GMAT Essays (AWA)

Hi all,

I'm a first-time GMAT taker and I'll be sitting for the test tomorrow at 4! Do you have any tips you wish you were told before you took it for the first time? Much appreciated!

Jim

Hi vandretta,

Seems as if I'm a day late, but I hope you took the night before to relax a bit. We've found that while some practice the night before the GMAT can be helpful, it's also a great time to do some things that you haven't been able to do since you began studying. We wrote about this recently on our blog, which you can check out here: https://bit.ly/1eKflR8

Looking forward to hearing more about how it went!

Best,
Rich

Hi Rich,

Thanks so much for your comment. That's a fantastic article you posted. I'd been told similar advice but unfortunately I kept going until the last minute and my score suffered because of it. I thought I was above being affected by nerves but I learned the hard way. What you wrote about getting questions wrong the night prior affecting your confidence levels was so true. In my practice tests I was consistently scoring 670+ with quant in the 60s and verbal in the 90s, and come test day I was a ball of exploding nerves and everything completely fell apart.

I'll take your advice next time and NOT study up until the last minute. I completely freaked myself out and was literally shaking throughout the test, which is nobody's fault but my own. Next time will be better. Thank you Rich!

Jim

Hi, Jim.

If nerves were an issue - and it certainly sounds as though they were - I'd consider incorporating some mindfulness meditation into your routine as you prep for a retake. You've probably noticed that a good portion of the GMAT battle is psychological - patterns that you recognize when you're comfortable can prove more elusive when the pressure is amplified. There's plenty of good research about how a mindfulness practice can boost test scores in as little as two weeks: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... on/275564/

Happy to pass along my favorite guided meditations if you're interested.

Hi David,

Thank you for that article! I never thought of myself as a nervous person, but my horrendous performance this Saturday has caused me to rethink things. The people they're referring to in the article as what not to do, unfortunately, nailed my strategy thus far (I'm embarrassed to admit).

Any of the mindfulness practices and guided meditations that you have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and I hope you had a great weekend!

Jim

Here is my personal favorite: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jon ... 9A10BE1560

I'd try to do this four times a week for at least two weeks before the retake, as this is what the participants in the study did. (Of course, if you find it beneficial, there's no reason you couldn't do it more often...)