GMAT Journey of a 19 week pregnant woman: from 590 to 730.

Disclaimer: When I took the GMAT for the first time, in September 11, 2017, I wasn’t pregnant!

First of all, I wanted to send my gratitude and thanks to the GMATCLUB forum. The testimonials and advise posted on the forum by various members really helped boost my confidence and made me believe I could improve my score TOO.

My profile:

Female
Bangladeshi
29 year old
Pre MBA industry: Entrepreneurship (tech startup).
Number of times GMAT taken: 4
Year graduated: 2013

My GMAT journey actually started from last year (2020) June. During the lockdown, as I got more time to stay home and reflect on my work choices, I started thinking about the next ten years of my career. I had started my tech startup in Bangladesh in the Fall of 2017, and it took off a year later (in 2018). I had to hustle quite hard during 2017, 2018 and 2019 for my startup, and it wasn’t possible for me to dedicate the time and effort required for acing GMAT. The pandemic gave me a fresh new perspective and how I can make that next transition, now that my startup was finally stable and ready for a new leadership.

TL;DR Hear more about her GMAT journey in the following podcast.



Before I go into the details of my “real preparation” in the last one year, let me tell you about the first two times I sat for the exam and flunked.

• First time: September 2017
  Q 39 (33%) V 31 (61%). Total= 590
  
• Second time: December 2018
  Q 36 (26%) V 36 (80%). Total= 600

Both of these times I had prepared for a maximum of 2 weeks, with just the OG books of those years. In fact, I didn’t even complete the OGs properly. I probably did only around half of the questions of each section and went in the centres, with the mindset of “trying my luck”.
Obviously it didn’t work.

So last year, when I made up my mind to actually “study” for the GMAT and sit for the exam, I did a deep dive into what I didn’t do the last time(s). And I realised that, though GMAT covers all the high school math topics, you actually need to follow a proper syllabus and learn shortcuts and question patterns that you didn’t learn in high school. Since OG wasn’t “enough” for me, I decided to buy a complete course from one of the test prep companies on GMATClub. After a lot of research and webinar viewings, I decided to go with GMATWhiz. After spending almost 4 months learning materials from the course, (and doing quizzes on the platform), I started taking mock tests and quant and verbal based tests from around September. I sat for the GMAT on 25th Oct, 2020. Score: 650 (Q49, V31)

After I came back from the test centre, I wrote down this as a summary of my experience:
“Issue- nervousness. heart beating out of my chest. After quant section I thought it was really bad. Gave lower attention in verbal. Wasn't paying full attention to make sure I was marking the right answer before moving to the next question.”

“Computer screen made reading in one go difficult. Timing in verbal- I spent too much time on the reading comprehensions. Ended up with <1min/question in the end. “

Bummed, I decided to take a break for a few days to recalibrate my mind and restart my efforts. From my quant score, it was amply clear where I had gone wrong. It wasn’t that I didn’t know the content or theory. I had taken 5 mock tests prior to the test and had scored the following:

1. Kaplan: 670 (Q47, V 35)
2. Veritas Prep: 700 (Q49, V37)
3. GMAT prep official mock 1: 710 (Q49, V 38)
4. Manhattan: 630
5. GMAT prep official mock 2: 750 (Q50, V41)

It became clear to me that the imbalance in the prep time that I had dedicated to Quant (70-80%) as opposed to Verbal had contributed to the imbalance.


As I took a few month’s break and started the revision once again, I decided to do things I hadn’t done the last time. This included

1. Practising questions from GMATClub forum: Last time I practised questions from GMATWhiz platform only. While the quant content on the platform is great, the tests or quizzes give questions with mixed difficulty levels. The second time around, I wanted to be sure that my basics in each topic is strong FIRST. And then I wanted to try my hands on the questions with higher difficulty levels. Once I got at least 70% of the questions in each section of the 600 level right, I proceeded to solve questions from the same topic of 700 difficulty level. It definitely helped that the questions in GMATClub were organised according to topics, difficulty levels and most importantly, sources. The last time, I was exposed to the question patterns made by one platform only. But once I started practising questions from the same topic form different sources, I realised the difference in patterns and answer explanations. E.g. the Quant questions from Manhattan are more twisted and difficult from those from other sources, even if they’re at the same difficulty levels in the platform.

2. Keeping a balance between Quant and Verbal: Last time I barely practiced ANY verbal questions outside the basic quizzes on the GMATWhiz platform. This time I made sure there was a 60-40 balance (Quant- Verbal).

