Should i reschedule my gmat?

[sanastp]

Hello

I have scheduled my gmat for 26th Aug and wrote my fifth cat today. I scored a shocking 650 today and now in a dilemma whether to reschedule or not.

1st test . Gmat power prep . 710
2nd. Gmat prep 1: 730
3rd . Gmat prep 3: exam pack. 740
4th . Gmat prep 2: 700
5th. Gmat prep 4. Exam pack. 650. Q 49 and v 28

I am retaker with a prev score of 690.

I wrote all the tests at official conditions and full length. Some how I felt I was being extra anxious during todays test , not being able to focus on indivudal questions during my verbal. I also have a minor stomach upset which has been bothering me for the past few days now. Dunno whether it has any part in my performance today. While reviewing the answers in verbal I was able to answer seven of the fourteen questions correctly before checking the answer but somehow missed them during the exam in timed condition . Request your advice on what should I do next. Reschedule or not?

[StaceyKoprince]

What do you think is the source of your anxiety and lack of concentration?

Have you been studying a huge amount lately? Are you feeling burned out? Are you feeling really nervous about re-taking the test?

Do you think the stomach upset has to do with taking the test?

Have you had similar symptoms during highly stressful testing or other situations in the past?

I want to mention first that 690 is already a great score, so you are in a good position. I know you want an even higher score, but you are in a much better position than most people who want to hit 700+ because you've already got a 690 locked in.

Next, you realized that you were actually able to do half of the questions that you missed. So you haven't suddenly forgotten a bunch of stuff. You're just having some issues with performance anxiety or mental fatigue or both.

If you think that it's ultimately just mental fatigue, then you can be fine for the 26th as long as you don't keep burning yourself out leading up to the test date. You've been doing a great job in practice, except for that one lower test. You can't get that many 7xx scores by mistake!

If performance anxiety / nerves are a significant factor, though, then you may want to postpone for a few weeks to give yourself time to deal with this issue - particularly if you think that the physical symptoms you're experiencing may be due to this anxiety.

In that case, give yourself about 3-4 weeks to do what this article says:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... mat-score/

If the physical symptoms don't get better, then you may need to speak to your doctor as well.

Let us know what you think about all of that.

[sanastp]

Hi Stacey

Thank you for the detailed insight . Apologies for my delayed response.

I felt it was a mixture of both fatigue and anxiety. I followed the free meditation classes mentioned in the ucla website . It really helped over the last few days.

I gave my actual exam today morning and scored a 740 50 in quant ,39 in verbal and 8 in integrated reasoning . All I did In the last few days was meditate! (Even during the breaks In the exam )

In the last 6 months I religiously followed all your articles on time management, 2nd level of gmat and In it to win it. I was able to tweak my strategies based on your inputs. Thanks a ton !

Finally I am done with my gmat !

Regards
Sharavanan

[StaceyKoprince]

Wow!!! That's fantastic - I'm really happy for you! Congratulations

I'm glad we were able to help. Let us know how applications go - good luck!