Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Nov 1811:00 AM PST
-12:00 PM PST
Join us in a live GMAT practice session and solve 30 challenging GMAT questions with other test takers in timed conditions, covering GMAT Quant, Data Sufficiency, Data Insights, Reading Comprehension, and Critical Reasoning questions.
Nov 2211:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence Excel in timed test environment- Nov 23
11:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Attend this free GMAT Algebra Webinar and learn how to master the most challenging Inequalities and Absolute Value problems with ease. 
Nov 2510:00 AM EST
-11:00 AM EST
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors.
12 Aug 2022, 01:49
Kudos
Bookmarks
Background: Before I took the plunge to write the GMAT, I worked as a corporate lawyer (long hours, high-stress work) for one of India’s largest law firms. In August 2021, I decided that it was time to not only pursue an independent legal career but also expand on the legal skills that I honed for many years and consider an MBA. I had not written a competitive exam for over 15 years (the last ones were the highly competitive IIT entrance exams and the Common Law Admission Test) so naturally, I was slightly underconfident with my ability, especially because of my (initial) perception of the GMAT was that it was a ‘Math, Grammar, and Reading exam.’
TL;DR Hear more about Aditya's GMAT journey in the following podcast.
Initial diagnostics: My initial introduction to the format and structure of GMAT was through the Official Guide, an invaluable and indispensable resource for everyone. I realised that the best idea for me would be to test out my current state of affairs by just attempting about 50-60 questions from both Quant and Verbal. At that time, my thought process was to preserve the GMAT Prep Exam 1 and 2 for when I felt I had some idea about the status of my preparation. Although this runs contrary to what a lot of experts, including on this forum recommend, I felt that for me, it would not be a significant challenge to come up to speed with the curriculum as (a) I had a decent quant background, having studied for the engineering entrance, and (b) verbal skills were my daily bread and butter. So, this should not be a big challenge. Spoiler: It was!
Honeymoon period (Aug ‘21– Nov ‘21): The first month went smoothly, as I began sailing through the OG questions. However, I kept feeling that some of the explanations to the answers did not make sense. However, I started realising that there was a problem in my approach; I was making similar mistakes across similar questions, and I was lost while I was solving some of the quant questions. Diagnosis: I was working without a plan and clear guidance. I needed help. And that’s when I made probably the best decision throughout my GMAT journey – I joined GMAT Club after a friend recommended that I check out this website that was packed with resources of all kinds. And within a week of checking out posts, debriefs, and videos about GMAT I knew that I needed to get some specialised assistance. I took the trial courses of a few test prep companies and selected gmatwhiz because they offered an innovative AI-based learning course and tremendous value for a 6-month course! Again, thanks to @GMATClub, I received a great deal and access to GMAT Club Tests (explored in detail later).
Key Learning: While deciding on the best prep course for you, it helps a lot to take the free trials offered by all the major test prep companies. You get a sense of which method of content delivery works best for you.
Focused approach (Nov ’21 – April ‘22): My experience with GMAT Whiz was extremely positive. I felt that the videos and the questions progressed smoothly, and allowed me to push through any concepts that I was more comfortable with. Detailed debrief on GMAT Whiz to follow. Beyond the course, I started diligently watching YouTube content from tutors and test prep companies to further consolidate my learnings from the course. Notable among them were GMATNinja (the legend, and dare I say, the wittiest tutor I’ve ever known!), ManhattanPrep, and CrackverbalGMAT. I also started using the Timer feature to complete questions on GMAT Club and dissect their analysis on the very helpful threads. Again, special shoutouts to Bunuel, GMATNinja (again!) KarishmaB, and EMPOWERgmatRichC (whose answer explanations on SC were most instructive on how to approach such questions)
As I started to gain confidence, my mock scores on the GMAT Whiz platform started to increase, and I also started gaining better practice habits. For example, I started to focus on meaning, splits, and key rules (verb tense, subject-verb agreement) on SC questions instead of purely relying on my grammar skills. The sheer volume of practice allowed me to get a grip on the structure and the ‘course’ (I use the term very loosely) for effective GMAT Prep.
