It was a long climb for me to reach my 700 GMAT. It was a struggle that took 2+ years and countless moments of doubt and despair. But, I'm here to say, it can be conquered. When I first decided I wanted to take the GMAT, I decided to prepare with
Manhattan GMAT Prep Books only. I bought all 10 in the series I decided to finish the series and practice GMAT test book problems. When I took the GMAT, I got rocked. I got a lousy 520. Even worse my Quant was a 25. Math is a strength so I never expected to score so low.
But, I decided that wasn't how I was going to down to this test. I restarted my prep this time with
Target Test Prep. I must admit that during this time I was going through an incredibly difficult family situation. My mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Often times, I was unable to consistently study due to unforeseen hospital visits or issues. I tried to focus at least 3 hours a day towards my math preparation on
Target Test prep &
Manhattan GMAT books. I also used the
OG 13th edition. Some days I met those goals and some days I did not. It took a good 6 months of preparation for both math and English in order for me to feel prepared to take the GMAT. I scheduled it for this past May. I felt nervous and unprepared.
On the test day, I focused my attention on confidence and quick responsiveness. Problems I didn’t think I could solve in less than 2 minutes I skipped. By skipping, it helped me maintain my flow during my exam. In the math, I finished with 5 minutes left in the section. I thought I hadn’t done well to finish so soon. In the English, I was starting to get tired. I felt myself lingering on problems and I had to rush the last 10. I averaged a minute on the last 10 problems and I regretted not pushing faster earlier. Finally, I clicked to get my score. I was in shock. 700. Q50V35. The verbal was much lower than I expected but my quant was hard to believe. I never expected to hit Quant 50. It took countless hours through personal trial and tribulation. I had many moments of self doubt. But, I take a lot of pride in my perseverance during this time. I’m also thankful for all the help along the way. I hope if you’re reading this, it can provide some type of inspiration if you’re having doubts too. This test can be beaten.