GMAT 700 (Q48, V37) - 95% Self Study

Hi All,

Let me start this with BIG "Thank You" to Gmatclub. Without "You Guys " my journey would have been quite different and I would not have met the many people who inspired me throughout my journey of GMAT (It is not end for me yet ). I think my debrief would help a lot of people who are working professionals and are struggling with their preparation.

My journey starts back in Jan 2022, (You can see my Gmatclub joining date ) when I decided to start with the GMAT and receive b-school admit by applying in R1 ( I was having 4.5 years of WE by then which I considered good for b-school admits), but as is the case with most of our plans, they do not work out. During the initial phase, I interacted with few people and read reviews on Gmatclub regarding various prep companies and thought of starting with one of them. I took a course of 4-months validity and thought of getting done with the GMAT in the next 4-5 months and apply for b-school in R1. Seems a pretty good plan...right??

As mentioned earlier, destiny had something else planned for me in '22. (Just to give you a bit personal background, I am working as a Technology consultant in an American MNC, now nearing 6 years of WE). First 1 month was good as I was going though all the prep materials, gave a mock (not official) to get a base score. The score was bad enough to make me think twice if I can improve enough in the next few months. Then comes the first shock, my company asked me to go on an international assignment in an African country for 1 year. I though that I must keep my prep going on as I am there since I can always come back in between and give my GMAT. I made myself up to go ahead with the assignment and thought all will go well.

The second shock comes in the form of how will I execute my study plan. The place where we were stationed had slow internet and many of the sites do not work in that country. Plus my work schedules were hectic and tiring. The other important aspect was to keep myself motivated since you aren't allowed to go anywhere outside due to security concerns. (Just to give you the background, in most African Nations you aren't allowed to go to public places without proper security arrangements). Alongside this, my subscription of 4 months prep plan was nearing expiry and I can see that nothing was going as I planned it to be. I gave up on my prep and thought of continuing it once I am back in my home country after the assignment.

Finally, there was some ray of hope when I was informed that I will be pulled out of that country as the project deadlines and priorities changed. Now after spending some good 4 months there, I was back in India. I took 2 weeks off work to meet my family and friends. I was confident that I will have to start from zero in my GMAT preparation. The one good thing that happened in between all this was, I came to know about Charles (GMATNinja ), and this made me take few good decisions during my study phase.

Lets now give you all my actual prep timeline. So here it goes -

Sep '22 - Came Back to India, took time off.
Oct '22 - Festival month in India (Durga Puja, Diwali etc). Not good time to start any prep.
Nov '22 - Started with my prep. Did not take up a course.
Dec '22 - 2 weeks gap in prep due to work assignment.
Jan '23 - 1 week gap in prep due to work assignment.
Feb '23 - 1 week time off
Mar '23 - Prep continuing (First month without any gaps)
Apr '23 - 14th - "The Day"

You guys can interpret my total prep timeline in your own ways. Now the next question comes what materials did I follow so here the list goes -
1. GMATNinja Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@GMATNinjaTutoring
For verbal prep, the videos covered in this channel are self sufficient for any target score. Mark my words "They are the best videos in the market".
2. Gmatclub Forum - I would recommend solving official question in Forum with timer and use the default error log to analyze your errors. The section has great analytics to analyze your percentage errors in each question type alongside various difficulty levels.
3. Gmatclub Tests - I would recommend the test package mostly for Quant since they have many great questions. All thanks to legendary quant GOD (@bunuel). I can guarantee that by taking all the available Quant CATS you can master GMAT Quant section easily. Just solve the questions and analyze your approach/errors.
4. Manhattan SC Book - This is a great material to learn all the necessary concepts in SC and application principals.
5. OG - Based on target score solve all available questions. As my target score was 700+, I solved all medium & hard Quant questions alongside all easy, medium & hard Verbal questions. (I started with a V12 ). I didn't buy the Quant and Verbal review. Maybe I buy then this time.
6. YT Videos - All prep companies had a ton of YT videos explaining various concepts and strategies regarding the GMAT. You can nitpick whatever works for you. (Manhattan and Magoosh has a ton of great videos). Lastly, GMATclub channel as a host of videos featuring Charles and other great instructors. Do check them out.

Before the final GMAT, I gave a total of 3 official mocks. Scores were as follows (640, 660, 730).

I hope you guys were able to have a fair bit of idea regarding my gmat prep in the last few months. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the "ENTIRE GMATCLUB COMMUNITY" with special mention to - Charles (GMATNinja), Karishma (KarishmaB), Bunuel (Bunuel), Sajjad (Sajjad1994)

If anyone would like to know any specific details or my exam day exam day routine I am happy to share.

My relation with Gmatclub is there to last forever.

Cheers!