In the middle of March, I decided to activate my free 3-month GMAT Club Test membership. One word – eye opener (ok that's two)! Not just in terms of the level of questions (especially the quant section!), but also in terms of the analytics offered by the algorithm, the GMAT Club Tests greatly helped me in solving challenging quant problems in between manageable questions. Needless to say, my initial scores on both the Quant and Verbal CATs were terrible (my first few scores on Quant were in the mid to high 30s!!). However, after a few attempts, I started identifying patterns in my errors, checking my error logs, and analysing the shortfalls. Soon enough, I started increasing my scores, which soon started touching the mid to high 40s. Detailed debrief on GMAT Club Tests to also follow.
Towards the end of April (when my subscription to GMAT Whiz was expiring), I figured I needed a bit more practice so, relying on additional practice through Advanced OG questions and GMAT Club Tests, I fixed the date of my GMAT exam towards the end of May. In this period, I interspersed the two GMAT Prep Exams. Scores were quite positive
GMAT Prep 1: Q49/V42 – 730
GMAT Prep 2: Q50/V40 – 750
With these scores and a good amount of conceptual clarity, I thought that the exam would not be as much of a challenge as I had earlier expected.
Key Learning: Developing a structure and focused approach towards studying for the GMAT is crucial for success, especially for people who have remained away from daily quant and/or verbal usage of the type demanded by the GMAT (which, let's be honest, describes a majority of test takers). Especially for working professionals, a focused and structured approach avoids any waste of time.
Judgment Day (part one) May ’22: I had read about effective pre-exam routines, and thankfully, most of the key routines were already part of my daily habits - sufficient and relaxing sleep, regular workout, sufficient hydration, low amounts of stress, balanced diet. However, there was one key element that I neither factored in nor considered relevant at that time. I was soon to realise that the omission of this key point would lead to an outcome that I did not expect.
On exam day, I had a light breakfast and packed a few almonds and chocolates with me to eat during the break. The exam centre (Ashoka Estate, Barakhamba Road in New Delhi, India) was very professional. The staff was extremely polite and very particular about COVID guidelines and GMAC rules. I was given a set of rules to go through, my palm print, photograph, and signature were taken, and I was directed to the testing rooms. I was also given my choice of pens to write on the laminated notepad. I tested a few and found some that worked well. After another round of checks, I was guided to my system.
After the formalities of reading the rules. I started with the verbal section first. As I started to quickly scribble on the notepad, I couldn’t notice the ink on the pad. I scribbled more and then panicked, thinking that the pen was not working. I quickly shifted pens, and the same problem when I started to scribble. I raised my hand and asked for more pens, same problem with 3-4 more pens till I finally found one that worked when I wrote something slower than normal. By this time, a good minute or so had elapsed, and it was a CR question. I tried to regain my composure but the stress of the pen incident and the loss of time started playing on my mind. Unfortunately, I was never really able to recover from that initial loss. After the Verbal section, I tried to calm myself thinking that I still have Quant left, and I’ll be able to salvage a good score. Oh, how wrong I was. It was evident that I was still reeling from the loss of time on the Verbal section, and no matter how hard I tried to control it, my mind kept going back to the time lost. Coupled with shallow breathing and a heart that was racing, I started to miss simple questions on Quant. By the end of the section, I realised that I was not likely to get my target score. As I expected, the moment I completed the essay prompt, the horror was evident on the screen
Score: 700 (Q48/V39)
While I knew that some of the questions stumped me, I was sure that I could not have made conceptual errors on most of the questions. A little bit of memory jogging made me realise that I DID make errors in calculation and failure to consider constraints. I kicked myself hard (mentally) and after waiting down to the last moment, I decided to cancel my score. Although 700 had been my mental floor, I realised that I lost the score not because I did not know how to approach the questions, but because I had allowed my anxiety and fear to take control of me during a very short period in the beginning, and let it control me throughout a 3+ hour exam. On my way back, I promised myself that no matter what, the next time would NOT see myself losing marks because of my nerves.
Key Learning:
- BREATHE! Try to ground yourself while you read the instructions. There are some fantastic grounding exercises available on YouTube.
- Write slowly with the marker as it takes time for the ink to release onto the laminated sheet. One trick that I developed was to keep scribbling something in the margin so that the ink is constantly flowing. [/list]
- The air conditioning might be a bit too chilly for some (I speak of only this centre). If you feel cold easily, as I do, it would not be a bad idea to wear a shirt with sleeves that you can roll down, or wear something inside your shirt. While the staff does increase the temperature when you ask them to, it still tends to get a bit cold.
