From 690 to 730: Triumph loves the relentless

I started my GMAT journey back in Oct’20 and in my early days on the GMAT Club, I came across the quote ‘Triumph loves the relentless’ and instantly fell in love with it. I remember I had written that quote on my whiteboard last year to keep reminding myself that no matter how hard the journey gets, the destination will be worth it. Little did I know that it would hold so true in my case.
It took me 3 attempts to reach a 730 (VA 41, QA 49) but these 10 months taught me invaluable life lessons. I hope it does the same for all of you. Sharing key pointers from my journey below:

GMAT Intensive with Anish and CJ:
When I started preparing for the GMAT, I was clear that I wanted to enroll in a course to ensure I have all the ammo that I needed to win this battle. I wanted a more personalized course instead of the standardized ones available in the market. I spoke to a friend who highly recommended GMAT Intensive and I had also heard a lot about Anish and CJ so I decided to sign up for their online classes. I think that was one of the best decisions that I made. And so began 2 ‘intensive’ months wherein the course covered all aspects of GMAT VA and QA in great detail. The course was so well planned – with zoom classes, pre- and post-session work, and offices hours - that those 2 months flew by. In the online Zoom sessions, CJ and Anish covered not only the fundamentals (something that they focus on the most) but also the skills and life lessons needed to tackle a test like GMAT. They shared OG question banks for every section, which were more than enough for me. The recorded videos and lessons are accessible for 6 months, which came in handy for me since I had to retake the test.
For anyone planning to sign up for classes, do check them out!

I took my 1st attempt in March’21 and scored a 690 (VA 40, QA 44), which came as a shock to me since I was scoring 740-750 in all GMAT prep mocks, and my Quant was on the weaker side but it was not that bad. It was a big hit for me. So that evening I spoke to CJ and he helped me calm down and chart out the next steps.

GMAT Club Tests:
So I decided to get back at it and focus a lot of my efforts on QA since I had underestimated my weak areas. I signed up for GMAT Club Tests, which are honestly the best resource available for anyone hoping to improve in QA. The mocks prepare you for all kinds of questions that you could encounter on the test. So I took all mocks multiple times, and by the end of it, I actually fell in love with Quant, something that I thought would never be possible! All in all GMAT Club is an extremely helpful platform, and I am grateful to all the experts here.

I took my 2nd attempt in the 1st week of June at home since the 2nd wave of COVID had worsened things in India, and ended up scoring a 690 again, and this time I really messed up in Verbal (VA 34, QA 50). A lot of things didn’t work out for me: I was really stressed unlike the 1st time I took the exam; I did not switch on the AC and it was really hot, and the initial software check, etc. added to the pressure. I was heartbroken, to say the least, but I had definitely not lost hope because deep down I knew I had it in me. So I spoke to CJ again and we decided that I would retake the test at the center and work on my test-taking stamina this time.

I spent the next 2-3 weeks focusing on resources with harder questions as by this time I had realized that GMAT Prep was not depicting the true picture, at least for me. So I sighed up for Manhattan Mocks, which were harder than the normal mocks but helped me build my test stamina. I also did a lot of introspection in these last few weeks to calm my mind and chart out alternate pathways in case GMAT didn’t work out. I think that really helped me see things clearly and reduced a lot of pressure.
And finally, in the last week of June’21, I retook the test at the center. This time I was not nervous and the 4 hours flew by. When the screen showed a 730, I actually had tears in my eyes.
So to anyone planning to take the exam, I would say don’t lose faith because triumph loves the relentless. All the best!