3 years to 730 | MikeScarn

3 years to 730

The GMAT is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Though I did not take an initial Diagnostic (because I was afraid it would discourage me), I estimate that my baseline was around Q27 V28 ~480~

Background
Went to a small, non-prestigious school in the South. Got a degree in Marketing. Was always a well-rounded student in high school and college. I usually got a ~3.6 GPA. What I lacked in test performance, I made up for with hard work. I always felt I spent twice as much time studying as the smart kids in order to get similar scores.

I always thought standardized tests were some sort of an IQ test, so I wrote them off thinking that I wasn’t smart enough to do well. While not confident in my natural abilities, I have always prided myself on my perseverance and work ethic… The GMAT has taken that pride to a whole new level.

When I initially started my gmatprep, I thought it would be great to go to a well-known in-state school. But after stumbling upon some inspiring GMAT debriefs, I learned that the GMAT could be learned and that it wasn’t a test of natural intellect after all. It could be conquered through hard work. This was very exciting for me, so I decided I would do whatever it takes and would muscle my way to a score that I would have never dreamed of. “Even if it takes me years!” I said… Little did I know that it would literally take me 3 years lol.

Phase 1 - Quant
Shortly after undergrad in the fall of 2017, I began my GMAT journey. As an American with a Marketing Degree, I knew I would be starting from the bottom in Quant. I was right. In my first Gmat Club Quant CAT, I scored a Q27. I exclusively studied Quant for 1 year. In September of 2018, I scored a Q46 in a Veritas CAT. I decided to call that a win and look at Verbal for the very first time.

Phase 2 - Verbal
In September 2018, I took my very first look at Verbal. As I mentioned, I scored a V30 in a Veritas CAT. As a native speaker, I had always assumed that my Verbal baseline would be relatively high, and that all I really needed to do was conquer Quant. I was on the home stretch (I foolishly thought)!

Long story short, I spent ~9 months~ almost exclusively studying Verbal. So naturally, my Quant abilities faded.

Phase 3 - Quant and Verbal
I started consistently taking full length CATs in the Summer of 2019. I didn’t get my first 700+ CAT score until September 2019 when I scored 710 on GMAT Prep #2. Unfortunately, 10 days later, on my very first Official GMAT I scored a Q42 V37 650. Then, after 3 months of intense Quant Prep, in December 2019, I scored a Q47 V28 610.

Long story short, I moved across the country for a new job, but continued to study during my free time. Finally, today, September 21st 2020, I achieved my goal.

Test Day Experience 9/21/20:

Same routine as always:
I made a nice breakfast. Did some warm up questions and reviewed flashcards while eating. Had a cold shower. Made some coffee. Relaxed for about 15 minutes and then headed to the test center.

Packing list:

• Drivers License
• Mask
• Coffee for the car ride
• Protein Bar and Red Bull for the breaks in-between sections

Quant:
Overall, it felt pretty good. There were some tough DS’ that due to time, I just had to guess between C or E. But overall, nothing too hard.

Verbal:
The CRs felt really hard. I grasped the stems decently well, but some of the answer choices were tricky
SCs were meh.
RCs I grasped well, but like CR, they had some tricky answer choices.
I had to rush through the last 4 questions (2 SCs and 2 CSR) due to time.

With a tired brain, I clicked my way through IR and typed up AWA without too much effort. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and prayed that the next screen would have a 7 in the hundreds place.

Q50 V38 - 730!!!!

Guys, seriously, I never dreamed of Q50. My goal has always been Q47-Q49. I couldn’t believe it… I still don’t believe it. I was absolutely ecstatic. I walked outside of the test center and yelled pretty loudly.

Got to my car and messaged harvard2019 with the good news. He called me to congratulate me.

I drove home and blasted hype music the whole time.

Thanks
bb - Thank you for building this website and community. Without it, I would have never been inspired to shoot for the stars. I owe you a beer the next time we’re in the same city and COVID is gone. And thank you for the encouragement and support.
Bunuel - I learned most of my Quant fundamentals through your explanations as well as the Gmatclub Math Book. Thank you for your contributions to gmatclub.
GMATNinja - You’re the man. Thanks for being the Verbal version of Bunuel. I learned much of my Verbal fundamentals through your elegant and sometimes funny explanations.
nightblade354, Arro44, harvard2019, billionaire, emockus, mykrasovski, and many more through the years - Thank you for your guidance and support along the way. Knowing that you guys were out there studying as well made it easier for me to decide to spend my time studying.

Official Test Scores:

• GMAT #1 | 9/11/2019 | Q42 | V37 | 650
• GMAT #2 | 12/19/2019 | Q47 | V28 | 610
• Online GMAT 6/29/2020 Q42 | V39 | 660
• GMAT #3 | 7/27/2020 | Q44 | V35 | 650
• GMAT #4 | 9/01/2020 | Q44 | V41 | 690
• GMAT #5 | 9/21/2020 | Q50 | V38 | 730

Interesting Notes:
- I lived in 3 different cities, and had 3 different jobs/roles throughout this journey. Switching jobs and moving to new places is time consuming!
- According to my Master Spreadsheet, I have 1239 hours of dedicated study time. This is probably a conservative number.

GMAT CATs