Let’s give it another shot (June – Aug 22): Recollecting the mistakes I made, I realised that I needed some more training in both learning tools and relaxation tools. To this end, I did the following
- Got the MGMAT and the Kaplan material to revise some skills that I felt could help me.
- The Kaplan GMAT guide also granted me access to 6 more test preps so I felt that was sorted.
- For Verbal, I had read a lot about the PowerScore books and decided that it would not be a bad idea to check them out so I got the CR and RC modules.
- I also thought to try TTP’s 5-day trial since I had not tried that on my first attempt.
This time, with the basic knowledge and test prep practice under my belt, I hit the books to learn some more skills to better equip myself and reduce the time I spent on questions. I also extended my GMAT Club Test membership to try and complete all the CATs (I managed to get through 21 Quant CATs and 8 Verbal CATs). Since I used the above sources for about 45 days only, I’ve given a quick review of each below:
- MGMAT (All the Quant, All the Verbal) – These are fairly basic with some very interesting tips and tricks to solve a lot of standard questions in a short time. The language of instructions used is very simple to understand. However, since I already had sufficient basic knowledge, I was able to skim through both books in a short time, noting only some interesting tricks along the way. If you are starting, these are very useful resources to help you achieve at least a 700-level score. However, if you want to increase your score range, you need to access their questions on Atlas (their online set-up).
- MGMAT (Advanced Quant) – This was a fantastic resource that taught extremely valuable skills and tools to tackle high-level questions. An absolute must-have for anyone aiming for a high quant score.
- Kaplan GMAT Prep Plus 2021 – A very thorough guide that also gave conceptual clarity on a lot of points, but just like that MGMAT material, it too focussed on 700-level problems. However, my primary goal was to take advantage of the 6 CATs that accompanied the material. Interspersing those CATs with the GMAT Club tests gave me a lot of confidence and test readiness. In terms of the level of the CATs, I’d say they were excellent and were a close enough replication of the standard of questions that did show up on my earlier GMAT exam. However, they excel in the UI department. It was a dead-ringer for the actual exam – there were moments when I felt was back in the exam centre and looking at the computer screen – the layout and design were eerily similar.
- PowerScore CR and RC Bible: Simply put, I feel NOTHING in the market is comparable – the detailed description of the concepts, the ease with which you can apply them to your practice, the sheer volume of practice questions; I can go on and on and on about how useful these resources are. I only regret not acquiring them earlier. Coupled with the tools and tricks that TTP provided (more on that below), I felt that these books played a massive impact on my subsequent GMAT score.
- TTP 5-day trial: I decided to test out TTP because they offered access to their full course for 5 days, and because I had overlooked it early on (I honestly cannot remember why). As a value-conscious person, I decided to extract maximum output from the moment I signed up and went through almost 70% of their verbal content and 50% of their quant content. I must confess that the quality of instructions and content on TTP is extremely comprehensive and robust. Their method of instruction delivery is also very different from other test prep companies – the lessons are presented in a written format interspersed with chapter quizzes and tests of various difficulty levels. Also, if anyone feels swayed by some of the earlier reviews of TTP thinking that it is majorly Quant-focused, I advise you to test the course before arriving at that conclusion. As I alluded to earlier, their verbal content is extremely relevant, detailed, and perfectly tailored to help you appreciate the nuances of what the GMAT expects of you. I would rate easily as one of the best among all the other test preps (of course, to the extent that I was able to try them out).
Other changes: A crucial change that I introduced into my daily routine was meditation. Every morning I would take just 10 minutes out to focus on mindfulness breathing. Then, each afternoon, I would take another 15 minutes to enter a relaxed state and practice affirmations and visualisation techniques. Now, there might be a lot of you who may consider this ‘woo-woo’ and to be honest, you may not be wrong. All I can say is that this daily routine helped me prepare myself for any adverse situation during the test day, and allowed me to be sure of myself and not lose my bearings even if things went to the crapper.
Test Day (Part 2 – Aug ’22): As test day arrived (early Aug 22), I told myself that I will NOT repeat the same mistakes and that I will focus on my breathing because my learning was as good as it could be. Armed with my prior knowledge of how to deal with the pen situation, I started my exam. Starting with Quant this time, I realised the level of questions felt tougher than usual to me. While the mindfulness helped me not to panic, I did end up losing track of time on a few questions and ended up with a few definite mistakes. Again, unhappy with how a few minutes of lack of confidence dips your performance, I vowed to be extra careful at Verbal. Expectedly, I was supremely confident, and went through the Verbal section without too much of a challenge, hoping to have covered my Quant performance enough to get a good score. After finishing the essay prompt, I waited with bated breath to receive my score.
