Bad idea to take practice CAT close to actual test?

Question

I am wondering if it is a bad idea to take a pratice CAT close to the actual test date? Like within 3 or 5 days? The reason being that it will probably freak you out if you score low or lower than expected (like 30 pts or more less than target). Like with 8 or 10 days you would have time to review your mistakes and make improvement, but less than 5 days, it will probably freak you out?

of course for those people who are consistently scoring 700's it wouldn't matter, but i'm talking about for folks like me who are low scorers the 1st time and are desperately trying to improve score in a short period of time.

Lorenzino · Answer

as long as you don't get overtired I dont see how that can be a bad idea

kidderek · Answer

The way I look at it, if you've never scored at least your target score on a practice CAT, you're not ready to take the actual exam. Otherwise, you shouldn't let one measly score affect your mood. If I scored well, I'd be glad; and if I scored poorly, I'd get serious and concentrate extra hard on the real GMAT.

braindancer · Answer

For sure the low score on practice CAT can freak you out; however, low score on an actual test will freak you out even more. It's never too late to fine-tune your skills. Besides, it's extremely useful to get used to the rhythm of the test, settle your timing and reduce overall anxiety - it's always easier to perform a task you've performed several times recently.

I recommend taking 2 CATs in 2 days preceding the test (skipping one last day for relaxation). That's how I did, and I think it was extremely useful.

kidderek · Answer

Hey braindancer, what did you do the day before and the day of the test?

braindancer · Answer

The day before, I had a general working day and didn't do any learning after it - just went home and took some rest/sleep.

At the test day, I took the dayoff, thus I was able to wake up fairly late (I'm no way an early-morning guy

). Went to a job interview (yeah, the bastards scheduled me for G day!), then went to kill some GMATs.

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Bad idea to take practice CAT close to actual test?

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