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ab2809
Current Student
Joined: 19 Oct 2019
Last visit: 15 Jul 2022
Posts: 3
Given Kudos: 19
Location: India
Schools: Tuck '24 (A) Ross '24 (A)
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V36
Products:
25 Jun 2021, 03:24
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Bookmarks
I started studying for GMAT around July 2019 end. At the time, I didn't have an iota of a clue on how much time it would end up taking me to reach here.
First attempt:
I scheduled my exam for Nov 7, 2019 and started preparing for verbal.
Studied SC for 20ish days and straight away did a few questions - from egmat and OG but in hindsight, my focus was always on making the process as quick as possible without understanding or focusing on the 'right' way of doing things. After SC, I did the same exercise for CR and then for RC and my accuracy was never consistent.
In October, I realized after my first mock - an abysmal 570 - that I won't be able to take my exam on Nov 7, so I rescheduled it to Dec 26. This time I focused a bit on the process, but not as much, because the concepts I had done in my first leg (july - sep) were not done the right way so it didn't help.
When I talk about doing the concepts right and applying the process, what I mean is
- understanding the meaning in SC
- applying the understanding of the meaning in SC
- reading the argument in CR and visualising it simultaneously, keeping in mind the premise and conclusion
- prethinking in CR
- reading the passage in RC and making para summaries
My prep in the first attempt was all over the place which ended up in a 680 (q48v35). This wasn't a surprise as my mock scores were between 680-700 consistently before this. The q49 on mocks translated into a Q48 on the actual exam and I was not surprised. eGMAT's quant course back then was half of what it is now, which is VERY detailed BTW.
Second attempt: July 11, 2020 - 680 (v34q48)
Started studying for this sometime in mid April - brushed up on quant till May or so, moved on to SC - instead of reviewing the whole course again on egmat, I just revised through some of the notes I had. BAD BAD DECISION IN HINDSIGHT. If you don't do something right the first time around, there's no point repeating the same thing again. It doesn't benefit anyone, as is evident from my result. I did do a few LSAT passages for RC and also read the Powerscore Bible for CR. I am not saying i didnt know the concepts. I would definitely agree that everything in my case was all over the place and I was always in a hurry. Funny how I spent 2 years doing this.
I did score a 710 (v38q49) and 740 (v41q49) on my mocks before this but I don't remember being very confident about the results.
I will repeat - it's not like I didn't know anything. I had just prepped in a way that I was hardly confident about stuff - especially SC and RC. RC was a weak area and SC was something I hadnt done perfectly from the first time I started prepping.
Third attempt: Jan 3, 2021[/b] 690 v35q49
After my second attempt in July, I realized I will do everything right this time around. I bought TTP and started doing quant. Without a date in mind and with the sheer length of the course, I ended up spending forever on the course. I didn't complete it, though I found utility in whatever I studied there. Spent 4 months on and off here, no consistency though. November mid onwards I started focusing on verbal. Did the same thing I was doing in the previous attempts - question after question, little time spent on reviewing mistakes, no solid error log to review mistakes. Of course I was better this time around than my previous attempts but it wasn't significant enough to make a difference. My mock scores were in the 710 range with v38q49.
I took this one online and booked the date randomly one afternoon, thinking that a stress free attitude would translate into a better score. Stupid decision.
Fourth Attempt: June 2021 710 v36q49
With each attempt, my mental health was going further downhill. I had started questioning myself, doubting my capabilities right from the first one but never did a solid post mortem. Even if I did it, it didn't translate into my prep.
This time I knew that I could afford to take only ONE LAST attempt before giving up. I got in touch with the egmat team. Dhananjay (DJ) was ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL TO WORK WITH. He had a session with me after my third attempt where he dissected my weaknesses, reasons for my mistakes, and gave me a path forward. We were going to focus on concepts (whatever was weak esp), cementing and test taking. We also realized that practising test taking would be a bit tough this time around because I had few fresh questions left in verbal and one gmatprep mock in total.
We started with quant - FYI, egmat has changed its quant course and the new course is a delight. It is extremely detailed and provides you tremendous data points within the course modules itself before you move to cementing.
I started doing quant all over again. This was also partially because I told DJ that my q49 in the third attempt was by fluke imo. I started understanding the PROCESS of doing things in quant also this time around - translating the problem statement, inference, understanding constraints, visualisation etc. Then I applied this to the questions. Started making error logs which DJ used to review and give me suggestions. My prep was slow (bcoz I was slightly occupied with personal stuff till March/ Apr) but it was THOROUGH.
