From 480 to 690 - my GMAT journey

Hello,

My GMAT journey has officially ended, and I have been admitted to my number one choice. Below is a rundown of my marathon.

I started my preparation early June 2018, right after graduating from bachelor, with the 2018 OG Guides, and without having read much about the exam beforehand. My study schedule was sloppy and out-of-focus, and coupled with a flimsy study discipline, did not get far enough.
After doing my first exam - OG practice test 1 - and scoring in the vicinity of 500, my motivation plummeted and I stopped studying full time. I started an IB internship, which consumed most of my time - and energy -, and left the GMAT preparation aside altogether until January 2019.
From the latter date, I started a full time job in WM in a reputable bank and had more time after work than during my IB internship. Nonetheless, I was only studying every other day, without a proper schedule at hand, and unsure of my ambitions for the GMAT.
Fast forward to June 2019, and after having extensively inquired about master's program in Finance, I quit my WM position to start studying full time for the GMAT exam. This is where my "true" journey starts.

My goal: join LSE's MSc in Finance
Target Score: >700
Resources Used: i) mostly Manhattan books & its 6 practice exams, ii) GMATclub question banks, iii) GMAT official practice exams, iv) GMAT OG books

My study strategy was more of a hit and miss. I started trying different journeys on this forum, and applied them to see which one applied the best for me. After 2 months of experimentation, I found that I was most productive using a Pomodoro timer (40min, 5min, 4 cycles, 15min long pause) and 5 hours of effective study time per day (i.e. not taking into consideration breaks, etc), and Sundays off. I used this strategy for 3 months approximately, during which I also made a recapitulative word document with all that I was learning, in order to centralize my learning.
I took tests on a intuition basis, i.e. whenever I felt I improved and wanted to see where I stood.

In November 2019, I started applying for a full time job again in order to strengthen my application profile. At this point, I was no longer studying as much as before. At this point, I started studying as well for the AWA and IR sections and booked my final exam on the 10th of January 2020, and not to forget casual practice exams in real-life conditions to stay sharp. My scores were in my desired range; I felt confident.

D-day comes: no stress, some noise in the exam room but nothing loud enough to distract me from the exam. My timing was off in Verbal, which jeopardized my score for what i reckon were 2 points in Verbal. Full score breakdown is attached to this post.

Although I was disappointed of not breaking the 700 barrier, I decided it was not worth to pay 250 EUR again for reaching a 720 max, which I reckon would not have changed my application profile much under the eyes of admission committees. However, my AWA and IR scores were good enough to contrast my sub-700 score.

I took 2 weeks "off" after my exam, and then I started redacting my motivation letters for unis. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago, and I have an offer for the MSc in Finance at LSE!

Additional info:
- Age: 23 right now (1997)
- Origin: South America
- Bachelor: International Business in a non-target university in France
- GPA: 3.7 (15.5/20, but above 16.7 on all finance related courses)
- Professional experience: all in the finance field: finance dpt at a logistics company, IB, WM and now S&T


Date Score Q V IR Source
04/08/18 480 27 29 4 OG
10/03/19 630 44 32 5.9 MH
05/07/19 620 39 36 4.5 MH
29/08/19 650 45 34 N/A MH
18/09/19 660 47 33 5.2 MH
23/10/19 660 45 35 2.4 MH
07/11/19 630 40 36 3.1 MH
16/12/19 700 49 35 7 OG
21/12/19 770 50 44 2 OG
22/12/19 690 46 38 N/A MH

10/01/2020 Official Exam 690 48 36 8 AWA: 5.5
Respective percentiles: 85% 67% 80% 92% 80%