Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
May 2008:00 AM PDT
-08:30 AM PDT
What’s in it for you- Live Profile Evaluation Chat Session with Jenifer Turtschanow, CEO, ARINGO. Come with your details prepared and ARINGO will share insights! Pre-MBA Role/Industry, YOE, Exam Score, C/GPA, ECs Post-MBA Role/ Industry & School List.
Jun 1006:00 AM PDT
-06:15 PM PDT
Register for the GMAT Club Virtual MBA Spotlight Fair – the world’s premier event for serious MBA candidates. This is your chance to hear directly from Admissions Directors at nearly every Top 30 MBA program..
Gmatsaiyan
Posts: 749
28 Nov 2018, 09:36
Kudos
Bookmarks
Take Control of Test Day
· Mental Conditioning
·· Stress Management
·· The Week Before Test Day
·· On Test Day
·· Cancellation and Multiple Scores Policy
Now we turn to the often overlooked topic of test mentality: that is, how to get into peak mental condition for the GMAT.
MENTAL CONDITIONING
Your frame of mind has a lot to do with the level of success you achieve. Here’s what’s involved in developing your best mindset for the GMAT.
Test Awareness
To do your best on the GMAT, you must always keep in mind that the test is unlike other tests that you’ve taken, in terms of both the content and the scoring system. If you took a test in high school or college and got a quarter of the questions wrong, you’d probably receive a pretty lousy grade. But due to the adaptive nature of the GMAT, missing only a quarter of the questions would give you a very high score. The test is designed to push test takers to their limits, so people rarely get every question right. In fact, you can get a handful of questions wrong and still score in the 99th percentile.
In other words, don’t let what you consider to be a subpar performance on a handful of questions ruin your performance on the rest. A couple of missed questions won’t, by themselves, spoil your score. But if you allow the frustration of those questions to unnerve you, you could end up compromising your performance on other questions or on the section as a whole. Missing a few points won’t ruin your score, but losing your head will.
The test is designed to find your limits, so it should feel challenging. If you feel you’ve done poorly on a section, don’t worry—you may have done just fine. Keep in mind that the questions that youare likely to struggle on most will be the hardest ones—the ones that hurt your score least if you miss them. To reach your highest potential score, you must remain calm and focused. Simply do your best on each question, and once a question or section is over, forget about it and move on.
Moreover, don’t try to guess which questions are unscored (experimental questions). This kind of speculation has gotten countless test takers into trouble. They have a hunch that a certain question is one that doesn’t count and then don’t take it seriously. You cannot know which questions are experimental, so treat each one as if it counts. That way, you’re covered no matter what. Likewise, don’t worry if a question you get seems “too easy.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re doing poorly; it might be experimental. Or it might happen to align well with your individual strengths. Or perhaps you are just well prepared, have great strategies, and are beating the test! Do your best, get it right, and move on with confidence.
Stamina
The GMAT is a grueling experience, and some test takers simply run out of gas when they reach the final questions. To avoid this, you must prepare by taking several full-length practice tests (not skipping over any sections) in the week or two before the test so that on Test Day, that four-hour test will seem like a breeze—or at least not a hurricane.Your Online Center includes full-length CATs for just this purpose. If you finish the tests included
with this book, a further option is to download the testmaker’s GMATPrep™ software, which contains
full-length exams and is available free from mba.com. One drawback to the software is that
it does not include explanations, so you will want to rely on your Kaplan materials, which include
thorough explanations, for the bulk of your study. However, the GMATPrep™ CATs should give you
a good indication of your score range.
Confidence
Confidence in your ability leads to quick, sure answers and a sense of poise that translates into more points. Confidence builds on itself, but unfortunately, so does self-doubt. If you lack confidence, you end up reading sentences and answer choices two, three, or four times until you confuse yourself and get off track. This uncertainty ruins your timing, only perpetuating a downward spiral.
If you cultivate a positive GMAT mindset, however, you’ll gear your practice toward taking control of the test. And when you have achieved that goal—armed with the techniques and strategies explained in this book—you’ll be ready to face the GMAT with supreme confidence.
Positive Attitude
Those who approach the GMAT as an obstacle and who rail against the necessity of taking it usually don’t fare as well as those who see the GMAT as an opportunity. Those who look forward to doing battle with the GMAT—or, at least, who enjoy the opportunity to distinguish themselves from the rest of the applicant pack—tend to score better than do those who resent or dread it.