I started verbal sometime in May. Went through my SC notes and did a few questions. Realized tenses and modifiers were def a weak area. Instead of doing question sets in a row, I went back to the course and watched all the videos here. This was a separate pack that was then embedded in the course itself. TOTAL GAME CHANGER! These reallly helped me solidify my concepts, made me focus VERY DEEPLY on the meaning aspect of the process.
For CR, I watched the assumption module again and started with basic questions first from the concept file for each topic. Another exercise I did was to pick 10 questions 700+ level from OG, visualised those, applied the right process and made solutions for those in my own words.
For RC, if I am being honest, I didn't do as much as I could have.
My error log was on point and very detailed.
In the score you see a 1 point improvement in verbal, and a 20 point improvement overall. It wasn't as easy as it seems through the absolute change in points. Also this time I know my quant was def not by fluke. I know I can do way better now, but R1 deadlines are approaching and I think I am happy with what I have.
My advice to anyone taking the exam:
- pick a course and follow it to the T. eGMAT is GREAT imo.
- spend a lot of time the first time around if that's what you need so that you don't have to go through this cycle of lows. It costs you time, money and most importantly, your mental health
- study CONSISTENTLY. don't give yourself breaks. don't make it an on and off affair.
- error logs are an absolute MUST. And it isn't sufficient to say 'didnt understand meaning' or 'missed prethinking'. GO DEEP INTO WHY YOU WENT WRONG. WHAT STEP YOU FALTERED AT.
- don't get affected by who's getting what with how much prep. We all know people who were getting 680 in mocks or 700 max and ended up with a 720-740 on the real exam. Just because they can do it because they got 'lucky' does NOT mean you can. Prep well, prep RIGHT.
All the best!
First attempt:
I scheduled my exam for Nov 7, 2019 and started preparing for verbal.
Studied SC for 20ish days and straight away did a few questions - from egmat and OG but in hindsight, my focus was always on making the process as quick as possible without understanding or focusing on the 'right' way of doing things. After SC, I did the same exercise for CR and then for RC and my accuracy was never consistent.
In October, I realized after my first mock - an abysmal 570 - that I won't be able to take my exam on Nov 7, so I rescheduled it to Dec 26. This time I focused a bit on the process, but not as much, because the concepts I had done in my first leg (july - sep) were not done the right way so it didn't help.
When I talk about doing the concepts right and applying the process, what I mean is
- understanding the meaning in SC
- applying the understanding of the meaning in SC
- reading the argument in CR and visualising it simultaneously, keeping in mind the premise and conclusion
- prethinking in CR
- reading the passage in RC and making para summaries
My prep in the first attempt was all over the place which ended up in a 680 (q48v35). This wasn't a surprise as my mock scores were between 680-700 consistently before this. The q49 on mocks translated into a Q48 on the actual exam and I was not surprised. eGMAT's quant course back then was half of what it is now, which is VERY detailed BTW.
Second attempt: July 11, 2020 - 680 (v34q48)
Started studying for this sometime in mid April - brushed up on quant till May or so, moved on to SC - instead of reviewing the whole course again on egmat, I just revised through some of the notes I had. BAD BAD DECISION IN HINDSIGHT. If you don't do something right the first time around, there's no point repeating the same thing again. It doesn't benefit anyone, as is evident from my result. I did do a few LSAT passages for RC and also read the Powerscore Bible for CR. I am not saying i didnt know the concepts. I would definitely agree that everything in my case was all over the place and I was always in a hurry. Funny how I spent 2 years doing this.
I did score a 710 (v38q49) and 740 (v41q49) on my mocks before this but I don't remember being very confident about the results.
I will repeat - it's not like I didn't know anything. I had just prepped in a way that I was hardly confident about stuff - especially SC and RC. RC was a weak area and SC was something I hadnt done perfectly from the first time I started prepping.
Third attempt: Jan 3, 2021[/b] 690 v35q49
After my second attempt in July, I realized I will do everything right this time around. I bought TTP and started doing quant. Without a date in mind and with the sheer length of the course, I ended up spending forever on the course. I didn't complete it, though I found utility in whatever I studied there. Spent 4 months on and off here, no consistency though. November mid onwards I started focusing on verbal. Did the same thing I was doing in the previous attempts - question after question, little time spent on reviewing mistakes, no solid error log to review mistakes. Of course I was better this time around than my previous attempts but it wasn't significant enough to make a difference. My mock scores were in the 710 range with v38q49.
