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29 Jul 2018, 11:46
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Hello Guys!
So, I wrote my GMAT on July 20, 2018, and scored a 760 (Q50 V42 IR8 AWA5) in my first attempt…. With 20 Days of preparation! Yes, it may sound crazy but I did not know what the GMAT was 2 months before I gave the exam! I got to know about the GMAT during my finals, and it quite intrigued me… I was the editor of my school magazine and had scored a 100% in my class 12 Boards in Mathematics (that year only 257 students managed to do so!) and my first reaction was pretty simple... I’m a natural at this… this utopian thinking was brought to an abrupt end when I took my mock within 20 minutes of getting to know about the exam… and scoring a 560. Yes! My overconfidence came down shattering then and there. (and this is the first lesson one has to know about the GMAT: Do NOT get overconfident EVER
1st June 2018, I started to prepare for the GMAT. As everyone probably does, I started off solving the OG. This was where I caught a whiff of my first problem area- Sentence Correction. I was consistently scoring 4-6/14 on the Sentence correction part, even though I had a 75-80% accuracy for CR and RC. But I simply went on to practise questions without going through the concepts. And this was a major hindrance in my prep, as I was unable to substantially improve my SC score. This was more of a casual phase of my preparation, where I focused on more practising questions than on perfecting concepts.
On 1st July 2018, I booked my first attempt. This was the turning point in my preparation. I sat down, at 1 AM on 2nd July to analyse my performance- by topic and by type of question. This was by far the most important aspect of my preparation. I decided to get some help for my SC score and I purchased the E-Gmat Verbal course. This really helped me solve my problem for verbal. I had small gaps in my understanding which the course helped plug. But besides that, it gave me a very important tool to work with- a strategy. The GMAT is a test of logic and strategy and developing these 2 skills is very important to ace the test.
Using the error analysis step, I was able to identify all errors easily and then was able to correct them, thus increasing my accuracy to 95% on the Scholaranium! This debunked one myth I had about the questions on GMAT SC- that there would be only one error in a question. With this, I was able to solve 1 side of the problem better and thus went back to practising for the GMAT on tests and question sets. But now I wanted to improve my strategies for my other sections as well… so I revisited the e-GMAT course to understand strategies to solve the CR and RC sections. The Pre-thinking approach for CR helped me ensure that my accuracy was very high on CR and using the 6 reading strategies prescribed by e-GMAT, I was able to ensure that my mind did not drift away during a long RC.
This accounted for a substantial portion of my test prep time, and by this time my test was only 3-4 days away. But there was a problem. My test scores were not improving- they were stuck at a 740. Because my Quant (which I had neglected till now) had started to fall.
I analysed my problem areas in the e-GMAT quant Scholaranium and ensured revision of the concepts that I was making errors in. And then back to the Scholaranium to practise the questions and solidify my approach. This technique paid me dividends as I was able to sustain high scores for both quant and verbal in my mocks.
Basically, what I want you to take away from this is as follows:
1. GMAT is a test of logic, DON’T forget this at any cost. Many questions (Specially CR and DS) require you to understand the logic behind them and the information provided to you and then move from there. Do not blindly look at the options to try to solve questions.
2. Keep a methodical approach in your preparation. Identify a pain-point, work on it and then test yourself to ensure complete understanding.
3. Do NOT fret from giving mocks as these are very important to gauge your current performance, but at the same time do not give too many mocks (1-2 a week MAX).
4. Stick to Official resources and supplement them with only TRUSTED resources, if at all required.
My Recommendation to anyone planning to take the GMAT is this:
1. Give a baseline mock
2. Analyse it to identify problem areas and strong points
3. Work on mastering problem areas (If the area is Verbal, go for the e-GMAT course… I cannot emphasize on how much it helped me over all other resources)
4. TEST yourself periodically
I suppose that’s all I have to share with you guys. This forum has been of immense help to me during my prep and I wish everyone the best for their GMAT attempt. I have practised a lot of questions on this forum and this helped me get into the habit of solving questions.
Just one last thing, On the day of the exam, try to remain calm…. No amount of preparation can help you if you panic during the exam.
