From confused to 760 (Q49,V44)! Thank you gmatclub.

I took my GMAT just a few days ago and I want to type this out as soon as possible so that I can capture as much detail as possible, so bear with me if it seems a bit haphazard. I will keep updating this to add any additional details and correct any errors (PM me if you find any)! Now let’s get to the story itself:

Background:

Currently, I am in the final year of my undergraduate education in business and finance, and though I had been pondering over whether to take the exam for the past year ( I wasn't sure if I should get it done with at such an early stage of my career) I finally decided to get the exam over with once and for all (while I still have the will to study and all those maths concepts are still floating around in by head) since the scores will be valid for 5 years, giving me ample time to get some work-ex or get enrolled in one of the early enrollment programs- ISB YLP, Yale SS & HBS 2+2. I am an Indian male (hit the jackpot there, didn't I? ) and my work experience is limited to 2 internships that I have done- one with an infrastructure finance company and the other, a PR internship, with my local government body. In addition to this I have a bit of experience working in my family run firm but I doubt if it'll count for much due to its inherent lack of objectivity.

I took the first steps of my GMAT journey around early June this year and since then it’s been a long rollercoaster ride! Oddly enough, my GMAT journey didn't start with any prep material, rather the first thing I did was sign up for gmatclub on the suggestion of a friend (god bless that soul ) and started to dig through the mountain of information that is available through these forums. It was only after a week of rummaging through threads that I actually got around to any test material.

Materials Used:

Manhattan Prep Strategy Guides (all 10 books)
OG 16
GMAT Prep (only the free stuff)
Comprehansive SC Guide - Whiplash Style
Comprehensive CR Guide

The Mahattan books are a must have. If used thoroughly and correctly, these books can genuinely provide a person with all that is required for a 750+ score. These books were the foundation of my test prep and I used them to develop my approach to Verbal. I had most of my quant concepts sorted even before I started my prep - one of the few advantages of the Indian education system (looking back, it might be the only advantage ). The effort that I needed to put in for quant was largely related to getting used to the question formats and the quirks of the DS questions.

Enough has been said about the importance of the OG and GMATPrep software so I'm going to skip over that part; however, I will highlight that I did not use these two tools in the order suggested by most people. I took the first GMATPrep exam half way through my prep and the second a week away from the exam. As for the OG, I only got around to it in the last 3 weeks of my prep. It took me a week to solve and I had it ready for review along with an error log in the week leading up to my exam. Invaluable resource none the less (more on that ahead).

The last two items on list are the reasons why I love gmatclub this much! Look for them on the forums, you will thank me later. The CR guide is a beautifully compiled document which boils down the CR process to its essence and allows anyone to unravel it.

Practice Tests

Veritas - 700
MGMAT - 640 (Q44,V32)
GMATPrep - 720 (Q50,V38)
MGMAT - 670 (Q43,V38)
MGMAT - 650 (Q45,V34)
MGMAT - 680 (Q45,V37)
MGMAT - 710 (Q46,V41)
MGMAT - 720 (Q48,V40)
GMATPrep - 760 (Q50,V41)

The reason why I had such low scores in the first few MGMAT tests was my pacing. I simply could not finish the quant section in time and had to guess multiple questions at a stretch, and the verbal was a work in progress at that point anyway so there was not much to expect from it. After the first few tests I realized that the timing on a MGMAT test is a bit off, in the sense that their questions inherently take longer to solve even if you know how to solve them. Using a pacing strategy is a must. I learnt this a bit late but the results of it are evident in my scores!

On a side note, the verbal section on the actual exam is a leap and a bound away from any material available to aspirants. Even the OG and GMATPrep questions do not match the "style" of the actual thing so discussing any other test is a futile excersice. However, the questions aren't actually "tougher" as long as you have your concepts cemented into your mind.

In addition to the tests I mentioned above, I got myself access to the gmatclub tests. This was probably one of the best decisions I made. I used the gmatclub tests primarily for quant since they lack a bit on the verbal front. However, for anyone serious about bringing their A game to the quant section, I would definitely recommend these tests!

Test Day

During the weekend leading up to the test I spent most of my time relaxing (I actually managed to watch two seasons of Rick and Morty) and very brief periods of revision. I figured that if I didn’t know it by now I wouldn’t be able to make much of a difference overnight anyway so I just focused on getting what I did know cemented in my mind.

For the test day itself, I had booked an afternoon slot for my exam since I wanted to get as much sleep in as possible by waking up late (I get really nervous before exams and never manage to sleep on time the night before). I reached the test center half an hour before my appointment and finished off the formalities in a relaxed manner. The lady at my test center was very nice and explained all the procedures to me and answered all my questions very well.

I carried a simple snack with me for the breaks: almonds, two small bars of chocolate, a cheese sandwich and a bottle of water. I chose to take the test in the order Quant-Verbal-IR-AWA because I wanted to get quant out of the way and focus with a clear mind on verbal, which I had worked harder for and knew would yield more in terms of results than would quant. My test taking experience was very pleasant and I didn’t face any issues whatsoever. However, I would like to state that I was a bit taken aback by the verbal section: it was very different from what I had prepared for. It was of a different style compared to all the other tests I had given. The ever so familiar 3:2 split was not as common on the actual exam as it is in the test prep material and the exam may test multiple errors in one question, which was not a common theme in my prep at least. But on the whole, as long as you’ve got your basics on your side, it shouldn’t be too difficult to manage.

After I had a look at my final scores, I was a bit disappointed with my quant score, especially since I felt the entire section went well except for 2 questions which I struggled with. I guess I underestimated this section and could have done better. With verbal, however, I was ecstatic. It was exactly what I had hoped for and I felt as if my hard work had paid off. For a moment though, I was sad about my quant score and even considered a retake but then I convinced myself that the idea of improving another 10 or 20 points was just not worth my time or effort.

My GMAT experience has been a pleasant one especially since I decided to go the self study route and controlled the progress of my own study. I’m glad that I achieved a satisfactory score in my first attempt and that my hard work paid off, but to mention my story without mentioning the part gmatclub played in it would be wrong. I owe a significant part of my success to the help and advice I received through gmatclub and I would definitely direct anyone who is serious about their GMAT exam to these forums. Thank you gmatclub!