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Sep 1507:00 PM EDT
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Elite scores are possible when you enroll in a powerful GMAT course, taught live online + 6 months access to TTP OnDemand video courses included! Class starts Tues/Thurs Sept. 15, 2026 - Nov. 15, 2027, 7:00pm-9:00pm EST
Sep 1808:00 PM PDT
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Video explanations + diagnosis of 10 weakest areas + 150+ short videos + study plan!
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ay14n
Joined: 28 Nov 2024
Last visit: 15 Sep 2026
Posts: 2
Given Kudos: 5
Location: India
Schools: LBS '27 (S)
GMAT Focus 1: 675 Q83 V87 DI80 
GMAT Focus 2: 745 Q90 V87 DI84
GPA: 8.5
Products:
15 Sep 2026, 00:06
Kudos
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Background
Indian aviation finance professional with 4 years of experience in FP&A, BMS graduate from Delhi University. Decided to pursue an MBA to advance my career and change geography, primarily targeting the UK. I hadn’t taken a standardized test in several years but I was confident in my abilities because of my past success with exams like IPMAT, DUJAT and other entrance exams from years ago.
Scores
Initial Diagnostics
When I started my prep, I was confident I’d be able to nail quants from the beginning, and my fears lay in Verbal as I felt my attention span had reduced but I was shocked to see the official mock results, almost ashamed. Verbal was semi-decent but quants went horribly, and I attributed my DI score to unfamiliarity with the section and poor time management. I had to take a day to recoup, but then I decided to sit and plan to shake off the rust built over the years and work towards a score I’d be happy with representing me on my MBA applications.
Prep timeline
My initial prep spanned 8 weeks, where I mostly utilized the official prep materials alongside some GMAT Club questions. During this period, I went through the official guide’s medium and hard questions for all three sections and the additional official DI and Quant reviews with an overall accuracy of ~85%. I practiced mostly after work and spent 2 hours on weekdays and 5-6 hours on weekends. I then spent 2 weeks on mocks, scored in the range of 695-735, then scored 675 on my official attempt. My mock scores didn’t perfectly predict this, and I felt this was unrepresentative of my true abilities. I decided to step back and think if I wanted to re-attempt (thinking this score might be ‘satisfactory’) and I took a vacation. When I came back, I decided to give it one more shot but structurally this time. I decided to use Target Test Prep to help me improve quants and DI, and tighten time management. Finally, I gave my exam and scored a 745 with a Q90!
Study Plan and Resources
Quants:
I started with the official questions and exhausted the material fairly quickly. My quants strategy was very “brute-force” in nature: just practice lots and lots of questions, maintain a rough mental error log and try not to repeat the same mistakes again. Topics like probability and overlapping sets were especially tricky to me as I’d forgotten the basics, but I did not go back to the drawing board to relearn these, and instead tried to focus on my strengths and hope I didn’t get a large portion of these topics (probably my biggest mistake). My mock scores ranged between 78-89, and I ended up getting a Q83 on my official attempt. When I decided to restart my prep, I chose Target Test Prep because of their comprehensive question banks, video explanations and frankly amazing error log. This was the single most instrumental shift in my prep. I drilled down on my weak areas, used the video explanations for each wrong answer, logged my errors, and I was able to quickly consolidate the whole section as a strength. I’m not particularly well-organized, so the error log especially helped me identify recurring weaknesses and mistakes, and systematically fix them. Building pattern recognition was also an important aspect of my prep. After solving enough questions, the time spent thinking of an approach reduced drastically. The question bank was large enough to build this pattern recognition. Ultimately, TTP helped take my Q83 to a Q90.
Verbal:
I feel this section came naturally to me, which is opposite of what I’d expected the section to be. I was scared that a lack of reading over the years would have taken a toll on my performance but it hadn’t. I trusted my instincts with CR questions, and it was my greatest strength with consistent 95%+ accuracy across practice sessions. Long RCs were initially tough, but a random YouTube comment stayed with me - “tell yourself each RC is giving you new information you want to learn and you’ll find it easier to stay engaged”. Not only did this strategy help me stay focussed, it actually turned true, a passage about Latin America and its pottery roots got me interested enough to actually visit museums in Chile and Peru. I spent the least amount of time on this section, my mock scores remained in the 86-90 range consistently so I didn’t think much about it. Verbal was my greatest strength, and had the exact same score both times (could’ve been 89-90 but oh well).