Score: 740 (Q48/V44)
Feeling a bit dejected with the low Quant score again (I had consistently scored 49-50 in the CATs) I once again realised the folly of getting hung up on the wrong answers and allowing them to affect my performance. But still, as an overall score, I felt that this should be good enough for now, so I accepted the score and walked away from the test centre, relieved that months of effort finally culminated into a decent (if not ideal) score.
Final Takeaways:
As I move to the next phase of my MBA journey, I can only hope that my experience can assist future test-takers and help them avoid some of the mistakes I made.
TL;DR Hear more about Aditya's GMAT journey in the following podcast.
Initial diagnostics: My initial introduction to the format and structure of GMAT was through the Official Guide, an invaluable and indispensable resource for everyone. I realised that the best idea for me would be to test out my current state of affairs by just attempting about 50-60 questions from both Quant and Verbal. At that time, my thought process was to preserve the GMAT Prep Exam 1 and 2 for when I felt I had some idea about the status of my preparation. Although this runs contrary to what a lot of experts, including on this forum recommend, I felt that for me, it would not be a significant challenge to come up to speed with the curriculum as (a) I had a decent quant background, having studied for the engineering entrance, and (b) verbal skills were my daily bread and butter. So, this should not be a big challenge. Spoiler: It was!
Honeymoon period (Aug ‘21– Nov ‘21): The first month went smoothly, as I began sailing through the OG questions. However, I kept feeling that some of the explanations to the answers did not make sense. However, I started realising that there was a problem in my approach; I was making similar mistakes across similar questions, and I was lost while I was solving some of the quant questions. Diagnosis: I was working without a plan and clear guidance. I needed help. And that’s when I made probably the best decision throughout my GMAT journey – I joined GMAT Club after a friend recommended that I check out this website that was packed with resources of all kinds. And within a week of checking out posts, debriefs, and videos about GMAT I knew that I needed to get some specialised assistance. I took the trial courses of a few test prep companies and selected gmatwhiz because they offered an innovative AI-based learning course and tremendous value for a 6-month course! Again, thanks to @GMATClub, I received a great deal and access to GMAT Club Tests (explored in detail later).
Key Learning: While deciding on the best prep course for you, it helps a lot to take the free trials offered by all the major test prep companies. You get a sense of which method of content delivery works best for you.
Focused approach (Nov ’21 – April ‘22): My experience with GMAT Whiz was extremely positive. I felt that the videos and the questions progressed smoothly, and allowed me to push through any concepts that I was more comfortable with. Detailed debrief on GMAT Whiz to follow. Beyond the course, I started diligently watching YouTube content from tutors and test prep companies to further consolidate my learnings from the course. Notable among them were GMATNinja (the legend, and dare I say, the wittiest tutor I’ve ever known!), ManhattanPrep, and CrackverbalGMAT. I also started using the Timer feature to complete questions on GMAT Club and dissect their analysis on the very helpful threads. Again, special shoutouts to Bunuel, GMATNinja (again!) KarishmaB, and EMPOWERgmatRichC (whose answer explanations on SC were most instructive on how to approach such questions)
As I started to gain confidence, my mock scores on the GMAT Whiz platform started to increase, and I also started gaining better practice habits. For example, I started to focus on meaning, splits, and key rules (verb tense, subject-verb agreement) on SC questions instead of purely relying on my grammar skills. The sheer volume of practice allowed me to get a grip on the structure and the ‘course’ (I use the term very loosely) for effective GMAT Prep.
In the middle of March, I decided to activate my free 3-month GMAT Club Test membership. One word – eye opener (ok that's two)! Not just in terms of the level of questions (especially the quant section!), but also in terms of the analytics offered by the algorithm, the GMAT Club Tests greatly helped me in solving challenging quant problems in between manageable questions. Needless to say, my initial scores on both the Quant and Verbal CATs were terrible (my first few scores on Quant were in the mid to high 30s!!). However, after a few attempts, I started identifying patterns in my errors, checking my error logs, and analysing the shortfalls. Soon enough, I started increasing my scores, which soon started touching the mid to high 40s. Detailed debrief on GMAT Club Tests to also follow.