Take our word for it: Developing a positive attitude is a proven test-taking technique. Here are a few steps you can take to make sure you develop the right GMAT attitude:
··Look at the GMAT as a challenge but try not to obsess over it; you certainly don’t want to psych yourself out of the game.·· Remember that, yes, the GMAT is obviously important, but contrary to popular belief, this one test will not single-handedly determine the outcome of your life—or even of your business school admissions.
·· Try to have fun with the test. Learning how to match your wits against those of the testmakers can be a very satisfying experience, and the critical thinking skills you’ll acquire will benefit you in business school, as well as in your future career.
·· Remember that you’re more prepared than most people. You’ve trained with Kaplan. You have the tools you need, plus the ability to use those tools.
STRESS MANAGEMENT
The countdown has begun. Your date with the test is looming on the horizon. Anxiety is on the rise. You have butterflies in your stomach, and your thinking is getting cloudy. Maybe you think
you won’t be ready. Maybe you already know your stuff, but you’re going into panic mode anyway.
Don’t worry! It’s possible to tame that anxiety and stress—before and during the test.
Remember, some stress is normal and good. Anxiety is a motivation to study. The adrenaline that gets pumped into your bloodstream when you’re stressed helps you stay alert and think more
clearly. But if you feel that the tension is so great that it’s preventing you from using your study time effectively, here are some things you can do to get it under control.
Take Control
Lack of control is a prime cause of stress. Research shows that if you don’t have a sense of control over what’s happening in your life, you can easily end up feeling helpless and hopeless. Try to identify the sources of the stress you feel. Which ones can you do something about? Can you find ways to reduce the stress you’re feeling from any of these sources?
Make a Study Schedule
Often the mere realization that you’re procrastinating on your GMAT study can cause stress. To help
you gain control over your preparation process, make study appointments with yourself on your
calendar—and then keep these appointments with yourself! Without setting aside time to study for
the GMAT, it’s easy to keep putting it off due to looming work deadlines, business school applications,
or other commitments on your calendar. The hardest part of studying is getting started, so
get started soon and start small. Even committing to working on five problems a day will produce
a pleasant feeling of accomplishment and momentum, leading you to be able to make longer and
longer commitments to your Test Day success.
Focus on Your Strengths
Make a list of areas of strength you have that will help you do well on the test. We all have strengths, and recognizing your own is like having reserves of solid gold in the bank. You’ll be able to draw
on your reserves as you need them, helping you solve difficult questions, maintain confidence, and keep test stress and anxiety at a distance. And every time you recognize a new area of strength, solve a challenging problem, or score well on a practice test, congratulate yourself—you’ll only increase your reserves.Imagine Yourself Succeeding Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a relaxing situation. Breathe easily and naturally. Now think of a real-life situation in which you did well on an assignment. Focus on this success. Now turn your thoughts to the GMAT and keep your thoughts and feelings in line with that successful experience. Don’t make comparisons between them; just imagine yourself taking the upcoming test with the same feelings of confidence and relaxed control.
Set Realistic Goals
Facing your problem areas gives you some distinct advantages. What do you want to accomplish in the study time remaining? Make a list of realistic goals. You can’t help feeling more confident when
you know you’re actively improving your chances of earning a higher GMAT score.
Exercise Regularly
Whether it’s jogging, biking, push-ups, or a pickup basketball game, physical exercise will stimulate your mind and body and improve your ability to think and concentrate. A surprising number of test takers fall out of the habit of regular exercise, ironically because they’re spending so much time prepping for the exam. A little physical exertion will help you to keep your mind and body in sync and to sleep better at night.
Eat Well
Good nutrition will help you focus and think clearly. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables; low-fat protein such as fish, skinless poultry, beans, and legumes; and whole grains such as brown rice, whole-wheat bread, and pastas. Don’t eat a lot of sugary and high-fat snacks or salty foods. Note that on Test Day, you can’t bring food or drink into the testing room. But you can keep a healthy
snack in your locker to recharge you between sections.
Sleep Well
Every GMAT problem requires careful critical thinking. Unfortunately, that’s the first mental skill to go away when you are sleep deprived. Get a full night’s sleep as often as you can during your preparation, especially as Test Day approaches.
Keep Breathing
Conscious attention to breathing is an excellent way to manage stress while you’re taking the test.
Most of the people who get into trouble during the GMAT take shallow breaths; they breathe using only their upper chests and shoulder muscles and may even hold their breath for long periods of time. Conversely, test takers who breathe deeply in a slow, relaxed manner are likely to be in better control during the session.
Stretch
Ifyou find yourself getting spaced out or burned out as you’re studying or taking the test, stop for a brief moment and stretch. Even though you’ll be pausing for a moment, it’s a moment well spent.