DI:
Unlike a couple of my friends, I had no problems with instinct in DI questions. My primary issue was timing. I’d spend 5-6 minutes on several DS and TPA questions, which obviously reduced my ability to perform. Throughout my practice, accuracy stayed 85%+, but mock performance stayed low because I’d be rushing to complete the last 3 questions. The TTP course helped with DS too, quant-based DS questions were embedded within topics so it was easy to consolidate topic-wise understanding by practising all types of questions (especially helpful with overlapping sets, which particularly ate a lot of time for me). I implemented strict timing rules (5 questions done, 35 minutes; 10 questions done, 25 minutes remaining; 15 questions done, 15 minutes remaining) which actually helped me stay on track for TPA and MSR questions specifically. I’d also do sets of 15 questions with a timer of 25 minutes to stress-test and try to improve timing under pressure. This was instrumental in improving my DI timing and eventually, my final score.
Test-day Experience
I’d been to the same test center before for my initial attempt so I had one less variable to worry about. I arrived 15 minutes early, sat and kept reading the instructions document to “warm up” my reading. Exam order was Verbal, Data Insights and Quants. The Verbal section was probably the hardest I’d ever attempted. After completing it, I was so exhausted I decided to take the break and recoup despite originally planning to take a break after the second section. I went out, drank some water, put some water on the back of my neck and constantly told myself it’s fine and “I got this”. Went back in, finished the DI section. Then, after going through a tough quants section, I ended the exam. I had to cup my mouth when I saw the score, I just wanted to scream. 745 with a Q90! 100th percentile!! I was shaking when I raised my hand, left the center and I started screaming alone in the elevator going down.
Biggest Lessons and Takeaways (TL;DR)
Indian aviation finance professional with 4 years of experience in FP&A, BMS graduate from Delhi University. Decided to pursue an MBA to advance my career and change geography, primarily targeting the UK. I hadn’t taken a standardized test in several years but I was confident in my abilities because of my past success with exams like IPMAT, DUJAT and other entrance exams from years ago.
Scores
- First Official Cold Mock (31 March 2026): 495 (Q75, V79, D70)
- Initial Official Attempt (6 June 2026): 675 (Q83, V87, D80)
- Final Official Attempt (10 August 2026): 745 (Q90, V87, D84)
- Mock scores before the 675 attempt: 655, 695, 715, 705, 735, 695
- Mock scores before the 745 attempt: 715, 735, 755, 735
Initial Diagnostics
When I started my prep, I was confident I’d be able to nail quants from the beginning, and my fears lay in Verbal as I felt my attention span had reduced but I was shocked to see the official mock results, almost ashamed. Verbal was semi-decent but quants went horribly, and I attributed my DI score to unfamiliarity with the section and poor time management. I had to take a day to recoup, but then I decided to sit and plan to shake off the rust built over the years and work towards a score I’d be happy with representing me on my MBA applications.
Prep timeline
My initial prep spanned 8 weeks, where I mostly utilized the official prep materials alongside some GMAT Club questions. During this period, I went through the official guide’s medium and hard questions for all three sections and the additional official DI and Quant reviews with an overall accuracy of ~85%. I practiced mostly after work and spent 2 hours on weekdays and 5-6 hours on weekends. I then spent 2 weeks on mocks, scored in the range of 695-735, then scored 675 on my official attempt. My mock scores didn’t perfectly predict this, and I felt this was unrepresentative of my true abilities. I decided to step back and think if I wanted to re-attempt (thinking this score might be ‘satisfactory’) and I took a vacation. When I came back, I decided to give it one more shot but structurally this time. I decided to use Target Test Prep to help me improve quants and DI, and tighten time management. Finally, I gave my exam and scored a 745 with a Q90!
