Prep Updates

There are some days when you are afresh and feel that your mind can absorb any amount of information. It feels like a sponge, waiting to suck in the loose fluid lying around. And on the other days, it sucks( not in the literal sense, of course!).

After a hectic day at work, I get to spend only about 1 to 1 and 1/2hrs of quality time with GMAT. I'm pretty clear this time around; I don't want to cover ground, instead, I focus on what will I learn in the study sessions( even if it means doing only 10 questions each of SC/ CR). This approach has got possitives and negatives. The positive is that you tend to be razor sharp, your accuracy goes up and so does your confidence. As a consequence, you get into a sort of flow. This flow is enough to annhilate any question. The negative is that you won't be training yourself for the so called 'GMAT showdown'.

GMAT is all about pressure. It is about not being in the zone or being without the flow and for one to score well, one has to keep solving questions under such conditions. Not only solve, but get them right too! It is only when you are pushed to the limit mentally, only when you are exhausted and only when you are under incredible pressure that you begin to go blank. It is only under such circumstances that you keep staring at screen, that nothing goes in your head, that you tend to miss even the easisest of questions and that you end up SCREWING THE TEST

One way, I'm preparing to avoid buckling under the load is to solve the questions under test conditions/timed. 1 min per question is enough to induce turbulence in your chest/stomach and send your brain in a tizzy. Only when I solve questions on a continual and consistent basis under such conditions will I be able to do well on GMAT. Perhaps, I need to also increase the duration for which my mind is under stress. This means, I need to do 2 sessions at a time. A session is 15 questions of SC in 15 min and 15 questions of CR in 20min. Will try this approach and see how my body responds.

One more thought - Every one can crack GMAT when in the best of his/her mental state. It is only when you are getting correct answers even when performing at 60% of your efficiency that you can be assured of a good score( I'm talking about lesser mortals like me, of course)
Cheers,
Unplugged