A long journey from 460 to 640

Hello everyone, today I want to share my GMAT experience as you helped me so much in my preparation.

You may think 640 is not that much, but hey, for me, it is more than enough and my universities asked for +600, so I am fine.

My experience began in September 2021. I had studied for the TOELF all by myself and I went great, so I thought that I could study by myself again for the GMAT. It was going to go great... What could go wrong?...

The first thing I did was take GMAC's practice test to see what my level was. I got 530... not that bad... so I set my goal for 650 and I began studying.

I purchased the Manhathan's All the Quant & All the Verbal prep and I started reading and doing practice questions of the Official Guide 2021. In two months I had studied everything that was in the books and done a lot of practice questions. I was studying full-time, but I really studied like 6 hours a day. In that time I thought that I was studying a lot because I had surpassed the 120 recommended hours for the GMAT, but in reality I didn't give my best.

I began studying for quant, I studied Quant for a month and a half, and when I finished Quant I began studying Verbal, but study much less for this section, like 2 weeks. And I never studied for IR or AWA until 3 days before my test. Another mistake that I made was that I did not take weekly practice tests, I only did the one before starting to study and another one like 1 month later (and actually I got 500 in that one, so I was doing worse).

I did not feel ready to take my test, but the deadline for the universities were getting closer, so I decided to take it anyways. I thought that the minimum score I could get was 500 and one of my universities asked for 500 or more, so I figured out that at least I could apply for that one.

I took the GMAT at a test center on January 11. I got 460 (28Q, 26V, 2IR, 4AWA) and my heart dropped. I exited the test center feeling defeated and thinking that my dream of studying abroad was getting impossible. I was a top student in high school and in college, I had never failed a test so I felt pretty bumped out. However, I was not going to give up, I need to get a better score and fast, but this time I was not going to make the same mistakes, I knew the things I had done wrong.

I did introspection, I figured out that I need to study harder and smarter. This time I studied from 8am to 10pm everyday. I did a lot more practice tests. I signed myself in GMAT prep classes (2 hours 3 times a week). I read The Economist 30 minutes to get used to the Verbal passages. I studied alternating between Quant and Verbal, but I also studied for AWA and IR from the beginning, I wrote 2 essays a week. This time I did feel like I could understand the questions and what was asked of me, I knew the strategies and I had gotten more speed in my reading. In the last practice tests I took I was averaging 680-690, so I decided to take the test on March 24.

Everything was ready, I had to travel to another city to take the test on the center, but as soon as I arrived to the city, I got an email: your GMAT test is cancelled, please schedule another appointment. OMG, I felt so stressed, my universities deadline was May 1st and I know that sometimes GMAT official scores can take a little while. I went to the test center to find out why my test was cancelled and they told me that someone had stolen the internet cables from that part of the city and they didn't know when the service was going to be restored. Guys, I live in Venezuela, that was the ONLY test center in the country and my internet connection is not that good in my house.

I did not know what to do... I waited, I called GMAC, I called the test center everyday... They didn't give me any solution. So... I had to take the GMAT online... fine... I hope that everything goes well... I scheduled my test for April 9. I sit for my test, the proctor checks everything, I start my exam. Everything is going well. 5 minutes pass. THE POWER WENT OUT!!! I had an UPS for the wifi, so I could continue with my test for like 20 minutes until my laptop died out.

I was freaking out, I didn't know what to do. I took my dad's laptop and connected to my GMAC account. I could talk with the proctor and he told me that I had 10 minutes to go to another place with power or I had to rescheduled. I knew that that was going to be a problem, so I tried to rush to a friend's house in the other side of the city. But it took me 30 minutes. At that point, I didn't want to continue with my test, I was too stressed and too nervous to do well. However my proctor told me that I still had the chance to finished the test, so I continued. I felt like I was doing so bad in Quant so I tried to do my best and concentrate in Verbal. But it was very difficult. Did I mentioned that during the exam, my friend's dog entered the room and tried to play with me? I was mortified, I didn't want my test to get cancelled. I tried my best and continued. When I finished the test and I saw that I got 640 despite all the problems... I was on cloud nine really. I knew that I could have scored higher and maybe get 660, 670, 680. But I honestly was so happy that I managed to get more than the 600 I need it.

My happiness did not last much however... I got an email that my test was placed under administrative review and that I could take 20 business days. Guys, I didn't have 20 business days. The deadline was May 1. I talk to GMAC and they could do nothing to speed the process. I had to wait and send an email to my school... The next days I was so stressed. But finally!

I received my official GMAT scores on April 26 (12 business days) and I was able to submit my application! Everything went fine and I have an interview coming up. So, even though there was a lot of inconveniences I reached my goal (well, it was 650 but close enough). We gotta celebrate the small victories. So, here are my tips for studying and going a lot better than me:

- Study alternating between Quant and Verbal. This will help you to keep the material fresh and to not forget.
- Make notes and study cards so you can review everything later.
- Study for IR and AWA from the beginning too, they are also important as the universities also review those scores.
- Do at least 6 practice tests before sitting for your test. Make sure that you are constantly getting your target score before you take your test. Otherwise, continue studying.
- Read everyday at least 30 minutes to get used to the Verbal passages (The Economist, The New York Post...)
- Do a lot of practice questions from the Official Guide and keep an error log.
- Do not pass to another study subject until you can do right at least 10 practice questions. It is hard, but I found that that is the best way to stop making the same silly mistakes.
- I study for IR watching Youtube videos, I think it is better than reading a book for this section. And then I did the IR section of the Official practice tests.
- When you finish studying the theory, you can begin studying the different strategies.
- Time management is SUPER important, make sure you can finish the test in the time you have. If you can't, start looking for time management strategies, here in GMAT Club there are many.
- Remember that you have to finish every question in the test because otherwise you get a penalty. Another thing that is pretty important to know is that you have to tried not to make to mistakes in a row. If you skip a question, you have to make sure to get the other question right, take the time.
- Lastly, practice, practice, practice. You have to put the hours, don't let them tell you otherwise. You have to put a lot more than the 120 recommended hours.
- Practice meditatation and visualization. The first time I took for granted the importance of meditating, but it is very important to be focus and control nerves.

Finally, my favorite books for Quant were all the Veritas Prep book: they are so good for beginners, they are like GMAT for dummies books, really. And for Verbal: All the Verbal from Manhattan Prep is pretty good.

All my best wishes to you, you can do this and do it a lot better than me!!!