{"id":2031,"date":"2012-06-20T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-20T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/?p=2031"},"modified":"2012-06-05T17:06:55","modified_gmt":"2012-06-06T00:06:55","slug":"dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So you studied your butt off, confidently made your way to the testing center, and stood toe-to-toe with the <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/gmat-101\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">GMAT<\/a>. Perhaps you felt that your answer selections were the great, or perhaps you recognized that you were losing your way. <\/p>\n<p>Either way, when the total score flashed on the screen at the end of the test, it wasn\u2019t what you had hoped for. Your shoulders fell, and your confidence soon followed suit. You left the testing center in a disappointed haze, and now you find yourself wondering how you\u2019ll ever be able muster the courage and energy needed to face the beast again. <\/p>\n<p>You feel tired, beaten, and demoralized. Thoughts of giving up and settling for your mediocre score (and all but killing your chances of attending your dream school) enter your head.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s perfectly normal to feel this way. Everyone\u2019s allowed some self-pity in this situation. So go ahead, feel sorry for yourself. Scream into a pillow, eat a gallon of ice cream, and lock yourself in the bedroom. Do whatever you need to do, but while you\u2019re swimming in that sea of self pity, realize that at some point you\u2019ll have to come up for air lest you drown in your own tears. Also realize that when you do decide to rise to the surface, the GMAT monster will still be there, staring you in the face.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, you have two choices: sink even further into despair, or resolve to beat this test once and for all. If you\u2019re still reading this, I\u2019ll assume you\u2019ve chosen the latter. So, here\u2019s what you need to do:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Rest. <\/strong>This is not a time for feeling sorry for yourself. Instead, pat yourself on the back for having had the courage to face the GMAT the first time as this is clearly an accomplishment in and of itself. The next step is to reward yourself with a break from all things GMAT. Give it a week, maybe more. When you do decide to return to a regular study routine, you\u2019ll be refreshed and ready to prepare for round two. The GMAT may have beaten you once, but you\u2019re not going to let that small detail keep you from achieving your dreams.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reflect.<\/strong>\u00a0 Once your GMAT sabbatical is over, it\u2019s time to plan your new attack strategy. The first step is to review the test . . . objectively. In the hours and days following the test, the wound may have been too fresh to do anything other than wallow in the misery of your perceived failure, but now it\u2019s time to rip off the band-aid and carefully examine the injury to look for causes. Try to determine what went wrong without beating yourself up about it. If you can do this successfully, then you\u2019ll be able to use the test-taking experience to your advantage. To determine the source of your downfall, ask yourself the following questions:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Did you lose focus at some point during the test? Did your mind start wandering?<strong><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Did your nerves get to you? Were you so anxious that you were barely able to comprehend the questions? Were you fearful that you were messing up from the first question?<strong><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Did run out of time on a section? <strong><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Was there a particular section or type of question that stumped you?<strong><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If, by answering these questions, you can pinpoint the area\/areas that cost you the most points, then you\u2019re well on your way to improving your score the next time you take the GMAT.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Rework. <\/strong>Now that you\u2019ve identified your potential pitfalls, you can rework your test strategy. Remember that, if you resort to your old study patterns, your score is unlikely to improve. To boost your score, you need to focus efforts on your weak areas (e.g., concentration, time management, anxiety control, or specific skill sets). This, of course, doesn\u2019t mean that you should ignore all other areas of study. You still need to ensure that you retain the skills that you learned the first time you prepared for the GMAT. So, your new (and improved) test prep strategy should be a combination of maintaining your current strengths and working on your targeted weaknesses.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Renew. <\/strong>When it comes time to face the GMAT again, don\u2019t engage in negative self-talk or assume that, since this test beat you once, it will beat you again. Instead, take some time to renew your confidence. Realize the considerable advantage you now have\u2014that is, the official testing experience. Simply knowing beforehand <em>exactly <\/em>what the official test is like (rather than relying on information gleaned from workbooks and practice tests) is enough to give your score a healthy boost, not to mention all of the targeted studying you\u2019ve done. If you can conquer the nerves and negativity, there\u2019s a good chance that you\u2019ll leave the testing center with the score you desire . . . and deserve.