Towards the end of April (when my subscription to GMAT Whiz was expiring), I figured I needed a bit more practice so, relying on additional practice through Advanced OG questions and GMAT Club Tests, I fixed the date of my GMAT exam towards the end of May. In this period, I interspersed the two GMAT Prep Exams. Scores were quite positive
GMAT Prep 1: Q49/V42 – 730
GMAT Prep 2: Q50/V40 – 750
With these scores and a good amount of conceptual clarity, I thought that the exam would not be as much of a challenge as I had earlier expected.
Key Learning: Developing a structure and focused approach towards studying for the GMAT is crucial for success, especially for people who have remained away from daily quant and/or verbal usage of the type demanded by the GMAT (which, let's be honest, describes a majority of test takers). Especially for working professionals, a focused and structured approach avoids any waste of time.
Judgment Day (part one) May ’22: I had read about effective pre-exam routines, and thankfully, most of the key routines were already part of my daily habits - sufficient and relaxing sleep, regular workout, sufficient hydration, low amounts of stress, balanced diet. However, there was one key element that I neither factored in nor considered relevant at that time. I was soon to realise that the omission of this key point would lead to an outcome that I did not expect.
On exam day, I had a light breakfast and packed a few almonds and chocolates with me to eat during the break. The exam centre (Ashoka Estate, Barakhamba Road in New Delhi, India) was very professional. The staff was extremely polite and very particular about COVID guidelines and GMAC rules. I was given a set of rules to go through, my palm print, photograph, and signature were taken, and I was directed to the testing rooms. I was also given my choice of pens to write on the laminated notepad. I tested a few and found some that worked well. After another round of checks, I was guided to my system.
After the formalities of reading the rules. I started with the verbal section first. As I started to quickly scribble on the notepad, I couldn’t notice the ink on the pad. I scribbled more and then panicked, thinking that the pen was not working. I quickly shifted pens, and the same problem when I started to scribble. I raised my hand and asked for more pens, same problem with 3-4 more pens till I finally found one that worked when I wrote something slower than normal. By this time, a good minute or so had elapsed, and it was a CR question. I tried to regain my composure but the stress of the pen incident and the loss of time started playing on my mind. Unfortunately, I was never really able to recover from that initial loss. After the Verbal section, I tried to calm myself thinking that I still have Quant left, and I’ll be able to salvage a good score. Oh, how wrong I was. It was evident that I was still reeling from the loss of time on the Verbal section, and no matter how hard I tried to control it, my mind kept going back to the time lost. Coupled with shallow breathing and a heart that was racing, I started to miss simple questions on Quant. By the end of the section, I realised that I was not likely to get my target score. As I expected, the moment I completed the essay prompt, the horror was evident on the screen
Score: 700 (Q48/V39)
While I knew that some of the questions stumped me, I was sure that I could not have made conceptual errors on most of the questions. A little bit of memory jogging made me realise that I DID make errors in calculation and failure to consider constraints. I kicked myself hard (mentally) and after waiting down to the last moment, I decided to cancel my score. Although 700 had been my mental floor, I realised that I lost the score not because I did not know how to approach the questions, but because I had allowed my anxiety and fear to take control of me during a very short period in the beginning, and let it control me throughout a 3+ hour exam. On my way back, I promised myself that no matter what, the next time would NOT see myself losing marks because of my nerves.
Key Learning:
- BREATHE! Try to ground yourself while you read the instructions. There are some fantastic grounding exercises available on YouTube.
- Write slowly with the marker as it takes time for the ink to release onto the laminated sheet. One trick that I developed was to keep scribbling something in the margin so that the ink is constantly flowing. [/list]
- The air conditioning might be a bit too chilly for some (I speak of only this centre). If you feel cold easily, as I do, it would not be a bad idea to wear a shirt with sleeves that you can roll down, or wear something inside your shirt. While the staff does increase the temperature when you ask them to, it still tends to get a bit cold.
Let’s give it another shot (June – Aug 22): Recollecting the mistakes I made, I realised that I needed some more training in both learning tools and relaxation tools. To this end, I did the following
- Got the MGMAT and the Kaplan material to revise some skills that I felt could help me.
- The Kaplan GMAT guide also granted me access to 6 more test preps so I felt that was sorted.