I took this one online and booked the date randomly one afternoon, thinking that a stress free attitude would translate into a better score. Stupid decision.
Fourth Attempt: June 2021 710 v36q49
With each attempt, my mental health was going further downhill. I had started questioning myself, doubting my capabilities right from the first one but never did a solid post mortem. Even if I did it, it didn't translate into my prep.
This time I knew that I could afford to take only ONE LAST attempt before giving up. I got in touch with the egmat team. Dhananjay (DJ) was ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL TO WORK WITH. He had a session with me after my third attempt where he dissected my weaknesses, reasons for my mistakes, and gave me a path forward. We were going to focus on concepts (whatever was weak esp), cementing and test taking. We also realized that practising test taking would be a bit tough this time around because I had few fresh questions left in verbal and one gmatprep mock in total.
We started with quant - FYI, egmat has changed its quant course and the new course is a delight. It is extremely detailed and provides you tremendous data points within the course modules itself before you move to cementing.
I started doing quant all over again. This was also partially because I told DJ that my q49 in the third attempt was by fluke imo. I started understanding the PROCESS of doing things in quant also this time around - translating the problem statement, inference, understanding constraints, visualisation etc. Then I applied this to the questions. Started making error logs which DJ used to review and give me suggestions. My prep was slow (bcoz I was slightly occupied with personal stuff till March/ Apr) but it was THOROUGH.
I started verbal sometime in May. Went through my SC notes and did a few questions. Realized tenses and modifiers were def a weak area. Instead of doing question sets in a row, I went back to the course and watched all the videos here. This was a separate pack that was then embedded in the course itself. TOTAL GAME CHANGER! These reallly helped me solidify my concepts, made me focus VERY DEEPLY on the meaning aspect of the process.
For CR, I watched the assumption module again and started with basic questions first from the concept file for each topic. Another exercise I did was to pick 10 questions 700+ level from OG, visualised those, applied the right process and made solutions for those in my own words.
For RC, if I am being honest, I didn't do as much as I could have.
My error log was on point and very detailed.
In the score you see a 1 point improvement in verbal, and a 20 point improvement overall. It wasn't as easy as it seems through the absolute change in points. Also this time I know my quant was def not by fluke. I know I can do way better now, but R1 deadlines are approaching and I think I am happy with what I have.
My advice to anyone taking the exam:
- pick a course and follow it to the T. eGMAT is GREAT imo.
- spend a lot of time the first time around if that's what you need so that you don't have to go through this cycle of lows. It costs you time, money and most importantly, your mental health
- study CONSISTENTLY. don't give yourself breaks. don't make it an on and off affair.
- error logs are an absolute MUST. And it isn't sufficient to say 'didnt understand meaning' or 'missed prethinking'. GO DEEP INTO WHY YOU WENT WRONG. WHAT STEP YOU FALTERED AT.
- don't get affected by who's getting what with how much prep. We all know people who were getting 680 in mocks or 700 max and ended up with a 720-740 on the real exam. Just because they can do it because they got 'lucky' does NOT mean you can. Prep well, prep RIGHT.
All the best!
30 Jun 2021, 11:39
Kudos
Bookmarks
ab2809 - congratulations on crossing the 700 barrier. I know a 20-point improvement may seem trivial, but it can make an enormous impact in the end. Here is an example of a student who was rejected at 680 but received full fellowships from the same schools when he improved his GMAT score to 720.
I am really glad that you started applying those process skills. Many people fail to improve because they do not apply process skills.
I am glad that you used the strategic review process while building your error log and went deep into the behaviors that were causing the mistakes. I have seen many students improve their ability drastically once they start using the new error log template.
This was key. The fact that you had all this data allowed DJ to create those hyper-specific milestones. Once you hit those milestones, that improvement had to happen.
Overall, thank you for staying consistent and for putting in the effort despite this being your fourth attempt, and good luck for your application.
-Rajat
Quote:
I am really glad that you started applying those process skills. Many people fail to improve because they do not apply process skills.
Quote:
I am glad that you used the strategic review process while building your error log and went deep into the behaviors that were causing the mistakes. I have seen many students improve their ability drastically once they start using the new error log template.
Quote:
This was key. The fact that you had all this data allowed DJ to create those hyper-specific milestones. Once you hit those milestones, that improvement had to happen.
Overall, thank you for staying consistent and for putting in the effort despite this being your fourth attempt, and good luck for your application.
-Rajat
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