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dcummins
Joined: 14 Feb 2017
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GMAT 1: 560 Q41 V26
GMAT 2: 550 Q43 V23
GMAT 3: 650 Q47 V33
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dcummins
Joined: 14 Feb 2017
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Concentration: Technology, Strategy
GMAT 1: 560 Q41 V26
GMAT 2: 550 Q43 V23
GMAT 3: 650 Q47 V33
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GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
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For anybody who missed it, dcummins graciously allowed some guy to interview him on the GMAT Club YouTube channel. Details and links to the full video are available here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/from-430-to- ... l#p2437205.

I also posted this on the video thread, so apologies for the redundancy, but here's my favorite nugget from the interview:

dcummins studied for the GMAT for 2,272 hours



There are some killer stories of perseverance on this forum, but this one might officially be my favorite. (Also: in comparison, I'm a lazy bum.)

Congrats again!
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dcummins
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GMAT 1: 560 Q41 V26
GMAT 2: 550 Q43 V23
GMAT 3: 650 Q47 V33
GMAT 4: 650 Q44 V36
GMAT 5: 600 Q38 V35
GMAT 6: 710 Q47 V41
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GMATNinja
For anybody who missed it, dcummins graciously allowed some guy to interview him on the GMAT Club YouTube channel. Details and links to the full video are available here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/from-430-to- ... l#p2437205.

I also posted this on the video thread, so apologies for the redundancy, but here's my favorite nugget from the interview:

dcummins studied for the GMAT for 2,272 hours



There are some killer stories of perseverance on this forum, but this one might officially be my favorite. (Also: in comparison, I'm a lazy bum.)

Congrats again!


It was a pleasure to chat with you Charles.

I did a skim through to see if there was anything too personal in here and at a glance there isn't, so here is my actual study log across the 3 years:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3qx2uog7t1ljf ... .xlsx?dl=0

Pretty crazy, but studying the GMAT became habit and that habit built and built.
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I now have a dedicated folder named 'dcummins' in my laptop. It contains all the relevant documents(whichever i could find) so that whenever i want to refer, i can.

Congratulations..!!
Saw all your videos and man i can relate that to what i am going through the same. Happy that i already do one(answering questions and putting them on GMATclub threads just to ingrain the concepts) of the things that you mentioned in your debriefs. I hope to continue it with better explanations :) .

All the best with your applications.!! :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Hi dcummins,

your story inspire! :please :please :please

I've taken 4 attempts already (max score: 660) and it seems I reached a plateau at some point... Such stories are so important for all of us who are trying not to give up along the way! :angel:

Sincere congratulations!!
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dcummins - Impressive determination. Saw your "interview" with Charles.. indeed impressive.. Wish you the best with applications :)
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I can totally understand what you went through over this long period of time dcummins. Great perseverance! I am happy that you could cross the 700 barrier. Congratulations and all the best for your application.
dcummins
Guys, i'm on the train heading home. I'm on a high...Finally. FINALLY! 710!


Back in February of 2017 I took a diagnostic and scored 430.
My official scores then went like this (as per my sig)
560 (Q41, V26)
550 (Q43, V23)
650 (Q47, V33)
650 (Q44, V36)
650 (Q48, V31)
600 (Q38, V35)
710 (Q47,V41)


I can't believe it. So many thanks to give, so few words that my dehydrated,and malnourished brain can process right now..

I really need to make a few quick mentions.

MartyTargetTestPrep , ScottTargetTestPrep and JeffTargetTestPrep really changed my life for the better man.

Marty and I interacted in particularly interacted on a daily basis after crippling blow after blow. Marty man, I can't thank you enough. Your sophisticated methods, your advice to not get riled up and not let things phase me, your willingness to take sessions with me under the circumstances i've been under. Seriously I can't thank you enough.

Marty has been the cornerstone of my success in this whole journey and he has taught me so much about myself, psychology and critical thinking.

Scott - man I can't thank you enough for TTP. After using the Verbal content for TTP Verbal, I know it's going to kick ass as much or more than Quant.

Jeff - same goes to you man. I know there were times I'd ask you the same question again and again lol... and you still took the time to chat over the phone and stay calm.

I'm going to write a more elaborate post, but I need to also thank Neil Lukatch, who was introduced to me by Jeff, and Jesse Whelan (Sydney based), who was introduced to me by a friend I made after attending a GMAT session one time.

Neil is a great bloke. He is a master of the arts of grammar, and logical reasoning. Neil really tweaked me methods of thinking about SC and taught me the foundations and advancements of grammar that I never had.

I was introduced to Jesse late in my prep and worked with Jesse and Marty towards my final leg. Jesse introduced me to the Leitner Card system - this really really really helped me bring it all together. Jesse' advised me to undertake some BRUTAL methods - I did TWO exams back-to-back in one evening, finishing after 12am. Jesse helped bring it all together.



I also need to thank this community and a few members in particular:
@EMPOWERgmat - Rich, thank you for your course. In my early days with prep It did help me quite a lot.
GMATNinja - Charles, thanks so much for your detailed posts and explanations. I'll sift through many posts, often it'll be a case of the blind leading the blind, until I get to yours.



More to come. I'm getting off my train soon.

**UPDATE**


MY RECOMMENDED APPROACH TO GET A 700+ IN THE SHORTEST AMOUNT OF TIME



***UPDATED WITH MY PRACTICE SCORES OVER THE TIME****


NOTE - As you can see by the 'days between CATS' column in the below, there is some data missing. I didn't magically leap up to 600s like the data show, I didn't holistically track practice test scores in this period, but I will start to pull together data for the benefit of others and so i'm not misquoted.
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nayuop
man I can imagine how did you feel when you saw 710. not because I did same but just because of im exactly in your situation before geting good score and struggling with gmat but dreaming to get +700 . so big big congratulation .
i started study gmat from 2017 i guess went through many platforms and online courses (magoosh-egmat-....) after many attempts (maybe 6 times) i still have a problem to get even +600. im just tired of study and think every day of my life about GMAT.
and how you explained about your feeling in the test center its exactly the same for me. i go to any gmat real test with the feeling of I'm going to get middle 500 or sth...anxiety is always started by clicking to choose which school to report the score! lol but you know even though i still don't know what im gonna do for my next&last GMAT exam which is in end of feburary but you made hope for me that maybe this time gonna be different ...

All the very best nayuop. I hope you will crack the test this time! Please DM me about your result. I am excited to see you crack the test.
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dcummins
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Concentration: Technology, Strategy
GMAT 1: 560 Q41 V26
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GMAT 3: 650 Q47 V33
GMAT 4: 650 Q44 V36
GMAT 5: 600 Q38 V35
GMAT 6: 710 Q47 V41
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Thanks again for the recent interview GMATClub! Happy to help answer any questions that people have. Happy NY!
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Here's the interview that Dan is referring to in case anyone is curious.

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