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Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
It took almost 4 years to achieve 700+ score. I still remember it was 18 Feb 2018 when I woke up at 4:00 am and I was clear that I want to prepare for the GMAT. I opened my laptop and did a few google searches and landed on gmatclub. The gmatclub not only helped me in getting acquainted to the GMAT exam and its syllabus but also helped me in shortlisting on-demand GMAT courses. It's been a while since then. My son who was 3 years old then is now 7 years old. Looking back, I think I have missed a lot of fatherhood time and other aspects of my personal life. Obviously, I had to compromise a lot of things in this arduous journey. I will try not to turn this debrief into a poignant story so I am jumping directly into what went well and wrong.
2018
As per my logs on average I devoted 100 hrs each month. Clearly, putting a number of hours in studying is not enough to score a 700+ score. On the day of the exam, I knew that I would not score a stellar 700+. I was hoping to get 600-620 or 650 if I get lucky. However, I got 530. I was crestfallen. In Quant, I got 48, and In Verbal, "17".
What went wrong?
- Before the test, I knew that my CR was very weak. I needed more time for prep.
- I thought my RC was okay but in reality, it was brazenly poor.
-- The RC materials that I was referring to were not of good quality (I was reading magazines such as national geography and the history)
- I thought that I was good at SC but I realized after another year that my SC was also weak.
2019
I had taken Magoosh on-demand course. After getting a 530 score, I reached out to Magoosh and its team members were very helpful. They explained to me what I was doing wrong and extended my membership by another 6 months.
As I mentioned earlier, I thought that I have to only improve my CR and RC, so I gave more time to RC and CR than SC.
- Daily I was spending 2 hrs reading the economist
- Followed the Magoosh 3 months advanced plan. Here is the linkto the Trello board that I created for it.
- Bought expert global 15 tests so that I can practice mock over the weekend.
Result of all of this: I was getting sporadic 700+ mock scores. Sometimes I used to get 710 or 720 but most of the time my score ranged between 620-650. Clearly, something was wrong. And it was at this time I realized that my SC is affecting my score. However, it was too late and my exam date was 1 week away. I went to the exam and wished that my starting few questions should be either RC or CR. However, my first 3-4 questions were SC, and boom! I freaked out and ended with 640 (V30 and Q48). There was another blunder that I did in the exam. Best to show it using ESR report. Look at the average time I took to answer a wrong questions in Quant.
Take away after 2019:
- Improve SC
- Better time management in Quant
2020
To improve my SC, I referred gmatclub and a lot of members suggested watching Ron's video. I think throughout my journey that is the best thing happened to me. I met Ron
Amazing teacher! I highly recommend watching his video. Especially if you are a non-native. A lot of tutors say that SC is all about meaning but they don't have the magic of Ron. The way Ron has explained the meaning-based approach is just phantasmagorical.
In 2020, I devoted a lot of time to SC. Going through OG multiple times focusing on individual topics. Doing so really helped me improve my overall score. However, I was still struggling with completing tests on time: in both verbal and quant. Result: I scored 590 (v25 and q48) in the official test. Why 590? Because of work from home, I had increased workloads and hence, was completely out of practice. Plus poor time management was still an issue. In the end, I wasn't able to complete the exam on time. I had to guess the last 5-6 questions of verbal and struggled to manage time in quant as well.
2021
In 2021, I just focused on quality than quantity. I knew that my knowledge of SC, CR, RC, and Quant can get me 700+ score. So this year, I devoted more time to time management than to anything else.
- Bought veritas 7 tests
- Bought gmatprep exam 3-6
- Bought kaplan tests
Result:
Veritas tests range: 660 - 720
Kaplan tests range: 660 - 740
gmatprep 1: 740
gmatprep 2: 760
gmatprep 3: 650*
gmatprep 4: 710
gmatprep 5: 700*
gmatprep 6: 740
* Both exams I gave on Saturday evening and I was having trouble concentrating. I noticed that if I take a 1-day break between office work and exam , it helps to concentrate a little better.
GMAT official: 710 (Q49, V37)
How did I improve my time management?
Plan for Verbal
- Do each CR in 2min.
