I just Beat The GMAT!

Background
Asian American Male in late 20's
Tech Industry Background
Former MOBA "Pro" Gamer


Prep Materials
Manhattan GMAT
GMAT Pill
GMATPrep Software

Leading Up to Test
Studied 1-2 hours a day (5:00 AM ~ before work) & 4-8 Hours on Weekends

Test Day
1. Morning Ritual
Woke up at my usual time (5:00 AM), did my morning exercises and a few practice question problems to take the edge off and to get myself mentally ready for the test. I ate my normal breakfast, which consisted of fruits and nuts. I highly recommend eating a non-starchy breakfast because, in my case, it prevents me from feeling sluggish. That being said, if you find that eating a starchy breakfast or waking up an hour or two later than I do works for you, then keep doing you. Knowing yourself is also one of the keys to victory.

I live about 30 minutes from the testing center, but poor weather conditions delayed my travel time. I ended up getting to the testing center about 5 minutes before my scheduled appointment time.

2. Test Center
I got to the test center with my baggie of foods (I know I usually get hungry around 10:00 AM) and a drink (anti-oxidant tea) and put all of my gear in the locker. The lady at the test center took my photo and my finger prints. Standard stuff.

When I reached my proctor, I had to ask for ear plugs, so be sure to do that once you get to your testing area. Also, during the "orientation" phase, I ended up scribbling on my pad to make sure that each pen functioned perfectly. One of my pens did not, so I ended up asking my proctor for a replacement during orientation.

3. AWA & IR
I spent about 10 minutes brainstorming on my AWA and 15-20 minutes writing it. There are plenty of good templates for approaching AWA, so I won't go into much detail here.

I was really concerned about IR before coming into the testing center since I did not practice it too much. However, I found the questions to be fairly easy. I came out of this section feeling very confident and could taste my 700 score.

4. The Tilt (Quant)
In gambling & in gaming, Tilt refers to being overwhelmed with emotion after a big loss.

After the first section, I raised my hand to take my break. However, my proctor came to me 2 minutes late. Little did I know, by pushing the "next" button, I had already started the clock for my break. I also found that the bathroom at my test center was across the building and took me a good 2-3 minutes to walk to and from it.

I went to the bathroom, ate my banana, and dabbed water under my eyes to keep myself alert.

When I came back, my proctor asked me to empty my pockets, checked my jacket, and sign in again. Upon arriving at my station, I found that I had been docked 5 minutes from my Quant time. At this point, all I could think about was rushing to finish, so I think that this is what affected my score (my practice tests were getting me close to Q47). I knew that I was on full tilt by question 10 because the questions were ridiculously easy. At that point, I focused on trying to get more questions right, but I believe the damage had been done.

5. The Recovery (Verbal)
I learned from my mistakes and made sure that my proctor pushed the "next" button before going on my break. I also decided to speed walk to the bathroom and put some water under my eyes to keep my fresh, and then came back.

I found the CR, SC, and RC questions fairly simple and similar to GMAT Prep & OG13.

Advice
I focused on my test day experience mainly because that is the common factor that I have with all test takers. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't disappointed, but life is all about learning from your mistakes and moving on. I've already registered for my next test date and I hope that my next score will be 700+


1) Get to your test center early, but not too early (5-10 minutes before your appointment is the target).
Too early, you psych yourself out and too late, you end up rushed for time
2) Let your proctor sign you out during breaks
3) Assume that your break is only 5 minutes long, not 8 minutes.
4) Study hard and don't give up!
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My practice cats were in the 680 to 720 range
my GMAT was at 8:00 AM