I took a prep course (which was wonderful! if not for my math anxiety, I'd be all set!!!!) and I have gone through some books of Word Problems designed for standardized tests. testmagic.com is another good forum (I posted my question over there, too!).
Here's the thing about this test. It's $250. Right, that's a lot of money. But I have major math anxiety-- I start a test and the numbers go fuzzy. I can barely count because I am just getting so anxious, all my preparation flies out of my head and I start to get really upset to the point where I'm on the verge of tears. I mean, how crazy is that? The formulas are written out on scratch paper before I click "start" to begin the test, I have an answer grid marked out, have taken some deep breaths... but the anxiety gets to me so quickly that I just lose it. Hello, crazy much? On the plus side, I definitely think I can work through this-- but I think taking the test now will not go well because this anxiety will drag down my score and once I see how I've done, I'm going to freak out even more.
The odd thing -- I think this test has me more stressed out than my last two cross-country moves combined.
Everyone I've talked to has told me to take the test (well, except for my tutor) because I've already paid for it and I shouldn't waste the money.
I think there's a bigger payoff with more prep time-- and it's wiser of me to just eat the money and own up that I jumped the gun prematurely. $250 lost now and a 650 score later are preferable tradeoffs than taking it now, risking a low score and being really upset. I think if I go in, knowing that I'm as prepared as I can be, that my confidence will help my score and help my math anxiety. I've learned in business that no one remembers if you were off-budget, late or otherwise a screw-up in the long-run---so long as you hit or exceeded your goal and didn't make a big mess. (I'm sure there are plenty of you who disagree with that statement, and that's your opinion. This is mine, based on my experiences.)
I'd much rather the schools see I took the test and hit a score as close to my goal as possible, than a range of scores that are all over the place. I think I just didn't give myself enough time, given my "special"
needs case (the math anxiety). It's a good exercise in patience!
I appreciate the feedback. Against the advice of pretty much everyone, I'm not going to take the test... You all make rational arguments, but I know myself and I need to listen to what's in my heart. I need more prep time.