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qwerpar123
Joined: 25 Mar 2020
Last visit: 24 Jul 2023
Posts: 6
Given Kudos: 3
Location: India
Schools: Kellogg '23 (A) CBS '23 (S) Fuqua '23 (WL) Booth '23 (D) INSEAD Sept'21 Intake (A$) Ross '23 (A$) Darden '23 (A) McCombs '23 (A$)
GMAT 1: 730 Q50 V38
GMAT 2: 770 Q51 V44 (Online)
GPA: 3.9
Products:
Schools: Kellogg '23 (A) CBS '23 (S) Fuqua '23 (WL) Booth '23 (D) INSEAD Sept'21 Intake (A$) Ross '23 (A$) Darden '23 (A) McCombs '23 (A$)
GMAT 2: 770 Q51 V44 (Online)
Posts: 6
21 Jul 2020, 10:34
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Attempt 1 – GMAT 670 (V33, Q49)- Jan 2019
I gave my first GMAT attempt after scoring 700 on official GMAT Prep, hoping I can convert that to 750 on the actual test. But what I’d failed to consider is that unlike normal tests (where I perform better in pressure) GMAT is something different. There were a lot of things that led to my downfall during my first attempt, but I believe following few to be the major ones:
1. Not having clarity of the GMAT scores I want – I thought anything above the magic 700 barrier will be amazing. And for some candidates this might be the case, but for the kind of MBA schools I was targeting, I didn’t realize that Indian MBA male with 700 is below average.
2. Not focusing enough on official GMAT prep – After completing my official GMAT prep, I immediately went online to find more questions. I didn’t understand the concept of quality over quantity at that time.
3. Not completing E-GMAT Scholaranium- After several referrals from my friends, I bought the E-GMAT verbal course. And in a word, it was an “amazing” course. But my only regret is that I didn’t use it to my advantage completely. I only considered the course as an online grammar tutorial for SC questions, I completely skipped the CR and RC part and again jumped straight to the questions.
Scholaranium has a great set of 400-500 questions for Verbal. But to my surprise, I could hardly score 50% correct in the medium and hard category. But I disregarded my failure as the questions being too hard (and so I needn’t bother myself with the results). So, in the end I completed only about 150-200 questions.
4. Not doing enough practice tests – I completed only 2 full length official prep tests and that’s it. In my opinion, this was my biggest downfall as the biggest problem I faced during my actual GMAT was pacing and time management.
5. Not using GMATClub Quant tests – I was a bit overconfident on my Quant skills (coming from an IIT) that I almost skipped quant prep. And the thing that I regret most is not using the GMATClub quant test (that came free with an E-gmat subscription). These tests are by far the best resources one could use to score Q51. These tests are harder, lengthier, trickier but just by a bit. If one can score Q50/Q51 in these tests, actual GMAT quant will be a piece of cake.
Attempt 2 – GMAT 730(V38, Q50)- Oct 2019
After my horrible failure at first attempt, I made amends and started preparing for success. I changed my studying strategy and started focusing on each sub-section individually and targeting specific mistakes.
1. Sentence Correction – I think SC is easiest and hardest at the same time. Easiest to score -if you know what you are doing, and Hardest to score – if you get confused. For SC, I mainly worked on Official GMAT prep questions, GMATClub SC top 100 700-800level questions, Aristotle GMAT SC and E-GMAT verbal Scholaranium questions. This time, I restricted myself in terms of no. of questions but instead focused on recording my errors in an error log and making sure I avoid mistake repetition.
2. Critical Reasoning – I studied CR mainly from Power bible and Manhattan CR. And I focused on each and every question type individually, mainly focusing on assumptions and Boldface (which were my weakest sections)
3. Reading Comprehension – Fortunately, I decided to follow E-GMAT method of tacking RC questions and developed the habit of taking notes and summary after each para. I realized that though it may seem excessive at first, it helps increase your consistency and accuracy .
4. Quant – I was completely devastated with my failure in Quant and decided to be extra cautious this time around. And I spent most of my time giving GMATClub Quant Tests, while focusing on reviewing each and every correct/incorrect answer choice with an expert's explanation to find out the most optimal way of solving the problem.
Test Day Experience – I was quite comfortable this time around as it was my 2nd attempt and I knew all of the procedures. I started with my quant section and completed it within time, and I was reasonably happy with myself. I went to take the optional break but to my surprise the washroom was occupied. Consequently, I spent a couple of minutes waiting outside. But when I reached my workstation I was in awe. Somehow, I managed to spend 4 minutes additional time and that was already deducted from my Verbal section time. I tried to organize my thoughts, but my brain refused to function. I sat again for 5 min in front of my first SC question trying to make sense of the foreign language in front of me. Somehow, I managed to calm myself down and complete the next 20 questions in 45 mins. But it was already too late for me, Now I needed to solve 16 questions in ~15 min. Panic started to settle again, and I knew I had to guess few of the answers. I completed Verbal, IR, AWA and instinctively knew that my score is again going to be a sub 700 failure. But to my surprise, the screen read 730 and I was happy beyond words.
