610 to 730 (Q50 V38) in 4 months using only Gmatclub for quant

If, like I was, you're looking for a 100+ point improvement, you're in for a rough road! That being said, my GMAT journey has been a very rewarding experience not only for my applications but also for my own self-confidence. At school I always half-arsed everything, so due to my mediocre grades I knew I had to prove what I'm capable of on the GMAT to have a chance at getting into a good postgrad school. To give some background about myself, I'm half French half Korean, and I have studied in a semi-target uni in the UK and I'm looking to do a pre-experience Master of Finance in Europe.



I score 610 on my diagnostic test using an official GMAT practice test. The breakdown was Q47 V28. I knew I had around 4 months to prepare before my applications needed to be submitted, and, unlike those applying for an MBA, I only had one shot since if I mess up I can't afford to wait for the following year. I don't have any relevant work experience lined up and unis definitely wouldn't accept someone who's done 2 years of irrelevant work. The first thing I did was research success stories. dcummins ' story shaped my strategy as well as the GMATNinja podcasts; dude I wish you had more episodes! The second thing I did was create a study plan. The plan included:
- Quant subtopic breakdown and dates of when I was going to study each section.
- Verbal subtopic breakdown and dates of when I was going to study each section.
- Regular review times.

Huge thanks to Bunuel for creating his Ultimate Quant Megathread, which was the only quant concept material I used. I really like how after explaining each new idea he hits you will a question that tests your understanding of that idea rather than most books that throws you a whole bunch of questions at the end of the chapter. My quant revision strategy had 4 steps:
- Firstly, I learnt all the concepts topic-by-topic untimed, yes, UNTIMED. This meant after learning a concept, I sometimes spent up to 10 minutes solving a single 600-700 level question. If you can't see how to solve the question in the first place then trying to speed up isn't going to work. While learning the concepts I made flashcards in excel for important concepts that I was unfamiliar with. For example, I would write 'if a triangle is inscribed in a circle and one side is the diameter, what is the angle opposite the diameter side?' then I would create a note for that cell and write '90 degrees'. In this stage, I used unofficial questions from MGMAT, Veritas, TargetTestPrep and Magoosh.
- Secondly, I did loads of topic-by-topic practice questions UNTIMED. For every question I solved, I would always try to see another way to solve the question. For example, on some probability questions, I would solve the question once using the regular probability approach, once using the reverse probability approach (1 minus the probability of something not happening) and once using the combinatorial approach. The reasoning was that on the real test, you're unlikely to get a question that is very similar to what you've seen before, so it's important to be mentally flexible and able to adapt. After solving each question in as many ways as I could think of, I would check other people's answers and see if there is a method that I missed, if there was then I would solve the question again using that method. This allowed me to discover new ways of solving the questions and learn which methods were the most efficient. I got to the point that when I read a 600-700 level question my brain would immediately come up with a list of the possible ways to solve the question. Then, all I would have to do is pick one and focus on not making arithmetic calculation errors. In this stage, I used unofficial questions from MGMAT, Veritas, TargetTestPrep and Magoosh.
- Thirdly, I focused on timing. Once I had concepts down and had a lot of practice problem exposure, I focused on topic-by-topic timing. I picked a topic, tested myself using my flashcards, and timed all the practice questions I did, even if I took 5 or 6 minutes. This way I got used to the pressure of a timer and I got a feel for how much thinking I could do in a 2-minute time frame. In this stage, I used official questions from Gmatclub's OG directory.
- Fourthly, I did diverse practise. Thus far I had only done a topic-by-topic study, but in the real exam I won't be 'in the zone' for one question type; instead, the test is going going to throw all types of questions. Bunuel made a great post about the different levels of understanding. Basically, you need to be able to perform at a high level for each topic without warming up that particular topic. I also set a time limit of around 2 minutes for 600-700 level questions and 2.5-3 minutes for 700+ level questions, by doing so I got used to knowing at which point I needed to guess. I used the Gmatclub's OG directory to access official questions.

