I just got a 710 yesterday and I am a bit disappointed. Not by the score itself but by the fact that I know the reason I didn't get the 730-740 I was aiming for was that I did not have the right mental state as I got into the exam. Being slow on AWA didn't help my confidence either.
Last week I bought the GMAT Focus - Quantitative and I got 10 out of 24 wrong and in my frustration I immediately bought another one and managed to halve the number of questions I got wrong by simply changing my state of mind from "what if I get it wrong?" to "man up you p***y, you're not 5 anymore!". I remember that the foggy sensation of uncertainty I had with the first one was replaced by clear and crisp reasoning as I got through the questions like I owned them.
During the actual GMAT that "king of the world" sensation was replaced by my whimpering and cowardly other self of which, even while realising that it was just a manifestation of my sometimes shaky self-confidence, I could not rid myself.
Maybe it would have helped, in this respect, to go to the exam with a friend or my sister (which do come in useful sometimes, these sister things, so if you have them, use them) to take my mind off the impending exam. But still, these are the things that at 22 or over you're supposed to be able to do by yourself so if you share my problem, I would suggest thinking of a long-term solution to it. And when you find it, tell me how. Although if you have your GMAT soon and don't have time to work on your self-confidence issues I suggest listening to cheerful music (read: self-aggrandizing hip hop) before leaving and maybe even trying to run late in order to not allow your mind to wander toward the exam itself and also there's no mood-killer worse than a waiting room so don't think of arriving too early. This, of course, only applies in case you're well prepared for the exam because if you aren't, you already have a good enough reason to not feel confident in the first place.
If, on the other hand, you're normal and consider this score a good one and are looking for tips, I don't have many to give. But among the few I do have are to be organized and disciplined (which I have never been and which always comes back to bite me) and don't read too much into how other people beat the GMAT. Those methods might have worked for them but, although you find some useful study tips here and there, they might not for you.
Last, but not least, don't fantasize about getting a high score. Fantasizing about your goals gives you a false sense of accomplishment which, in turn, makes you less likely to want to put up the legwork needed to achieve that goal. In other words you have a lot to study for this test so just start doing it while continually assessing you strengths and weaknesses and working hard on the latter.
I might give it a second try in February but I might realise that it's a tad obsessive and unhealthy (and a waste of $300) to do so and get on with the other aspects of my applications.
In any case, good luck to everybody in beating the GMAT bloody. I only managed to knock out some of its teeth so when you get to it, give it an extra swing for me.
Last week I bought the GMAT Focus - Quantitative and I got 10 out of 24 wrong and in my frustration I immediately bought another one and managed to halve the number of questions I got wrong by simply changing my state of mind from "what if I get it wrong?" to "man up you p***y, you're not 5 anymore!". I remember that the foggy sensation of uncertainty I had with the first one was replaced by clear and crisp reasoning as I got through the questions like I owned them.
During the actual GMAT that "king of the world" sensation was replaced by my whimpering and cowardly other self of which, even while realising that it was just a manifestation of my sometimes shaky self-confidence, I could not rid myself.
Maybe it would have helped, in this respect, to go to the exam with a friend or my sister (which do come in useful sometimes, these sister things, so if you have them, use them) to take my mind off the impending exam. But still, these are the things that at 22 or over you're supposed to be able to do by yourself so if you share my problem, I would suggest thinking of a long-term solution to it. And when you find it, tell me how. Although if you have your GMAT soon and don't have time to work on your self-confidence issues I suggest listening to cheerful music (read: self-aggrandizing hip hop) before leaving and maybe even trying to run late in order to not allow your mind to wander toward the exam itself and also there's no mood-killer worse than a waiting room so don't think of arriving too early. This, of course, only applies in case you're well prepared for the exam because if you aren't, you already have a good enough reason to not feel confident in the first place.
If, on the other hand, you're normal and consider this score a good one and are looking for tips, I don't have many to give. But among the few I do have are to be organized and disciplined (which I have never been and which always comes back to bite me) and don't read too much into how other people beat the GMAT. Those methods might have worked for them but, although you find some useful study tips here and there, they might not for you.
Last, but not least, don't fantasize about getting a high score. Fantasizing about your goals gives you a false sense of accomplishment which, in turn, makes you less likely to want to put up the legwork needed to achieve that goal. In other words you have a lot to study for this test so just start doing it while continually assessing you strengths and weaknesses and working hard on the latter.
I might give it a second try in February but I might realise that it's a tad obsessive and unhealthy (and a waste of $300) to do so and get on with the other aspects of my applications.
In any case, good luck to everybody in beating the GMAT bloody. I only managed to knock out some of its teeth so when you get to it, give it an extra swing for me.
