How can I study in a way to reduce "test stress?"

[austin.strong6]

I just started the Thursday evening session of the GMAT prep course last week. I can already tell that the class is going to be a great help to me. However I have a question I wanted to post: What is the best way to prepare emotionally for the GMAT?

A little background: I took my very first practice CAT test on yesterday. It was a rough experience to put it gently. I have never taken a practice test before and anticipated being mentally challenged and coming across numerous questions that I wouldn't know the answer to.
What I hadn't anticipated was feeling panicked, stressed, and frustrated to the point that I started missing questions that I normally wouldn't have a problem with. Due to the time limit, the questions seemed to come at me rapid fire, faster than I could think.
It wasn't long before I was randomly guessing on long strings of questions and feeling mounting frustration as I noticed that the questions were getting easier (meaning that I was likely getting the previous one's wrong). It felt like I didn't have time to breathe.

I felt absolutely crushed by the Quant section. The verbal was much better for me and I was able to make up some lost ground. I ended up scoring a 600 (Quant 35, 44%) (Verbal 37, 75%). I'm looking to score a 670-680 for entry to the school's I'm targeting, but I felt incredibly discouraged after this first go around.

So back to my original question: What can I do in my studies to ensure this experience doesn't repeat itself? I know that doing the class assignments will help a lot with learning content. But what can I do to avoid losing my composure or feeling suffocated by the pace of the test?


Thanks,
Austin

[StaceyKoprince]

Good question. I know that the practice test wasn't fun - but be glad it happened in practice and you have plenty of time to work things out before you get to the real thing.

Doing the class assignments will help, yes, as well as making sure you know what this test is really testing:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... lly-tests/

I'd suggest printing or bookmarking that article and reading it every week (it's a quick read).

I'm suggesting that because I think a large part of your panic was at the idea that you were getting too many wrong and I should be getting more right and oh my god the clock is still ticking and I can't think and I'm going to get another one WRONG!

Right? :) So now tell me why what the above article says will help you to get rid of that panic.

Next, take a look at this:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -the-gmat/

That will help guide your overall study.

And, for the time management stuff:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -to-do-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

Finally, this article talks about a meditation program you can use to help keep calm during the stress of the test itself:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... mat-score/

It's not very invasive at all - just 2-3 short (10-15min) sessions a week have been shown to help calm people down while taking standardized tests. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Finally, talk to your teacher. Let him / her know that this happened and see whether s/he has any advice. Your teacher can be a great resource - you just have to let him/her know what's going on.