Luck is no excuse (From 630 to 740)

Question

Hello everyone,

I wanted to write this De-brief for a long time but life came in between. However, I promise to stay connected with this awesome community as much as I can. What this community taught me is unparallel to any education I got so far. So Thank You GMATClub

I am a non-native and non-academic type of person. It all started in June 2017 when I started my GMAT preparation and wanted to do something significant in my life. I charted out a plan and GMAT exam was the first step.

Let me tell you honestly when I gave my first mock I scored 520 something with 22 in Verbal. I bought OG and started solving Bunuel questions on daily basis. I finished Aristotle Grail and Manhattan SC guides. Bought Powerscore for CR and started solving questions on GMAT Club. I was learning concepts and was getting good at solving questions in time.

I gave my first attempt in Mid-July and scored 630 (Q47, V29). I was thoroughly shattered to see my Quant score as I was scoring good in Quant from Day 1. I remember calling my wife after coming out of the center and telling her that I have not canceled my score. I want colleges to see my perseverance and that I am confident I will do better next time. Read my ESR of first exam here
https://gmatclub.com/forum/esr-analysis ... 45644.html
I figured out that exam is not only about concepts but also about your mental strength.
I believe if you want to excel the exam so badly that your life is dependent on it, you will push yourself towards the upper limit of your mental stamina. Also, It is very important to stay connected to outside world, especially your family and friends.

When I came back to study mode in August I started solving official questions only. Bought EP1, EP2, QP1. As advised by GMATNinja
In the process, I gave a lot of mocks (Check my nervousness and my mock scores before the second attempt here)
https://gmatclub.com/forum/what-to-do-1 ... 54600.html

Finally the D-Day I was afraid and confident. Sorry cannot explain my feelings but I focused on taking one step at a time. Started with Quant and finished it with 15 minutes left. I solved my last question like 5 times. Then came Verbal. It went smoothly and I remember someone sneezing multiple times.
When the score popped up I couldn’t believe. Although I consider myself a strong and non-emotional person, I think 1 or 2 drops of tear tried to make their way out.

I would like to thank bb AjiteshArun GMATNinja for their constant motivation and support.

I will not be able to sleep If I do not thank Bunuel. Sir, you are the sole reason I was able to score 51 in Quants.

Thanks a lot to everyone for everything you do
Luckisnoexcuse

pushpitkc · Answer

Congrats  Luckisnoexcuse

It is nice to see such an improvement! Q51 is truly magnificent. Wish you all the best for the applications.

adkikani · Answer

Luckisnoexcuse

Let me take the honor  of being the first  to congratulate on such a massive improvement.

Truly deserved!

That reflects amount of hard work put in by you.

Can you highlight on what particular change in strategy you implemented from first mock, then actual exams (first and second attempts)
I also saw quite shorter duration of interval between few non-official mocks. Was your strategy to build upon on stamina while taking them?

Your specific insights on learning from mistakes and pacing / analysis from ESR will help fellow members in more better manner.

Wishing you all the very best for your apps!!

Luckisnoexcuse · Answer

Thanks 
I may not be able to give you much advice as I am not an expert. I can tell you what I did and what worked.

Although I didn't change my strategy entirely. I felt I was more focused on concepts in my first attempt and not on other important things which GMAT is trying to test.
1. Excelling concepts: I started from here
2. Attention span: I joined Gym and started using Headspace (Daily for 10 mins in Morning)
3. Understanding Meaning: Very important for Verbal (almost all questions in verbal when you are finalizing your answer between the last two options, it all comes to meaning and intent)
4. Reading books/novels
5. Staying happy - Made this my life and not a burden; I still feel solving questions daily as I am used to it. Although App phase is too nerve-wracking 
For Quant:
I solved a lot of official questions (600-700 and 700+); Daily Bunuel Questions, GMAT Club Tests, Quantitative Mega-Thread (Check Bunuel's Signature)...Trust me no one needs anything beyond this
For Verbal:
Solved almost all official questions and analyzed them properly. 
Souvik's - Everything official questions..Thank you  souvik101990  for them
EP1, EP2, GMAT Prep, QP1, OG (all years), Verbal Review (all years)
Followed  GMATNinja  ; His advice is gold
CR: I believe no one can teach you this; it gets absorbed into your DNA after sometime
RC: Reading helped me in my comprehending speed; solved few daily
In the last 45 days of my preparation, I used GMAT Club workbook to analyze all my wrong questions and analyzed all the options.

Want to show you my study board. This image was my mobile's wallpaper for two months.
 1.jpg

Stay healthy stay focused
All the best

rahul16singh28 · Answer

Congrats  Luckisnoexcuse  on the Great Score... You truly deserved it..!!
I am struggling in Verbal and my score is always around 20-25... Can you please share some tips to increase the Verbal score. I am targeting around V38-40. Any advise from you will be really helpful.

bb · Answer

Wow - fantastic Job and a great score!
Thanks for mentioning me. Thrilled to see your score! That should get you anywhere you want to be.

P.S. When are you applying?

