From 730 to 760, a journey of perseverance

I decided to go for an MBA about a year ago when I realized I wanted career growth in technology strategy. I started to research the admission process and came to know about the GMAT exam. Since I fall into the Indian IT Male category, I soon realized that I had to nail the GMAT exam if I were to have a shot at building up my profile for the top 10 business schools. So, about 8 months ago, I started to prepare for my GMAT exam.

Background
I have a computer science degree from a prestigious school in India. I have had 1 year experience as an analyst in a technology services company, 2.5 years experience in a product development company, a masters degree in IT from the US and 2.5 years experience working as a a technology analyst in the US

It was about 2 months after I first started to prepare that I decided to go for my first GMAT attempt in November 2018 and scored 730 ( Q-49, V-41 ). I first decided that I would go ahead with this score in my applications but after further digging into the candidate acceptance statistics for top tier schools, I found that these scores were borderline average when pitted against the scores of my peer group. It was at the end of January, a month after my first attempt, that I decided to go for GMAT again.

Here is how I approached my GMAT the second time around

Psychological preparation
I started with analyzing what had gone wrong the during my first attempt and build upon that learning. I believe that a huge component of GMAT test is the measure of how you approach the test rather than your ability to solve the problems. In the time between my first and second attempt, I had a lot of time to think about my strengths and weaknesses. I knew that the first time around, I had pursued the preparation in a brute force, head on manner. I had lacked patience and endurance and would tend to give in midway during the second hour of my practice tests. This time around, I decided that I was not going to make the same mistakes again. I decided I would work on endurance and building that "patience and speed" capacity and would approach the test preparation with systematic strategy. I built a worksheet of the tasks I had to finish til my next attempt.

Selecting the right resources
The first time around, I had exhausted the OG preparation material, the free official mba tests and the MGMAT tests. My test preparation strategy had been lacking and I had not utilized these resources to the fullest ( I used to pause the tests too many times ). This time around, I decided to put in effort to research the right test preparation material and started exploring the resources available on this forum on a trial basis. I believe that the test preparation resources available out there have their own merit. However, you should explore them on a trial basis before deciding upon what works for YOU. This is a list of resources I finally used.

Study Material

Verbal
1. e-gmat verbal online - An excellent resource for verbal preparation. More than the material, I found the way the instructor delivers the content and guides you to approach each topic in a systematic fashion helped me build understanding and patience to give each problem its due time.

Quant
2. e-gmat quant online - Again, I used the e-gmat quant perpetration online suit for my preparation. The systematic approach underlined in the tutorials helped me build a well defined strategy to approach each problem with due intelligence.

Practice tests
The first time around, I had not build enough endurance and had not approached the tests in a systematic fashion. I decided I would bolster on it with a lot of preparation. Here's a list of testing resources I used

1. GMAT club tests - I practiced each of Verbal and Quant CATs every alternate day during my preparation. Averaged about Q-48, V-38
2. 800 Score tests - I practiced these full length tests during the weekends. Scored an average of 740 on these tests

Attempt 2
I went for my second attempt at GMAT in April. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong that day. It was raining and I arrived at the center just in time to not be barred from the test. I started the test with the "this one is toast" attitude and used a lot of guesswork on each of the test sections. At the end of the test, I was exhausted, bitter and left with a 720 score (V-42, Q-48) that I cancelled.

I came back home disheartened thinking that it was impossible for me to achieve a score of 750+ that I had initially targeted. I would have given up had a very dear friend not asked me to picked myself up and go for the test again.

Attempt 3
I registered to take my next attempt at the test in May. I did not want to retake the practice tests I had already finished so I brought the official mba tests 3-6 during my registration. I scored an average of 750 on these tests and was pretty confident. I also went through the e-gmat quant resources again. I think it was the lack of sleep and the overconfidence that the practice tests had infected me with that lead me to score a 720 ( V-38, Q-50 | cancelled ) again. I was disheartened but knew that this score was not a true representation of my actual score and so decided to give the GMAT exactly 16 days ( the minimum allowed time between tests ) after the third attempt

Attempt 4
I was exhausted, disenchanted and about to give up on the first day I began to prepare for my 4th attempt. I had half the mind to go and sit in the test and mark every answer on whim and let fate do its bidding. I guess it was the hunger and the vision of a goal that seemed so close and yet had eluded me for the last 3 times that made me put everything I had into this one final attempt at the test. I went back to the basics and analysed everything that had gone wrong during my last 3 attempts. I brought the veritas prep tests and alternated between revising the concepts and taking a practice test every single day for the next 14 days. I also made sure to visit the test center prior to the test day and plan my journey there on the test day accordingly. On the test day, I arrived at the test center on time as advised ( i.e. 30 min prior to the start of the test ), learned the layout of the area and planned my breaks accordingly. I attempted each section of the test as I had attempted attempted it the practice tests. I made sure to exercise patience and give each question its due diligence. I made sure to recharge during the breaks and practiced slow breathing during the start of each section and while attempting easy questions as well. After I had submitted the last section, I took a huge breather when I saw a score of 760 ( V-41, Q-51 ) on the prompt.

Here's a run through of all the important stuff I took care of ( and you should too ) on the test day

1. Get proper amount of sleep. As I said earlier, a HUGE aspect of GMAT is endurance testing. Make sure you get adequate amount of sleep on the test day so as not to get exhausted. In-fact, as you would do for the rest of the preparation, practice taking adequate amount of rest through your preparation journey. It will help you avoid any jitters before and on the test day.
2. Scout the test center prior to the test - This is a lesson I learned the hard way during my second attempt. Make sure you have a plan of reaching the test center at least half an hour before the scheduled time.
3. Get to know the test center. Make sure you get a layout of the test center before you start the test. Be sure you have located the restrooms before you start the test.
4. Plan your breaks. Be sure to take energy bars and an energy drink along with you on the test day. It is very important that you recharge during the breaks and be ready for the next section. I think the test is designed to physically and mentally take you down. Don't be a victim to it
5. Be psychologically prepared - Practice enough to develop a habit of not being mindful of the last question or section that you have attempted. DO NOT botch the rest of the test if you believe that the previous questions/sections have not gone well.

Finally, the method that I have outlined in the post has worked well for me. My advise to all you prospective test takers is that rather than sticking to an approach outlined by anyone else, develop a strategy that works best for you. Incorporate the successes and lessons learned by others that you think would be best suited to you and develop a test tackling plan that you believe would serve you the best outcome.

Good luck and Happy GMATting