I started my GMAT Prep in June 2014. Though statistically speaking it took me 10 months to ace GMAT but I would like to confess that I would credit my study in the last two-three months to my GMAT success. I am professional working in finance industry for the past three years in India and realized that after losing a few years because of some personal reasons a good MBA will not only help me to get exposed to the best in the world of management but also help me to climb up the ladder quickly. Initially I took things a bit casually and thought that as GMAT involves a major component of verbal it will take significant time for me to ace GMAT. i thought that being a non-native as far as English is concerned I can speak fluent English but without knowing anything about the correct ‘GMAT’ English (I hope most of the people would agree with me on that).
I prepared and took mock tests. First few scores of my mock test were 580,620,630,620. After taking 4 mock tests my score stagnated and by that time I also registered for GMAT exam just because I was already 5 months in my GMAT Prep but it was a decision taken without much thought. I scored 640 (Q47,V30). After taking the GMAT I soon realized that I went to take GMAT without any confidence and while taking the exam after encountering every question my confidence degraded. A major take away from my first attempt on a broader scale was to ace GMAT which is a 4+ hours endurance test it is extremely necessary to be confident and resilient.
At this time I realized that to succeed in an exam such as GMAT it requires a lot more than studying, it requires a complete change in mind-set with a belief that no matter what happens always strive to improve and even if something goes wrong concentrate on taking the next right step.
Coming to the prep. I joined e-GMAT as I really liked the way they explain concepts without using grammatical jargons. The live classes and also the visual study material make it extremely easy to comprehend concepts and relate to GMAT Concepts. For example usage of terms like verb-ing and verb-ed was simply amazing.
In my first try I was allowed GMAT to dominate me. I went in with a thought that it is a very ‘difficult’, ‘international’ and what not attributes I associated with GMAT. But when I practiced with a correct approach I realized how structured and straightforward exam it is. While taking the GMAT I utilized my breaks with a lot of care. I took that time to motivate me and keep my focus on the exam and to concentrate on the next 75 minutes at a time. Do not give up at any point of time and always concentrate on getting the next question right at any given moment.
I read a lot of prep debriefs of many achievers and it really inspired me. I would like to mention one debrief. It belongs to a candidate named Shreya. A big thank you Shreya. I don’t know but your debrief inspired me the most. (All due respect to others debriefs too)
I would say that because of my busy work schedule I was not able to attend regular classes but I kept pace with completing topics on time and complemented with a lot of practice. I would suggest all the aspirants to understand the way one comprehends questions. I developed my own way by analysing a lot of questions how to spot errors, how to eliminate wrong answer choices. In this process I would say that understanding the meaning of the sentence (in SC) was a game changer. Initially when I heard about the 4 point guarantee at e-GMAT I thought is it really possible but I will vouch that it is very much possible. My score increased from V30 to V40.
As far as prep is concerned I would say that nothing beats practice. This sentence may sound a typical line spoken a million times but trust me guys I understand it’s meaning today. Do not give up. Understand every question and concentrate why you are getting a question correct and understand the concepts. Once concepts are understood GMAT will become very easy.
Easily I can say that e-GMAT Verbal course was a game changer for my verbal prep. I would like to thank the complete team of e-GMAT for their wonderful course and constant guidance. I would recommend this course to every person who dreads GMAT English.
The following study materials were used by me-
1. Princeton Review books
2. E-GMAT Scholarium
3. All Official Books (OG13, VR2, QR2)
My GMAT Score
Q50
V40
5 AWA
8 IR
Cumulative Score 740
Chinmaya Srivastava