Stretching will help to refresh you and refocus your thoughts
THE WEEK BEFORE TEST DAY
Is it starting to feel like your whole life is a buildup to the GMAT? You’ve known about it for years, worried about it for months and have now spent at least a few weeks in solid preparation for it. As Test Day approaches, you may find your anxiety is on the rise. You shouldn’t worry. After the preparation you’ve received from this book, you’re in good shape for the test. To calm any jitters you may have, though, let’s go over a few strategies for the couple of days before the test. In the week or so leading up to Test Day, you should do the following:
·· Visit the testing center. Sometimes seeing the actual room where your test will be administered and taking notice of little things—such as the kind of desk you’ll be working on, whether the room is likely to be hot or cold, etc.—may help to calm your nerves. And if you’ve never been to the testing center, visiting beforehand is a good way to ensure that you don’t get lost on Test Day. If you can go on the same day of the week and at the same time of day as your actual test, so much the better; you’ll be able to scope out traffic patterns and parking. Remember, you must be on time—the computers at the testing centers are booked all day long.
·· Practice working on test material, preferably a full-length test, at the same time of day that your test is scheduled for as if it were the real Test Day.
·· Time yourself while practicing so you don’t feel as though you are rushing on Test Day.
·· Evaluate thoroughly where you stand. Use the time remaining before the test to shore up your weak points, rereading the appropriate sections of this book. But make sure not to neglect your strong areas; after all, those are where you’ll rack up most of your points.
The Day Before Test Day
This advice might seem counterintuitive, but try to avoid intensive studying the day before the test. There’s little you can do to improve your score at this late date, and you may just wind up exhausting yourself and burning out. Our advice is to review a few key concepts, get together everything you’ll need for Test Day (acceptable photo identification, the names of schools to which you’d like to send your GMAT scores, directions to the testing center, a healthy snack for the break), and then take the night off entirely. Go to see a movie, rent a video, or watch some TV. Try not to think too much about the test; just relax and store up some energy for the big day.
On Test Day
Test Day should contain no surprises. Test takers who feel in control of the events leading up to the test take that confidence with them into the testing center. Leave early for the testing center, giving yourself plenty of time. Read something to warm up yourbrain; you don’t want the GMAT to be the first written material your brain tries to assimilate that day. Dress in layers for maximum comfort. That way, you’ll be able to adjust to the testing room’s temperature. In traveling to the testing center, leave yourself enough time for traffic or mass transit delays. Be ready for a long day. Total testing time, remember, is three and a half hours. When you add the administrative paperwork before and after, and the two 8-minute breaks, you’re looking at an experience of four hours or more.
You will feel most prepared and confident if you have an understanding of how the logistics of Test Day will play out. Taking the full-length practice CATs in your Online Center and those from mba.com will help you get the feel for the GMAT itself, but certain events are unique to the experience in the testing center. Here’s what to expect:
At the testing center, you will . . .
·· Check in.
·· Place your belongings in a locker.
·· Receive a noteboard and pen for your scratch work.
·· Go to the assigned computer. (Note that you will be videotaped as you take the test. Don’t be disturbed by any video cameras facing you; this is just a tool that enables the test administrators to maintain a fair testing environment.)
·· Select your score recipients. The computer will ask you where to send your results. You may send your scores to up to five schools free of charge. You should take advantage of this free service, as waiting until later has no advantage. If you specify your score recipients after the test or choose more than five schools, you will have to pay $28 per school (as this book goes to press) to send results.
·· Complete a brief tutorial on the computer interface. The computer will ask whether you want to take a brief tutorial. It’s not tremendously informative, but you should take it and use the time to make sure your environment is set up correctly—that your monitor is adjusted so as not to glare, that your chair is the right height, that your mouse and keyboard work.
·· Complete the Analytical Writing section, using the Kaplan Method for Analytical Writing.
·· Complete the Integrated Reasoning section, using Kaplan’s Integrated Reasoning strategies.
·· Take an 8-minute break.
·· Complete the Quantitative section, using the Kaplan Methods for Problem Solving and Data Sufficiency.
·· Take an 8-minute break.
·· Complete the Verbal section, using the Kaplan Methods for Critical Reasoning, Sentence Correction, and Reading Comprehension.
·· Complete a brief optional survey.
·· Choose whether to cancel your scores.
·· See your unofficial Quantitative and Verbal scores.
·· Check out.
·· Remove your belongings from the locker and leave the testing facility.