- For Verbal, I had read a lot about the PowerScore books and decided that it would not be a bad idea to check them out so I got the CR and RC modules.
- I also thought to try TTP’s 5-day trial since I had not tried that on my first attempt.
This time, with the basic knowledge and test prep practice under my belt, I hit the books to learn some more skills to better equip myself and reduce the time I spent on questions. I also extended my GMAT Club Test membership to try and complete all the CATs (I managed to get through 21 Quant CATs and 8 Verbal CATs). Since I used the above sources for about 45 days only, I’ve given a quick review of each below:
- MGMAT (All the Quant, All the Verbal) – These are fairly basic with some very interesting tips and tricks to solve a lot of standard questions in a short time. The language of instructions used is very simple to understand. However, since I already had sufficient basic knowledge, I was able to skim through both books in a short time, noting only some interesting tricks along the way. If you are starting, these are very useful resources to help you achieve at least a 700-level score. However, if you want to increase your score range, you need to access their questions on Atlas (their online set-up).
- MGMAT (Advanced Quant) – This was a fantastic resource that taught extremely valuable skills and tools to tackle high-level questions. An absolute must-have for anyone aiming for a high quant score.
- Kaplan GMAT Prep Plus 2021 – A very thorough guide that also gave conceptual clarity on a lot of points, but just like that MGMAT material, it too focussed on 700-level problems. However, my primary goal was to take advantage of the 6 CATs that accompanied the material. Interspersing those CATs with the GMAT Club tests gave me a lot of confidence and test readiness. In terms of the level of the CATs, I’d say they were excellent and were a close enough replication of the standard of questions that did show up on my earlier GMAT exam. However, they excel in the UI department. It was a dead-ringer for the actual exam – there were moments when I felt was back in the exam centre and looking at the computer screen – the layout and design were eerily similar.
- PowerScore CR and RC Bible: Simply put, I feel NOTHING in the market is comparable – the detailed description of the concepts, the ease with which you can apply them to your practice, the sheer volume of practice questions; I can go on and on and on about how useful these resources are. I only regret not acquiring them earlier. Coupled with the tools and tricks that TTP provided (more on that below), I felt that these books played a massive impact on my subsequent GMAT score.
- TTP 5-day trial: I decided to test out TTP because they offered access to their full course for 5 days, and because I had overlooked it early on (I honestly cannot remember why). As a value-conscious person, I decided to extract maximum output from the moment I signed up and went through almost 70% of their verbal content and 50% of their quant content. I must confess that the quality of instructions and content on TTP is extremely comprehensive and robust. Their method of instruction delivery is also very different from other test prep companies – the lessons are presented in a written format interspersed with chapter quizzes and tests of various difficulty levels. Also, if anyone feels swayed by some of the earlier reviews of TTP thinking that it is majorly Quant-focused, I advise you to test the course before arriving at that conclusion. As I alluded to earlier, their verbal content is extremely relevant, detailed, and perfectly tailored to help you appreciate the nuances of what the GMAT expects of you. I would rate easily as one of the best among all the other test preps (of course, to the extent that I was able to try them out).
Other changes: A crucial change that I introduced into my daily routine was meditation. Every morning I would take just 10 minutes out to focus on mindfulness breathing. Then, each afternoon, I would take another 15 minutes to enter a relaxed state and practice affirmations and visualisation techniques. Now, there might be a lot of you who may consider this ‘woo-woo’ and to be honest, you may not be wrong. All I can say is that this daily routine helped me prepare myself for any adverse situation during the test day, and allowed me to be sure of myself and not lose my bearings even if things went to the crapper.
Test Day (Part 2 – Aug ’22): As test day arrived (early Aug 22), I told myself that I will NOT repeat the same mistakes and that I will focus on my breathing because my learning was as good as it could be. Armed with my prior knowledge of how to deal with the pen situation, I started my exam. Starting with Quant this time, I realised the level of questions felt tougher than usual to me. While the mindfulness helped me not to panic, I did end up losing track of time on a few questions and ended up with a few definite mistakes. Again, unhappy with how a few minutes of lack of confidence dips your performance, I vowed to be extra careful at Verbal. Expectedly, I was supremely confident, and went through the Verbal section without too much of a challenge, hoping to have covered my Quant performance enough to get a good score. After finishing the essay prompt, I waited with bated breath to receive my score.