- Do each RC question in 2 mins
- Do each SC in less than 1:30 min (this feat took some time but in 2021 I focused more on this part)
- After every question, I used to track on my whiteboard what should be my expected time left and then, used to compare with the actual clock. Though by doing so I used to lose out 1;30 min during the entire test but it helped me in my time management so I stuck to it.
- Improved accuracy by using ABCDE grid lines to solve difficult questions. Using ABCDE grid lines really helped me to improve accuracy and speed.
Plan for Quant
- I noticed that it was in PS that I was taking too much of my time and was doing silly mistakes as well. Therefore, I devoted a lot of time to PS. I did more than 1000 PS questions on gmatclub to improve my accuracy and speed.
Summary
I am happy to score 710 but there is a catch to this score. I scored only 2 in IR
In my last attempt I scored 7 in IR but this time the questions were out of the syllabus 
Also, I think I can score 730 or 740. In all the gmatprep tests my quant score was at least 50 so I am not really merry with Q49. I am happy to solicit your views as to what I should do next? Give another try?
Sources I used.
1) Magoosh course
- Very good to clear your foundation.
- Good quality SC and Quant questions.
- Not so good to improve CR and RC but in its advanced study plan, it has suggested doing LSAT questions to improve CR and RC. A very forthright tutor.
2) LSAT exams for CR and RC.
- I did around 3500 LSAT CR questions - manhattan explanations are the best.
- ~30 LSAT RC sections (30x4 passages) - Kaplan explanations are the best.
3) Gmatclub test - best for quant prep
4) MathRevolution 1000+ PS questions on gmatclub
5) Ron's videos for SC
6) Manhattan navigator - for OG's SC questions explanations
7) Manhattan books
8) LSAT RC book by Powerscore - a must book to score V40+
9) Magoosh vocabulary builder app - I learned 1000+ GRE level words and it helped. In the official exam, some questions: 1 CR and 1 RC passage, had an advanced level vocabulary.
2018
As per my logs on average I devoted 100 hrs each month. Clearly, putting a number of hours in studying is not enough to score a 700+ score. On the day of the exam, I knew that I would not score a stellar 700+. I was hoping to get 600-620 or 650 if I get lucky. However, I got 530. I was crestfallen. In Quant, I got 48, and In Verbal, "17".
What went wrong?
- Before the test, I knew that my CR was very weak. I needed more time for prep.
- I thought my RC was okay but in reality, it was brazenly poor.
-- The RC materials that I was referring to were not of good quality (I was reading magazines such as national geography and the history)
- I thought that I was good at SC but I realized after another year that my SC was also weak.
2019
I had taken Magoosh on-demand course. After getting a 530 score, I reached out to Magoosh and its team members were very helpful. They explained to me what I was doing wrong and extended my membership by another 6 months.
As I mentioned earlier, I thought that I have to only improve my CR and RC, so I gave more time to RC and CR than SC.
- Daily I was spending 2 hrs reading the economist
- Followed the Magoosh 3 months advanced plan. Here is the linkto the Trello board that I created for it.
- Bought expert global 15 tests so that I can practice mock over the weekend.
Result of all of this: I was getting sporadic 700+ mock scores. Sometimes I used to get 710 or 720 but most of the time my score ranged between 620-650. Clearly, something was wrong. And it was at this time I realized that my SC is affecting my score. However, it was too late and my exam date was 1 week away. I went to the exam and wished that my starting few questions should be either RC or CR. However, my first 3-4 questions were SC, and boom! I freaked out and ended with 640 (V30 and Q48). There was another blunder that I did in the exam. Best to show it using ESR report. Look at the average time I took to answer a wrong questions in Quant.
Take away after 2019:
- Improve SC
- Better time management in Quant
2020
To improve my SC, I referred gmatclub and a lot of members suggested watching Ron's video. I think throughout my journey that is the best thing happened to me. I met Ron
Amazing teacher! I highly recommend watching his video. Especially if you are a non-native. A lot of tutors say that SC is all about meaning but they don't have the magic of Ron. The way Ron has explained the meaning-based approach is just phantasmagorical. In 2020, I devoted a lot of time to SC. Going through OG multiple times focusing on individual topics. Doing so really helped me improve my overall score. However, I was still struggling with completing tests on time: in both verbal and quant. Result: I scored 590 (v25 and q48) in the official test. Why 590? Because of work from home, I had increased workloads and hence, was completely out of practice. Plus poor time management was still an issue. In the end, I wasn't able to complete the exam on time. I had to guess the last 5-6 questions of verbal and struggled to manage time in quant as well.
