Abhi3492 wrote:
Hi experts!
I took the GMAT today (28th March'22) and scored 660 (Q47, V34, IR 6). I am targeting a score of 720+ and need your suggestions on how should I plan my preparation.
Following are some of the pointers which I have noticed during my preparation so far and the official GMAT attempt:
1. I had given 4 official mocks and my scores were: 690, 710, 750, 750 (in this order),but the issue that I realise now was that none of those mocks were in proper GMAT like conditions (I took a lot of pauses etc.)
2. During the actual GMAT, I always felt that I was behind the clock (especially in the verbal section). Hence, I probably ended up submitting my response to the final 7-8 questions in approx. 8-10 minutes.
3. I had a lot of test anxiety especially during the first 2-3 questions and the last 5-7 questions of each section.
I want to take the GMAT again by maximum May'22 end, and request you to kindly suggest if 720+ is a reasonable score to target in about 2 months of time. (Note: I am a full time working professional and can give max 1-2 hours to preparation during weekdays).
Below is a brief about my profile, request you to kindly evaluate and suggest if there is a mismatch between the schools and the scores that I am targeting:
Indian / Male / 29 years
Graduation: Chemical Engineering (CGPA: 7.28 / 10, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute; mid-rank engineering college)
Post Graduation Diploma In Management: (CGPA: 7.05 /10, Indian Institute of Management Raipur; one of the top 15 business schools in India)
Work Experience: (Total 54 months till date)
30 months: Worked with a national Oil Marketing Company (a Fortune 500 company) in the Corporate Strategy and Planning team.
13 months: Worked in the CEO's office as a Program Manager at a cloud kitchen Start-up (this company is part of a group that owns two mobility based unicorn start-ups in India)
7 months: Program Manager to the CMO at the largest chain of Departmental stores in India.
Currently working as a Senior Manager in the CEO's Office at 7-Eleven India.
Target Schools: INSEAD, LBS, Said, Judge, HEC
Awards and Recognitions:
Implemented a project to optimize cash flows at 'Ola Foods' (part of a unicorn start-up group) during COVID-19 that not only led to ~42% optimization of excess space in kitchens but also resulted in monthly revenue stream of ~INR 8 lacs - Received recognition from Head of Projects and Head of Business Finance.
Guest Columnist for under 30 writers, a series of a daily column focusing on current affairs started by all 65 Dainik Bhaskar (leading national news daily) editions across 14 states.
Winner - Consulting case event at Advaita’15, the International Management fest of ISB Hyderabad.
Finalist - B-plan competition at Intaglio’16, the International Management fest of IIM Calcutta.
Finalist - Markician, the national marketing case study challenge organized by IIFT Delhi.
Winner - Case-Write-up competition in DIGITAL INDIA WEEK held at IIM Raipur, 2015
Post MBA - I want to pursue a career in consulting (with a focus on Energy sector).
Regards,
Kumar Abhishek
Hi Abhi3492,
For scoring 700 and above, you need to get the easy medium questions right as GMAT test is adaptive in nature. You can afford making mistakes only in the latter half of the Section, not in the beginning. You have to make the GMAT algorithm serve you difficult questions and get them right. For that, being conceptually clear on all topics is really vital. Not only this, you have to be good with application of concepts because
GMAT is a test of application of concepts.
Ideally, 2 months should be good enough to improve your score to 720+ if utilised in a planned and structured manner with consistent efforts guided in the right direction.
Coming to time management, let me share my 2 cents from my experience of scoring 740 on GMAT and helping many students reach their target score.
Taking extra time to solve questions is a symptom and not the disease itself. Let me elaborate.
There are 2 things that you do while solving questions - 1. You think about how to solve the question and 2. You solve the question. It's the first point that eats up unnecessary time. Now how do you tackle Point 1. Most people think the best solution is by solving additional questions. It does help but sadly is not the most effective solution because by just practising more questions you end repeating the same mistakes.
The better solution is to learn the right logical methods to solve questions and then master these methods with additional practice. Now before suggesting you the right methods, I would like to understand how you approach questions at present and then accordingly I can suggest you what's the way out.
Meanwhile you can check out how Manish got into INSEAD with GMAT 720 and also how Ilias got into HEC with a GMAT 640 to get some powerful insights from their journey:
Coming to overcoming test day anxiety, you may find this helpful:
Hope this helps!
You can always write back to me here or the better way would be to connect over a call and have a discussion. You can schedule a free consultation call using the below link.
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28 Mar 2022, 06:24
