My journey to a 730 on the GMAT [Q49 V41]

Question

At the outset I would like to thank the Gmatclub community. I would especially like to thank 
1.  bb  – Thanks for founding this amazing community, without your vision and hard work this forum would not be the amazing platform that it is today.
2. Moderators – The amount of time and effort that is spent curating the posts and promoting discussion is absolutely mind boggling. Shoutouts to  Bunuel ,  carcass ,  sudarshan22 ,  aragonn ,  chetan2u  and  generis  
3. and Experts – The insights provided by experts on this forum have been invaluable in my preparation. Shoutouts to  Payal Tandon ,  Shraddha Jaiswal ,  GMATNinja ,  mike  McGarry and  VeritasKarishma

I would also like to thank the people at  e-GMAT . The course that they have put together is very comprehensive and well structured and has played an important role in helping me reach this milestone. I followed the  e-GMAT  structured approach through and through and this later paid rich dividends. I was initially very sceptical because it took a lot of time, but with practice you can see an improvement in your accuracy as well as a reduction in time required to answer the questions.

Approach that I had followed

I. Getting basics right 
 In November of last year I had thought I could give GMAT a try and attempted a complete GMAT test without any preparation to get a feel of the exam, I managed to score a low 580 in the exam. I however did not loose hope because I knew that I could considerably improve my score if I got my basics right and spent enough time practicing questions. I had consulted a friend who had previously attempted the GMAT exam and got a 700+ score. He had suggested the  e-GMAT  curriculum to me. He had previously used another online prep provider and managed to get only below par scores and he felt that the  e-GMAT  verbal course greatly helped him get a 700+ score. I knew that I have to first spend a considerable amount of time getting my concepts right before attempting any GMAT OG questions or questions from any other source. I had followed my friends advise and decided to enrol myself for the  e-GMAT  course. Their initial on boarding sessions helped me get a better understanding of what was required to get a good score, but having said that getting a 700+ score still seemed like a herculean task at that point of time. I also read many debriefs of past GMAT candidates and understood that it was possible to get a 700+ score if we have a structured approach and are ready to put in the required amount of time. Nevertheless I watched all the videos in both both Verbal and Quant over a period of 6 weeks. While I watched the videos I also made it a point to take notes of important concepts.

II. Practice makes perfect 
 At this point even though I had a basic understanding of all the topics, there were many areas that I still needed to improve considerably. I attempted another mock exam at this stage and managed to get 660, I knew that there was a long way go before I could start getting scores above 700 consistently. I primarily used  e-GMAT Scholoranium , Official Guides and Gmat club forums to find questions to practice. I found the quality of questions in Scholoranium to be very good and very similar to the actual gmat questions. Moreover Scholoranium allows us to attempt ability quizzes in specific areas, making it possible for us to identify weak areas and improve scores in those areas. For example my accuracy was very low in Geometry and Advanced topics and hence I spent a considerable amount of time trying to improve my accuracy in those areas. In 6 weeks time I was able to attempt most of the questions in the Official Guides, Quant and Verbal Review and Scholoranium.

III. Attempting full tests 
 After practicing questions in the previous 6 weeks and improving my overall competency I decided to mainly spend the balance time attempting practice exams and revising important topics. I attempted an Official mock and managed to get a score of 710. I was very happy that I was able to cross the 700 mark in this mock. Over the course of the next 4 weeks I was able to attempt 8 mocks (4  Manhattan mocks  and 4 Official mocks) mocks and brush up my understanding in important topics. My score in the  Manhattan mocks  was in the 720 to 740 range but my score in the official mocks were much higher in the 750 to 770 range. The good scores in the mocks greatly helped my confidence. I also managed to get my hands on the  Manhattan  SC book and Advanced Quant book since I wanted to get another perspective. The SC book prescribed some shortcuts while attempting the questions, but I was wary of the these shortcuts because I was not sure how they would affect accuracy, instead I opted to stick with the  e-GMAT  approach. Closer to the exam I attempted many 700+ RC (primarily humanities and science long passages) questions from Gmatclub, this helped me get into groove before the exam.

I gave my first attempt in the beginning of March and managed to get a score of 720. I was slightly disappointed because I had gotten much higher scores in the official mocks. I think there were a few reasons why my score in the exam was lower. First, it is only natural that you are more anxious and nervous when you take the actual gmat exam, I found it very difficult to guess when I was not sure of the answer and also felt that I spent too much time on the first half of both verbal and quant sections leaving me with less time for the second half of the questions which are usually more difficult. Second, I felt that the actual GMAT exam to be a lot tougher than the official mocks, I still don’t know if this boils down to psychology or if the questions were in fact more tougher in the actual exam. Third, even though you don’t actually take the official gmat practice test there is a good chance that you might have come across some of the questions or similar questions while browsing Gmatclub. Fourth is unfamiliarity with actual test centre conditions, this plays a bigger role in your first attempt. After my first attempt I took a break from gmat for about 10 days to concentrate on work after which I decided to have a second go at the exam. I corrected some of the mistakes in my first attempt but only managed to secure a one point increase in my verbal score in the second attempt in the beginning of April.

