Target Test Prep From 520 to 740

Bottom Line Upfront: DO TARGET TEST PREP, TAKE THE GMAT AT HOME TEST

I started my GMAT journey about 5 years ago. I was transitioning out of the Army and was studying for the GMAT. I took some 6 week in-person course and showed little improvement. I believe I went from a 520 to 570.

I figured grad school wasn't for me and started a very successful career in mortgage lending. I was quickly ranked in the top 5 Mortgage lenders in the country and figured if I could achieve this success, I COULD do grad school.

When rates started to rise, I knew that this was my time. I visited a friend at Stanford and told him about my GMAT experience the first time around. He told me I HAD TO DO TTP and told me he had risen out of the 500's and into the 700's.

I signed up. I did the expert or "740+" program. IT TAKES A LONG TIME so be prepared to put in the hours. I took a diagnostic test before beginning to study and my 570 from 2017 diminished back to the 520.

I was about halfway through the course and decided to try to take the GMAT prior to R.1 apps. I scored a 620. 100 point improvement and it gave me a ton of hope. I finished the remainder of TTP by December '22. I took the GMAT at the beginning of December and scored a 690. I had another test scheduled for mid-December and took a practice GMAT at home and scored a 740! I was so stoked for my mid-December GMAT to really show out.

I could only get a test about 4 hours away for my mid-December test. The day before I drove the 4 hours and stayed in a Hotel near the test center. I was NERVOUS. I only slept about 4 hours and was horrified when i scored a 650. I knew I was better than this. I scrambled and scheduled the GMAT Online exam for the end of December and my vow was to leave the GMAT in 2022.

The night before, I got a great night's sleep. The morning of, I had a great breakfast, and my test was an hour later than the previous in-person time slot. My math went well. My verbal was going great until about the last 1/4 of the section. A calendar notification was popping through their secure browser then quickly disappearing over and over again and it was really distracting me. I asked the proctor to get rid of the notification, she said she couldn't see it. On my break, I implored with her to get rid of the notification and she had to wait for the IR to start to get rid of it! She could have gotten rid of the notification all along. Lesson learned - turn off your notifications before starting your at-home GMAT.

I finished my test, clicked submit and lo and behold! 740!!!!(Q49 V42 IR5 AWA 6). I was so stoked. A little jaded about the calendar notification during my verbal but was really happy with the score. My test was flagged for a security review for about 12 calendar days. I self-reported my score and left the AWA section on my apps blank. Once the score came through, I immediately sent them to the schools and am waiting to hear if I got any interviews.

I hope this is helpful and would HIGHLY recommend TTP to anyone preparing for the GMAT.