Hi all, this is Kang from Vietnam. I would like to share my GMAT experience. Starting my GMAT journey from May 2020, I finally passed the finish line with my GMAT Online on 7th November 2021 with a score of 780 (Quant 51 Verbal 47). Working full time and preparing my application at the same time, I did not find time to write a debrief since I got my score until now. It’s such an arduous journey that I’ve learned and enjoyed GMAT a lot so I would love to write something that might be helpful to someone in this community.
First and foremost, a word of encouragement: I came from Vietnam, where English proficiency is under average, so if I can ace the GMAT, then anyone else can, you just need to find out the correct study method that suits you.
My GMAT journey and scoring: - May to Aug 2020: I enrolled in a three-month course from a local GMAT prep center in Ho Chi Minh, whose materials were very basic such as OG 2015 to 2018. During this time I took MBA Mock#1 and got 710 (Q50 V34) and thought that I was good to go.
1st attempt Aug-2020 Test Center: 580 (Q49 V22)
It was a blow to my confidence, as I got 8.5 on IELTS Reading before. Takeaway: If you get your Mock#1 700+, do not think of yourself too high, you might fall too hard. Most of the questions from Mock#1 & #2 of MBA you might find familiar. - Nov 2020 to Feb 2021: I plucked up my courage for Round 2. This time, I’ve reviewed ALL the Youtube videos from GMATNinja . I’ve to emphasize here, GMATNinja’s videos are cream of the crop as they helped me so much to grasp the basics of Verbal and break through the V30 barrier. I’ve tried some other official materials such as Question Pack, 700+ questions.
2nd attempt Feb-2021 Online: 690 (Q51 V31)
Takeaway: I realized timing is key here, I still could not control timing and was still rushing & guessing for the last 6-7 questions to complete the task in time. - June to November 2021: I got recommended by one of my friends who scored 710 with a V40 to enroll into, in my opinion, the best GMAT Prep Course in Vietnam - “GMAT Zero to Hero” (Z2H).
Some words about this course :
- The teacher/founder got 760 on GMAT several times since 2016, and he knows GMAT very well and his approach to GMAT I think is the most correct to tackle GMAT. All the theory lessons are very well-prepared.
- The “Zero to Hero” app contains more than 3000+ questions collected from almost all official sources such as OG 2015 to 2021, GMAT Prep, Question Pack, GWD tests, etc … in one place and the app is so superb because first, the interface is 100% similar to the real GMAT Exam’s interface - I have solved 3000+ questions in the same interface as the real exam, so when I sit for the real test I did not feel anxious at all. Second, the app quickly shows me questions I did correct / incorrect, solving time of each question, and the notes I commented on questions for later review. I believe the note function is even more convenient than the so-called “Error log”, which is so time-consuming in my opinion.
- Most importantly, it’s the power of community. The course has a Discord channel of more than 200+ students who enrolled or are enrolling and are very passionate about taking the GMAT. From this community, I was very lucky to get connected to two teams full of like-minded test takers who would take GMAT in November, so together with studying for two classes per week (main course), I had to study extra 4 classes with the other two teams for over three months (total 6 classes per week). I made some of the very good friends here, whenever I felt lost or losing motivation, the teams just dragged me along and pushed me to join the extra classes. Furthermore, learning by explaining to others is extremely effective. These extra classes gave me the chance to get my points through to others and gain different but greatly useful views that I did not think of just by solving a single question together.
Besides joining GMAT Z2H course, there are some more things I did during this time that may help to boost my score :
- Focus on ONLY ONE source of studying: In my case, Z2H’s theory lessons + ONLY explanation on GMATCLUB from GMATNinja. Honestly, while others’ explanations are okay and some are very bad, they do not have as deep a sense that digs into the core of the problem as you can learn so much from Charles’ explanations. I suggest you do not take reference from explanations other than GMATNinja’s. Also, if you decide to follow one source of theory lessons, do not juggle between different sources, just stick to one. (Thanks Charles GMATNinja you're my best teacher on Gmatclub and I'm fanboying you
) - REVIEWING is key. I reviewed the theory lessons (both Verbal & Quant) as frequently as every week, because I need to keep this intensity in order to feel at ease in the GMAT exam. As I studied Chinese before with a flashcard app that was so helpful that I got the HSK6 level (C1 for foreigners), I tried this app out with GMAT.
