992 This is a great post that can help you as well. Take care and don't get overwhelmed.

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

DallasMavericks1 - I hope you are feeling better now. On behalf of the GMAT Club, bb and I worked together to provide you with free access to our GMAT Club Tests for 6 months. GMAT Club Test Center includes 1600+ practice questions, and 26 quant and 11 verbal sectional tests. You can now access now GMAT Club Test Center here.

GMATNinja Ranasaymon Kinshook EducationAisle ramlala unraveled - Thank you all for your words of encouragement and support.

GMATNinja   Ranasaymon   Kinshook   EducationAisle   ramlala   unraveled  - Thank you all for your words of encouragement and support.

BruceWayne95 · Answer

DallasMavericks1  - I might be the least qualified of all here to reply to your post, but I couldn't stop myself from sharing my experience as I am coping up with similar anxiety issues. I can completely relate to your condition. I scheduled my exam for Jan 29th 2021. Those three weeks leading up to my test were the worst. I could hardly sleep a day peacefully and for every practise test I took, my anxiety increased. My anxiety caused me to face hypersalivation and severe eye twitching. I had to deal with a fever too the day before my test for which I strongly feel my anxiety as the reason.

I took my test. I scored 660 which was way below my expectation. I was sad but on the same day I came home from my test centre and the first thing I did was to go through the accounts of people from various backgrounds on this wonderful platform. I highly recommend you to go through the various threads on this website for the motivation. We are all in this together. The experience of others helped me to plan my prep for 2 more months before I appear for my next test.

The big question - How am I trying to cope up with anxiety.
1. The motivational stories did give me the confidence that I can achieve my goal. There are many great people on this platform to help us out whenever in need. The first step would be to understand that GMAT test does not require the overwhelming importance that we are giving it. when I am typing this, I am telling the same to myself.

2. Meditation - It's the best help one can get. Try to meditate for 30 mins at least every day.

3. I completely agree with other's answers - whatever might be the reason our anxiety is due to the importance that we give to the GMAT- just believe that you are bigger than this test.

I am following this - I always remember my 3 greatest achievements so far in life whenever I feel low. I am trying to keep a positive frame of mind especially when I start and end my day. I am reading novels that actually help for RC in GMAT there is a thread for this. The novels are recreational and are also helping me improve my RC skills.

Practise tests- Take them if possible take the Official Mock test and get your score and share it on this platform. There will be many who can guide you through how you can improve.

Regards,
Laxmikanth.

yash95 · Answer

Please don't be so hard on yourself. There is no one way to crack GMAT. Everyone has his/her own journey. I gave 3 failed attempts and then got my desired scoe. I used to feel disheartened too. But don't let it affect you to such an extent that you feel like giving up. In the end, it is just an exam with some quant and verbal questions. You can definitely crack the GMAT. Keep learning from your mistakes and have a positive attitude. All the best!

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

DallasMavericks1 - I wanted to check in on you. How are you feeling now? We have provided you with 6 months of access to the GMAT Club Test Center; did you get a chance to explore the sectional tests or quizzes?

GMAT Club Test Center

GMAT Club Test Center

Reets2997 · Answer

I found this thread when I searched something very similar. I have been preparing sincerely since the last 6-7 weeks now for my third attempt. I got a 640, and 670 previously and am targeting a 700+ this time around.

I did content from TTP, examples and medium tests and more practice from OG and GMATClub. Have done 5 mocks (710,740,710,710,690) the last mock was in a sub optimal condition and I was not able to focus on Verbal (in hindsight I probably should not have given it) and the TTP diagnostic as well, in which I got a High prep level result.

The last mock was yesterday and even though I know the conditions were sub optimal, it has increased my anxiety and I spent the last night unable to sleep.

I took a sabbatical from work to give the exam and I am back in office on 3rd Jan. My exam date is 2nd Jan. Because of this anxiety I am thinking of postponing the test. And getting in some more practice and spend more time in reviewing my errors (I have maintained a book with my errors in it - mostly quant).

Any advice from the more experienced members would be super helpful!

Any advice from the more experienced members would be super helpful!

Posted from my mobile device

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Try to "look forward" to your exam rather than dread it. Also thinking of a plan B in case plan A doesn't work out may help you do plan A more confidently to start with.

All the best with your prep/exam. Some quick quant/verbal tips on the gmatknight site.

Reets2997 · Answer

Hey Scott,

I did reschedule my exam (scheduled it for Feb end). I also fell down with a bad flu the very next day!

In fact I have reached out to you over email to validate my strategy for the next two months. Would be super helpful if we can chat about it!

Thanks.

Posted from my mobile device

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