I finally beat the GMAT! 660 to 720 with TTP and EMPOWERgmat

I finally beat the GMAT!

My journey started at the beginning of 2016 when I decided to start studying for this beast of a test. I purchased the Manhattan prep series knowing that the quant section in particular would be a challenge for me since I hadn't so much as calculated a discount in my head in years thanks to my handy dandy iPhone calculator. Unfortunately, I realized in the first month that the book format was not cutting it for me; I simply couldn’t find the motivation to get through the books! Within two weeks, I’d abandoned my original study plan and gone back to square one. It was then that my friend introduced me to Target Test Prep and told me to give the program a try using the 5-day trial. The course was exactly what I needed to jumpstart my quant prep and relearn all of the math concepts I needed for the exam. I loved that the platform tracked all of my progress and showed me my strongest and weakest areas based on the problems I completed. It was super motivating to see my stats improve every day and by the time I completed all of the [incredibly thorough] lessons, I felt like a had a solid understanding of each concept.

Now, I want to note here that, while TTP helped me learn all of the math concepts I needed for the GMAT, the problems in the course are not official GMAT questions. If you don’t read anything else in this post, read this: IT IS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL FOR STUDENTS TO COMPLETE AS MANY OFFICIAL PROBLEMS AS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE EXAM. To be honest, I’d read this before on multiple posts here and on other sites, but just didn’t pay attention. So after only using TTP to study for quant and completing the two free official GMAT practice tests, I went to take the exam and scored 660, with verbal saving my score. I really don’t fault TTP here - it makes common sense to take several practice tests and I truly felt like I understood all of the math concepts, but simply didn’t recognize GMAT quant patterns quickly enough on the exam due to lack of practice with official questions.

For my second attempt, I knew that I needed to utilized all of the knowledge I gained through TTP to complete as many official problems as I possibly could. I bought both official exam packs, adding 4 practice exams and hundreds of official problems to my collection, and pulled the Official Guide off my shelf where it had been collecting dust. I also decided to sign up for EMPOWERgmat because the program pulled heavily from the OG and I’m SO glad I did. Rich’s videos were awesome! I learned so many math shortcuts throughout the course and learned to recognize GMAT quant and verbal patterns because the course uses official GMAT material every step of the way. While I was already strong in verbal, using Max's methods I was able to increase my verbal score by a few points, which had a huge impact on my overall score. Again, using official content is critical to pattern recognition throughout the exam.

After one month of intensive OG practice and EMPOWERgmat, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw 720 (47Q, 42V) come up on the screen of my official exam! I really can’t recommend both TTP and EMPOWERgmat enough. I believe that TTP helped me build a solid quant foundation while EMPOWERgmat sharpened my math skills and improved my speed. Both courses have monthly options, so it’s possible to train with one first, then the other (I recommend doing TTP first then EMPOWERgmat). No matter what path you choose, please, please remember that using OFFICIAL material is KEY. Best of luck!