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23 Jan 2022, 11:25
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This is not a debrief, this is a story of my pain, struggle, and battle with the gmat. Should you want to skip my story, the first part is about tips and tricks to nail the test. The second part is me being a big loser.
Tips and tricks
Quant:
Not a single tip or trick written by many successful gmat takers will be revolutionary. No one will tell you a magic that will have you wake up with an elite score in your pocket. Because tricks do not work on the gmat, we are not in Hogwarts. Gmat is a hard work, a hard methodical work. Gmat can be nailed with self-study but if you notice that you are stuck, ask for help. Ask for professional help, that will buy you time and help you achieve your goal sooner and will save your nerves, self esteem, and time. Use only one tutor. Do not jump from one to the other. (of course given that the tutor is fine).
If a dump like me nailed it, so can you.
My story.
My GMAT journey started in late summer 2014, when my brother encouraged me to pursue MBA after finishing undergraduate studies. For my first semester of my senior year (fall 2014) I was on exchange in the USA, I traveled, met new people, I was enjoying my time. I planned to take the GMAT in December after finals and apply to a 2+2 program in R2. Since I am naturally good with tests, I thought a week of intense studying would be sufficient enough so the whole semester I would solve problems here and there without a proper analysis and work on mistakes and ignore my mock result of very low 300. I was making silly mistakes and was sure that on D-day I would focus and crack the GMAT. Boy, was I wrong?! I was soo wrooong. Not me, the GMAT cracked my neck. I walked out with a shameful 430. Being stubborn, I would not accept the score and blamed it on bad weather, geomagnetic storms, masons, and bad luck. I rescheduled my exam for March 2015 to apply in R3. This time, I was a bit smarter and studied hard. I took several mocks on mba.com and the ones of Manhattan and was consistently scoring over 600. I prayed to all Gods out there for anything above 650 on the actual exam. Soon, once again I was in Pearson Test Center and began the exam. The first 10q of Quant went very smoothly and I knew how to solve each and every question. I was like a ninja attacking anything the GMAT threw at my face. But then… A guy by my left side dropped a wall that separated his space from mine. That wall was not adjoined to an actual wall or table. It was just sitting there still and if you touched it, it fell down. So that wall landed right on my head. I lost my nirvana, and got nervous, for the rest of the test I could not focus at all. I precisely remember how I was reading an SC q 3-5 times and did not comprehend anything, my hands and knees were shaking. I did not restore my balance till the end and already knew I bombed. I walked out with another 400.
I was so disappointed and mad. If I knew at that time the power of complaining, I would have spammed the GMAC for another shot, but instead all I did was cry.
I gave up on the GMAT idea and went for an MA in International Relations, another area of my interest. But the GMAT never left my mind, I woke up with it, I went to bed with it. I became obsessed with it. My self esteem was below the floor, I felt being a failure and could not plan my life forward without the GMAT in it. I restarted my GMAT journey in 2017 but was busy with another exchange program to S.Korea, my masters dissertation, graduation, and then jobs. But here and there I was taking mocks, solving questions. In 2019, I planned that that is it, I can no longer hang in there with the GMAT. Either take it or leave it. I took it. In June 2019, I walked out with 610, retook after a month and walked out with 640 (?), I canceled my score, so don't remember the precise number). I was stuck. Nothing seemed to help me. I need to mention that I was taking private gmat classes from top couches, and I was enrolled in many gmat classes. I was going nuts. From once being a very positive charming girl, I became a sad miserable woman. My life was trembling, I was depressed. I was morally drained. As if the dementors sucked out all my happiness. By then, I had changed three continents, lived in several different countries, and changed many jobs. I was offered a new position in my career, a very prospective one and decided to carry on with it, because the GMAT was taking me nowhere (or to depression). I was superb at my new position and after only a couple of months of working, I received an offer to relocate to our headquarters in Dubai. I accepted. I was supposed to fly in March, 2020. The day before my flight, the world went crazy and countries one by one began shutting down. I did not catch my flight. I was locked down for four month. And there was no end to this pandemic saga. I no longer wanted to wait for the world to open up and left for Sochi, Russia to calm my nerves. Here I was offered a very good position and found a comfortable life. I fell in love with the city. I was already ok without the gmat. But one afternoon on Friday, sitting in my office, I realized that I reached my ceiling at this position. I can not grow because there is no room to grow. I needed a change. My mind gave me the terrifying answer: GMAT. I restarted again and was scoring very high; in gmat club quant tests never below 48, normally 49-50 with 10-12 minutes to spare. I could nail any new verbal question within 2 minutes. I was perfect. I was scheduled to take it on July 4, 2021. End of June 2021, I was lucky, I was infected with coronavirus. I was in such bad condition that of course I could not take the gmat. I could not even sit by the computer, let alone focus and take the test. I was doomed. I canceled the appointment. I recovered only after 4 month and only around November I was able to resume my full time job and I promised myself this is my last attempt. I will never ever retake the gmat if this time I bomb it.