Few things that helped me in my preparation and my understanding after having given two attempts

1. Setting target score is very important 
 It is very important to set a target score early in your preparation and you should also be able to understand the percentile scores in quant and verbal that would be required to achieve that score. You can refer to the  gmat scoring grid  to get a better idea. Also have a look at the average GMAT scores of the schools that you are aiming for. I found the  e-GMAT  GMATPlanner very useful for this.

2. Error logs 
 It is very important that you maintain an error log when you are practicing questions. I used spreadsheets to keep a track of all the errors that I had made. There are two advantages of doing this, one is that you get a better understanding of the areas in which you are making mistakes, and second you can also come back to these questions at a later point of time and test if your understanding of the particular topic has improved.

3. Analytics 
 It is also important that you carefully analyse the results of each time you attempt quizzes or practice questions. When I prepared I remember spending a considerable amount of time actually analysing the results and trying to improve my competency in those areas. For example I made considerably more mistakes in Bold Face CR questions and Inequalities, so for these areas I went back to the  e-GMAT  lessons and also made sure that I practiced multiple questions from the Gmatclub question banks.

4. Time management during exam  
 As in most other competitive exams time management is very crucial in GMAT as well. Initially I found it very difficult to finish both the verbal and quant sections within the assigned time, the situation was a lot more dire for Integrated Reasoning. Practice and familiarity with question types greatly helped me reduce the amount of time required. If you had seen a similar question earlier it will take considerably lesser time to get the question right in the exam. Another thing that I noticed is that you end up taking more time to answer the questions in the actual exam as compared to mock tests, so it would be best if you have some sort of a buffer time at the end of each section when you are writing the mocks, even a minute or two would make a big difference. Also have a look at this post by  bb  which delves some more into  time management strategies

5. Understand – Plan – Solve – Check 
 The Understand-Plan-Solve-Check strategy is applicable more for Quant than Verbal. When we see a math question it is in our nature to directly start solving it as soon as we are done with our initial reading of the question, however this may not always be the best strategy. It would be advisable to first spend time understanding the question without missing out on any critical information, then spend time planning your approach and only then start solving the questions. In the GMAT exam most of the quant questions are not calculation intensive and there is usually a more simple way of approaching the question that would take less time. This strategy also helps in avoiding situations where you either spend extra time on a question or get the question incorrect because you missed out on some critical information in the question. To be honest I did not recheck the answers in most of the cases due to lack of time, but if you are able to recheck the answers it would greatly help in improving your accuracy.

6. Importance of Verbal in getting high scores 
 A simple analysis of the scoring grid reveals that the percentile that you get in verbal is more important than the percentile that you get in quant for getting the higher scores. I am however not suggesting that one should spend lesser time preparing for quant but only suggesting that you should keep this in mind when you aiming for a particular score or if you are evaluating your results in either the mocks or actual test. I usually attempt the verbal sections first because I feel that attempting verbal second would negatively impact my verbal accuracy.

7. Luck factor 
 As is the case with all exams irrespective of how many questions you have practiced or how many mocks you have written at the end of the day luck does play a part, you should be conscious of this fact and aim to give your best in the actual exam.

8. Advanced writing assessment 
 I feel that getting a good score in AWA is not very difficult. Using a template driven approach for AWA is advisable. You can either use the  template  given by  chineseburned  or you could use your own template. Using a template driven approach will reduce the number of spelling mistakes that you may make and would also free up your mind while you are framing some of the more critical arguments. With AWA I feel that you should spend the first 3 – 5 minutes on the main structure of your argument, 20- 22 minutes actually writing your argument and the last 3 -5 minutes on reviewing the argument. In both my gmat tests I managed to identify some spelling mistakes and incorrect sentence structures while I was reviewing the argument.

9. Sacrifices 
 Managing both work and preparation for the GMAT exam is not easy. If you spend a considerable amount of time each week at work you should be ready to make some sacrifices. These sacrifices could include lesser time spent playing computer games, watching movies or TV series or meeting friends. Without these sacrifices it would be difficult to put in the number of hours required to get a high score.

10. Standard methodology for quant questions 
 Many quant questions types in areas such as sets and time and work have standard methodology that you could use. Using such methodology could greatly save time in the actual exam and hence it is advisable that you are aware of some of them before you give your attempt.

11. Quality of questions 
 I read somewhere on the forums that GMAC spends a considerable amount of money in framing each question. All the questions that you come across either on forums or anywhere else may not be of equally high quality. Since practicing low quality questions may put you off track selecting the right questions to practice becomes more important. In my experience I found the questions in the E-Gmat Scholoranium and manhattan tests to be of good quality.