2021
In 2021, I just focused on quality than quantity. I knew that my knowledge of SC, CR, RC, and Quant can get me 700+ score. So this year, I devoted more time to time management than to anything else.
- Bought veritas 7 tests
- Bought gmatprep exam 3-6
- Bought kaplan tests
Result:
Veritas tests range: 660 - 720
Kaplan tests range: 660 - 740
gmatprep 1: 740
gmatprep 2: 760
gmatprep 3: 650*
gmatprep 4: 710
gmatprep 5: 700*
gmatprep 6: 740
* Both exams I gave on Saturday evening and I was having trouble concentrating. I noticed that if I take a 1-day break between office work and exam , it helps to concentrate a little better.
GMAT official: 710 (Q49, V37)
How did I improve my time management?
Plan for Verbal
- Do each CR in 2min.
- Do each RC question in 2 mins
- Do each SC in less than 1:30 min (this feat took some time but in 2021 I focused more on this part)
- After every question, I used to track on my whiteboard what should be my expected time left and then, used to compare with the actual clock. Though by doing so I used to lose out 1;30 min during the entire test but it helped me in my time management so I stuck to it.
- Improved accuracy by using ABCDE grid lines to solve difficult questions. Using ABCDE grid lines really helped me to improve accuracy and speed.
Plan for Quant
- I noticed that it was in PS that I was taking too much of my time and was doing silly mistakes as well. Therefore, I devoted a lot of time to PS. I did more than 1000 PS questions on gmatclub to improve my accuracy and speed.
Summary
I am happy to score 710 but there is a catch to this score. I scored only 2 in IR
In my last attempt I scored 7 in IR but this time the questions were out of the syllabus Also, I think I can score 730 or 740. In all the gmatprep tests my quant score was at least 50 so I am not really merry with Q49. I am happy to solicit your views as to what I should do next? Give another try?Sources I used.
1) Magoosh course
- Very good to clear your foundation.
- Good quality SC and Quant questions.
- Not so good to improve CR and RC but in its advanced study plan, it has suggested doing LSAT questions to improve CR and RC. A very forthright tutor.
2) LSAT exams for CR and RC.
- I did around 3500 LSAT CR questions - manhattan explanations are the best.
- ~30 LSAT RC sections (30x4 passages) - Kaplan explanations are the best.
3) Gmatclub test - best for quant prep
4) MathRevolution 1000+ PS questions on gmatclub
5) Ron's videos for SC
6) Manhattan navigator - for OG's SC questions explanations
7) Manhattan books
8) LSAT RC book by Powerscore - a must book to score V40+
9) Magoosh vocabulary builder app - I learned 1000+ GRE level words and it helped. In the official exam, some questions: 1 CR and 1 RC passage, had an advanced level vocabulary.
Attachments
File comment: 2021 detail
2021-detail.png [ 64.19 KiB | Viewed 4265 times ]
File comment: 2020 detail
2020-detail.png [ 65.42 KiB | Viewed 4273 times ]
File comment: 2021 data
2021.png [ 23.65 KiB | Viewed 4225 times ]
File comment: 2020 data
2020.png [ 23.77 KiB | Viewed 4226 times ]
File comment: ESR part
ESR 640 Quant.png [ 80.39 KiB | Viewed 4236 times ]
File comment: 2019 data
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File comment: 2018 data
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12 Oct 2021, 09:22
Kudos
Bookmarks
Outstanding and very commendable journey Harsh. Very inspiring...from V15 to V37. That's incredible.
12 Oct 2021, 16:28
Kudos
Bookmarks
harsh8686
Nice description of your valiant work over four years. It seems that you became more focused as time went by and utilized the learning that you gathered.
The question though relates to the above quote. What exactly did you mean when you said that the (IR) "questions were out of the syllabus"? Did you mean that they related to subjects that you were unfamiliar with or something else? All of GMAT questions are very standardized and IR is no different. The question patterns normally are as described in the official guides.
A clarification may help those who may be puzzling about whether IR questions have changed. There haven't been indications about such changes from others. Good luck on your applications.