I took the gmat on Dec 19, 2021. It was a funny experience. First I forgot to answer my security question. Then, it was so cold inside that I was blowing at my hands to warm them up (yes, from the side, it seems like I covered my mouth). My neighbors thought that this was the best time for drilling, yelling, and shutting the door by all might. The quant section got very hard, I did not have a clue how to solve some very long qs, which I had to guess. I barely finished the quant on time. I panicked that I failed it. During the verbal, I was calm. Calm because I was frightened in silence from what I saw. Some of the verbal questions were super difficult and I had to guess between two choices that were almost alike. For some questions, I blindly guessed because it was too much to read. But some other questions were similar to the one from OGs (can I at least once get lucky?). I finished the verbal and started IR.
Hello to my luck again, I began coughing like crazy, almost spitting out my lungs. I for sure knew IR was a failure. Are you still here? Wait for AWA now. Essay is an easy part because naturally I am a good writer. But I made a big mistake - for the exam I borrowed my friend's mac because my laptop is an old and slow buddy. The mac was probably set so that when you push certain buttons, it deletes everything you write. I obviously pressed them. I had to rewrite the 1st paragraph 4 or 5 times. I had only very few minutes for the rest of the essay. The clock was showing 1.30 minutes by the time I got to the conclusion. I wrote it. The mac deleted it. I had 30 sec to go. I wrote only one sentence of conclusion and submitted it. My knees were failing me. I pressed next and prepared to jump out of the window. 730 flushed on my screen, Q49, v40, ir5 (awa would be graded 5). I couldn't believe my eyes. I politely said thank you to proctor, turned off the laptop, screamed, and called my mom. I still refused to believe unless and until I saw the official results. Do you think I got them? No, I did not. Two days after the exam I received an email that my exam was flagged for review. I weep because my case seemed a perfect one for cheating. I covered my mouth many times, I forgot security questions, I scored high. On the 20th business day or January 19, 2022 I was like walking on mine field, because any time the gmac could not contact me and say “suck it up, you are labeled a cheater”. With my luck, this was the only viable result. Morning of January 20th, I woke up to find in my email that my score was released, it was not canceled, can you believe it? I passed!!! My heart raced. I called everyone and shared the news. I said to anyone I met that day, even to the ones I did not know, that 8 years of struggle, 8 years of humiliation is over. I passed! I did it! Dobby is free, I am free!!!!
Many many thanks to this forum, many thanks to all who were there down the road who helped me, encouraged, sustained, and tolerated me. Many thanks to rahul2014 for all your time and effort, thanks to my brother, thanks to my both mothers for believing in me, thanks to Shuhrat, thanks to my many tutors.
Thank you to GMATNinja, Bunuel, Thank you to bb for all the words you found during the times I was down and many many thanks for creating this website. Thank you all!
Tips and tricks
- Gmat is not a test of luck, as it was said many times. It is a test of consistent and logical approach. I cannot stress enough on this.
- Do not learn from many sources like I did. I used almost everything available on the market. Stick to one and follow it strictly.
Quant:
- -To learn fundamentals, I think Target Test Prep is the best. To jump from low q40 to high q40, I believe gmat club tests are the best. They are gems. Period. I also used explanations provided by Bunuel (I cannot stress enough how helpful you are. Thank you!). Exploit these resources and you would be fine for the quant section.
-Verbal is trickier. For basic understanding of concepts tested, use Manhattan books. After that only extensive practice and analysis of mistakes will help elevate your verbal score. And read, read, read, as much as you can.
