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How would you encourage a surgeon feeling nervous while operating on a body; a fireman fearful of saving lives in critical situation; or a sales-manager whose decision-making in an utmost important pitch getting adversely affected by the haste caused by anxiety? Now naturally, you would think that all they should do is to remain calm! But it is not that easy as it may seem to be. It is an essential life-skill which is imbibed over a period of time and not overnight. We must learn the art of tackling our thoughts of fear at the earliest in our lives to attain efficient decision-making in problem-solving, which are two main skills assessed in GMAT exam.

In my teacher training, the trainer asked us all: Teachers, what is the most distracting thing for the students?

Other teachers answered, “a window”, “classmate”, or “just lack of interest”.

I answered, “thoughts”!
The trainer agreed and said, “thoughts of fear are the most distracting thing that students deal with and are hesitant to talk about!”

Going with the data according to GMAC, organization which conducts GMAT; 30-40% of test takers, having performed well in practice and mocks earlier in GMAT classes; during the real-time test face brain-freeze under the pressure of timer ticking and their decision-making falters, and consequently end up having a low score, which leaves them surprised. Now let me make it very clear, all test-takers mentioned above were not struggling with their reasoning skills. It is the sheer pressure of time that makes palms sweaty, stomach churning, legs shivering and mouth dry! All of you will unanimously agree that it is not at all a pleasant state of mind. In this blog, we shall look into strategies to handle test anxiety and how to stay clearheaded during the test.

Now, as a Verbal faculty for 12+ years; I have come to terms that each individual needs a customized plan for the GMAT test prep. Nonetheless, there are quite a few strategies that anyone can implement and are common for all. To simplify, let’s divide our journey in 2 phases to become a brave GMAT test taker, and as a human holistically; in this brave new world!

PHASE -1. DURING THE GMAT COURSE-Training/Drills/Control/ Simulation- This phase has everything under our control. A crucial time to work on our personality and handle our fears!

  1. a) LEARN: The process of learning the art of keeping calm starts right with your enrolment in a GMAT training course. In GMAT classes, concept building training will overwhelm you with information and might make you question yourself, “should I continue”. That’s the first time you feel anxious!

    At this stage, our strategy must be to accept that we are in GMAT classes to learn new concepts and thus clear the GMAT exam, humility is needed! Be compassionate to yourself and non-hesitant in asking trivial queries or doubts to your faculty. Don’t let any concept/doubt go unattended. Get hold of all the tricks and tips learned in the class. The GMAT training course runs for 6-12weeks and that is enough time for you to break the ice with the GMAT exam. Achieve clarity by in depth learning of concepts and by then, you have started to be confident with GMAT under your skin. Also, you can read and get some clarity on time management tips for the GMAT exam.

  2. b) PRACTICE: Having learned all concepts in detail, now it is time to make regular practice runs.

    Speaking as a faculty, this is the utmost important part of the process to overcome GMAT test anxiety.

    Remember the time we learned how to ride a bicycle? Or recited a tongue twister? Or Chandrayaan mission landings? All of them had one thing in common- trial-and-error method! We fall and we get back again. That’s how we learn to not make mistakes and become more confident about the whole process. Do not shy away from being vulnerable at this point in the GMAT training course

    At this stage, our best strategy is to divide the practice material into parts or chunks to solve over a period of 30-45days. We call it GMAT POSTCLASS STUDY Plan at Jamboree. In a systematic planned manner, we carefully evaluate our strengths and weaknesses! This knowledge will make you know where to work more on yourself. Is it reading or reasoning skills? As you fill the missing gaps in your personality as an analyst/manager/GMAT test taker, you will experience a tremendous ease in solving GMAT questions and multi-fold increment in self-confidence.

    Now you are like a better researched and developed product, ready to be put to the test!

  3. c) MOCKS: Feel the pressure! Under invigilance of faculty, with the timer on, run the GMAT mock drills to familiarize yourself with the pressure felt in real-time GMAT exam. A surgeon having dissected many corpses, a soldier having performed the same drill multiple times, an airplane pilot having simulated bad weather conditions to handle critical situations to master efficient decision-making, demonstrates us that to handle critical situations, we need to simulate such conditions multiple times to drive away the anxiety attached to it.
    Scientifically speaking, our mind is comfortable when there is no pressure or everything is known to it. However, whenever subject to pressure or facing something unknown, our brain’s natural response is to get nervous as it is uncertain about the outcome.
    At this stage, our strategy is to stick to the approach learned in GMAT classes. Dealing with all 3 sections: Verbal, Quant and Data Insights at the same time could be too much to ask from anyone as there is loads of information constantly flowing your way. Reading and then analysing or processing that influx of information for 2hours 15mins straight will present you with various obstacles. Again, the brain’s natural response would be to flee. But hold on tight to the approach. There are definite steps of problem solving to focus on. Remember, each step in the test has a particular task to focus on. That means there is no way you can be lost anywhere in the test. So, during GMAT mocks focus on sticking to the approach and not to the fear or the timer.

