8 Months to 760! (Q49/V44/IR8) (Online vs. In-person) GMAT Debrief

After 8 months and well over 300 hours of studying, I have finally completed my GMAT journey with a 760 (Q49/V44/IR8). Over the past several months I've found reading others' debriefs to be very helpful, so I'm writing this in the hope that I can help someone else with their journey.

Background
I started preparing for the GMAT last December. It was important to me that my study plan was sustainable as I'm also working a full-time job in consulting. I typically studied 1.5-2 hours every night and took days off whenever I needed to for work or life. For me, studying for the GMAT was much more about incremental progress over a long period of time. I'm aiming to apply to MBA programs in 3-4 years, so there was no rush for me to take the GMAT. Also, with everything shut down from Covid, now was the perfect time to get it out of the way.

Preparation
I purchased the 6-month plan of Target Test Prep and tracked my progress in a detailed Excel file. This helped in two ways: 1) to check that I was on pace to complete TTP before my test date 2) to keep myself honest about the actual effort I was putting in. I can't recommend TTP strongly enough. If you can dedicate the time required to complete their study plan, there is no better option. It took me about 250 hours to complete all of the lessons and tests for both quant and verbal. Target Test Prep has an awesome feature where you can create an unlimited number of custom tests using a random sample of their questions. I used this feature to take multiple 'pre-practice tests' before I took any official mock exams. TTP also allows you to limit the question sample to only include questions you have previously missed, so I took a few 'error log' exams as well. I took 2 official practice exams (730 and 770) before my 1st official attempt (720, Enhanced Online). I then took a month off before taking 2 more practice exams (740 and 770), my 2nd official attempt (Technical Error, Enhanced Online), and my 3rd official attempt the very next day (760, In-Person Test Center).

First Official Attempt (Online) - 720 (Q48/V41/IR7/AWA6)
Registered for 9:30am on a Saturday. I started the proctoring process a little after 9:15am. Everything went smoothly until the proctor tried to enter the access code for my exam. I sat in awkward silence for 45 minutes watching the proctor repeatedly type in codes to no avail… I had already shown my workspace, but eventually I asked for permission to get up to use the restroom. Over an hour after I had joined the session, the proctor was finally successful and able to start my exam. Because I got up, she asked me to show my workspace again without issue.

The lockdown browser was very laggy and glitchy. Sometimes I would click the radio button for an answer and it would take 5+ seconds to register. I also experienced some glitches with clicking 'Next' and 'Confirm' to move on to the next question. I think I lost at least 3-4 minutes of time just from the horrible lockdown browser. The software was particularly bad during the essay -- sometimes I would type an entire sentence before it would appear on the screen. Any input was delayed, so moving my cursor to correct typos was also tedious. Despite this, I still managed to put together a decent essay and received a 6.

I opted to start with the quant section. The first few questions seemed fairly easy and I flew through them. By midway I was well up on time (~5-6 minutes). Overall, I felt that the quant section was slightly more difficult than the mocks. My score (Q48) was in-line with my mocks (Q47 & 49).

The verbal section was rough. I live downtown in a major city next to a construction project, so I deliberately registered for my exam on a Saturday to avoid distractions... Naturally, this was the one day that the city decided to repair the railroad near my apartment. Throughout my entire exam workers were hammering away with a pneumatic drill. While this didn't affect me too much during quant, I really struggled to focus during the verbal section. In addition, I felt that the RC passages were significantly more difficult than on the practice tests. One passage was about a complex biologic process and another described an astronomical phenomenon. Both used very technical language that was difficult to remember, so I had to burn time constantly referring back to the passage. Disappointingly, my verbal score (41) was lower than my mocks (44 and 46).

I decided before the exam that I would definitely retake if I received a 710 or lower and would be happy with a 730 or higher… thus leaving me on the fence about my 720. After a few days of reflection, I decided that I was going to retake it. I think the proctor delay, hammering noise, and first-time test anxiety impacted my performance, and I felt like I was capable of more (~740). Given the amount of time I had invested at this point, I thought it was worth trying again in a few weeks for a better score.

Retake Preparation
After my first attempt I went on vacation and took the rest of the month off from studying. I changed my opinion every other day on whether it would be worth retaking, but deep down I knew that I would regret not giving it another chance. I initially tried to go without TTP and just use GMAT Club resources to prepare. After a few days I caved. The lack of structure and familiarity was overwhelming, so I went back to TTP for a 1-month plan. I used their custom test feature to make individual 20 question tests on each chapter. Completing these tests helped me review and identify which topics I was weakest on.