3. Sticking to (and memorising the template) of AWA by one single source- linguamarina AWA YouTube video (recommend using Chineseburnt instead actually - it is very easy:

4. Using GMAT complete MATH book and Manhattan All the Verbal as additional materials for content (just go through them in case you have missed anything from other sources)

I got to know about my pregnancy at the end of March. By then, I was preparing on and off, with whatever time I had left after my full day of office and family responsibilities. After I got to know I was pregnant, I realised that I just don’t have the luxury of time anymore. The first trimester is brutal, and the physical conditions make it impossible to concentrate on something for more than 1 hr. For the next two months (April May), I opted for work from home, and tried to dedicate as much time as I could to my studies. Unfortunately, with my VERY low blood sugar level (I am hypoglycaemic), I had to eat something nearly every hour. Couple that with thge first trimester dizziness, weakness and mood swings and its pretty much a disaster.

At the end of May, I had a small accident, and had a threated miscarriage (almost). As I had to take bed rest with 9 medications + 1 injection everyday, I decided that I will use the upcoming second trimester (starting from June) to my full advantage. I could have easily given up on this entire thing by then, given the fact that all I was permitted to do was be on my bed or sit on a comfortable chair, and eat and take medications at regular intervals, but I just didn’t want to give up. Keeping aside the worries of whether any university will ever accept me or not, or how I will manage taking my kid with me (or not) as an international student, I started solving questions again.

By the end of June, I felt my instincts and speed had come back. I started practising mindfulness and concentration, and deleted all my social media apps. I took the first mock test (Ecomonist) and got a 710. Based on the results of the exam, I doubled down on the weaker topics and went through the contents + set of questions. By the first week of July, I had completed the following materials and taken the following tests.

Materials:
1. GMAT Official Practice Questions- 1
I found most of the questions quite easy (600-650) level but it gives a really good perspective on the pattern of questions GMAC is currently working with and what you can expect on the real test.
If you have time, I suggest you complete all the GMAT advanced practice questions too.

Tests (all free mock tests):
1. Expert’s Global- 720. Q-48. V-41.
2. Kaplan- 710. Q-49. V-39
3. Official GMAT 1- 740. Q-47. V-44
4. Manhattan - 720. Q-45. V-42


I had planned to take 8 mock tests in total, but by the end of the first week of July, I realised that my health was starting to get unpredictable again, and I needed to take the test ASAP to avoid the possibility of another disaster that might delay the entire process by another month or so. So on July 9th, just the day before the day of the exam, I booked an online test. (tests can be booked upto 24 hrs in advance).

It might be worthwhile to mention that I had applied for a “special accommodation” in April and got approval for a certain percentage of extended time, which definitely helped my experience.

On the night of the test, I had an entire dinner with brown rice (which is known to sustain glucose level for a few hours) just one hour before the test. I also prepared my food for the breaks quite thoughtfully. I had ordered not one, or two, but THREE chicken sandwiches + a cup of raisins (gives quick energy) + oat chocolate crackers (in case I don’t have the time to devour the sandwiches). In addition to frequent urination urges, the possibility of a loose stomach (yuck) was also an issue. More than the fear of my performance, the fear of a messed up body function was stressing me out. So I wanted to make sure I took care of it as much as I could by eating at every opportunity, walking and doing deep breathing during the breaks and drinking as little water as possible during those multiple hours.

My proctor was a nice woman from the subcontinent (not sure if she was Indian/Pakistani or Bangladeshi) and she did take a lot of time (almost 20mins) to complete the check in process. But overall I felt that she wasn’t too stringent or picky (trying to find faults intentionally) which did make my check in smoother.

I followed all her instructions of showing the whiteboard and the back and side of my room and my table during and after every single break. After the entire drill of almost 5 hours (taking into account the check in and breaks), a 730 flushed on my screen. Relief. The curse is broken.

Now even if I can’t apply to any school or none of the schools take me and I remain a Bangladeshi housewife for the rest of my life, I can always look back to this time as one of the toughest things I have ever done in my life, and try to be proud of my dedication towards a goal.
I do have an entire notebook of useful formulas and rules from different sources. If you guys want, I can scan it and attach the folder in a seperate thread.

Till then- cheers and good luck. And NEVER give up!

TARGET: 720 OVERALL
FINAL SCORE: 730 (Q49 V41), IR 4 (YUCK) AWA 6

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