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, if you\u2019ve battled the beast once, and you\u2019re feeling down, don\u2019t despair; instead, think of the 4 Rs\u2014Rest, Reflect, Rework, and Renew. Soon, you\u2019ll be showing off your scores from round two, and your first confrontation with the GMAT will be a distant memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So you studied your butt off, confidently made your way to the testing center, and stood toe-to-toe with the GMAT. Perhaps you felt that your answer selections were the great, or perhaps you recognized that you were losing your way. Either way, when the total score flashed on the screen at the end of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13213],"class_list":["post-2031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game - Magoosh Blog \u2014 GMAT\u00ae Exam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So you studied your butt off, confidently made your way to the testing center, and stood toe-to-toe with the GMAT. Perhaps you felt that your answer selections were the great, or perhaps you recognized that you were losing your way. Either way, when the total score flashed on the screen at the end of the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2014 GMAT\u00ae Exam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshGMAT\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-20T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-06-06T00:06:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshGMAT\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshGMAT\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brent\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brent\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#\/schema\/person\/b2fbd67daad89818fde8859916e23409\"},\"headline\":\"Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-20T16:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/\"},\"wordCount\":891,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"GMAT Strategy and Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/\",\"name\":\"Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game - Magoosh Blog \u2014 GMAT\u00ae Exam\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-20T16:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2014 GMAT\u00ae Exam\",\"description\":\"Everything you need to know about the GMAT\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Magoosh\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/files\/2019\/04\/Magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/files\/2019\/04\/Magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png\",\"width\":265,\"height\":60,\"caption\":\"Magoosh\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshGMAT\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MagooshGMAT\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#\/schema\/person\/b2fbd67daad89818fde8859916e23409\",\"name\":\"Brent\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/2c44c3d2b5d811cb2cc2f7b52e98a186\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10b86d22636e4b773ca09b355ca87734de1952dba2b74eaa4ce2f13249accba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10b86d22636e4b773ca09b355ca87734de1952dba2b74eaa4ce2f13249accba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brent\"},\"description\":\"Brent Hanneson is a master tutor with over 20 years of teaching experience. He developed all the math content for Magoosh Test Prep. Brent plays ice hockey in his free time.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/author\/brent\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game - Magoosh Blog \u2014 GMAT\u00ae Exam","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game","og_description":"So you studied your butt off, confidently made your way to the testing center, and stood toe-to-toe with the GMAT. Perhaps you felt that your answer selections were the great, or perhaps you recognized that you were losing your way. Either way, when the total score flashed on the screen at the end of the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/","og_site_name":"Magoosh Blog \u2014 GMAT\u00ae Exam","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshGMAT\/","article_published_time":"2012-06-20T16:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-06-06T00:06:55+00:00","author":"Brent","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MagooshGMAT","twitter_site":"@MagooshGMAT","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brent","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/"},"author":{"name":"Brent","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#\/schema\/person\/b2fbd67daad89818fde8859916e23409"},"headline":"Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game","datePublished":"2012-06-20T16:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/"},"wordCount":891,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#organization"},"articleSection":["GMAT Strategy and Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/","name":"Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game - Magoosh Blog \u2014 GMAT\u00ae Exam","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-20T16:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/dealing-with-defeat-and-getting-back-in-the-gmat-game\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dealing with Defeat and Getting Back in the GMAT Game"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/","name":"Magoosh Blog \u2014 GMAT\u00ae Exam","description":"Everything you need to know about the GMAT","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#organization","name":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/files\/2019\/04\/Magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/files\/2019\/04\/Magoosh-logo-purple-60h.png","width":265,"height":60,"caption":"Magoosh"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshGMAT\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/MagooshGMAT"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#\/schema\/person\/b2fbd67daad89818fde8859916e23409","name":"Brent","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/2c44c3d2b5d811cb2cc2f7b52e98a186","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10b86d22636e4b773ca09b355ca87734de1952dba2b74eaa4ce2f13249accba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10b86d22636e4b773ca09b355ca87734de1952dba2b74eaa4ce2f13249accba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brent"},"description":"Brent Hanneson is a master tutor with over 20 years of teaching experience. He developed all the math content for Magoosh Test Prep. Brent plays ice hockey in his free time.","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/author\/brent\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13213,"user_id":11,"is_guest":0,"slug":"brent","display_name":"Brent","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10b86d22636e4b773ca09b355ca87734de1952dba2b74eaa4ce2f13249accba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Hanneson","first_name":"Brent","description":"Brent Hanneson is a master tutor with over 20 years of teaching experience. He developed all the math content for Magoosh Test Prep. Brent plays ice hockey in his free time."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2031\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2031"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}