From 610 to 730(Q51,V36)-Hardwork and self-belief!

Hello People!
I did not contribute a lot to the forum during my prep and I feel like I owe this forum atleast a de-brief of my experience.
I took my GMAT exam today and I am extremely satisfied with my score:730(96th%le),Q51(97%ile),V36(81%ile).

My Background:

20 years old,currently a final year undergraduate student from Mechanical Engineering department,IIT Kharagpur. Grew up in Guntur,a hot South Indian town. A Binge-Watcher and a cricket enthusiast!

My story:

I always had MBA as my long term goal but I never thought I would give GMAT so early in my career.I was shortlisted for the 2nd round of ISB's YLP program and I had to submit my GMAT scores before the deadline(which was 31st August,2016).Little did I know when I first scheduled my test on 14th August that I was going to re-schedule it twice and finally give it on 28th December, 2016(today!)

Before starting my prep I did go through some de-briefs.I did not realize how difficult it is to score above 700.After reading many de-briefs,I felt motivated and set my target as 750.Looking back,this was one of the best decisions I ever took.Because,if you aim for the stars,you will atleast land on the moon
I did few quant questions online and few verbal questions and everything felt so basic and easy.I seriously underestimated the GMAT exam.So,I decided to take a "diagonistic" mock test as many suggested.BAM!!

My diagonistic score was 610.Q50,V23(33%ile!).I was immediately brought to earth or maybe I crashed down to the earth
I realized that I seriously lacked the basic skills required for the Verbal section of GMAT.This was when I came across @e-gmat.I had attended one of the free webinars by Rajat and I fell in love with the concept of core skills.

I registered myself on e-gmat and their courses are definitely worth every penny you invest.I thank Rajat,Shraddha,Krishna and Payal for all the courses and very prompt responses to queries Meanwhile I started solving OG-13 and OG was the only material I used for Quant(to be honest,I invested very little time in quant)
Days became months and after 3 months of continual preparation,I finally completed most of my e-gmat course and 70-80% of OG questions.I felt that it is time for me to give a mock test.

• Mock 1(19th Dec):690(Q50,V31).I was not too dejected because I still had a major chunk of RC course to be completed on e-gmat.
• Mock 2(22nd Dec):740(Q50,V40).I was very happy.I just hoped that I can replicate this score on the test day.
• Mock 3(24th Dec):700(Q50,V34).Disappointed.Wondering if the previous score was just a fluke.
• Mock 4(26th Dec):710(Q50,V35).Again disappointed.Lowered my expectations.
• Test Day(28th Dec):730(Q51,V36).Extremely satisfied.Got Q51(which was a sour grape for me!) and got a decent Verbal score(although not my best )

My two cents:

1. Set a test date.For those who are starting out,please set a test date and do not postpone it.I postponed mine twice and I regret doing that!
2. Believe in yourself.This is very important.There are going to be phases when you are going to be very disappointed.Just don't give up and don't underestimate yourself.If you don't believe in yourself,who else will?
3. Stick to one prep course.Be it e-gmat,be it Magoosh or be it any other prep course.Just stick to one.Complete it and apply it.Don't do bits and pieces from everywhere.It is just going to drive you crazy!
4. Get out of comfort zone.Initially I used to spend a lot of time on quant.Why?Because I was comfortable in it!But it did not help me improve my Verbal score.So,until you get out of your comfort zone,you are not going to improve your score.
5. Read De-briefs.Whenever you are bored or feeling low,read de-briefs.It makes you believe that GMAT can be conquered!
6. Make your own notes.Be it online or a hardcopy. I made online notes and I used to refer it whenever possible.This notes can contain anything ranging from basic grammar rules to very specific mistakes you did.Just going through it every now and then helps.
7. Look for wrong answers.While solving SC questions,don't just choose the right option.Understand why the remaining 4 options are wrong.This helps you in elimanating wrong answers and improves your timing.
8. Time your practice.The pressure of ticking clock makes you do weird things.Make sure you are comfortable with it.
9. Don't do anything before the test day.Your mind must be fresh on the test day and the test day must not be a recovery day for your brain
10. Don't skip AWA and IR.While doing the mock tests,don't skip AWA and IR.Do them seriously and try to replicate the mental drain that you will face on the test day.Also time your breaks.
11. OG is your bible.For any GMAT test taker,OG and GMAT Prep software must be treated as holy books.Solve them thoroughly.Make sure to keep an error log.

Study Material:

• Quant:
  
  • OG-13
  • GMAT Prep Software,GMAT Exam Pack-1
  • gmatclub tests(very few)
• Verbal:
  
  • E-GMAT
  • Tuesdays with Kevin(Be excellent to the universe Absolutely love him!)
  • OG-13
  • GMAT Prep Software,GMAT Exam Pack-1
  • gmatclub tests(very few)
• CATs:
  
  • GMAT Prep Software,GMAT Exam Pack-1
  • gmatclub tests(very few)
• AWA:
  
  • gmatclub(There are some excellent posts.Just search for them )

Overall,I think if you believe in yourself and work hard,you can score as high as you want!
Cheers!
-Anjan!