Preparation materials 
1.  e-GMAT  quant and verbal course
2. Gmat club quant and verbal tests
3.  e-GMAT  Scholoranium
4.GMAT OG, Verbal review and quant review
5.  Manhattan  Prep tests
6.  Manhattan  SC and Advanced Quant books

Most of what I have stated in the post is only my view and are not necessarily concrete facts. It is also necessary that you structure your preparation according to your ability and the time that you are willing to commit. I did not have a lot of time to re-read and edit this post so apologies for any spelling, grammatical or formatting errors. Also please feel free to either comment on this post or send a private message if you have any questions.

Please give kudos if you have read the post and find it useful

carcass · Answer

This is one of the best score reviews I have seen in years. it really rocks. Great. I would add GMATPrepNow as one of the best tutors we do have also on the board. great job

generis · Answer

vikeshv , 740 ?

Oh, I am SO thrilled for you!

Well done! Your debrief is exceptionally good. Among other character strengths, you display tenacity, a strong work ethic, and graciousness; the school you choose will be lucky to have you. Congratulations again.

Gladiator59 · Answer

Congratulations on the score.

I remember messaging you on finding out that you were trying to improve your score post the 730. Good luck with app process. Best, Gladi Posted from my mobile device

henryford · Answer

vikeshv congratulations

all the best

if you dont mind can you please explain what were your most challenging subject and how you have overcame it .

IImbahopeful23II · Answer

A few topics come to my mind

1. Speed/Distance and Time
I initially found the topic difficult, there are a few things that helped me improve in this area. One is using a table instead of formulas (We can use a simple table having column headings Speed * Time = Distance). This greatly simplifies things in the more complex problems with multiple unknown variables. Another thing that helped me was using diagrams to better understand the sequence of events and the direction in which the entities are moving.

2. Co-ordinate geometry
Plotting the graph for co-ordinate geometry greatly helps us visualise the question. In many cases using algebraic approach for many questions is time consuming. The grid pattern on the scratch pad also make it easier to plot the graph.

Initially I got many co-ordinate geometry questions like the one given below incorrect, but using the strategy above helped me improve my accuracy.

DS Question : In the xy-plane, if line k has negative slope and passes through the point (-5,r) , is the x-intercept of line k positive?

(1) The slope of line k is -5.
(2) r > 0

3. Geometry DS questions
The rubber band technique (came across this technique in the Manhattan Advanced Quant Book) where we will have to imagine stretching or pulling the figure has helped me get many geometry questions right. This  article  goes into more detail.

henryford · Answer

Thanks  vikeshv  for the detailed explanations .

Will keep in mind the above tips for my preparation.

All the best

Radheya · Answer

Congratulations on the amazing score,  vikeshv !

You have achieved a score that many dream about. Which schools would you be targeting?

IImbahopeful23II · Answer

Have not yet decided on the schools I will be applying to.

Posted from my mobile device

j.shivank · Answer

Congratulations  vikeshv  on getting such an amazing score.
Your debrief was really well written and thank you for so many tips such as setting a target score and sacrificing movies and TV Shows.

I would like to ask you a few questions:

1. Was the difficulty level too high in the Quant and Verbal section on the GMAT than the mocks, or the questions just took a little more time to solve?
2. Were the questions in the Verbal section of the GMAT similar to GMATPrep mocks or the e-GMAT scholoranium or the Manhattan mocks?
3. Did revision of the incorrect questions on the mock tests help?
4. Were the questions solvable with the e-GMAT 3 step process for Verbal?
5. Were you able to manage time in verbal? Did you guess some questions towards the end?
6. Did RC consume too much time?

Sorry to ask so many questions.

But thank you so much in advance for taking some time out to answer my questions

IImbahopeful23II · Answer

Thanks

1. Felt that that the actual gmat exam was more difficult (not too high) in both Quant and Verbal sections than the mock, more so in the case of quant.
2. Feel that the verbal questions in Gmat Prep Mocks, Scholoranium and Manhattan mocks are similar to the actual exam.
3. Revision of incorrect questions always helps
4. Yes, they are solvable using the approach. Initially it will take a lot of time but with practice you can significantly reduce the time taken to select the answer.
5. Usually in mocks I used to finish the verbal section with 3 to 4 minutes to spare, The first time I wrote the exam I had to rush the last 3 to 5 questions but the second time I was able to finish the section comfortably. I never had to guess the answer without reading the question.
6. I have always been comfortable with RC. For RC you have to make sure that your first reading of the passage is the best reading you can take upto 3 - 5 minutes for long passage. You should be able to read the passage throughly and understand each sentence. Once this is done you should be able to answer each question within 30 - 45 seconds with minimal rereading of the original passage

	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $79 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Target Test Prep - Save up to $325 $200 Discount + $79 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - $299 ~~$499~~ Experience the course through a free trial.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

My journey to a 730 on the GMAT [Q49 V41]

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards