My GMAT Experience. 6 years to 690

I took my test on October 15th and meant to write this sooner, but when you are in the heart of application season that obviously takes precedent.

Let's start at the beginning. I graduated from college on 12/14/13 and bought GMAT materials the next day. I received a less than stellar job offer out of school and thought an MBA was my way to a better career. I studied and studied and studied, but could not break the 550 barrier on practice exams. I was burnt out from college and frankly not ready to study for the beast of an exam the GMAT is. Nor did I have the financial resources at the time to properly educate myself. I ended up never taking the exam.

I received a promotion at work and was making decent money so I tabled studying for about two years. I was then laid off and decided to start studying again. My studies went a little better this time around, I was hitting 620 on the practice tests, but then I received an offer for another job and again put my studying on the back burner.

Fast forward three years and here we are. I currently have a good job - but I hate it. I also got married at the beginning of this year, moved last month, and my wife is due with our first child in a month. Given the timing of everything going on I felt that it was now or never for an MBA.

So I buckled down and studied. I first used Magoosh and Manhattan Prep for my exam in May. They each did a great job of preparing me. I should have given myself another month to study and I'm sure I would have done better. But I had some time constraints at work and wanted to enjoy my summer so I tested anyways. I earned a 660 46Q 36V. My target school is Tepper School of Business. The part time program specifically. This score was right at their average. AT the time I was very happy with the score and thought I was done studying.

July of this year I began to start going over the application process and fine tuning my resume to prepare my application. But the longer I did that the more I felt that my score was inadequate. In fact Tepper uploaded their new class profile and I was now below their average score by 6 points. So I stopped preparing the application and began to study again.

I wanted to get my quant score up. Tepper is known as a quant school and I felt that my current score was not sufficient to admit me. So I purchased Target Test Prep (on a scale of 1-10 I would give TTP a 15) and worked my butt off for two months. I worked through the program by the end of September. After that I had 3 weeks to work through the official guide and the official guide verbal and quant supplemental books. I worked through everything and was hitting scores ranging from 660-710 on my practice tests.

October 15, 2019. D-day. The day that would determine my next 2-3 years. I went in and felt pretty calm. I tested at the same center, in fact the same gentleman checked me in and we chatted because we remembered each other from the first time I tested. I took the exam with the Quant section first. I felt that everything went well - there were questions at the end of my exam that were rather difficult so I knew I did well. Verbal felt okay. And by the time I got to IR and the writing section I was tired.

I ended up scoring a 690 (Q49 V35)! 30 points more than last time! But more importantly 24 points above Tepper's average applicant. I was thrilled. I called my then 7 months pregnant wife, who is a freaking saint for putting up with my constant studying while pregnant, and told her. She was ecstatic. I was off work that day and took my dogs for a nice long walk to unwind and then went to dinner with my wife at our favorite restaurant.

I literally just submitted my app to Tepper, and will know in a few short months whether my hard work paid off. Regardless of the admission decision I know that I poured everything I had into this exam over the course of this year. I wanted to write this because I know there are some of you like me. People who may have studied before and never tested. Some who may be expecting a lot of life changes in the near future and wondering whether they will ever get an MBA. Some who have struggled and just need some inspiration.

Material I used (and rating):
Magoosh - I'd give Magoosh a 7/10. Their videos got me up to speed but not quite to an elite score level on either section.
Manhattan Prep (Verbal Only) - 8/10. Really helped boost my verbal from high 20s to mid 30s.
Target Test Prep 10/10 - the best quant resource out there. There is nothing better. If you want an elite score do not mess with anything else
OG 9/10 - the answer explanations suck, but in terms of familiarizing myself with actual GMAT questions there was nothing better out there.

Regardless of who you are this is a tough test. The adaptive nature makes it that way. If I had any advice it would be not to rush things. I regret testing in May because I had not studied long enough. I needed another 1-2 months. I wasted some cash by having to retake it. There is nothing wrong with waiting until your ready. I wish I had known this going into the exam. But hindsight is 20/20. My last piece of advice...

If I can do it, you all can do it too! Best of luck.