GMAT journey (720 Q46|V41): Perseverance is key

Hello fellow members,

It's such an amazing feeling to be able to write this post today about my journey. At one point I thought I would never accomplish the '700' mark. I am sure a lot of us have felt the same way at different points. But I literally did not give up - My journey began almost 2 years ago when I first took the GMAT. Since then, there have been moments of doubts about whether an MBA is the right way forward, settling for a school which may not be my first choice amongst others. This test has taught me a lot along the way and I am excited to share it with you all.

First, I would like to thank the creators of this forum. What a wonderful community and resource you guys have built! I did not take any external classes and your forum is a gold mine for people like me who pursue the self-study route.

Background

My ex-CEO who is a Kellogg Alumni urged me to think about MBA in 2014 August. I was unsure about it at first and studied for a month before taking the test. I was working full-time then and took a week off before the exam. English has always been a strength and Math a struggle -given that I have an engineering background it should come to me more easily than it does. I totally underestimated the GMAT and scored a 620. I can't remember the break up since I cancelled the score. If I did go, I was looking at one of the top schools and 700 was the goal.

I decided to push MBA plans to fall 2016 and give myself a good year to prepare and apply. But somehow I did not feel motivated - The GMAT means that you will not be having the same social life as your friends, you will have to bail out on plans and stay in on some weekends and not get to do whatever it is that you like to do to the fullest. You may take a vacation but your mind is just not totally free - somewhere the pressure of GMAT is always lurking. It is a compromise and I truly believe that till you are not motivated and want the MBA really bad - its hard. So I decided to give the GRE - It was the simpler route given my verbal strength and B-schools were accepting it - 'or so they say'. I got a good GRE score of 323 and decided to apply. Even with a strong story and great alumni recommendations I got dinged at Kellogg and UCLA, accepted at IE and a sort of conditional from INSEAD - INSEAD wanted me to take the GMAT and they liked everything else about the profile.

I considered just going for IE because there are many things I love about the school but did want to give INSEAD a shot. I decided to take a sabbatical and that's when my real journey with the GMAT began. I knew exactly what I was working towards and it made it easier to focus.

Materials used

MGMAT set 6th ed
OG 13
Powerscore CR
GMAT prep : Exam pack default & 1
GMATclub
Prep4GMAT app
The Economist (RC)

2 months to my first real attempt

I started studying in mid April 2016 and gave the test on June 15. I recommend people who can take a sabbatical to take one - GMAT is one of the most crucial aspects of your MBA application and which school you go to determines a lot about your future. I focussed for 6-8 a hours a day average. Even though 620 was not a bad starting point - reaching the 700 level mark is another story altogether.

Brushing up the basics and fundamentals is imperative and MGMAT does a wonderful job at it. I realised that there is no point confusing yourself with many books. MGMAT is a great for theory and you will brush up more of the basics as your practice questions along the way. Powerscore is great for CR. I read the economist every morning for RC. After having devoured the MGMAT set of books, I started practicing the OG. I took the diagnostic test in the book and knew the areas I had to focus on.

My weak areas: Quant, SC Strength: RC Average: CR

I took the GMAT prep exam a week before I was to schedule my test and scored a 710 (Q48|V39). I was extremely satisfied and felt that the hard work and quant focus had paid off. Just to be certain, I took an MGMAT three days later and scored a 690 (Q46|V38) which I knew reflected a slightly lower score. All my practice tests were in exam settings with timed breaks and snacks. I felt confident and went to give the test.

Test day 1

After the Quant section - I knew I hadn't excelled but did fairly ok and need to ace verbal which I was confident about. I felt that the questions were tougher than what I had encountered in the practice test. Maybe it was a sign that the algorithm was working - tougher means good! I was somehow losing focus towards the end and had to rush through the last 2 questions.

The score : 660 (Q46|V30)

I was shocked! V30! It wasn't that low even the first time around when I had taken it without studying. I was totally bummed out and decided not to take the GMAT again.

I resumed life and decided to take my offer at IE. But somehow I felt something was amiss - When you have worked so much you just want to get IT (700). After a lot of introspection, I decided to defer my admission by a year to Fall 2017 (changes plans but I guess it made sense in the bigger picture) and take one last shot at GMAT.

2nd attempt

This time around, I knew my fundamentals were somewhat in place and I need practice and stamina. I think a big part of GMAT that people underestimate is the stamina. By the time you reach verbal, you lose focus.

The second thing I understood - Think like the test maker. A saying often repeated. I realised that time is limited and one has to be familiar with what questions to expect - the patterns so that nothing really throws you off. And the best way to do it was to is the official guide - How different can the majority of questions be? So I decided to approach it differently this time.

I gave it one month - Only OG and previous GMAT prep questions. Practice and practice! I redid the entire OG 13 except for RC which I knew is my strength. I practiced verbal on this app - Prep4gmat anytime I was on the road/before sleeping/in the loo! I think that helped Immensely - I started reading fast and with focus even when I was distracted which is what you need on the verbal.

And last but not the least - I took up each section - PS, DS, CR & SC and filtered the GMATclub questionbank by source - GMATprep and practised a lot of 600-700 level and 700 level questions.
And I started recognising patterns in questions.

I took practise test the in the last two weeks:

1. GMAT prep exam pack 1 720 (Q47|V41)
2. GMAT prep exam pack 1 710 (Q46|V41)

I decided to take the test.

Test day

I felt confident abut verbal at this point and knew I had to fairly well on quant. Quant went ok - I wasn't very satisfied but I knew I could still save it. And then came verbal - It felt harder! I thought I am going to be in the same spot as the last exam and wasn't expecting a good score. And then the screen flashed - 720 (Q46|V41). I was ecstatic - even though quant is not a great percentile but I am hoping schools will focus on my overall score.

It's a feeling of pure joy - After two years I don't have to think about the GMAT anymore. I'll be sending my scores to INSEAD and applying to a few other schools. Will keep you all posted!

1. Figure out why you want an MBA - That you absolutely want it and willing to pay $$$. When you have that focus, only then start studying.
2. Brush up your fundamentals (MGMAT is great) and take a diagnostic test to understand your strengths and weaknesses.
3. Focus on the OG for practice.
4. Take practice tests - atleast 3-4 before your real test. GMAT prep exam pack default & 1 are the best.
5. Filter questions by source (GMATprep) on gmatclub and practice past questions by difficulty level. It's a lot of material.
6. Prep4gmat is a great app for honing verbal and learning how to read fast and with focus.
7. Food - Stamina is crucial - Bananas, granola/nuts bars, fruit juices and water. Do not go for artificial sweeteners.
8. STAY MOTIVATED!