The Week Before Test Day

Is it starting to feel like your whole life is a buildup to the GMAT? You’ve known about it for years, worried about it for months, and have now spent at least a few weeks in solid preparation for it. As Test Day approaches, you may find your anxiety is on the rise. You shouldn’t worry. After the preparation you’ve received from this book, you’re in good shape for the test. To calm any jitters you may have, though, let’s go over a few strategies for the days leading up to the test.

In the week or so leading up to Test Day, you should do the following:

• Visit the testing center. Sometimes seeing the actual room where your test will be administered and taking notice of little things—such as the kind of desk you’ll be working on, whether the room is likely to be hot or cold, etc.—may help to calm your nerves. And if you’ve never been to the testing center, visiting beforehand is a good way to ensure that you don’t get lost on Test Day. If you can go on the same day of the week and at the same time of day as your actual test, so much the better; you’ll be able to scope out traffic patterns and parking. Remember, you must be on time—the computers at the testing centers are booked all day long. Consider using Kaplan’s Official Test Day Experience to take a Kaplan practice test at a Pearson test center.
• Practice working on test material, preferably a full-length test, at the same time of day that your test is scheduled for as if it were the real Test Day.
• Practice using the test interface and get tips about what to expect at the test center by taking the tutorial at mba.com/tutorial.
• Time yourself while practicing so you don’t feel as though you are rushing on Test Day.
• Evaluate where you stand. Use the time remaining before the test to shore up your weak points, rereading the appropriate sections of this book. But make sure not to neglect your strong areas; after all, those are where you’ll rack up most of your points.