As somebody who battled the GMAT for a cumulative 8 months over the past ~3 years and ultimately scored a 760 (Q50, V41 – 99th percentile), I wanted to outline my experience to demonstrate how I achieved a score I never thought I was capable of. Aside from serving as a catharsis, the purpose of the below debrief is to inspire others who may be discouraged with their GMAT progress. I’ve tried to be as detailed as possible because I know how much the “little things” matter.
Background25 year old male living in the U.S. Took the GMAT during my senior year of college (2.5 years ago) and scored a 710 (Q47, V41) after ~4 months of disciplined studying. At the time I was relatively happy with a 710, but I also instinctively knew I was capable of a better score
Day 0* My study process began very unexpectedly. During an unusually slow week at work in early October, I randomly began trying my luck with a few practice problems to keep myself occupied. Within a week or two I was fully sucked back into the GMAT wormhole
* Although I had a solid understanding of test structure and content through my 2017 process, I began studying as if I had no prior experience with the test (i.e. started from square one)
* Following conversations with friends who had performed well on the test, I purchased the
Manhattan GMAT Self-Study Toolkit ($360). Chose this package for a few reasons:
- Having prep resources that were 100% digital was very important to me as I wanted to flexibility to study wherever and whenever
- Had no interest in in-person classes or virtual lessons – much prefer to study at my own pace
- Package included 5-6 Manhattan practice tests
*Now equipped with the Manhattan resources, I took a Manhattan diagnostic test and scored a 560 (Q36, V31) which didn’t surprise me
Note: below breakdown of my studying was not necessarily intentional and is not a perfect summary, but it is generally representative of how my practice unfolded. I essentially studied ~2 hours a day 5-7 days a week throughout each phase.
Phase 1 – Content Mastery (Weeks 1 – 7)* During this phase I worked my way through the Manhattan guides in the following order: general quant guide, advanced quant guide, general verbal guide, and then advanced verbal guide
* As I plugged through the guides, I was very focused on truly understanding all the content. Beyond retrying end of chapter questions that I felt were challenging, I added snips of content that was new to me to a running word document to serve as a repository / study guide of sorts
- Note: during my 2017 process, I felt that I would overlook subjects I thought to be “out my league”. This was a grave mistake as it led me to almost fear questions, especially quant questions, during the exam since I didn’t feel 100% comfortable with my knowledge
* When completing end of chapter practice questions, I was not focused on timing whatsoever. Again, was really just focused on “mastering” the content
Phase 2 – Practice Questions & Timing Awareness (Weeks 8 – 11)* For these few weeks I was exclusively focused on testing my knowledge base and developing my timing awareness through
official guide questions
* In addition to purchasing the 2020
official guide, I also purchased the 2020 quant guide and additional official quant/verbal practice question set. I also utilized several official guides from prior years that I found online through simple google searches
- Note: I was fairly religious about sticking to only official practice questions. Through my 2017 process I found that non-official questions were worded strangely or just slightly “off”
* I would generally split my practice questions as follows:
- 10 problem solving + 10 data sufficiency. Review incorrect questions and note any learnings in my study guide
- 10 sentence correction + 5 critical reasoning + 1-2 reading comp passages. Review incorrect questions and note any learnings in my study guide
* I would shoot for ~90% accuracy across all categories and would often get upset or discouraged if I fell short of this mark
* Tried to be as disciplined as possible with timing during practice – (i.e., 2 mins per each quant and CR question, 1 min 20 secs per each SC question, 2-3 mins to read each RC passage and then 1 min 30 secs per each RC question)
* Importance of timing discipline cannot be overstated. I followed the timing strategies outlined in below article – hands down one of the most “value add” tips I picked up during my studies
- Article title "Everything You Need to Know about GMAT Time Management, Part 3" (I can't post link for some reason)
