100 Days GMAT Journey: from 540 to 710 (170 points increase)

120 Days GMAT Journey: from 540 to 710 (170 points increase)

Around 4-5 months back when I was considering taking the test I approached quite a few people to take their opinion on the test, and thus, I started researching about the different sections in GMAT, and the "Syllabus" and way of preparing for this test. I talked to a few friends who had recently scored a great score of 730, 760 and such scores with just a few months of preparation. So I had an Opinion that GMAT is a really easy test and as per the suggestions if I do the OG and some GMAT Club Questions I will be all set for a 700+ score in 2 months.

I would laugh hard at that thought even now. Not that it is unachievable, but that was definitely not the case with me. GMAT is a test of ability and your starting ability is what you use to calculate the time YOU will take to prepare for the exam and the methodology of study which will suit YOU. Talking to people will give you a perspective but beware of those Youtube videos with thumbnails of "Ace the GMAT in 30 days", "How I cracked the GMAT 750+ in 20 Days" etc. What you want is relevant guidance that suits YOUR way and capacity of learning, instead of general preparation templates. Something which I learnt the hard way.

To make that more relevant, my basic ability while starting the prep:
- Non-native English speaker
- A slow reader who did not read many books
- No-touch with math after High School
- Commerce with Math Background in 12th Standard school, Non-technical Course in Undergrad (Bachelors in Business Administration) (Fresh Graduate - batch of 2021)
- Effed up memory and out of touch with mental ability or verbal comprehension based questions


Now, There were quite some mistakes I committed in the beginning and during the preparation journey and I intend to write them down here so people can get a perspective on what not to do, as there are already many posts on what to do.

Mistakes:
1) Compared the preparation time required and ability of another person with my preparation schedule.

Every person's starting ability is different and thus, the preparation strategy. The best way to judge that I believe is taking a comprehensive mock test. ( I recommend egmat 's Sigma-X Mocks - you can leverage the heavy amount of Data that helps one to judge the strong and weak areas and questions types.)

2) Not making GMAT a priority and postponing the preparation for later, thinking that the test is a piece of cake and I can leave it for the last moment of the application.

I missed a deadline because of this thinking and also had to bear the expense of rescheduling the exam. I saw a few youtube videos titled 'Ace the GMAT in 1 month' and booked my slot after a month, to motivate me. Though a deadline did motivate me, I did not estimate the time I would require to gain the necessary ability. Thus, be mindful of how much time you would require to gain the necessary ability to perform on the test.
Also, make sure when you start preparing for the test, You are consistent. Helps in better information retention and habit formation.

3) Took a lot of Random mocks (Those 13-16 free CAT tests mentioned in the GMAT club forums like Manhattan, Kaplan etc.) without gaining the ability.

GMAT is a test of ability. How many hard questions you can get right consistently. It's a damn smart test and thus, just being prepared for the question types and trying to manage time on the test without a process in mind or a structure would be of little help.

4) Not Reviewing the error log enough.

I can't stress this enough. I ignored this suggestion while doing my prep. Note that I made a comprehensive error log. BUT I did not review it with sufficient depth and frequently.

If one needs to get a good score, they should spend I believe more time on analysing error logs than on taking tests and learning theory combined.

I realised this in the last few days of prep and that made all the difference. I did this:
I reviewed all error logs of RC CR and SC which combined would have more than 500Qs' error logs. I then made a summary of 10 Qs errors. So each error log excel sheet had 4 summaries. The next day I made a summary of those 4 summaries. So each sheet at the end had 4 error log summaries and 1 main summary. I made sure that I put the more frequent errors as the errors in the list and then I wrote the others in that priority order. This helped me cement my errors and helped me make sure that I do not repeat them again.

5) Not following a structured approach for studying
I am not used to this type of test-taking and thus, I was quite confused when I started my prep. As per my conversation with people I could just do questions and get ahead in the exam. This wasn't true in my case. My theory and ability, for the topics in the exam, were weak, thus I needed a structured approach towards learning.

The egmat 's course structure was perfect for me, as it gave me enough data points to visualise my mistakes and become better with every quiz and question.

There were many more mistakes from which I learnt a lot but these were the main mistakes, resolving which made all the difference.

Furthermore, there were some basic habits that I incorporated in my life during the preparation phase which definitely had a huge role in the increased ability.
Some of those HABITS are:

1) Switching my normal alarm clock to a task-based alarm clock. I recommend this alarm app: ALARMY.
You can find it on any app store. If you put an alarm in this app, the alarm does not stop ringing until you solve some addition/ multiplication or exercises or memory games. This was a game-changer for me as
a) this got me waking up early
b) I woke up with a habit of training my mind with math, thus, getting habituated with speed solving
c) the memory games and such tasks actually enhanced my mental ability over the course of the prep period, I believe

2) Not sitting in the room with a bed
This habit was also quite useful for me. I was studying 8-12 hours a day and when I was not excelling in the course, I felt quite sleepy and demotivated. When I sat in a room with a bed, I found myself taking short sleeping breaks which were intended to be of 5 minutes but ended up being of 1-2 hours. I also felt more energetic when I made this change. IDK what the psychological aspect behind this is, but it worked with me.

3) I did not eat or do any other activity on my study table/ area.
This surprisingly reduced the distractions which would come my way when I was solving some uninteresting parts of the course.

4) Practiced Regular Pranayama (Breathing exercises and Yoga)
This increased the blood flow in my mind and body when I woke up and significantly increased my attention during prep and even while I was giving the test. I made it a point to incorporate some exercise (even on 12-hour study schedule I made it a point to incorporate at least 15 minutes of body training)
Some interesting Exercises which helped increase the blood flow to my mind: (you can search on the net)
a) Sirasan and handstands
b) Anulom Vilom
c) Bhramari
d) Surya Namaskar
e) Bodyweight exercises like Variants of Pushups/ Shadow boxing etc

5) Measured my study time
It helped me keep track of all the time I was wasting, avoid procrastination and also plan my study schedule efficiently.
In the beginning, I kept track of time to the minute but as I progressed I increased the time tracking variance range to 5 minutes.

6) I made sure I took sufficient nutrition and drank enough water.
This made a huge difference. Especially when I realised that my Vit D Deficiency made me so lethargic that I was not able to concentrate and thus, underperformed in my learning phase.

These points might seem silly while you read them, but they made such a huge difference in my study routine and even post GMAT that I can't stress their importance enough.

I hope this gives you a perspective and helps you choose the most suitable learning path for YOU.
All the best.