Study Plan and Resources
Quants:
I started with the official questions and exhausted the material fairly quickly. My quants strategy was very “brute-force” in nature: just practice lots and lots of questions, maintain a rough mental error log and try not to repeat the same mistakes again. Topics like probability and overlapping sets were especially tricky to me as I’d forgotten the basics, but I did not go back to the drawing board to relearn these, and instead tried to focus on my strengths and hope I didn’t get a large portion of these topics (probably my biggest mistake). My mock scores ranged between 78-89, and I ended up getting a Q83 on my official attempt. When I decided to restart my prep, I chose Target Test Prep because of their comprehensive question banks, video explanations and frankly amazing error log. This was the single most instrumental shift in my prep. I drilled down on my weak areas, used the video explanations for each wrong answer, logged my errors, and I was able to quickly consolidate the whole section as a strength. I’m not particularly well-organized, so the error log especially helped me identify recurring weaknesses and mistakes, and systematically fix them. Building pattern recognition was also an important aspect of my prep. After solving enough questions, the time spent thinking of an approach reduced drastically. The question bank was large enough to build this pattern recognition. Ultimately, TTP helped take my Q83 to a Q90.
Verbal:
I feel this section came naturally to me, which is opposite of what I’d expected the section to be. I was scared that a lack of reading over the years would have taken a toll on my performance but it hadn’t. I trusted my instincts with CR questions, and it was my greatest strength with consistent 95%+ accuracy across practice sessions. Long RCs were initially tough, but a random YouTube comment stayed with me - “tell yourself each RC is giving you new information you want to learn and you’ll find it easier to stay engaged”. Not only did this strategy help me stay focussed, it actually turned true, a passage about Latin America and its pottery roots got me interested enough to actually visit museums in Chile and Peru. I spent the least amount of time on this section, my mock scores remained in the 86-90 range consistently so I didn’t think much about it. Verbal was my greatest strength, and had the exact same score both times (could’ve been 89-90 but oh well).
DI:
Unlike a couple of my friends, I had no problems with instinct in DI questions. My primary issue was timing. I’d spend 5-6 minutes on several DS and TPA questions, which obviously reduced my ability to perform. Throughout my practice, accuracy stayed 85%+, but mock performance stayed low because I’d be rushing to complete the last 3 questions. The TTP course helped with DS too, quant-based DS questions were embedded within topics so it was easy to consolidate topic-wise understanding by practising all types of questions (especially helpful with overlapping sets, which particularly ate a lot of time for me). I implemented strict timing rules (5 questions done, 35 minutes; 10 questions done, 25 minutes remaining; 15 questions done, 15 minutes remaining) which actually helped me stay on track for TPA and MSR questions specifically. I’d also do sets of 15 questions with a timer of 25 minutes to stress-test and try to improve timing under pressure. This was instrumental in improving my DI timing and eventually, my final score.
Test-day Experience
I’d been to the same test center before for my initial attempt so I had one less variable to worry about. I arrived 15 minutes early, sat and kept reading the instructions document to “warm up” my reading. Exam order was Verbal, Data Insights and Quants. The Verbal section was probably the hardest I’d ever attempted. After completing it, I was so exhausted I decided to take the break and recoup despite originally planning to take a break after the second section. I went out, drank some water, put some water on the back of my neck and constantly told myself it’s fine and “I got this”. Went back in, finished the DI section. Then, after going through a tough quants section, I ended the exam. I had to cup my mouth when I saw the score, I just wanted to scream. 745 with a Q90! 100th percentile!! I was shaking when I raised my hand, left the center and I started screaming alone in the elevator going down.
Biggest Lessons and Takeaways (TL;DR)
- I recognized what wasn't working, stepped back, took a break, changed my preparation methodology, and attacked the weaknesses systematically. For me, TTP was very helpful in bringing out my quants ability to its maximum. A low score doesn’t define your ceiling, your approach might.
- Error logs are game-changing (nobody is exaggerating when they say this). I’d make the same quants silly errors over and over. Having an error log to tell me how many times I’d repeated an error helped identify patterns and reinforce learning.
- Structured learning for weak areas is incredibly important, especially so if you’re strapped for time. TTP was the biggest change I made between the two attempts. The structured practice, explanations, and error log were especially important in enhancing my score. I’d wholeheartedly recommend TTP.
- Tell yourself you WANT to learn the information from an RC, and absorbing it will come naturally.
- Pattern recognition is key for time management, practice volume can shape how quickly you identify approaching a problem.
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