Phase 3 – Putting It All Together + Overcoming Failure (Weeks 12 – 19)* At the beginning of this phase I took my first official practice test and scored a 730. This immediately motivated me to book an official test 1-2 weeks later
* Unfortunately, during these 1-2 weeks I went through an extremely intense phase at work and was essentially unable to study whatsoever. Despite enormous stress and overall exhaustion, I decided to stick with the test date and trust my knowledge. Come test day, I was exceptionally nervous/anxious and literally could not read first several quant questions – it was almost as if my entire mind froze. Of course this led to a disastrous score (690). While I was upset with myself and frustrated that I just wasted $250, I recognized that this was not a reflection of my true capabilities, so I booked another official exam basically as I was leaving the test center. One positive takeaway from this experience was that I learned that I must choose to do verbal before quant in future tests
* During the ~3 weeks between official test #1 and official test #2 I pretty much only focused on quant practice. This strategy backfired as during my official test #2 I completely botched my verbal timing. I devoted far too much time to questions in the first half of the section and then effectively guessed for last 5-10 questions. At this point I was pretty discouraged and started to doubt my ability to beat my 710. However, I again immediately booked official test #3 for 3 weeks later
* During the ~3 weeks between official test #2 and official test #3 I aimed for a 50/50 balance between quant and verbal practice questions
* The week leading up to official test #3 was a breeze at work which was huge for minimizing stress / nerves. However, night before test I was so wired that I got a maximum 4 hours of sleep before an 8AM test. This was obviously incredibly frustrating, but I just did my best to not let it affect my confidence going into the test center
* Fortunately, I was able to tie all the pieces together (timing discipline, nerves, etc.) and thus ended up with 760. My reaction was a mixture of shock, relief, and euphoria. Hearing from the Pearson staff that they almost never see a 760 score was the cherry on top.
Test Day Tips* I intentionally scheduled all my official tests for 8AM as I (i) wanted to get it over with and (ii) am a morning person
* Before the test, I would wake up at 615AM, drink lots of water, stretch, eat oatmeal, and drink ½ cup of black tea (decently sensitive to caffeine). During the test I would eat an apple in the first break and a cliff bar in second break
* Sounds weird but rather than dressing for comfort (sweats), I would dress relatively nicely as I had read that has an impact on one’s confidence
* Prior to official test #3, I also read that showcasing positivity and kindness to strangers have a big impact on mental state. As such, I made a cognizant effort to wish others in the test good luck, tipped my uber driver, socialized with Pearson staff, etc.
Other Takeaways* Don’t give up / don’t underestimate yourself
- There were plenty of times I wanted to give up and settle with my 710
* Consistent studying is key
* Use your time wisely / study efficiently
- Mindlessly cranking through practice problems does nothing for improvement. Improvement comes from understanding your missteps and identifying areas of weakness
- Also be sure to use dry erase pad that is identical to pad you receive during test. This pad was included in my Manhattan package
* Disregard all practice test scores aside from official practice tests
* I went scored 670 on Manhattan test 1 week before my 760…
* Don’t underestimate importance of timing
* Accept that you will have to guess / give up on a handful of questions
- During official test #3, I received an exceptionally difficult reading comp passage – I’m sure I missed ~50% of these questions
- I had to make educated guesses on 3-4 quant questions and still ended up with Q50
Practice / Official Exam Results* 10/15/19 – Manhattan Diagnostic – 560 (Q36, V31)
* 12/25/19 – Official Practice Test #1 – 730 (Q50, V39)
* 1/4/20 – Official Test #1 – 690 (forget splits) – canceled score
* 1/18/20 – Official Practice Test #2 – 730 (Q47, V44)
* 2/1/20 – Official Test #2 – 660 (Q49, V30) – canceled score
* 2/8/20 – Manhattan Practice #1 – 650 (Q42, V37)
* 2/15/20 – Manhattan Practice #2 – 660 (Q44, V36)
* 2/22/20 – Official Test #3 – 760 (Q50, V41) 
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23 Feb 2020, 20:08
