GMAT 710 | Q50, V35 | 3 months self-study

Hello GMAT Club members,

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone in this community for making this forum such a rich source of information on anything and everything related to GMAT. Came out of GMAT test center three hours ago and here I am, to share my experience.

My Intro: I am a 32 year old Indian based in Singapore. I have 11 years work experience in the IT Consulting sector, primarily as a Business Development & Pre-Sales Consultant. In June this year, I made up my mind to get an MBA degree before I turn too old. While I wanted to join a B-school much earlier, some circumstances didn't permit me to embark on the MBA journey. Once I made up my mind, the first thing I did was to join GMAT club and understand what GMAT exam is all about. Silently scanned through different posts to understand what sort of material is best for self-study.

My work requires me to travel 3 out of 4 weeks every month. Therefore, I had very limited time, sometimes, the only preparation time I used to have was in airport lounges or while I'm on flight. So, I need very good quality material which would help me make best use of my time.

Resources:

1. Official GMAT Guide 2020 (eBook version)
2. Official Quant Review 2020 (eBook)
3. Official Verbal Review 2020 (eBook)
4. GMAT Official Additional Question Set (404 questions)
5. All 6 mock tests from GMAC
6. Veritas Prep Mock test package for $19
7. Sentence Correction Guide by Manhattan Prep
8. Purchased e-GMAT verbal course but didn't use it as I didn't find it good enough. But e-GMAT purchase came with access to GMAT Club question bank, which I used to some extent.

I have been able to complete 98% of all the questions contained in the resources mentioned above.

The Journey:

Before even starting the preparation, took GMAC official mock test (first of the two free tests). Got a score of 620. It wasn't disheartening, but gave me a good benchmark and a reality check. Since then, I have set small weekly targets and have been able to achieve them consistently.

Used to take at least one mock every weekend (sometimes two) and used to spend at least a couple of hours analysing the performance, timing, and the type of mistakes I was made. During weeknights, used to spend an hour or two on the GMAT Official Guide/Verbal/Quant Review questions. The online question bank feature is pretty good. Used to select 30 quant/verbal questions and used to practice with strict time limits.

I seldom solved questions on the GMAT Club, but whenever I needed detailed explanation for any question on the resources I was working on, I used always rely on GMAT Club.

All in all, I would have spent about average of 2-3 hours for about 35 days in the last three months on preparation.

Important Observations:

1. GMAT is not as complicated as it is made out to be. Of course, some test prep companies may want you to believe otherwise, but, I feel, self study is more than sufficient.
2. Stick to GMAT official questions - Not that the questions set by prep companies are bad. I enjoy solving any question on Quant/Verbal for fun. But, if the focus is only on GMAT, then, sticking to GMAT question bank equips you better. GMAC spends a lot of time and money on preparing each and every question. There's a scientific basis for each and every question. I hardly find any GMAT quant question which needs laborious calculations and assumptions. 20/31 questions can be easily answered without putting pen on the paper. Trust me. You'll not regret following this advice.
3. Verbal - I found the key to cracking verbal is good reading ability and focus. I fared poorly in verbal because of my slow reading speed, which consumed a lot of time on CR/RC questions. Mastery in Verbal needs lot of time, patience, and perseverance (especially if you're not a native English speaker)