Attempt-3 GMAT Online 770 (Q51, V44) – June 2020
Some of you may think that story should have ended. I thought so too. But I still hadn’t corrected one of my first mistakes – Knowing the scores I want in GMAT.
After 730, I applied to 3 top 10 US B-schools but to my surprise got interview invite from only 1 of them. And the major reason for that is I believe my GMAT score. That’s when I decided that I should make use of my time at lock-down and give one last attempt at GMAT.
Following are the few resources/steps that helped me finally beat GMAT:
1. E-GMAT Team support - With the score of 750-60 in my mind, I immediately sent my ESR to the E-GMAT team and requested their help to understand my weaknesses further. I was surprised to see that they provided me a detailed breakdown of my shortcomings and gave me a 5-step approach (along with video directions) to reach my targeted goals.
According to them I had to improve my ability in CR, SC and improve my pace during the full exam.
2. Improving Ability in CR with Pre-thinking – Although I was aware of Pre-thinking. I knew what it meant, I knew how to do it but somehow, I just though doing the questions without pre-thinking is faster. But with the help of E-GMAT resources, I was able to develop a habit of using Pre-thinking. This helped me improve my ability from 60 to 90% in CR.
3. Using E-GMAT Scholaranium- I was shocked after comparing my ESR sectional ability with Scholaranium ability %. To my surprise, they were identical. I then realized that Scholaranium questions and algorithm are so close to actual GMAT exam that improving my ability in Scholaranium will definitely translate to a better score in GMAT. With this in mind, I followed step by step plan laid out by E-GMAT team and could achieve my target score in ~ 30 days.
4. Practicing Full-length official mocks – I now finally understand why everyone praised Official GMAT prep mocks so much. They are the one truly reliable indicator of the score. And so, I purchased Official Mocks (3-6). And I tried a couple of strategies while giving the mock exams – such as going fast for first half, slow for first half, skipping last RC and so on. I finally found a strategy tailor made for me and finally decided to book the official GMAT.
GMAT Online Experience – Although I was a bit nervous of doing the exam from my home and that too without the much-needed optional break between Quant and verbal. But I decided to go for it anyway. And to my surprise, it was a pleasant experience. Fortunately, no technical glitch, no bad experience with customer service, nothing bad happened on the test day. Finally, after 3 days of waiting I got my official score. And with a sigh of relief, I realized that after 1.5 years and 3 attempts this story’s finally over.
I gave my first GMAT attempt after scoring 700 on official GMAT Prep, hoping I can convert that to 750 on the actual test. But what I’d failed to consider is that unlike normal tests (where I perform better in pressure) GMAT is something different. There were a lot of things that led to my downfall during my first attempt, but I believe following few to be the major ones:
1. Not having clarity of the GMAT scores I want – I thought anything above the magic 700 barrier will be amazing. And for some candidates this might be the case, but for the kind of MBA schools I was targeting, I didn’t realize that Indian MBA male with 700 is below average.
2. Not focusing enough on official GMAT prep – After completing my official GMAT prep, I immediately went online to find more questions. I didn’t understand the concept of quality over quantity at that time.
3. Not completing E-GMAT Scholaranium- After several referrals from my friends, I bought the E-GMAT verbal course. And in a word, it was an “amazing” course. But my only regret is that I didn’t use it to my advantage completely. I only considered the course as an online grammar tutorial for SC questions, I completely skipped the CR and RC part and again jumped straight to the questions.
Scholaranium has a great set of 400-500 questions for Verbal. But to my surprise, I could hardly score 50% correct in the medium and hard category. But I disregarded my failure as the questions being too hard (and so I needn’t bother myself with the results). So, in the end I completed only about 150-200 questions.
4. Not doing enough practice tests – I completed only 2 full length official prep tests and that’s it. In my opinion, this was my biggest downfall as the biggest problem I faced during my actual GMAT was pacing and time management.
5. Not using GMATClub Quant tests – I was a bit overconfident on my Quant skills (coming from an IIT) that I almost skipped quant prep. And the thing that I regret most is not using the GMATClub quant test (that came free with an E-gmat subscription). These tests are by far the best resources one could use to score Q51. These tests are harder, lengthier, trickier but just by a bit. If one can score Q50/Q51 in these tests, actual GMAT quant will be a piece of cake.
Attempt 2 – GMAT 730(V38, Q50)- Oct 2019
After my horrible failure at first attempt, I made amends and started preparing for success. I changed my studying strategy and started focusing on each sub-section individually and targeting specific mistakes.
1. Sentence Correction – I think SC is easiest and hardest at the same time. Easiest to score -if you know what you are doing, and Hardest to score – if you get confused. For SC, I mainly worked on Official GMAT prep questions, GMATClub SC top 100 700-800level questions, Aristotle GMAT SC and E-GMAT verbal Scholaranium questions. This time, I restricted myself in terms of no. of questions but instead focused on recording my errors in an error log and making sure I avoid mistake repetition.