-IR, I did not study for this section. Only when I took full mocks, I went over the questions too. I think, IR is easy and straightforward, although I bombed it. But that’s because I am stupid not because it is hard.
-AWA, I read a few templates https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-get-6-0-awa-my-guide-64327.html and wrote 3 or 4 essays and that was it.
Not a single tip or trick written by many successful gmat takers will be revolutionary. No one will tell you a magic that will have you wake up with an elite score in your pocket. Because tricks do not work on the gmat, we are not in Hogwarts. Gmat is a hard work, a hard methodical work. Gmat can be nailed with self-study but if you notice that you are stuck, ask for help. Ask for professional help, that will buy you time and help you achieve your goal sooner and will save your nerves, self esteem, and time. Use only one tutor. Do not jump from one to the other. (of course given that the tutor is fine).
If a dump like me nailed it, so can you.
My story.
My GMAT journey started in late summer 2014, when my brother encouraged me to pursue MBA after finishing undergraduate studies. For my first semester of my senior year (fall 2014) I was on exchange in the USA, I traveled, met new people, I was enjoying my time. I planned to take the GMAT in December after finals and apply to a 2+2 program in R2. Since I am naturally good with tests, I thought a week of intense studying would be sufficient enough so the whole semester I would solve problems here and there without a proper analysis and work on mistakes and ignore my mock result of very low 300. I was making silly mistakes and was sure that on D-day I would focus and crack the GMAT. Boy, was I wrong?! I was soo wrooong. Not me, the GMAT cracked my neck. I walked out with a shameful 430. Being stubborn, I would not accept the score and blamed it on bad weather, geomagnetic storms, masons, and bad luck. I rescheduled my exam for March 2015 to apply in R3. This time, I was a bit smarter and studied hard. I took several mocks on mba.com and the ones of Manhattan and was consistently scoring over 600. I prayed to all Gods out there for anything above 650 on the actual exam. Soon, once again I was in Pearson Test Center and began the exam. The first 10q of Quant went very smoothly and I knew how to solve each and every question. I was like a ninja attacking anything the GMAT threw at my face. But then… A guy by my left side dropped a wall that separated his space from mine. That wall was not adjoined to an actual wall or table. It was just sitting there still and if you touched it, it fell down. So that wall landed right on my head. I lost my nirvana, and got nervous, for the rest of the test I could not focus at all. I precisely remember how I was reading an SC q 3-5 times and did not comprehend anything, my hands and knees were shaking. I did not restore my balance till the end and already knew I bombed. I walked out with another 400.
I was so disappointed and mad. If I knew at that time the power of complaining, I would have spammed the GMAC for another shot, but instead all I did was cry.
I gave up on the GMAT idea and went for an MA in International Relations, another area of my interest. But the GMAT never left my mind, I woke up with it, I went to bed with it. I became obsessed with it. My self esteem was below the floor, I felt being a failure and could not plan my life forward without the GMAT in it. I restarted my GMAT journey in 2017 but was busy with another exchange program to S.Korea, my masters dissertation, graduation, and then jobs. But here and there I was taking mocks, solving questions. In 2019, I planned that that is it, I can no longer hang in there with the GMAT. Either take it or leave it. I took it. In June 2019, I walked out with 610, retook after a month and walked out with 640 (?), I canceled my score, so don't remember the precise number). I was stuck. Nothing seemed to help me. I need to mention that I was taking private gmat classes from top couches, and I was enrolled in many gmat classes. I was going nuts. From once being a very positive charming girl, I became a sad miserable woman. My life was trembling, I was depressed. I was morally drained. As if the dementors sucked out all my happiness. By then, I had changed three continents, lived in several different countries, and changed many jobs. I was offered a new position in my career, a very prospective one and decided to carry on with it, because the GMAT was taking me nowhere (or to depression). I was superb at my new position and after only a couple of months of working, I received an offer to relocate to our headquarters in Dubai. I accepted. I was supposed to fly in March, 2020. The day before my flight, the world went crazy and countries one by one began shutting down. I did not catch my flight. I was locked down for four month. And there was no end to this pandemic saga. I no longer wanted to wait for the world to open up and left for Sochi, Russia to calm my nerves. Here I was offered a very good position and found a comfortable life. I fell in love with the city. I was already ok without the gmat. But one afternoon on Friday, sitting in my office, I realized that I reached my ceiling at this position. I can not grow because there is no room to grow. I needed a change. My mind gave me the terrifying answer: GMAT. I restarted again and was scoring very high; in gmat club quant tests never below 48, normally 49-50 with 10-12 minutes to spare. I could nail any new verbal question within 2 minutes. I was perfect. I was scheduled to take it on July 4, 2021. End of June 2021, I was lucky, I was infected with coronavirus. I was in such bad condition that of course I could not take the gmat. I could not even sit by the computer, let alone focus and take the test. I was doomed. I canceled the appointment. I recovered only after 4 month and only around November I was able to resume my full time job and I promised myself this is my last attempt. I will never ever retake the gmat if this time I bomb it.
