Issue.. comments appreciated...

[abhishek.gautam01]

Hi,

I have this problem of spending a lot of time on the first few questions. Today I gave my first GMAT prep exam and scored 710 (Q-50,V-34). I spent around 3.5 minutes on the first question which was a SC. To make matters worse, it was wrong as well. I think I get nervous while doing Verbal.

The verbal was below my expectations :(. I got 13 wrong in total (11 in SC, 1 CR, 1 RC). Though I am happy about RC and CR (RC were really tough), I am really disappointed about SC. When I give MGMAT tests, I get like 10-12 wrong (3-4 each type). Really don't know what to do. Most of the SC I could bring down to 2 and marked the wrong one.. :(

Is there a way I can overcome this nervousness?? If I am tensed at this stage when I am giving a mock at home, I don't know what will happen in the real one..

Any suggestions?

[greystealth]

Hi...

You should feel confident about your position, not nervous! You've got your quant down pat, and you're golden in Verbal(with SC being the only exception). You should feel really good about yourself!

Some people can relax better than others. For many, taking a deep breath and picturing yourself in a relaxing atmosphere works wonders(picturing a sunset in your mind's eye for 20 seconds and taking a big deep breath).

Another way is to be as systematic as possible when you reach those SC questions. Pretend you are a robot, and robots do not have emotions... Allow your eyes to scan the question, taking a look at what the splits are(and the rules of language)- and answer each question, without emotion. Try not to worry about your score, and just stay focused on being a good robot!

I know this post sounds silly, but sometimes these little things can really help performance!

[abhishek.gautam01]

hey greystealth,

thanks for the feedback..

Stacey, can you pls add to it?

Thanks

Abhi

[StaceyKoprince]

Please don't respond to your own post unless you have additional info to add! We answer these in order, oldest first, and the date is based upon the date of the LAST post in the thread... So you ended up putting yourself behind 4 days of other posts by responding to your own thread. :(

It's good that you're asking about this issue now. First, I just want to address something: part of your post is focused on the number you're getting wrong. That doesn't really change, even as you get better - you just get a harder mix of questions with roughly the same number wrong. So don't think about that, don't stress about that... basically, ignore that.

The timing issue, on the other hand, is a major problem. This article can help:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/12/ ... management

Also, two more things:

Switch up your mindset. Think of this as a tennis match, not a test. You're going to win some points and the other guy is going to win some points; you're not going to win them all, right? Your goal is to put yourself into position to win the LAST point. Translated, that means you have to put yourself in position to answer the last question - you have to have time to address it. Otherwise, you've lost the last point, and by extension the match. When the other guy hits a winner, don't go running after it so fast that you hit the fence and injure yourself, thereby hurting your chances on the later points. (Translation: don't go way over when the problem is too hard.)

I think you would also benefit from a timing exercise: learning about how long one minute is without looking at a watch or stopwatch. If you don't have one already, buy yourself a stopwatch with lap timing capability. When you go to do a set of problems, start the stopwatch but turn it over so you can't see the time. Every time you think one minute has gone by, push the lap button. When you're done, see how good you were - and whether you tend to over or underestimate. Get yourself to the point where you're within 15 seconds either way on a regular basis (that is, you can generally predict between 45 sec and 1min 15 sec). Note: at the same time that you are using the stopwatch to time this "1-minute" thing, also use the OG Stopwatch (in your student center) to track the total time spent on each question.

Now, how do you use that when doing problems? If you're not on track by one minute*, make an educated guess** and move on. (The general idea is that if you're not on track by the halfway mark, you're unlikely to figure out what's holding you back AND have time to do the whole problem in the 1 min you have left.)

* For SC, 1min is well beyond the half-way mark (we're supposed to average about 1m15s here), but you can almost always eliminate at least some choices on SC in that timeframe. Once you've got that "I'm around the 1min mark and I'm struggling" feeling, go through any remaining choices ONCE more. Pick one. Move on.

** This also requires you to know HOW to make an educated guess depending upon the type of problem and the content being tested. So that's something else to add to your study: how to make educated guesses on different kinds of problems.

Finally, these articles might help you with stress management:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/stress-tips.cfm
http://www.manhattangmat.com/strategy-series-stress.cfm