Here is the role of realistic mock tests in GMAT preparation.

“A focussed/prepared fool is better than unfocussed/unprepared genius.”

So trust in your GMAT preparation! Skills attained in GMAT training course are your weapons against negative thoughts arising during your prep.

Till now, we learned how to practice mindfulness during the test prep to lower our brain’s anxiety to the minimum. We did it through careful planning our way through the GMAT training course. Now you are ready for the big day! TEST day!

1week before the test– At this point of our journey, our goal should be to keep ourselves motivated, confident and excited about the test. And we can do that by:

  1. a) Revision- At this stage, you must have all theory well-imbibed in your mind so that you are able to solve any question confidently.

  2. b) Keep solving easy and medium level questions- This activity will make you even more confident and less anxious as you would be getting most of the answers correct, and thus making you much readier for the test.

  3. c) Keep practicing meditation, mindfulness with various techniques like: yoga, breathing(pranayama) and reading inspirational texts.

  4. e) Maintain a fixed sleep-wake cycle.

  5. f) Eat proper and lighter.

  6. g) Do things that keep your mood upbeat and energy high.

Note:- It is recommended to book the test in the morning slot. It is important to be in our best condition while solving reasoning questions, and in the daytime our minds are fresher and can efficiently perform tasks, where critical thinking is required. By evening or night, our minds carrying some fatigue from daily chores might not work at its utmost potential to analyse the written information. Also, carefully select the order of sections after a consultation with your faculties or according to your comfort.

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PHASE- 2. On the Test Day!

“Comes the morning when I can feel that there is left to be concealed.

I have been wounded and I have been healed and now for landing, I have been cleared!”- Eddie Vedder

Your morning routine, very under-rated topic of discussion, on the test day should comprise of meditation, breathing and revision. Do not stress on the outcome and stay excited to implement all the steps you learned in your GMAT training course.

Now, you are at the test-centre!

As a GMAT test taker back in 2012, I am happy to share my experience about an important point here:

1. Distractions – To not be bothered by noises around, you would be provided by ear-plugs by centre’s staff and necessary things to keep you focussed for 2hours15mins. For instance; in my case, the candidate next to me was a specially-abled person with visual impairments, so all questions had to be verbally spoken to him! This created a continuous buzz in my head while I am processing all the information written on the screen. To deal with this unknown situation, on the spot I had to come up with a trick to read aloud inside my head to obscure the conversation on the adjacent table.
There may be numerous unseen factors at the centre which we haven’t prepared for. So, the only option we are left with, is to control our breathing and keep focussing on the task at hand.

Strategies you might need during the GMAT Exam

  1. Keep making notes:
  2. Solving 64 questions just in your headspace will clutter the spaces of your brain and as any CPU, some space has to be left unfilled to run analytical skills. You would be provided with a sheet of paper to make notes on! Make optimum use of it. Scientifically, all fatigue building up will be channeled onto the paper with the act of writing and keep your brain available for next question’s information to process.

  3. Re-wire your brain
  4. In the moments of brain-freeze, if it happens; sit back in the chair, close your eyes and count to 11 while inhaling deeply. Let all the built-up tension release out of your system. The mind feels lighter now and you can focus back. This time around, start slow and be aware of each step you are taking in the approach we learned in the GMAT classes. Back to basics!

  5. Make good use of the 10min optional break provided
  6. Refresh your brain and eyes for the next round(s) of the test by sitting with eyes closed, ]and hydrating yourself.

    To leave you with, I shall just put forth the intention of you becoming the best version of yourself as you prep up for new ventures of your life journey ahead!

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FAQs

Ideally 3 to 6 months are sufficient to get your GMAT prep right. Nonetheless, I have seen instances of a few of my own students who pulled it off in one & a half month and achieved a high score. If you want to figure it out for yourself, let’s get into a GMAT consultation and figure it out for you.

It could be writing with your left if you are a righty or vice versa, solving sudoku puzzles, meaningful social interactions and conversations with people more knowledgeable than you. Anything that pushes the limit of your mind.

Being prepared for the worst conditions, systematic in approach and cool in your head. In other words, having a post class GMAT study plan panned out prior will make you use time optimally.