I took the gmat on Dec 19, 2021. It was a funny experience. First I forgot to answer my security question. Then, it was so cold inside that I was blowing at my hands to warm them up (yes, from the side, it seems like I covered my mouth). My neighbors thought that this was the best time for drilling, yelling, and shutting the door by all might. The quant section got very hard, I did not have a clue how to solve some very long qs, which I had to guess. I barely finished the quant on time. I panicked that I failed it. During the verbal, I was calm. Calm because I was frightened in silence from what I saw. Some of the verbal questions were super difficult and I had to guess between two choices that were almost alike. For some questions, I blindly guessed because it was too much to read. But some other questions were similar to the one from OGs (can I at least once get lucky?). I finished the verbal and started IR.
Hello to my luck again, I began coughing like crazy, almost spitting out my lungs. I for sure knew IR was a failure. Are you still here? Wait for AWA now. Essay is an easy part because naturally I am a good writer. But I made a big mistake - for the exam I borrowed my friend's mac because my laptop is an old and slow buddy. The mac was probably set so that when you push certain buttons, it deletes everything you write. I obviously pressed them. I had to rewrite the 1st paragraph 4 or 5 times. I had only very few minutes for the rest of the essay. The clock was showing 1.30 minutes by the time I got to the conclusion. I wrote it. The mac deleted it. I had 30 sec to go. I wrote only one sentence of conclusion and submitted it. My knees were failing me. I pressed next and prepared to jump out of the window. 730 flushed on my screen, Q49, v40, ir5 (awa would be graded 5). I couldn't believe my eyes. I politely said thank you to proctor, turned off the laptop, screamed, and called my mom. I still refused to believe unless and until I saw the official results. Do you think I got them? No, I did not. Two days after the exam I received an email that my exam was flagged for review. I weep because my case seemed a perfect one for cheating. I covered my mouth many times, I forgot security questions, I scored high. On the 20th business day or January 19, 2022 I was like walking on mine field, because any time the gmac could not contact me and say “suck it up, you are labeled a cheater”. With my luck, this was the only viable result. Morning of January 20th, I woke up to find in my email that my score was released, it was not canceled, can you believe it? I passed!!! My heart raced. I called everyone and shared the news. I said to anyone I met that day, even to the ones I did not know, that 8 years of struggle, 8 years of humiliation is over. I passed! I did it! Dobby is free, I am free!!!!
Many many thanks to this forum, many thanks to all who were there down the road who helped me, encouraged, sustained, and tolerated me. Many thanks to rahul2014 for all your time and effort, thanks to my brother, thanks to my both mothers for believing in me, thanks to Shuhrat, thanks to my many tutors.
Thank you to GMATNinja, Bunuel, Thank you to bb for all the words you found during the times I was down and many many thanks for creating this website. Thank you all!
23 Jan 2022, 11:28
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Wow! Amazing story. Thank you so much for sharing it!
PS. Mira was the winner of GMAT Club’s first Game of Timers Competition 👍
Posted from my mobile device
PS. Mira was the winner of GMAT Club’s first Game of Timers Competition 👍
Posted from my mobile device
23 Jan 2022, 21:34
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By the way, I think it was not your Mac's issue deleting the text - this has been reported by other test takers - the disappearing words and deletion of text in AWA specifically.
Wow - you have overcome so much adversity!
Wow - you have overcome so much adversity!
