Gmat Debrief - Self Prep (From Veritas Mock 600 to 750 (Q51 V40) )

It's been close to 2 months since I gave the exam. I wanted to write this debrief ever since that day, in an attempt to pay back a small proportion of what this brilliant community has given me

Background
I am a 26 year old male from India. I am a B.Tech graduate (not IIT, but NIT) and I have 3 years of work ex in analytics consulting and 2 years in an upcoming startup (a reasonably demanding profession)
I come from a middle class family and was very particular about my investment for the GMAT. I did not join any coaching classes.
I pledged to myself, that I will book the date only after I cross a mock GMAT score of 700. I realized after the exam that this was probably not the right tactic. My total monetary Investment : 10 $ + 250 $ for the test

Phase 1 (Understanding the basic concepts):
As advised by my friends, I started off with the Official Guide. After giving the fist diagnostic test (untimed) I realized, that I was good at the quant part, but being a non-native, I needed to strengthen my verbal concepts. I had the manhattan e-books with me and I started off with SC and CR books. The manhattan books gave a lot of information on both techniques and concepts.
After going through the concepts, I gave my first mock test ( a free veritasprep). I was shocked to see a 600 (Q45 V28) on screen. I got a discounted offer of 10$ for 7 tests from veritas the following day. I took that offer and gave another mock the next week only to see another disheartening figure of 590 (Q47 V24).

I realized after reviewing my first two tests that my concepts of verbal were still weak. Post that, I took a step back and decided to practice more verbal questions. Apart from the Official Guide I had the question banks from Sandeep Gupta (a recognized tutor based out of Bangalore, India). A month later, I saw my score improving to 650 with a verbal score around 32. However, over the next 2-3 weeks, there wasn't much improvement in the verbal score. I was feeling very demotivated and that was when I read a debrief from jeelezaraa<https://gmatclub.com/forum/750-good-habits-and-sound-strategies-can-do-wonders-168533.html> and decided to take a break from the preparation and headed towards the mountains (a place where I find solace)

Phase 2 (Practicing & Procrastinating):
The analysis of my mock tests made it pretty clear : I was not able to apply the concepts on verbal section. That's when I moved from the Manahttan guides towards youtube and searched for various lectures on verbal. I found Veritas prep videos to be extremely helpful . They built their solution framework on the logic and being an engineer I could relate to that easily.

However, this was also the time when I was involved in one of the most challenging projects of my professional career. I was practicing questions, but not on a regular basis. I saw on the manhattan GMAT tests (borrowed from a friend), that my verbal score was steadily moving towards late 30's. But some weeks later it will fall back to a disappointing V32. I realized that I needed one more thing : discipline

Phase 3 (Gmatclub workbook & embracing GMAT as a way of life)
I joined Gmatclub in January 2017. I had been visiting the community for quite some time, since googling every question would redirect me here. Off all the things, the forums, the discussions, the experts, there was one particular thing that I liked : the workbook. It proved to be the final piece of my gmat prep puzzle. I made a habit of solving the 8-16 questions that the workbook generates every day. Steadily I saw my score increasing, but more importantly my confidence. Even if I got a question wrong, I was always right about my last 2 choices and my thought process was in the same lines with the discussions/reasonings on that question.
RC was one thing that I couldn't get on the workbook (I think it will be great if we can add that on the workbook as well), so I used OG and Sandeep Gupta's material for RC. However my accuracy was around 60% on that. I explored the internet for various tips. The best tip that I got on RC here was to make notes. It helped me to retain what I have been reading.

After some time, I started realizing how much I was using the GMAT concepts in my day to day life. I used to read official emails and check for SC ; used to hear arguments from colleagues, arguments which I weakened or strengthened (depending upon the situation) using CR concepts. I have always been into fiction novels, but I used to summarize one chapter at its end, a strategy I implemented for RC. This helped in improving concentration and retention. I remember finishing three Stephen King novels in less than 2 months (last 2 months of my prep). I won't recommend ficition novels, but whatever you are reading, do ensure you get the gist of it


Phase 4 (T-7 D-Day to D-Day)
By the end of February, I was consistently scoring 700+ on my mocks. I decided to book the date in March. The routine of Gmatclub workbook continued till the last week.
The last one week was full of nervousness and anxiety. I was regularly searching gmatclub for the last week tips. One I found as the best for me was by bb : https://gmatclub.com/forum/what-to-do-3 ... 52506.html. I gave my second last mock on the Monday (Kaplan free test : 720 (Q50, V38)), last one on Friday (Gmatprep : 750 (Q50 V41)), before going for the grand finale on Tuesday

I reached the center half an hour before. Before I came to the quant part, I had to replace my markers two times, which certainly didn't help. I took the full 8 minutes break before quant and tried to calm myself down. Once I started the quant part, my confidence began to come back. I was able to reach Q32 with 20 minutes to spare. I slowed down at the end and finished off with 5 minutes to spare. I was a bit skeptical because I didn't get really hard questions, but at the same time I was confident that I had got them right. I tried not to think about that in the 8 minutes break and was somewhat successful.
While on the verbal section, I realized where the GMAT gets you. I spent time on the CR and RC questions, but breezed through the SC questions. I was confident on my RC but was unsure about others.
After those excruciating last 75 minutes, I was eager to see my score. I wish I have words for the feeling I got after seeing the 750 (Q51,V40) on the screen. The invigilator gave me a moment and asked if wanted to take the score or cancel. I gave him a "are you serious?" look before I answered in affirmative with a big smile on my face. After getting out of the center, I treated myself at the closest bar and called my family and close friends


MY STRATEGIES
There are a lot of strategies which can be used. I would suggest that you try a few and see which one works the best for you. How do you define which one works? I would say the one you enjoy the most

VERBAL
CR:
Read the question first : You save time doing this, since you will understand some context of the argument and you will know how to tackle the argument
Know what is the conclusion : Every argument (barring few exceptions) have a conclusion. Be sure you know what that is
Do not rush through the answer : I think CR is the most trickiest piece on GMAT verbal, so be sure on the choices. I spent more time on the CR questions than SC and RC

RC:
Read slowly and take notes : There are multiple strategies for RC. The one I liked and eventually used was to read and understand the passage first, before moving to the questions. I also made an effort (in my last month of prep) to write down a short summary description of the RC, noting down the pointers at the end of one passage

SC :
Know the concepts well : Manahttan GMAT guides cover most of the concepts that are tested.

Above all these strategies was one plain and simple rule - practice. The more the better, but you must ensure that you practice quality questions as well. OG questions are the best, but explore veritas, manhattan question bank. Also, you always have gmat club and google as your best friends. Don't just focus on getting the correct answer; ensure that your reasoning is in line with the Official explanation

QUANT:
I had always been good at that, so there wasn't any strategy that I applied. The only thing was to ensure high concentration levels.

Finally, TAKE AS MANY MOCKS AS YOU CAN. Don't get demotivated by the score that you get. Just take it to ensure that you are able to maintain a good level of focus for the 4 hours. I never crossed a 720 on Manhattan, Veritas or Kaplan, so I would say that the score indicator is not as accurate as one might perceive

I know its been a pretty long debrief, but I hope that it is helpful for a few, if not many.
I am happy with the first half (or probably one-fourth) of my MBA admit battle, but there are a few more hurdles that I have to cross before I reach my final goal. I hope I am able to write a successful story for that too. Until then, cheers!!