TIPS BEFORE
TAKING THE EXAM

TIPS FOR THE FINAL WEEK

Are you starting to feel like your whole life is a buildup to the GMAT CAT?
You've known about it for years, worried about it for months, and now spent at least a few weeks in solid preparation for it. As the test gets closer, you may find your anxiety is on the rise. You shouldn't worry. After the p´reparation you've received from KAPLAN, you're in good shape for the day of the test.

To calm any pretest jitters you may have, though, go over this few strategies for the couple of days before and after the test.

THE WEEK BEFORE THE TEST

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

• Visit the testing center if you can. 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, etceteras - may help to calm your nerves. And if you've never been to the test center, visiting beforehand is a good way to ensure that you don't get lost on Test Day. Remember, you must be on time - the computers at the test centers are booked all day long.

• 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.

• Time yourself accurately, with the same device and in the same manner in which you plan to keep track of time on Test Day. (The computer has a clock on the screen that you'll see during the test, but it's good to track your own time as well).

• Evaluate thoroughly where you stand. Use the time remaining before the test to shore up your weak points, but make sure not to neglect your strong areas.

THE DAY BEFORE THE TEST

Try to avoid doing intensive studying the day before the test. There's little you can do to help yourself at this late date, and you may just wind up exhausting yourself and burning out. Our advice is to review a few key concepts, get together everything you'll need for test day, and then take the night off entirely. Go to see a movie, rent a video, or watch some TV. Try not to think too much about the test.

THE DAY OF THE TEST

Leave early, leaving yourself plenty of time. Read something to warm up your brain; you don't want the GMAT to be the first written material your brain tries to assimilate that day.

Dress in layers for maximum comfort. That way, you'll be able to adjust to the testing room's temperature. In traveling to the test center, leave yourself enough time for traffic or mass transit delays.

Be ready for a long day. Total testing time, remember, is three and a half hours. When you add the administrative paperwork before and after, and the two 5-minute breaks, you're looking at an experience of four hours or more.

It's also best to practice using a timing routine that you'll follow during the real test, so that keeping track of time on Test Day is second nature. Of course,, the CAT has a clock on the screen for you.

Here are some other last-minute reminders to help guide your work on Test Day:

• Read each question stem carefully, and reread it before making your final selection.

• Start strong. The first few questions are important, so spend as much time as necessary on the early ones.

• Confidence is key. Accentuate the positives, and don't dwell on the negative! Your attitude and outlook are crucial to your performance on test day.