My journey From 410 to 700 :-)

Hello Guys,

I am very glad to say that I scored a 700 (Q49 V36 IR5 AWA4) when I gave my GMAT last week. A heartfelt "Thank You" to this GMATclub forum, GMATNinja , Shraddha from egmat, and Bunuel for helping me cruise through the concepts and resolving my doubts. I owe my debrief to this group

I think I have a very different and interesting story. Read on to know more

1. Before you start your preparation, do you believe in yourself?

- Most of the people I meet always answer this question with uncertainty. "I am not sure" "I guess I won't be able to do it" etc etc
- Remember! Half the battle is already won only if you believe in yourself. Start believing in yourself first, start thinking positively. Start saying "You can do it!"
- I love this famous quote by Confucius and I believe it is true "He who says he can and he who says he can't are both usually right"
- You must be thinking why did I start with this motivational stuff at the beginning. Well read on and you will realize why I started with this question

2. Some background before I started my preparation

- I gave my first GMAT prep default mock in January 2017. And scored a paltry 410 (I don't remember my split scores)
- I knew I had a herculean task ahead. Although I knew how to solve all the quant questions, I was very slow. Verbal was a disaster. I didn't know any rules and I was answering all the questions based on sound
- I couldn't continue my preparation because of my demanding Job

3. Finally how did I start my preparation?

- Fast forward to July 2017. I could commit the adequate time
Verbal - SC
- I started with my weakest area, verbal, practicing SC everyday. Learnt all my concepts from Manhattan SC Guide and GMATclub.
- I made notes for each and every concept and started revising these concepts everyday before sleep
- After initial 3 weeks, I started solving OG questions and made notes.
- It is very important to note down the "Process of elimination" in SC.
- Even if you got the answer correct, you should check if you got it right for the right reasons
Verbal - RC
- Another pain point for me was RC. Whenever I used to read RC questions I used to get lost in the middle off the passage
- I also tried to learn each and every detail the passage wanted to convey
- I knew I was going wrong somewhere and found this amazing article by GMATNinja - read it here - that helped cruise through RC
- Now I knew I needed to make a mental map of the passage and solve the RC based on the mental map. My RC accuracy increased
- I practiced 4 RCs everyday with a timer and asked questions whenever I had any doubts
Verbal - CR
- I thoroughly read the powerscore bible and learned the important concepts
- Practiced the OG questions and asked doubts on the GMATclub forum
- Once I gained confidence that I could solve questions accurately. I started timing the questions. My accuracy for the hard questions was really poor but I could cruise through easy or medium difficulty questions
Quant
- I thoroughly read the GMATClub Math book and made important notes of each concept
- Solved the Quant review questions and OG questions
- I also solved some hard questions from all the OGs to gain a firm hold on my concepts. The hard questions would indirectly help me to increase my speed in the easy questions
- I made notes for each chapter of Quant and revised them everyday before sleep

4. What was my strategy ?

- My target was 700 or more. In order to achieve that score, I knew I had to get Q49 or more in my Quant and V35 or more in my Verbal
- Quant my was forte and I couldn't let my quant score slip.

5. When did I start my mocks and what did I learn from them?

- After 1.5 months of intense studies, I decided to give the last default GMATprep mock
- And guess what? I scored a 600
- I was happy because I made the jump from 410 to 600
- I spent upto 2 days analyzing each and every GMATprep question. I would complete my analysis only after I was convinced for the reasoning for each and every question. I would check whether the concepts I used for each question were correct or incorrect. Subsequently, I made notes for questions that I marked incorrect and maintained a error log
- I purchased the Veritas free mocks and started giving those mocks
- I scored a 600, 610 and 650 in the three mocks I gave. After each mock I spent 2 days analyzing each question and followed the same process mentioned in point #4 of this question

6. I booked my GMAT date and purchased EP1 and EP2. Now how was my performance in EP1 and EP2 ?

- I gave my first EP1 mock scored a paltry 580. I was distraught and dejected!
- I picked myself up and I was positive (I thought about the words I mentioned in question #1 at the start of my debrief) that I could make it
- Second mock, a 640. I was happy a little bit but at the same time I knew I had to push myself
- 2 days before my GMAT exam I gave my first mock of EP2. Scored 590!
- I analyzed my mock and decided not to give the last EP2 mock before the exam

After reading the above story, most of us must have felt that we would score in the similar range in the GMAT exam. But wait, do you remember what I mentioned in the beginning of my debrief? I went exactly with the same thoughts to give the exam. I knew I could do it. I knew I could make the cut. I knew my 3-month effort would not go waste. I knew I can answer all the questions correctly on the test day. Afterall, you need to be right on the test day. The past does does not matter. All those previous mocks gave me the test experience and I knew I would score 700 or more

I gave my exam and scored 700. I wasn't shocked because I had already made up mind before the exam that I would be scoring 700 or more

A few folks asked me the below questions, answering them below

How to analyze your mocks?

- After each and every mock spend the maximum time possible to see where you went wrong.
- Was the error conceptual or silly?
- If it was conceptual, then check your notes and brush up your concepts. Don't move on with incomplete understanding. Incomplete understanding will hurt you later
- If it was silly, then check why and where did you make the silly mistake. Try to make sure you son't repeat the same mistake in the next mock
- Remember, before you give the next mock, ask yourself - What are the new concepts I have learned? Do I have a better understanding than my previous mocks? If your answer is YES, you should proceed ahead. If your answer is NO, you should make sure you turn this NO to a YES

What was my timing startegy?

- For Quant I made the following sections
---> After I complete 10 questions, I should have approximately 55 mins left
---> After I complete 20 questions, I should have approximately 35 mins left
---> After I complete 30 questions, I should have approximately 15 mins left
---> Remaining 7 questions should be completed in 15 mins
- For Verbal
---> 1.5 mins for SC
---> 2 mins or little more for CR
---> 6 mins for short RC and 8 mins for long RC

I hope this debrief motivated you to think positively. You have the potential to do it. Just believe that You can do it!
All the best!