Regardless of how ready they may be, all GMAT students have worries heading into exam day. Listed below are a few of the leading concerns about taking the GMAT — and what can be done to deal with them.

1. You’ll be tossed a curveball on exam day

You’ve are an expert in rates and probability, sentence correction appears instinctive, and the essay is a matter of placing your fingers on the keyboard. But perhaps you have an unusual inability to imagine spatial scenarios depicted in math problems. What step do you take then, if question #4 on the quant segment appears like a cross between a diagonal-of-a-cube problem and an Escher drawing? In an alternate world, you’re contentedly zipping to the 700 you are worthy of, however right now this particular indecipherable problem is blocking your path.

Get ready for a Non-Ideal Scenario: Recognize you won’t see the “perfect” test on exam day. Regardless of how much you study, the true GMAT will in some way differ from your practice tests — anti-climactic, strange, or just plain tough. Therefore plan for those stressful circumstances in which you could have sunk 90 seconds into a question just to discover that your solution doesn’t go with any one of the options. As our GMAT instructor Rich recommends, any test-taker must know when to move on. Don’t allow a curveball question to derail the remainder of the section.

2. You’ll mix up the protocol

In your pursuit for the best GMAT mark, perhaps you’ve formulated some unorthodox test habits such as reading the problem aloud to yourself, pointing to the display when doing a math problem, going to the bathroom many times per hour, referring to the dictionary in reading comp, or using reams of scratch paper. You’ve said to yourself to begin prepping for the true thing, but how would you respond when the strict limitations of exam day are activated?

Do It Right: Begin following the certified test center restrictions today. No dictionaries, notes, too much breaks, phone calls, or tunes. When you get closer to test day, your GMAT practice ought to begin looking increasingly more like the actual thing. You should be happily surprised once you get to the test facility, not disillusioned.

3. Your biggest weak points will be uncovered

Your greatest fear is the fact that the GMAT will bring your inadequacies into relief. Perhaps you selected your undergraduate school exclusively because it didn’t demand that you take English. Data Sufficiency you have a grasp on and Reading Comp you can handle since the responses are there before you (thank goodness the vocab isn’t a problem; terms such as demurand tincture refuse to stay in your brain). But just what the heck is a participial phrase? But how come, of all instances, does this need to return and bite you?

Time to Face the Music: There is no hiding from this one: Deal with your problem parts right now. Begin by employing practice tests to evaluate your strong points and weak points. With time, you might notice they’re not “weaknesses” after all. Some students have difficulty repeatedly with composing English documents but they ace grammar questions since they’re exact and logical. GMAT performance depends on mastering the unusual idiosyncrasies of the exam — not necessarily the total subject matter (Reading, Writing, Math) like you remember it from school.

4. You can’t handle the stress

You understand your material, but at times you can’t function. Under stress, you nail permutations however the most elementary conversion problems put your mind in knots. Something relating to exponent laws also causes you to become dizzy in a time crunch. When should you add exponents again?

Yes, It Is A Stress Test: Stress is a component of the test. Stress is to an exam what pain is to athletics. The GMAT wouldn’t be a test until you were in some way forced to perform, to direct your energy and make it come true. Recognize that the GMAT includes physical and mental stamina, so eat and rest like you’re prepping your body for a sporting competition.

Be sure you understand the basics — like the “rules” for rate questions, right triangles, and parallel lines — since stress has ways of heightening weakness in your general knowledge. Also, the tough problems will likely comprise of many levels of understanding. For example, even though you’re not looking at a classic “conversion” question, you might have to convert between units to arrive at the solution. To escape getting stuck, be sure all math and verbal law is an old habit to you but that you also fully grasp the principles actively and completely to prevent sudden memory blips.

5. You won’t get the score you’re “supposed” to

Perhaps you feel you don’t have enough time for prep, or people think you don’t need it. You have a 3.7 from university, your manager thinks you are his protégé, and your essays are so polished they reflect light. Somehow, you’ve have been told the GMAT is like the SAT with regard to percentile and scoring. Your buddies assure you it’s about how you score with regards to others. Because you rocked the SAT (760 on both math and verbal), meaning you ought to get a 760 (give or take 30 points) on the GMAT, correct? You can’t be troubled by the little fact that…. um, you haven’t really taken it thus far.

Except You Do Have To Take it (If You Would Like An MBA): Of course, you’re remarkable, and you’re pre-occupied, however you require this score to round-out your profile. A great GPA and first-class SAT mark will not mean that you’ll ace the GMAT on the initial go-round. Don’t expect to coast through the exam; change your priorities so you have enough time to prep. You will thank yourself later on – once you’re at the b-school of your desires.