I spent about 5 months prepping and scored a 645. Here is my experience:
I started this journey determined to spend as little money as possible, so I used free online question banks to familiarize myself with the concepts and format. I discovered GMAT Club within the first month but didn't use it initially, as I wanted to exhaust every free resource before spending any money.
Later, I remembered receiving an offer for a free [color=#005784]GMAT Club test trial in exchange for filling out a questionnaire. I gave it a shot, and to my surprise, my very first full practice test score was only 535. I was shocked—I was already three months into my prep with only two months left until exam day. I tried a few more full-length tests but couldn't break the 600 barrier, which made me really uneasy.[/color]
The turning point came when I started searching YouTube for tips. The advice that helped me the most was learning how to skip questions. It was a completely foreign concept to me, and it was incredibly tough to actually do it during the first few tries. However, once I managed to let go of tough questions, my score gradually improved to 615, 625, and even 655.
My actual exam target was 655, but I fell just short. I’ve already booked another test for the end of July with a new target of 695. I'll still be mostly self-prepping, so let’s see if I can come back with a better score next time! ^^