It is called “Anki” flashcard app - a spaced repetition system (SRS) application that helps you stop forgetting. You can google more about SRS or simply use any other flashcard SRS app for reviewing. Overall, I created 4 decks for Quant theory, Verbal theory, Quant & Verbal questions that I got wrong. Yes, every time I got any question wrong I screenshot it and put it in the deck. I review all the decks every week. Up to Nov 2021, I have created 1000+ flashcards. - Know my stats. I took MBA Mock#3-6 and GmatClub’s tests in the exact time slot that I sit for the real test. I took one MOCK every week, same order Q-V-IR-AWA every time. You should expect the MOCK score to be 30pts higher than the real score.
- Using LSAT to maximize my RC. As I listened to this sharing from Colton got730butwant760 (too bad as I'm new so I could not post the link here) and Charles' multiple advice on using the LSAT (Thanks Colton & Charles!), and in September I exhausted all the GMAT RC materials, so I decided to prep with LSAT. I did upto 48 LSAT tests, a total of 192 LSAT passages, with the accuracy around 90% on each test. I trained my mind to do the LSAT along these much longer passages, most important is to get hold of the main point of each paragraph and structure of the passage. Coming back to GMAT RC on the real test, it was a breeze for me just as Colton said (maybe I was lucky on the exam day because there were 3 short para and one long para, but it can not be as long as an LSAT RC so I was completely confident tackling it). I suggest that ONLY after you have exhausted GMAT RC materials that you come to LSAT RC (only LSAT RC are valid, while the LSAT CR, in my view, is not up to bar).
- TIMING is key in GMAT. Because every second counts in a test like GMAT, and because I realized that in all my attempts before the last, I was spending time not wisely and I had to rush myself whenever I was after a time point, and rushing created a burden on my mentality which decreased my performance, my ultimate goal is to minimize the time wasting on other activities during the test.
So I did not :
- Write down A/B/C/D/E and cross over the wrong answer, instead I trained myself on how to eliminate answers.
- Write down a summary of CR argument or of each of the paragraphs in RC, instead understand the paragraph structure in my head.
- Stay on one question until I can figure out the answer, instead after 3 mins I use POE for two most reliable answers and move on.
I even trained myself to use the shortcut of Alt+N → Alt+Y (Next → Yes) (on my Mac it’s option N → option Y) to save even only one second each question rather than moving your pointer back and forth to click Next & Yes (total time save 30~40 seconds). In my mock tests, I always trained myself to be ahead of the timing points. My timing looks like below :
Quant Q# | Remaining Time Verbal Q# | Remaining Time
1 62 1 65
11 42 11 47
21 22 21 29
31 2 31 11
36 2
In my final attempt, I was always ahead of these time points, so I did not rush and the experience was so comfortable that I finished my Verbal section with 5 minutes to spare.
3rd attempt 15-Oct-2021 Online: 730 (Q50 V38)
→ During this attempt, I got a technical issue from the proctor side (she log off might be because of her unstable internet so my test got paused in the middle) so I requested a retake voucher and got my score canceled.
4th attempt 07-Nov-2021 Online: 780 (Q51 V47)
I was on cloud nine when the score was released on the screen, it was beyond my expectations.
Some last words: My experience is very strenuous as it took me a lot of time and effort to figure out the right approach, and it might not be helpful for someone who wants a shortcut of only two-three months to achieve a high score. However, as I come from a low-proficient English speaking country and studied in a domestic university, and as I can prove that achieving a high score on GMAT exam is possible for someone with a similar background like me, I believed that anyone, as long as you put enough time and effort in the process, you can get a very rewarding output.
If you have any question, feel free to reach out to me. I am happy to help