December, 2002 my first attempt at conquering GMAT I ended up with a score 500. Now, a year and a half later I am in the process of deciding whether I should go to Yale or Carnegie Mellon. Day and night, what a difference. I still remember that day, it was a Friday afternoon, and after sitting in front of the computer screen in the test center for more than 3 hours I had a gut feeling that this was not my day. After 6 months of preparation I thought I would at least get a 630 on my exam, but 500? Needless to say I did not have a good Christmas that year. I am not that type of person who give up easy, after been depressed for a couple of days I decided to try it one more time. I sat down and designed a study plan for myself, did a little SWOT analysis on myself. My biggest weakness is the verbal section, I guess I could use be a non native English speaker as an excuse for my poor performance on the verbal section but again GMAT doesnтАЩt measure how well you understand English, it measures how well you understand the ETS English. I did relatively better on my Q section, but I understand for me if I need to get 700 or better I need to get 49 or better. The second time I gave myself 4 months to prepare the GMAT, at the time I was a junior in University taking 5 classes. So on top of my school work I set aside 2 hours everyday to study GMAT. My plan was very straight forward, practice, practice, practice, and more practice. I used two books as my study guide, the OG which everyone has and the Kaplan study guide. The Kaplan study guide is the same book Kaplan students use in their $2,000 GMAT course. WhatтАЩs even better is that my study guide is the TeacherтАЩs edition which has all the additional footnotes on it. It talked about what questions are important and how to explain these questions to the students. One thing I did wrong during my preparation for the first test was that even though I did a lot of practice questions but I did not spent too much time on the explanations of the questions. Especially for the OG verbal, the explanations give you a clear picture on how people at ETS make up their questions. So in 4 months I redid all the questions on the Kaplan and OG three times and basically memorized the explanations. Four months later I can just look at the questions and know the answer instantly. I seen some posts people claim that they study for 2 or 3 weeks and got 700+ on their first try. I donтАЩt know how much truth is in those, I guess I have to admit some people are really smart, but for the rest of the 99% of us there is no short cut but practice. April, 2003 I took the GMAT for the second time, I had 700 Q49 and V36, a 200 points improvement. I almost yell out loud when I saw the score on the computer screen. I was a little disappointed about my V scores, but still it was huge improvement from the first test. I remember during the V section I had 12 RC in my first 15 questions which was a little overwhelming for me but I took time because I know how important the first 15 questions are. Get a good GMAT score was only the first step, the application process took me about 5 months. So far I have received acceptance letter form Yale and Carnegie Mellon and still waiting to hear from Stanford and NYU. Also I am graduating in one week from my undergrad program. I am glad that I am all done, but I could not do all this without the support of my families and friends. The only advice I can give people is that do not give up and practice is the key. Share your experience with people on this forum, I am sure you will find that you are not alone and many people feel the same way as you feel. IтАЩll be moving out of my apartment in two weeks and since I donтАЩt need the GMAT study materials anymore, if anyone is interested I still have the Kaplan study guide ( teacherтАЩs edition ). It is the same book used in the $2000 Kaplan GMAT course. You can reach me at Suhangg@yahoo.com .

Last visit was: 18 Nov 2025, 20:51

It is currently 18 Nov 2025, 20:51

Toolkit

Share GMAT Experience

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

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.

Go to My Error Log Learn more

Request Expert Reply

Confirm Cancel

Nov 18
GMAT Quiz #50 - Live GMAT Practice Covering Quant, Verbal, RC, & Data Insights
11:00 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 22
GMAT RC Masterclass
11:00 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
Conquer Algebra on the GMAT Focus Edition
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 25
Try OnDemand GMAT Masterclass
10:00 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.

Back to Forum

Create Topic

500 to 700, my road to MBA

1 2

anandobhattacharya

Joined: 30 May 2005

Last visit: 30 Jun 2005

Posts: 48

Own Kudos:

Posts: 48

Kudos: 1

30 Jun 2005, 08:15

Kudos

Bookmarks

What an inspiration!

BULLdoser

Joined: 01 Jul 2005

Last visit: 03 Jul 2005

Posts: 24

Kudos: 0

01 Jul 2005, 18:15

Kudos

Bookmarks

Hi,Congrats for your awesome achievement!Last month I took GMAT
but could mop up only 510(41Q,19V).I feel utterly depressed.I've just found this forum & overwhelmed by its content; I'm also greatly moved by your achievement.Can you guide me in following fields,
1)I'm a full time worker.I can spend max 20 hrs in 7 days . From today onwards when should I schedule my 2nd attempt?(I'm now eyeing for GMAT only,regardless of admission itinerary).
2)Should I take it by 2005,otherwise ACT may change the test pattern FOLLOWED BY ETS
3) I've got these materials
KAPLAN2005 +CD
PR2005+CD
KAP800
PR VERBAL(JUST PURCHSED)
PROF DAVE BOOK+CD
OG(LAST TIME I GOT THIS 5 DAYS PRIOR TO MY TEST)

osanchez

Joined: 03 Jan 2006

Last visit: 03 Jan 2006

Posts: 1

Kudos: 0

03 Jan 2006, 20:51

Kudos

Bookmarks

Hello-
I am new to the forum. I found it through google and have found it very useful so far. Your story appeals to me since I just took the GMAT just before xmas and got a 550. I know I can do better, but I need a plan. I read your story. Can you tell me if spent the same amount of time in both verbal & math? what other tips could give me??

kinka

Joined: 29 Nov 2005

Last visit: 02 Sep 2008

Posts: 12

Own Kudos:

Posts: 12

Kudos: 1

12 Jan 2006, 15:31

Kudos

Bookmarks

great story!!!