Luckisnoexcuse · Answer

Hi  bb 
R2 this year (Submitted for 6 colleges; 3 more to go)

Luckisnoexcuse · Answer

Hi  rahul16singh28 
I am no expert, but I did the following things for a long time persistently.
For Verbal:
Solved almost all official questions and analyzed them properly. 
Souvik's - Everything official questions..Thank you  souvik101990  for them
EP1, EP2, GMAT Prep, QP1, OG (all years), Verbal Review (all years)
Followed GMATNinja ; His advice is gold
CR: I believe no one can teach you this; it gets absorbed into your DNA after some time (Powerscore is Good;  broall  ' LSAT CR questions are good for practice if official questions are over/ Thank you  broall  for that.
RC: Reading helped me in my comprehending speed; solved few daily
In the last 45 days of my preparation, I used GMAT Club workbook to analyze all my wrong questions and analyzed all the options.

ATB and stay focused

XavierAlexander · Answer

Many congratulations! You did it.

" A river cut through rock not because of its power, but because of its perseverance " - Jim Watkins

GMATNinja · Answer

Holy crap, congratulations on the amazing score! I think of you as one of those regular "good guys of GMAT Club" that I see all over the place in verbal-land, and it always makes my day to see somebody like you succeed -- and I'm honored to have been a tiny tiny part of the process.

I hope that you've been celebrating your butt off, and please tag me whenever you get into schools. Really curious to see where you land in the end.

Congratulations again, my brother!

mcelroytutoring · Answer

Hi  Luckisnoexcuse  ,

Especially at the top end of the GMAT scoring scale, 110 points is a legit improvement--and I see that your score is now verified, too! Congrats on the excellent score, thanks for your contributions to the knowledge base, and good luck with your next steps.

p.s. If you ever ordered your ESR, then I'm sure there are many like me who would enjoy learning from it. Your amazing Q51 is almost certain to show only 0-2 wrong, but your V38 could have resulted from a wider range of scenarios. However, based on your high composite score, I'm guessing that you answered zero incorrectly on Quant.

Luckisnoexcuse · Answer

Hello  mcelroytutoring ,

Thank you
I didn't order ESR but I was shocked during my Quant section experience; my 30th question was a very simple number question and after finishing my 37th question I had like 13-14 mins left. 630 to 740 (110 point jump) was little unexpected for me as well.
Thank you for everything you do
Best

Luckisnoexcuse · Answer

Hello  GMATNinja 
Thank you
I said the same thing "Holy Crap" when I saw my score on the screen. You were the reason for my jump from V29 to V38. I think I have read your every thread, comment on every question in GMATClub. Thanks for being the constant source of inspiration. (I am still not sure whether usage of "being" here is correct..lol..who cares..)
Will keep you updated

Thanks for everything you do
Best

mcelroytutoring · Answer

110 points of improvement--that's correct (and edited above accordingly)! Didn't mean to shortchange you there. Either I misread that small-font 630 as a 650, or my math skills start to deteriorate as the midnight hour approaches.

With a V38, you probably got about 5-8 wrong out of the 30 counted questions on Verbal, depending on where those questions appeared and their respective difficulty levels, among other factors. The ESR isn't worth it for you at this point (no need to retake), so I don't blame you for not spending another $25 to find out something you (basically) already know. As far as getting a very easy question served to you around #30 on Quant, that happened to me the last time I took the test as well, and I scored Q50! There is a strong chance that these strangely easy Quant questions were some of the 7 experimental questions. However, we have learned from studying ESRs that the experimental questions might count more than the GMAC admits , so it is important not to make any careless mistakes on those, either. I am impressed that you finished with 13-14 minutes to spare on Quant and still scored a perfect Q51. The ESR would have reflected that, too (it gives timing data). I have always needed all 75 minutes on Quant, but I do remember finishing over 10 minutes early on Verbal the times I scored V48 and V47. Sometimes being aggressive and decisive can be a good thing!

MikeScarn · Answer

Congratulations man! Very inspiring.

I loved this part:

"I figured out that exam is not only about concepts but also about your mental strength.
I believe if you want to excel the exam so badly that your life is dependent on it, you will push yourself towards the upper limit of your mental stamina. Also, It is very important to stay connected to outside world, especially your family and friends."

Luckisnoexcuse · Answer

Hello everyone,

I have collected and practiced a lot of questions during my Exam phase. I will be happy to share those. Please PM me your email ID and i will be more than happy to share those PDFs.

All the best

rahul16singh28 · Answer

Hi.. can you please share to me.. Email I'd - rahul16singh28@gmail.con.. Thanks in Advance Sent from my Lenovo P1a42 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

sachanmeenal · Answer

Hi  bb 
R2 this year (Submitted for 6 colleges; 3 more to go)

Congrats!! Just out of curiosity...Which colleges did you apply in ??

Luckisnoexcuse · Answer

Congrats!! Just out of curiosity...Which colleges did you apply in ??

LBS, Sloan, Duke, Tepper, UNC, Kelley, Mccombs, NYU, Ross (all in R2)

sachanmeenal · Answer

LBS, Sloan, Duke, Tepper, UNC, Kelley, Mccombs, NYU, Ross (all in R2) 
Great! Thats a very thorough list. I hope you get an acceptance from all your dream colleges. All the best!

Sent from my Le X526 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

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