550 -> 730. Non-native with no Quant background.

Hello! Like you, I decided to pursue an MBA and it quickly dawned on me just how much of a challenge the GMAT was going to be. I am a non-native from a Middle Eastern country, and I have no quantitative background (My undergraduate studies required almost no math) so I only had my rusty high school math skills to work with.

I took a diagnostic test and scored a discouraging 550 (Q31/V34).

I was aiming for a score above 700 so I knew that the work was cut out for me. I took an in-person course with a well-known GMAT prep company and was disappointed with the results, as I was only really able to push my score to 600-650. They will try to convince you that you just aren’t cut out for a score above 700 but make no mistake, anybody can score above a 700 it’s just that most people don’t. It's like learning how to swim. Some people are born naturally good at it, and others have to put a lot of work in, but you can’t say that a person can't eventually learn how to swim faster than 90% of people, given the right practice and resources! I hope that makes sense.

I signed up for a live online course with Manhattan Prep and I think that if you’re willing to put the money down, this is hands down the best way for an international (Non-US) individual to raise their score. They will have a class that is convenient for your time-zone and you will learn everything you need to break 700. To make the best use of it, I would recommend getting to a 600-650 level before starting the course, so that you can focus on the advanced techniques rather than the basics. The course also comes with many ManhattanPREP textbooks and resources, including online video lessons. The course is essentially a weekly live interactive lecture for a small class of 3-5 people with an instructor that will break down GMAT problems, sometimes spending up to 20 minutes on one problem to show how many different ways it can be approached. There is a huge emphasis on strategies, which are extremely useful for those moments where you blank out and don't know what to do. Math was a big issue for me, and ManhattanPREP's Quant is brutal, but very beneficial. Their stuff on verbal is great, too - especially sentence correction.

After my GMAT Course had ended, I decided to sit one GmatPREP exam per week leading up to the exam (I bought all of the packages)

Exam 1: 710 (Q42/V44)
Exam 2: 760 (Q50/V44)
Exam 3: 720 (Q47/V42)
Exam 4: 770 (Q50/V47)
Exam 5: 730 (Q48/V42)
Exam 6: 750 (Q48/V45)

In these last 6 weeks, I abandoned all material except for the OG guides and question sets. Nothing will prepare you for the exam better than these, but if you aren't in the final run-up to the exam, I would definitely vouch for material like the quant on ManhattanPREP because it’s harder than the exam. This makes the OG problem sets feel much easier, which is great, but I would save the last few weeks to focus solely on exactly the kind of questions you’re going to get.

I ended up sitting the exam in April, after taking my very first diagnostic in November.

GMAT 1: 730 (Q47 / V42)

I scored a little bit on the lower end of my practice CATS, but everyone I asked about admissions said that a 10-20 point increase would not make the biggest difference for my demographic, and that I’ve already “checked the box” so to speak. So it looks like I’m done! Thank you to the forums for being a great resource for question breakdowns. I’m happy to answer questions if you guys have any.

Quantitative Resources
ManhattanPREP Course, textbooks,
GMATClub forums (Bunuel! What a guy!)
OG guides
GMATPrep Question Packs
ManhattanPREP CATs (Worked through them and re-did them again and again. Great resource for building quant skills)

Verbal Resources
ManhattanPREP Course, textbooks (SC with these guys is the best out there)
GMATClub forums
Powerscore CR Bible (Hands down the greatest resource for CR)
Powerscore RC Bible (Also great! I would recommend it above any other approach to RC).
ManhattanPREP CATs
GMATPrep Question Packs
OG guides