Score: 740 (Q48/V44)
Feeling a bit dejected with the low Quant score again (I had consistently scored 49-50 in the CATs) I once again realised the folly of getting hung up on the wrong answers and allowing them to affect my performance. But still, as an overall score, I felt that this should be good enough for now, so I accepted the score and walked away from the test centre, relieved that months of effort finally culminated into a decent (if not ideal) score.
Final Takeaways:
- Test Prep: Figure out the method of instruction delivery that works best for you and choose your prep material accordingly. Honestly, if you are disciplined, you can achieve a high score by just practising official GMAT questions (especially verbal). However, if like me, you need some extra assistance, do not hesitate to enrol yourself with a test prep company.
- Practice Tests: Take multiple practice tests and try to simulate actual exam environments while testing. This helps you prepare mentally for the test, especially if you are prone to exam anxiety. I felt that the more tests that I gave, the less worried I became about the actual test.
- Error Log: It is FAR more important that you understand why an answer is correct or incorrect than answering a question correctly. Error analysis is crucial to measure your progress and areas of weakness. Most test prep courses, as well as GMAT Club, have a robust error log built into their platform. You will also be able to access OG error logs on GMAT Club (honestly, if you don’t find anything on GMAT Club, then the chances are that you are not looking in the right place!).
- GMAT Club: Exploit GMAT Club (and I mean this in a very respectful and positive way!) – This forum and its participants are by far the most supportive and helpful community that you will probably come across. The sheer volume of free and paid resources that are available on this platform is more than enough for anyone looking for an elite score.
- Test Prep discipline: Meditate, eat well, sleep well, drink (water!) well. You need to prime your body and mind for the test. You’ll come across stories in many GMAT debriefs of how lack of good sleep or test anxiety robbed the applicants of their dream score. Make sure that you can prepare your body and mind for the test. This test is as much a test of your intellect as it is of your ability to focus for an extended period.
As I move to the next phase of my MBA journey, I can only hope that my experience can assist future test-takers and help them avoid some of the mistakes I made.
12 Aug 2022, 11:21
Kudos
Bookmarks
Never seen such a detailed debrief earlier..
Lots of aspects to learn here.. Thanks
Lots of aspects to learn here.. Thanks
TheUltimateWinner
Joined: 23 Feb 2015
Last visit: 15 Nov 2025
Posts: 2,489
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 1,987
Concentration: Finance, Technology
Schools: Harvard '24 Judge '23 LBS '24 McCombs '24 Mendoza Tepper '24 Ross '24 Cox Marshall '24 Fisher Kelley '24 Jones McDonough '24 Owen '24 Terry BU Simon '24 Katz GWU Mason Babson Gabelli Foster '24 Goizueta '24 Scheller Stern '23 CBS '23 Booth '23 Haas '25 Wharton '25 Stanford '26 Johnson'23 Fuqua '23 Kellogg '23 Kenan-Flagler'23 INSEAD Aug 22 intake Olin '23 Said '23 Sloan '23 Carey Arizona "22 Yale '23 UC Davis Madison '23 Anderson '23 Carroll Carlson '23 Darden '23
Schools: Harvard '24 Judge '23 LBS '24 McCombs '24 Mendoza Tepper '24 Ross '24 Cox Marshall '24 Fisher Kelley '24 Jones McDonough '24 Owen '24 Terry BU Simon '24 Katz GWU Mason Babson Gabelli Foster '24 Goizueta '24 Scheller Stern '23 CBS '23 Booth '23 Haas '25 Wharton '25 Stanford '26 Johnson'23 Fuqua '23 Kellogg '23 Kenan-Flagler'23 INSEAD Aug 22 intake Olin '23 Said '23 Sloan '23 Carey Arizona "22 Yale '23 UC Davis Madison '23 Anderson '23 Carroll Carlson '23 Darden '23
Posts: 2,489
Kudos:
2,387
12 Aug 2022, 12:08
Kudos
Bookmarks
). I also reviewed the questions that I answered correctly and searched for methods to approach those problems more efficiently. I would then attempt those questions again and assess my approach and speed. In the Excel sheet, I would label the reason why I got questions wrong (concept error, calculation mistake, forgetting the constraints (easily my nemesis!!), overlooking a keyword (usually in CR), etc. I also highlighted the cells with questions that I got wrong with a deep red colour, and the cells with questions answered correctly and within 2 mins with bright green. I gamified the 
