Hi,
This is my first post on GMAT club. I have never been able to contribute something new to the forum as almost everything is already posted ages ago and yet relevant (thanks to
bb and all experts), and I consider myself too naïve to resolve others queries. I'm an Indian Male non-IT Engineer (partially doomed as per
souvik101990 definition) and targeting a score good enough to have me considered for scholarships (did someone said 760+ ?).
I have been studying for about 6 months after signing up for a GMAT classroom coaching course late last year. I have access to the
GMAT Official Guide 2022, GMAT Quant Review 2022 & GMAT Verbal Advance 2020 questions and I have quite a few questions left. I had also purchased official GMAT tests 5 & 6. My mock & GMAT exam scores were as follows:
Practice Exam 1: 620 (Q46 V30 IR 2) 15.11.2022 (Q-12 incorrect, V-15 incorrect)
Practice Exam 2: 640 (Q48 V30 IR 4) 17.11.2022 (Q-14 incorrect, V-16 incorrect)
GMAT Exam (1st Attempt): 640 (Q47 V31 IR 7) 21.11.2022
Practice Exam 5: 610 (Q49 V25 IR 8) 16.02.2023 (Q-7 incorrect, V-19 incorrect)
Practice Exam 1: 690 (Q49 V35 IR 5) 22.02.2023 (Q-10 incorrect, V-15 incorrect)
ReattemptPractice Exam 2: 690 (Q45 V39 IR 4) 23.02.2023 (Q-13 incorrect, V-10 incorrect)
ReattemptPractice Exam 6: 670 (Q49 V31 IR 8) 25.02.2023 (Q-4 incorrect, V-10 incorrect)
GMAT Exam (2nd Attempt): 650 (Q49 V30 IR 5) 28.02.2023
Please note that in between official mocks, I took coaching centers non-adaptive mocks in which I scored in the range of (620-700)
My GMAT Exam (1st Attempt) date was booked as per admissions deadline while my 2nd Attempt date was booked in first week of Jan'23 in consultation with coaching center tutors. I have ESR of 1st Attempt and about to purchase the same for 2nd Attempt.
In last three days from GMAT 2nd Attempt, I watched
GMATNinja SC & RC videos which I found as an eye opener but due to lack of time didn't practice them.
I have been studying for 5-6 hours on weekdays and 10-12 hours on weekends.
Verbal Weakness:
(TOP priority)SC- during exams not able to identify POE and try solving each question with meaning based approach which takes 2min on average.
CR- struggle a bit with evaluate & assumption type 700+ level questions
RC- find difficult to eliminate options in inference and primary purpose question types
Quant Weakness:
(greed for perfection)Probability- in general
Inequalities DS type- find difficult to digest that option E could be an answer, causing wastage of time in cross-verifying multiple times
Word problems- any difficulty level consumes on average 3 min/question
Pain points:
1. What resources to use (exhausted almost 90% official questions from above stated books)
2. How to use (Study plan)
3. Which non-official/official mocks to use (Official Practice Exam 3 & 4 not yet purchased)
3. When to book a test and for which date (this time planning to take online test unlike last two test centers ones)
4. How to strike balance between speed and accuracy (in all mocks & GMAT exams, I guessed last 4-5 questions in verbal and 2-3 questions in Quant due to poor time management)
5. I do anticipate exam anxiety plays a role because while solving SC questions in exams I'm unable to identify POE whereas while practicing or during mocks that is not the case.
6. I feel stuck as I'm able to identify my weakness, but due to anxiety or timing issues I revert back to solving questions in my hardwired methods.
Need help from some experts to guide the way forward as this will be my third and final attempt and I'm ready to devote 8-10 hours per day as I have resigned from my job.