GMAT 680 to 770 | Self-study guide | Key takeaways

My GMAT journey started in August 2020 along with a full-time job and I received a score beyond my own expectations in December 2020. I've finally decided to share about the enriching prep journey here on GMATClub, the platform that has proven most helpful to my preparation.

Preparation
I started preparation by brushing up on my quant concepts and simultaneously practicing problems using the Official Quant Review book. I feel the book is structured in a way that the difficulty level increases progressively so that's a good place to start, even with little revision of concepts. After a point, I started solving questions from the official books in sets of 10 / 20 / 30 in a timed manner and that helped me improve my speed.

Along with my quant preparation, I started studying concepts of Sentence Correction mainly using the Manhattan SC Guide and watching a lot of videos by GMATNinja
Started practicing SC and RC (without any specific preparation) from the Official Verbal Review book, reviewing my solutions in detail through expert responses on GMATClub. Understanding why we're eliminating the four incorrect options is more important than identifying the correct one at this stage. In the review process, I would come across certain SC rules and tips which the books may have missed and maintained a running list of those

No specific preparation for RC and CR, I just solved official questions and reviewed them.

After the Quant and Verbal Review books, I gave my first official practice mock test: Mock 1 - 700 Q49, V37 (Sept 14, 2020)
It seemed like a good score and I proceeded with my preparation. Did the Official Guide and created some official problem sets offered by the GMAC in order to stay aligned with the online format of test-taking/problem-solving. Throughout the process, I maintained an error log in excel and tried to go back to it periodically. My other official mock scores are as below:

Mock 2 - 650 Q42, V38 (Oct 05, 2020)
Mock 3 - 730 Q49, V41 (Oct 09, 2020)
Mock 4 - 740 Q49, V41 (Oct 12, 2020)
Mock 5 - 710 Q48, V38 (Oct 15, 2020)
Mock 6 - 740 Q49, V42 (Oct 18, 2020)


Taking and re-taking the GMAT
After the October mock score, I was fairly confident and went ahead and booked my GMAT slot for a suitable time. I spent the week up to the test revising my error logs and notes.
I was expecting a score over 700 and landed with a 680 (Q49 V34), well below my expectation. While quant seemed alright, to this date I haven't been able to identify what went wrong with Verbal. I thought I was selecting the right answers but had no idea that the score would drop to a V34.
I came back, wrote about it on GMATclub, and received very kind responses and detailed guidance from ScottTargetTestPrep, EMPOWERgmatRichC and AjiteshArun through the forum.

I didn't think too much about it, and immediately went ahead and booked myself on the next possible slot for the 12th of November. The same test center, a slightly different time slot. Went in there with sufficient sleep from the previous day, hoping to give it my best shot. I wasn't great at my time management in verbal this time and realized during the test that I had probably messed it up yet again! I received a 690 (Q48 v36) and came back home dejected.

I spent a couple of days thinking about what went wrong and what could have been done better and with the help of my family and friends who were extremely supportive, in a few days I made the decision to take the test again! Of course, a LOT of phone conversations with friends and reading multiple debriefs, and watching interviews on YouTube were a part of the process too.
This time, I needed to put myself in the exact test-taking environment. I would set aside dedicated time to take practice mocks, put on a mask as I would on the official test day, and practice.
Taking a lot of mocks can feel difficult. Most days I would wake up feeling like I did not want to take a full-length mock that day but it was scheduled and I would always force myself to do it. I took 5-6 of the Manhattan Prep mocks, All the Veritas mocks and all Kaplan mocks. My practice, question identification, time management and speed were consistently improving (probably). For confidence, I re-took the first and second official mocks and got good scores.

I booked myself a slot for the 26th of December, 2020. And on the day of the test, I could see a significant improvement in my Verbal time management; I was able to put all my focus into the questions and reject the ones that were taking up a lot of time. I was shaking before I hit submit on my essay and the score flashed in front of my eyes. There it was, a 770! Much beyond my own expectation of myself. I went out with the unofficial scorecard, told my father about it and he couldn't believe it till he saw the scorecard himself.

My key takeaways
1. Congratulations if you've decided to put yourself through the GMAT preparation journey! This is a well-though-out exam that will sharpen your critical reasoning muscle, improve your attention to detail and test your time management and prioritization. No matter what score you end up with, you will learn some key skills during preparation that will stay with you for long

2. If I can do it, so can you! I do not have a track record of performing excellently well in competitive exams. My quant skills are average at best and I need a pen and paper to perform basic calculations. I haven't even been an avid book-reader. The good news is, the test is forgiving and will not hold these things against you Just have faith in the process and in yourself

3. Stay motivated and stay at it. Sometimes, no one can tell you what went wrong in the first attempt. A lot of people need to take it for the second or even third time for their official scores to reflect their actual ability. Don't worry about it.

Resources: A detailed overview
All of the official material offered by GMAC - Verbal Review, Quant Review, The Official Guide, Official (online) Problem sets and the set of 6 mocks

Manhattan SC Guide, Aristotle SC Guide and quickly skimmed through Manhattan for RC

I struggled with Data Sufficiency problems that utilized the min-max concepts, modulus, inequalities, remainders, and statistics. I was able to get a lot of clarity on these topics from the CrackVerbal YoutTube webinars that are freely available

Verbal problem-solving videos by GMATNinja

Manhattan Prep Mock tests
Veritas Mock Tests
Kaplan Mock Tests

Filtering for a specific topic and difficulty level on GMAT club to do "streaks" of questions right. This is a method suggested by dcummins in one of his YouTube videos

Gratitude
A big thank you to my friends and family for their support and guidance
Grateful to people who take the time to explain solutions, solve queries and write debriefs on the GMATClub forum

I'm happy to respond and help test-takers in any way I can!