For verbal, I used the Manhattan GMAT 'All The Verbal', Gmatclub's ultimate grammar book, and a lot of mikemcgarry 's articles. MGMAT verbal was great. There was one strategy I did differently and that was writing out ABCDE and ticking or crossing answer choices. A friend, who scored a 750, told me to use my fingers instead. I found this to be a much more efficient strategy than spending 10 seconds on each question and marking down answers. To be honest, I spent too much time on the Gmatclub Ultimate Grammar book because a lot of the book covers the very basics of the English language, some of which doesn't get tested on the Gmat. Huge thanks to GMATNinja for his official question solutions. Every time I would scroll down after solving a question and see his name, I would get excited knowing I'd get an easily understandable solution. I particularly like how he takes you through the question in the exact same logical steps that you would make while solving the question for the first time, rather than most others posts that simply state what's wrong in each answer. My strategy for SC was to study MGMAT, study Gmatclub's Ultimate Grammar book, and do diverse official practice questions. My approach to critical reasoning and reading comprehension was to study MGMAT, do topic-by-topic official practice questions, and do diverse official practice questions.

For integrated reasoning I did nothing. For AWA memorised chineseburned 's template, perhaps I should have done a few practice essays because I only managed to write 4 paragraphs on the exam. Fingers crossed I didn't bomb AWA.

I recorded all the hours I revised to keep myself accountable. I was working for the first 2 months of my study. During this time I averaged around 3 hours per day. 2 months before my exam I took time off work to push myself really hard. The idea was that I was going to push myself during the 3rd month and to relax for the final month before the exam. This way I maximised the amount of learning while still feeling fresh for the exam. I averaged 7 hours 50 minutes per day in the 3rd month and 4 hours 50 minutes in the final month. Overall I spent 660 hours studying.

My practice test scores in chronological order were as follows:
- 610 Q47 V28 GMATprep 1 diagnostic test.
- Q48 Gmatclub test
- 700 Q47 V39 GMATprep 2 after 3 months of revision after finishing the topic-by-topic untimed practice.
- 760 Q50 V44 GMATprep 3 after 3.5 months of revision after finishing the topic-by-topic timed practice.
- 710 Q47 V38 MGMAT mock after 4 months of revision.
- Q47 Gmatclubtest
- Q42 Gmatclubtest (i was tired)
- Q50 Gmatclubtest
- 680 Q45 V37 MGMAT mock after 4 months of revision. I shouldn't have taken this mock as I was tired and I had an energy deficit.
I didn't fully trust these scores as I was getting a far higher number of questions wrong than past ESR results showed for the same score.

In preparation for exam day, I deliberately slept poorly 2 days before the exam so I would fall asleep easier and stay asleep longer the night before the exam. I got this idea from one of the interviewees on GMATNinja 's podcasts. This strategy worked and I got 8.5 hours of sleep, according to my apple watch, whereas I usually get 7.5 on a normal day. I would only advise this strategy if you have tested it on yourself prior to the exam, as I did for a practice test. On test day I tested myself on my flashcards and then did 3 DS, PS, SC, and CR questions, which I got correct. I chose the section order Verbal, Quant, IR, AWA. The logic was that I wanted to be fresh for verbal and quant since they matter more than IR and AWA. I chose verbal first over quant because getting a high verbal score is more important to score a 700+ than doing well in quant. If you don't know what I mean, take a look at the scoring grid. You can score 700 with a 26th percentile quant score, but you need at least a 70th percentile verbal score to get 700. During the break, I had half a banana and a protein bar to keep my energy levels high. Quant was going ok but I ran out of time and had to guess the last question. When the score popped up on my screen I couldn't believe it. The possibility of getting 730 on the real test hadn't even crossed my mind. I thought at best I'd get a 700. I began laughing while tearing up. What a surreal moment! It has now been 2 days since I took the exam and it still hasn't yet sunk in.

I watched plenty of GMAT youtube stories before and during my studies. Listening to people's GMAT success stories boosted my morale, especially during those tough 8-9 hour revision days. I know my story isn't as sexy as a 430 to 710, but if any Gmatclub or Gmatninja guys want to make a video or podcast covering my 120-point improvement then I'm happy to give back to the community.­