Background:Gave GMAT in Dec'19 (670 | Q51 | Q29). Took some time off and started fresh again in Apr'20.
Length of study:100 days of prep.
Initial 35 days only for verbal theory along with a daily dose of Gmatclub question of the day. I scored Q51 earlier as well, so I didn't study for quant in the first month. My focus was to improve verbal only.
Note: This will work only for those who are 100% confident in their mathematical skills! Last 3 weeks, I took a break from the job to be able to give the exam in a free state of mind.
Books & materials used:OG books - both Review and Guide -
MUSTAristotle Wileys Gmat Critical Reasoning 2018
GmatClub Question of the day - I think, in the background, QOTD has helped me improve a lot
Kaplan 800 - Used around 100 Questions; found very relevant
EGMAT old videos and some Youtube videos for SC
GMATNinja Videos - pure gold! ->https://gmatclub.com/forum/all-gmat-ninja-live-youtube-videos-by-topic-309678.html
Gmatclub forum explanations for all
official guide/review verbal questions -
MUST - Helped in the revision of concepts
Didn't study or practice RC - I think CR in itself helped me on RC
Practice Tests:Official GMAT practice exams 1-4 -
this is the best and most accurate representation of the actualGmatclub tests -
best for quantA couple of Kaplan tests
Manhattan free test
Test Day Debrief:Logged in 30 minutes early (Link gets activated 30 mins before the booked slot time). After uploading all pictures, started the test without any issue.
Started with Quant, completed well within time (10 mins early) - the exact same level as that of official practice tests. Usually, people get 3/4 Q's notch above but I found all questions quite manageable. Then came the mightly verbal section (at least for me :p), level of difficulty was the same as the official practice tests. I made notes for RC which slowed down my pace (something I started 15 days prior to the exam but that helped), and I end up with 7 questions to solve in the last ~8 minutes. I guessed a couple of questions in a 3-Ques RC and solved the other 4 questions with zero confidence. I was very much sure about my attempt of 31 ques in quant and 29 ques in verbal. My expectation was 690-710 with verbal 32/33 but I guess it was my lucky day, with the guesses going in the right way!
For IR - use the break in between verbal and IR very judiciously. I was drained out by the time I reached Q #30 in verbal and hence made few guesses. I informed proctor about getting up in the break and the result was losing 1.5 minutes waiting for his reply. My suggestion is that just show the whiteboard to the camera and leave because this is the official break where you are allowed to move. I came back in time with 40 secs left and continued with the test. Then in between the exam, I received a message from proctor asking me to show around the desk and whiteboard. This should have been done by me before starting the IR section. This cost me around 2.5 mins and I made guess on 2/3 questions. I think all the other questions were correct. Received score in 3 days.
General strategy:What might have worked for me may not work for you!
I used an
error log and modified it as per my usage. I also tracked my study time through the daily log to see how many hours I am able to give. A tracker for Official questions- help you with accuracy check and also identify weak/strong areas.
OG tracker ->
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 1197949119Error log ->
https://gmatclub.com/forum/importance-o ... 68428.htmlTip 1: Make a strategy that identifies your needs and style of working/studying I studied for almost 105 days.
Tip 2: Always give time. Don't rush - one thing I changed for this attemptI wanted to improve on verbal, so studied theoretical concepts of CR/SC in the first month. Solved all
official guide/review questions + all hard level quant questions in the guide in the second month. Practice tests in the third month.
Tip 3: Make a plan and a strategy to fulfill your goalsAlong with this, I used to solve the question of the day daily. If you don't get time to study someday, make sure you take out 15/20 mins and solve at least a couple of questions from each section.
Tip 4: Don't break the flow Gmatclub played a pivotal role in my prep.
Apart from official questions, the only thing I studied for Quant was
Gmatclub tests. Thank you
Bunuel bbI didn't find official explanations satisfactory. Best way is to browse through Gmatclub forums for these clarifications. I searched for explanations for every question; specifically looking out
GMATNinja (for verbal) and
EMPOWERgmatVerbal (for SC) explanations.
GMATNinja your videos helped me a lot. I used them in the final leg and I think that was the whole purpose of creating these videos. Amazing work!
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Updated on: 15 Dec 2020, 11:12