After I was back in the swing of things, I started doing more practice problems from GMAT Club to get more familiar with the way GMAC writes questions. While TTP is very good at teaching you the concepts needed to excel on the GMAT, their questions tend to be written in a straightforward manner. I also took the free GMAT Club Practice Exam. Do NOT trust the results they give you. I got a 660 on the GMAT Club Test a week before I got a 760 on the real thing - but it is valuable for more practice. I also took two more official practice tests, scoring a 740 and 770.

Second Official Attempt (Online) - Technical Error
Learning from my previous mistakes, I scheduled my next online exam for a Sunday morning (illegal to use construction equipment). I connected with the proctor, and she typed the exam access code in without issue this time. I started my exam… but immediately I wasn't able to select any of the answer choices. There was a 30 second lag from when I would click the bubble to when it would fill in. There was a similar delay after clicking the "Next" button to advance to the next question and another delay for the next question to load (up to 30 seconds). I told my proctor that the software was not working and after 4 questions she paused my exam. She told me to force restart my computer. When I tried to rejoin, there was no link to rejoin the call. I had to contact Examity support to get reconnected. This time the lockdown browser didn't launch the exam but instead the MBA,com website. Rinse & repeat. Force restart, contact support, reconnect. Except now I couldn't open the task manager, so I had to uninstall Slack and Webex. The proctor resumed my exam, and this time the software was at least usable. There was still a 10-20 second delay each time I selected an answer choice… Over the course of a 36 question verbal section, that's ~10 minutes of wasted time. I was FLYING trying to answer questions as quickly as I could as if I was on Jeopardy. I still was running extremely low on time at the end. With 5 questions left the software stopped working altogether. I watched as 2 whole minutes ticked by when I couldn't select an answer. The whole time I was pleading with my proctor that this is ridiculous. She finally paused the exam again. This time she attempted to contact GMAC, and I waited 45 minutes before she said there was no response. She asked me what I would like to do, and I requested to just end the exam. It appears on the MBA,com website as a "Technical Error" and I have yet to see if I will get a refund. One of the least pleasant experiences of my life.

For reference, I'm using a brand new laptop with a 500+ mbps internet connection… The problem wasn't on my end.

Third Official Attempt (In Person) - 760 (Q49/V44/IR8)
Studying for the GMAT had dragged out long enough already, so I was not about to wait any longer to take this test. After the online disaster, I immediately registered for the soonest available in-person GMAT anywhere near me. Thankfully, I was able to find a spot for the next day within walking distance (perks of living downtown in a major city). I cleared my work calendar for the afternoon with less than 24 hours' notice. Wasn't great, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do.

The Pearson test center experience was 100,000x better than the online experience could ever be. Lightning fast software, perfectly quiet room (and earmuffs!), and no distractions.

I started with verbal, my natural strong suit. After my first exam, I realized that my score would almost completely hinge on whether or not I nailed the verbal section. There were maybe only 1 or 2 questions that I wasn't sure about. According to my ESR, it seems I only got 2 questions wrong (both inference RC questions of above average difficulty). The verbal section was very comparable to that of the mock exams.

Quant was next. I lost 30 seconds by taking too long on my break (oops!). The quant section was extremely difficult right from the start (I wonder if the algorithm considers how well you did on the previous section?). I was triaging questions left, right, and center. I felt like I guessed on almost 1/3 of the questions (some I managed to narrow down). I started getting a few questions that seemed too easy and I worried that I bombed the test, but my ESR doesn't show any apparent drop in question difficulty (consistently medium-high). I focused on answering the questions I knew how to do as quickly as possible to allot extra time on others. If any question took more than 3 minutes and I still wasn't near an answer I cut my losses and moved on. My ESR seems to suggest I got 5 questions wrong (think a few others I missed may have been 'experimental' questions). In my opinion, this quant section was definitely more difficult than the official practice exams.

IR was pretty typical. The trick to doing well on IR is to read the question first so you know what's important before looking at the passage/graph. It's also key to get familiar with how the GMAT formats tables, charts, and graphs. They all pretty much look the same, so they're very easy to read after that. According to my ESR, I didn't miss a single question on IR.

Essay was straightforward. There are several good guides out there on GMAT Club or TTP about how to write the GMAT essay. The software worked perfectly in the test center, so I had no issues completing a solid essay. I haven't received my score yet, but I fully expect to get a 6.

Summary
- Can't thank TTP enough for building such a great course. I really believe anyone who completes TTP is capable of a 700+.
- Strongly recommend taking the test in-person in a testing center. The online GMAT was a horrible experience (twice).
- Be patient and focus on getting 1% better every day. Find what works for you and stick with it. Studying for the GMAT is a mental marathon, not a race.

Below is a summary of my performance on the practice and actual exams.


Please feel free to ask any questions you have! I'm more than happy to help. Good luck!!!