attitude2013 wrote:Today was my GMAT exam, I'm really shocked and sure there is something wrong with my unofficial scoring. I usually used to score between 550-600 while practicing. And today I got 240 total score, how? I really still don't believe it. Although most of the questions were so hard and my answers accuracy were better than ever.
What do you think is wrong? Is it possible that the official score will be different than the unofficial score?
Whenever I see a student who gets a much lower score on the real test than on practice tests, usually one of the following is a factor:
1. They're not practicing under test-like conditions.
- If you're giving yourself extra time or pausing within a section, if you're giving yourself long breaks between sections, etc, you might see higher performance on practice tests than on the real thing.
- The time of day also matters - if you practice in the afternoon but take the real thing at 8am when you're sleepy, that can make a difference.
2. They messed up their timing.
A score below a 400 (for a student who has done some studying) usually is more indicative of timing issues than content knowledge issues. If you timed out on either section, that would hurt your score drastically.
3. Anxiety is hurting them.
You mental state can have a HUGE impact on your performance! Try to tell yourself the following:
- There's no need to stress on any given test, because there's no penalty for taking it multiple times (except the cost of the test itself, which is minimal in comparison to the cost of graduate school). Just tell yourself "if this doesn't go well, I can always take it again."
- Stress is a good thing! (A little bit of stress, anyway). It means that your body is preparing for a fight - you're in "game-time" mode. Try to tell yourself, "ok, it's good that I'm feeling excitement. That will focus my concentration!"
- Remember to BREATHE! Your brain needs oxygen. Taking a DEEP BREATH before every question can help reduce the buildup of cortisol & make it easier for you to think clearly.
- The GMAT is very forgiving. It's ok to guess & move on from any individual problem - even the experts get lots of questions wrong / have to skip on the real thing!
Here are some more resources about managing anxiety:
https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgoniga ... anguage=en
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... at-stress/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... anagement/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... t-wrong-2/
Another thing that students often don't think about, but which can have a huge impact: decision fatigue. When you've made dozens of decisions in a row (as on a GMAT exam), it depletes your ability to make new decisions. One way to combat that - eat something! Increasing blood glucose has been proven to counteract decision fatigue. "Even the wisest people won't make good choices when they're not rested and their glucose is low,"
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magaz ... .html?_r=0
To know more about this, please watch the video here: 