Adil

Joined: 09 Oct 2006

Last visit: 04 Dec 2006

Posts: 23

Own Kudos:

Posts: 23

Kudos: 5

09 Oct 2006, 03:20

Kudos

Bookmarks

Hi it is a really inspirational thread, I like it since I am not native speaker so my verbal part is a weak part. Thank you for sharing your experience. I feel confident that I will get a higher score

dm2824

Joined: 22 Feb 2007

Last visit: 19 Jan 2017

Posts: 3

Kudos: 0

22 Feb 2007, 12:02

Kudos

Bookmarks

Hi, I need someone to advise me with the approach I should adopt to improve my GMAT Scores.

First Attempt: 570 (45Q,23V,AWA 5.0)
Second Attempt: 570 (44Q,25V,AWA - waiting to get)

Cleary Verbal is my weak point, can someone suggest what should I do to improve the scores to 700+.

Miracleman

Joined: 02 May 2007

Last visit: 08 Jul 2007

Posts: 5

Kudos: 0

02 May 2007, 17:53

Kudos

Bookmarks

Thank you for that great post, just a quick question, the Kaplan guide is the same one used for the prep class then? Or is it just the teachers guide you had mentioned? On the side note, what are the advantages of joing a prep class then? Thanks you!

bsjames2

Joined: 26 Dec 2007

Last visit: 24 May 2008

Posts: 48

Own Kudos:

164

Posts: 48

Kudos: 164

26 Dec 2007, 15:46

Kudos

Bookmarks

Where can I get an error log?

cdriscoll26

Joined: 29 Dec 2007

Last visit: 03 Jan 2008

Posts: 4

Kudos: 0

29 Dec 2007, 16:10

Kudos

Bookmarks

your story was just such an inspiration. Thanks you for that. Yale accepted you without your undergrad degree?? how did you handle your work experience in the application?

Cooper2248817

Joined: 10 Sep 2007

Last visit: 01 Mar 2009

Posts: 52

Own Kudos:

Posts: 52

Kudos: 13

30 Dec 2007, 03:23

Kudos

Bookmarks

congrats

jfals82

Joined: 06 Apr 2007

Last visit: 24 Aug 2010

Posts: 63

Own Kudos:

Location: Provo, UT

Posts: 63

Kudos: 6

01 Jan 2008, 16:21

Kudos

Bookmarks

cdriscoll26

your story was just such an inspiration. Thanks you for that. Yale accepted you without your undergrad degree?? how did you handle your work experience in the application?

I would love to hear about your MBA application as well. Getting into those top schools with no work experience would be impressive. Did you have any work experience?

Founder

Joined: 04 Dec 2002

Last visit: 18 Nov 2025

Posts: 42,384

Own Kudos:

82,110

Given Kudos: 24,105

Location: United States

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

GPA: 3

Products:

Expert

Expert reply

GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42 Verified score

Posts: 42,384

Kudos: 82,110

04 Jan 2008, 14:25

Kudos

Bookmarks

bsjames2

Where can I get an error log?

There are many versions - probably as many as there are applicants. Here is one example: 8-p413244?t=57790&hilit=error+log#p413244

TheCloakedMonk

Joined: 03 Sep 2010

Last visit: 26 Apr 2011

Posts: 42

Kudos: 0

10 Oct 2010, 10:09

Kudos

Bookmarks

Super awesome. Thanks for the inspiration.

MHIKER

Joined: 14 Jul 2010

Last visit: 24 May 2021

Posts: 942

Own Kudos:

5,644

Given Kudos: 690

Status:No dream is too large, no dreamer is too small

Concentration: Accounting

Posts: 942

Kudos: 5,644

14 Jan 2011, 23:12

Kudos

Bookmarks

thanks

ZahraK

Joined: 08 Jan 2011

Last visit: 27 Feb 2011

Posts: 33

Own Kudos:

Given Kudos: 31

Posts: 33

Kudos: 2

18 Jan 2011, 12:46

Kudos

Bookmarks

Thanks so much! This is very helpful!

1 2

Moderator:

Founder

42384 posts

Prep Toolkit

Announcements

Master in Management, Finance, Business Analytics and more Master’s Programs!

Solving 705+ Level MSR Questions with Data Synthesis Skils

Tuesday, Nov 18, 2025
10:30am NY / 3:30pm London / 9pm Mumbai

Live Profile Evaluation Chat Session with ARINGO

Wednesday, November 19, 2025
09:00 am PDT | 10:30 pm IST
Location: GMAT Club Chat

Top GMAT Focus Debriefs

	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $79 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Target Test Prep - Save up to $325 $200 Discount + $79 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

500 to 700, my road to MBA

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards