Reflections from a 780-Scorer
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18 Apr 2021, 20:06
I notched a 780 (50Q, 48V, 8IR) on an in-person exam back in August 2020. I achieved this after a couple months of self-study - i.e., didn't purchase any courses, prep packages, or tutoring. I chose to go the self-study route because of a couple issues I foresaw with the test prep companies' offerings:
1. Cost: test prep company materials are very expensive, running into the hundreds of dollars for a basic package of materials
2. Effectiveness: prep courses are obviously comprehensive, but they convey the information in the form of dozens of "tips" and "concepts" that you're expected to remember how to apply during an actual exam. I don't know about you guys, but when I'm under time pressure like in the actual GMAT, the last thing I want to do is spend time recalling some random tip a prep course taught me months ago, with the hope that I'm applying it correctly to the question at hand
3. Lack of verbal content: People prepping for the GMAT in general seem to focus on quant and neglect verbal, and test prep companies respond to that by producing less verbal content. Maybe it's because quant feels more tangible, but I see native and non-native speakers alike being held back by verbal scores, while having much less trouble with achieving a quant score in the high 40s/low 50s. I knew verbal was something I struggled with more so than quant (despite being a native speaker and getting 800s on both the reading and writing sections of the SAT in 2014), and I didn't want to spend money on a course that prioritized quant instead
For these reasons, I decided to turn around and create my own set of verbal content to help with your GMAT prep journeys: gmat-prep-center. thinkific. com
As of now, I have 1 set of verbal videos up. In full transparency, the videos cost $10 to access, since they took a while to make - and this is still significantly cheaper than anything else on the market. The videos provide a no-frills, unfiltered look at my thought process as I go through the verbal section questions. I'm not a GMAT tutor, and I don't take the GMAT for a living, so I hope this provides a genuine look at the thought process of a high-scorer, and is helpful in your studies. Thank you!