2. Critical Reasoning – I studied CR mainly from Power bible and Manhattan CR. And I focused on each and every question type individually, mainly focusing on assumptions and Boldface (which were my weakest sections)
3. Reading Comprehension – Fortunately, I decided to follow E-GMAT method of tacking RC questions and developed the habit of taking notes and summary after each para. I realized that though it may seem excessive at first, it helps increase your consistency and accuracy .
4. Quant – I was completely devastated with my failure in Quant and decided to be extra cautious this time around. And I spent most of my time giving GMATClub Quant Tests, while focusing on reviewing each and every correct/incorrect answer choice with an expert's explanation to find out the most optimal way of solving the problem.
Test Day Experience – I was quite comfortable this time around as it was my 2nd attempt and I knew all of the procedures. I started with my quant section and completed it within time, and I was reasonably happy with myself. I went to take the optional break but to my surprise the washroom was occupied. Consequently, I spent a couple of minutes waiting outside. But when I reached my workstation I was in awe. Somehow, I managed to spend 4 minutes additional time and that was already deducted from my Verbal section time. I tried to organize my thoughts, but my brain refused to function. I sat again for 5 min in front of my first SC question trying to make sense of the foreign language in front of me. Somehow, I managed to calm myself down and complete the next 20 questions in 45 mins. But it was already too late for me, Now I needed to solve 16 questions in ~15 min. Panic started to settle again, and I knew I had to guess few of the answers. I completed Verbal, IR, AWA and instinctively knew that my score is again going to be a sub 700 failure. But to my surprise, the screen read 730 and I was happy beyond words.
Attempt-3 GMAT Online 770 (Q51, V44) – June 2020
Some of you may think that story should have ended. I thought so too. But I still hadn’t corrected one of my first mistakes – Knowing the scores I want in GMAT.
After 730, I applied to 3 top 10 US B-schools but to my surprise got interview invite from only 1 of them. And the major reason for that is I believe my GMAT score. That’s when I decided that I should make use of my time at lock-down and give one last attempt at GMAT.
Following are the few resources/steps that helped me finally beat GMAT:
1. E-GMAT Team support - With the score of 750-60 in my mind, I immediately sent my ESR to the E-GMAT team and requested their help to understand my weaknesses further. I was surprised to see that they provided me a detailed breakdown of my shortcomings and gave me a 5-step approach (along with video directions) to reach my targeted goals.
According to them I had to improve my ability in CR, SC and improve my pace during the full exam.
2. Improving Ability in CR with Pre-thinking – Although I was aware of Pre-thinking. I knew what it meant, I knew how to do it but somehow, I just though doing the questions without pre-thinking is faster. But with the help of E-GMAT resources, I was able to develop a habit of using Pre-thinking. This helped me improve my ability from 60 to 90% in CR.
3. Using E-GMAT Scholaranium- I was shocked after comparing my ESR sectional ability with Scholaranium ability %. To my surprise, they were identical. I then realized that Scholaranium questions and algorithm are so close to actual GMAT exam that improving my ability in Scholaranium will definitely translate to a better score in GMAT. With this in mind, I followed step by step plan laid out by E-GMAT team and could achieve my target score in ~ 30 days.
4. Practicing Full-length official mocks – I now finally understand why everyone praised Official GMAT prep mocks so much. They are the one truly reliable indicator of the score. And so, I purchased Official Mocks (3-6). And I tried a couple of strategies while giving the mock exams – such as going fast for first half, slow for first half, skipping last RC and so on. I finally found a strategy tailor made for me and finally decided to book the official GMAT.
GMAT Online Experience – Although I was a bit nervous of doing the exam from my home and that too without the much-needed optional break between Quant and verbal. But I decided to go for it anyway. And to my surprise, it was a pleasant experience. Fortunately, no technical glitch, no bad experience with customer service, nothing bad happened on the test day. Finally, after 3 days of waiting I got my official score. And with a sigh of relief, I realized that after 1.5 years and 3 attempts this story’s finally over.
Thelionking1234
Joined: 09 Apr 2020
Last visit: 23 Apr 2022
Posts: 121
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 569
Location: India
Concentration: Strategy, Entrepreneurship
Schools: ISB'22 (D)
GMAT 1: 690 Q49 V35
WE:Engineering (Other)
Products:
21 Jul 2020, 10:44
Kudos
Bookmarks
Congratulations for a great score!
Can you share some of the verbal skipping/guessing strategies you find most successful?
Also share which time markers have you used to measure yourself during the tests.
Thanks in advance and salute to your perseverance.
Can you share some of the verbal skipping/guessing strategies you find most successful?
Also share which time markers have you used to measure yourself during the tests.
Thanks in advance and salute to your perseverance.
21 Jul 2020, 11:40
Kudos
Bookmarks
qwerpar123
Congrats on your great score. Thank you for sharing your GMAT journey experience.