Here are some strategic reminders to help guide your work on Test Day:
·· Read each question stem carefully and reread it before making your final selection.Don’t get bogged down in the middle of any section. You may find later questions more to your liking. So don’t panic. Eliminate answer choices, guess, and move on.
·· Don’t fall behind early. Even if you get most of the first 10 questions right, you’ll wind up rushing yourself into enough errors that you cancel out your early success. Keep a steady pace throughout the test and finish each section strong, avoiding the penalty for not completing all the questions.·· Don’t bother trying to figure out which questions are unscored. It can’t help you, and you might very well be wrong. Instead, just resolve to do your best on every question.
·· Confidence is key. Accentuate the positives and don’t dwell on the negatives. Your attitude and outlook are crucial to your performance on Test Day.
·· During the exam, try not to speculate about how you’re scoring. Imagine a baseball player who’s focusing on the crowd’s cheers and the sportswriters and his contract as he steps up to the plate: There’s no surer way to strike out. Instead, focus on the question-by-question task of picking an answer choice. The correct answer is there. You don’t have to come up with it; it’s sitting right there in front of you!
What should you do if you . . .
·· Start to lose confidence? If questions seem to be getting hard, don’t lose confidence; since the GMAT is adaptive, it is practically guaranteed to feel like a struggle—for everyone! Trust in your preparation and in the skills and strategies you have practiced.
·· Start to lose concentration? If you lose your concentration, pause, take a deep breath, exhale, and go back to the test. This will help you refocus and settle back in.
·· Take too long at the break? If you take too long at the break, the test will continue without you. When the 8-minute countdown timer hits zero, the next section of the test—and its clock—will start.
·· Find the test environment too distracting? If the test environment is too distracting, tell the proctor. If the proctor can’t—or won’t—do anything about it, mention the problem in the exit survey.
After Test Day, you should . . .
·· Congratulate yourself for all the hard work you’ve put in. Make sure you celebrate afterward— and start thinking about all of the great times you’ll be having at the business school
of your choice!
·· Plan your approach to business school applications, including references and essays.
·· Go to Kaplangmat .com/businessadmissions/ to investigate options for admissions consulting programs through Kaplan’s partner for business school admissions, mbaMission.
Also, see the chapter of this book dealing with business school admissions for advice from mbaMission’s founder and president, Jeremy Shinewald.
·· Expect to wait approximately 20 days for your Official Score Report (which includes your Analytical Writing and Integrated Reasoning scores) to be posted online.
CANCELLATION AND MULTIPLE SCORES POLICY
Unlike many things in life, the GMAT allows you a second chance. If you finish the test feeling that you’ve not done as well as you can, you have the option to cancel your scores—before you see
the scores, of course. Immediately after you complete the test—but before you view your scores—a message will appear, asking if you want to cancel your scores. You cannot cancel your scores after they are displayed or reported to you.
Canceling a test means that it won’t be scored. It will just appear on your score report as a canceled test. No one will know how well or poorly you actually did—not even you.If you cancel your scores . . .
·· They cannot be reinstated.
·· You will not receive a refund for the test.
·· A score cancellation notice will be sent to you and the schools you selected as score recipients.
·· The score cancellation will remain a part of your permanent record and will be reported on all future score reports.
If you do not cancel your scores . . .
·· You can choose to see and print a copy of your unofficial Quantitative, Verbal, and total scores.
·· An official score report, including scores for the AWA and Integrated Reasoning sections, will be available online and sent to your designated schools 20 days after you take the test.
When deciding whether to cancel your score, a good rule of thumb is to make an honest assessment of whether you’ll do better on the next test. Wishful thinking doesn’t count; you need to have a
valid reason to believe that the next time will be different. Remember, no test experience is going to be perfect, and the test is designed to find the limits of your ability. Two legitimate reasons to cancel your test are illness and personal circumstances that cause you to perform unusually poorly on that particular day. Also, if you feel that you didn’t prepare sufficiently, then it may be advisable to cancel your score and approach your test preparation more seriously the next time. But keep in mind that test takers historically underestimate their performance, especially immediately following the test. They tend to forget about all of the things that went right and focus on everything that went wrong. So unless your performance is terribly marred by unforeseen circumstances, don’t cancel your test. Just remember, cancellations are permanent. Once you hit that button, you can’t change your mind. If you take the GMAT multiple times, your score report sent to business schools will contain all of your scores from the past five years. Most business schools consider only your highest GMAT score, but a few may average your scores. Check with individual schools for their policies on multiple scores.
Moderators:
203 posts
