Hi everybody,
I am Riddhi and I secured a 720 (Q49 V40) in my third attempt when I took the GMAT on 23rd Oct 2022.
I was able to improve my score by 90 points since my last attempt on Sept 23, 2022. My previous score was a meagre 630 with a Q44 & V33 and I knew I could do a lot better!
I would like to share my journey with you as I hope this can help you navigate through the finer details of GMAT prep and hopefully, help make a difference in your GMAT journey. With my story, I just want to show you that when you put in the work in the right direction consistently, it is very possible to get to a 700+!
I started my GMAT prep in April of this year and thought that two months would be sufficient to get through everything. However, something personal came up and I had to travel from the US back to India. I felt like I lost the connection that I had created with my prep. So my first attempt didn't feel well-organized and the score was not up to the mark.
My mock test scores ranged between 650-690 and I scored even lower than that on the real test in my first attempt.
However, some things were very clear.
For example, my habit of not “letting go” of questions, especially in Quant, was a big area of improvement. I had a feeling that I messed up on Quant due to a few specific questions that I had invested a lot of time in and they had a rolling effect on my performance in the verbal section of the GMAT too.
GMAT is a test of strategic planning and decision-making. Hence taking the right decisions and moving on during the test is very important instead of spending too much time on a question hoping to get it right and losing a precious stack of minutes.
After my failed first attempt, I signed up with Crack verbal. I spoke to mentors Devmitra for Quant and Jayanthi for Verbal and made critical changes in both my Quant and Verbal prep as I geared myself up for my next attempt. I was more focused on improving my Verbal score. Jayathi did a great job in helping me recognize my weak points. Her detailed input helped me develop techniques to tackle each type of question. She was super responsive and guided me at every stage with detailed plans for each week.
My mock scores this time ranged between 690-750. I felt much better prepared but still failed to score even a 650+ in my second attempt. My mentors at Crackverbal encouraged me to give one more attempt.
Devmitra analyzed the ESR, provided some very specific inputs, and advised me to stick only to official questions for my third attempt from Quant review. Jayanthi provided finer inputs on Verbal and helped me to fix the gaps.
With the direction of work being clear, I consistently prepared with the OG analysis, fixed the skill or application gaps, put in more practice with new questions of Quant and Verbal reviews, and was more deliberate with my approach. This time my official mock test scores ranged between 690-750. I felt more confident and calm about the attempt.
On the day of the test, I organized the scratch pad, started with Verbal, and had a good feeling by the time I finished the section. Although I felt that the questions on the GMAT were harder than on the mocks, the variety of questions I had practiced kept me going. On Quant, I was very strategic and did not get stuck on any specific question. Instead, I was keen on taking the right decision of moving on or using intelligent guessing as a strategy when I felt stuck.
After I ended the test, I was very confident, and seeing a 720 on my screen, I finally felt relieved.
Going ahead, I will need to focus on my next steps, but as a piece of advice, I would suggest all aspiring test takers invest time in analyzing errors and using official questions as a critical resource to learn from.
Wishing you all the very best for your GMAT journey

P. S: I have submitted my score for the GMAT club to verify.