This post has been a long time coming.
I started my prep in June ‘19. I’ve always loved 10th grade math and considered myself fairly comfortable with English, so I figured GMAT would be
1) Fun to study
2) Easy to master
I was right about 1 but a bit off with 2. Cause you see, the GMAT doesn’t really test your Math or your English skills. What it tests is your ability to deduce answers, your reasoning skills, and the above two points in a high-pressure and minimum-time setup.
I’ll keep my GMAT prep story short bec there are tons of great threads on this platform that go into solid specifics. I’m going to highlight the mistakes I made along the way - hopefully ones you can avoid
1) Not understanding what the GMAT was testing : As I mentioned, I spent much of my prep time thinking of GMAT as an English/ Math exam and it truly isn’t that. I treated the quant sums as exam problems, sometimes completing steps that were unnecessary for the final answer. As soon as I would start reading the Q, I would put pen to paper and start jotting down things. The GMAT goal is simple: answer the question correctly and as quickly as possible. The goal is NOT: apply all the math you have learned. This means, start identifying pattens in the questions and in your approach to figure out the most efficient way to solve a problem. Sometimes this could mean just glancing at the answer options, other times it could mean avoiding pen and paper altogether and just solving the problem mentally. Don’t lose a sense of the reasoning aspect by getting caught up in the details of the questions.
2) Not maintaining an error log: At the start I was like keeping track of every problem I get wrong is too cumbersome, I’ll just identify my weak areas and focus on those. - terrible mistake. You will learn FAR more from the problems you get wrong than from the ones you get right. I also had this bad habit of constantly practicing only my favourite topics (basically neglecting all of Verbal and just doing Quant) - again, terrible mistake. Tackle your weaker areas head on and spend time analyzing why they are your weak areas. What’s the gap? Is it conceptual? Silly mistakes? Only once you identify it will you be able to solve it. Maintain a log of the problems you get wrong, spend time understanding why you got them wrong, and re-visit them every few days. Every GMAT question is available on this platform; when you go through the explanations, read multiple answers - this will give you a wholesome understanding of the concept and multiple ways of approaching those problems.
3. Constantly doing mock tests without working on my fundamentals: Can’t stress on this enough. That 700+ is just not going to magically appear when you are struggling to identify a conclusion in an argument/ can’t tell if a number is a perfect square/ reading the first sentence in RC 20 times. My point is - if you haven’t hit your target score, chances are that taking another test won’t solve it. Strengthen your fundamentals first - this will help you across all aspects of test-taking - speed, accuracy etc. I constantly attempted mock tests, waiting to hit my target score so I could convince myself I was ready. This set me back a couple of months and was very demotivating. (And also cost me some precious mocks)
4. Not having a plan of action: At this point I’ve lost track of whether I’m talking about my MBA plans in general or just the GMAT...... anyway the fact is that there is a LOT of material out there. My YouTube and social media algorithms Have been permanently overwritten with ‘Ace the GMAT/ get 750 guaranteed’ and other such jargon. I didn’t have a study plan for the first 2 attempts. Don’t do that. Find a plan/ tutor/ study source that works for YOU. Do your research and talk to your friends/ peers on GMAT club. It helps to be honest with yourself about your strong & weak areas as this will help you identify the right study material/ tutor.
5. I was too hard on myself: Especially in this current backdrop, I can’t stress this point enough. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Your GMAT score doesn’t define you/ doesn’t define your intelligence and is not the most important thing in the world (contrary to what some of you are probably feeling right now). I was so disappointed in myself for not hitting my target score/ for not prepping the right way/ for not completing my tests/ for slacking off/ and so many other things along the way. I wish I was kinder to myself and took things .. well a little less seriously. I think that might have actually helped me more than my misplaced stress. I skipped Catan nights/ workouts/ dance class and basically all my fav things so I could study more. I just ended up more stressed and less prepared. Be nice to yourself and take this one step at a time... don’t be intimidated by others’ journeys. Find your own rhythm and flow with it!
My final scores:
GMAT 1 (physical): 680: Q49 V34
GMAT 2. (Physical): 690: Q48 V37
GMAT 3 (online): 710: Q47 V40
Adding to point 5.. a few days before my final attempt, I scored a 770 on my mock. The day before my exam I scored a 750. And the day that counted, I ended up with a 710. It was hard to swallow when I got my result but I know that it’s been an honest attempt, so I’m putting my GMAT attempts to rest for now!
And finally - what I did correctly in my last exam: Practice. I did tons of CR because I truly sucked at it. While everyone else was boiling the answers down to 2 choices I was always picking the out of scope ones. What helped:
GMATNinja and just understanding what the question was asking for. After solving 100+ questions I could easily identify the conclusion/ flaws/ and assumptions (and the out of scope answer choices). So just find those weak spots and practice till you turn them into your strengths!
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My GMAT online experience was VERY smooth. Proctor was on time and interrupted me only once for muttering. Check in was smooth, and so was the entire exam. I found the Quant Section to be trickier than usual.. but that could just be me. The no-break between Q and V can be exhausting.. so practice, build the mental stamina, and prep yourself for it!
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I hope this post helps!
GMATNinja please don’t be appalled at my parallelism errors; You’ve (virtually) trained me well, just that it’s 1:00 am in Mumbai right now..
Posted from my mobile device 
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Updated on: 10 Jul 2020, 10:08
