Advices for the test day

Question

Hi, on monday morning i will make the GMAT and i would like to know some final tips.
1) I want to apply for an university that doen't require IR and the writing assestment, you advise me to skip them or to do it as the final two parts (i have not studied at all for these parts)
2) I'm scoring more in the verbal part and i also know that it influence more the final score, you advise me to start with the verbal or the quantitative?
3) The day before the test, sunday, i don't know if do in the morning a last simulation. Should i do or should take sunday as a rest day?
Thank u!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi gl7,

To start, in these last few days before your Official GMAT, you should limit your studies to general practice and light review (NO CATs and NO 'cramming') - you would be better served by getting some extra rest so that you can go into Test Day calm, clear-headed and ready to work.

Beyond that, you SHOULD try your best on the AWA and IR sections on Test Day. While the Schools that you plan to apply to might not care much (or all) about those 2 Scores, it's possible that someone on those Admissions Committees MIGHT care enough to reward you a bit if you score well. In addition, Business Schools can request to view your AWA Essay - which they can use to assess whether you might have hired an 'essay writing service' to write your application essays or not.

As far as the section order of the Exam on Test Day, you should plan to stick with the same order that you have been practicing. Choosing to change your Test Day 'routine' in any significant way at the last minute can often lead to drops in scores, so making those types of changes is not advisable.

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

bb · Answer

Hi. See here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/what-to-do-3 ... 71542.html 1. As to IR and AWA, they are fairly easy. Esp the AWA - https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6 ... 64327.html - you can master it in a few hrs. IR - that depends. You can skip it I guess. 2. I would suggest that you warm up. Here are my thoughts about section order https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-gmat-str ... 43120.html

AjiteshArun · Answer

Are you sure that you won't target other programs in the future? I'd attempt both sections if I were you, just to be on the safe side and to keep my options open.

And just in case you are not aware of this, you can't "skip" either AWA or IR entirely (don't go for the "end exam" option). You  need  valid AWA and IR scores for your overall GMAT score to be reportable.

1. It's quite easy to get a score higher than the lowest possible score (IR 1 = 0%, IR 2 = 11%, AWA 0 = 0%, AWA 1 = 1%, AWA 2 = 2%, and AWA 3 = 4%), so I suggest you attempt these sections.
2. I think you should go with what you've practiced.
3. Rest day, unless you are not comfortable with the structure of the GMAT exam at all.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi gl7,

I’m glad you reached out, and I’m happy to help. To answer your questions:

1) Unless the folks in admissions specifically told you that you could submit scores of zero for IR and AWA, I do not suggest skipping those sections.

2) Regarding section order, I’d stick to the order you have been using in your official practice exams. Changing up the order at the last minute could have a negative effect on your score.

3) I would not take a practice exam the day before the test. Rather, I recommend that you spend that day relaxing and doing other activities that will take your mind off the GMAT. After all, you want to be as fresh as possible for test day, right?

I wrote an article that you may find helpful that has some more advice regarding  how to treat the final week leading up to your GMAT as well as some tips for test day .

Let me know how things end up, and please reach out with any further questions.

Good luck!

ss57 · Answer

if you're taking the major sections, might as well spend that extra hour at the end to complete a full score, just in case you score above what you need and want to apply to other schools.

personally, the day before i did some last minute prepping and found watching a few youtube videos helpful without it being hardcore studying. for example, check out "The 8 Most Common GMAT Idioms Mistakes" on youtube and go from there.

also, i woke up an hour earlier, went over my notes a couple times (it was only like 3pgs written maybe), then went directly to test center in an uber/taxi. i found while taking practice tests that i tended to score higher in general on whichever section i did first, and needed that extra boost most for the quant section, so did that first, and got the highest quant score i ever received and the 2nd highest verbal i had gotten amongst 3 practice tests taken over a week.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi gl7.

You have some good answers already, so I just want to add a couple points.

While taking a full mock the day before your actual test might leave you a little drained on test day, definitely you should keep practicing the day before your test to stay in game mode. There is a certain mindset in which one has to be in order to score high on the GMAT, and by taking a day off you wouldn't be doing your best to stay in that mindset.

Further, to be in GMAT mode on test day, warm up before you take the test, either before you go to the test center, or when you arrive at the test center but before you enter. Remember, you WILL NOT be allowed to take prep materials into the test center. So, don't show up with prep materials. Either warm up at home, warm up by answering questions on your phone, or make sure that you have a place to store prep materials outside the test center when you are at the location of the test center. When you warm up on test day, do practice questions until you feel alert and on point.

Now, regarding the AWA, it's pretty easy to get a decent score on it. So, you could leave it for last, and then do your best to write a decent essay. Here's how to score well on the AWA by preparing for under an hour.

Go find an AWA template. There are plenty online. You will use the same template no matter what AWA topic you see, probably a four or five paragraph template. Then do the following to practice. Spend some time with the AWA topics here, https://www.mba.com/~/media/Files/mba2/ ... t-exam.pdf, for each topic considering how you would fill in the paragraphs in your template. That should do it. Then when you take the test, just bang out an essay that fits your template - such as, intro, supporting paragraph, supporting paragraph, supporting paragraph, conclusion.

May your test go well. Remember to stay cool and focus on the question in front of you. The GMAT is a cool game. Enjoy it and make your score happen.

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