--
My Mock Scores
The Economist GMAT Tutor (free sim): 560
Gmat Prep1: 740
Gmat Prep2: 710 (was super sleepy)
Gmat Prep3: 750 (after verbal course had begun)
Gmat Prep4: 740 (Quant score dropped)
Gmat Prep5: 770
Gmat Prep6: 770 (1 day before the exam)
Main GMAT: 760
-- Recommended Resources
OG and Quant & Verbal Review
E-GMAT Verbal Course
E-GMAT Quant Course
Manhatten Prep Verbal Books (If in need of additional resources)
So, I wrote my GMAT on July 20, 2018, and scored a 760 (Q50 V42 IR8 AWA5) in my first attempt…. With 20 Days of preparation! Yes, it may sound crazy but I did not know what the GMAT was 2 months before I gave the exam! I got to know about the GMAT during my finals, and it quite intrigued me… I was the editor of my school magazine and had scored a 100% in my class 12 Boards in Mathematics (that year only 257 students managed to do so!) and my first reaction was pretty simple... I’m a natural at this… this utopian thinking was brought to an abrupt end when I took my mock within 20 minutes of getting to know about the exam… and scoring a 560. Yes! My overconfidence came down shattering then and there. (and this is the first lesson one has to know about the GMAT: Do NOT get overconfident EVER
1st June 2018, I started to prepare for the GMAT. As everyone probably does, I started off solving the OG. This was where I caught a whiff of my first problem area- Sentence Correction. I was consistently scoring 4-6/14 on the Sentence correction part, even though I had a 75-80% accuracy for CR and RC. But I simply went on to practise questions without going through the concepts. And this was a major hindrance in my prep, as I was unable to substantially improve my SC score. This was more of a casual phase of my preparation, where I focused on more practising questions than on perfecting concepts.
On 1st July 2018, I booked my first attempt. This was the turning point in my preparation. I sat down, at 1 AM on 2nd July to analyse my performance- by topic and by type of question. This was by far the most important aspect of my preparation. I decided to get some help for my SC score and I purchased the E-Gmat Verbal course. This really helped me solve my problem for verbal. I had small gaps in my understanding which the course helped plug. But besides that, it gave me a very important tool to work with- a strategy. The GMAT is a test of logic and strategy and developing these 2 skills is very important to ace the test.
Using the error analysis step, I was able to identify all errors easily and then was able to correct them, thus increasing my accuracy to 95% on the Scholaranium! This debunked one myth I had about the questions on GMAT SC- that there would be only one error in a question. With this, I was able to solve 1 side of the problem better and thus went back to practising for the GMAT on tests and question sets. But now I wanted to improve my strategies for my other sections as well… so I revisited the e-GMAT course to understand strategies to solve the CR and RC sections. The Pre-thinking approach for CR helped me ensure that my accuracy was very high on CR and using the 6 reading strategies prescribed by e-GMAT, I was able to ensure that my mind did not drift away during a long RC.
This accounted for a substantial portion of my test prep time, and by this time my test was only 3-4 days away. But there was a problem. My test scores were not improving- they were stuck at a 740. Because my Quant (which I had neglected till now) had started to fall.
I analysed my problem areas in the e-GMAT quant Scholaranium and ensured revision of the concepts that I was making errors in. And then back to the Scholaranium to practise the questions and solidify my approach. This technique paid me dividends as I was able to sustain high scores for both quant and verbal in my mocks.
Basically, what I want you to take away from this is as follows:
1. GMAT is a test of logic, DON’T forget this at any cost. Many questions (Specially CR and DS) require you to understand the logic behind them and the information provided to you and then move from there. Do not blindly look at the options to try to solve questions.
2. Keep a methodical approach in your preparation. Identify a pain-point, work on it and then test yourself to ensure complete understanding.
3. Do NOT fret from giving mocks as these are very important to gauge your current performance, but at the same time do not give too many mocks (1-2 a week MAX).
4. Stick to Official resources and supplement them with only TRUSTED resources, if at all required.
My Recommendation to anyone planning to take the GMAT is this:
1. Give a baseline mock
2. Analyse it to identify problem areas and strong points
3. Work on mastering problem areas (If the area is Verbal, go for the e-GMAT course… I cannot emphasize on how much it helped me over all other resources)
4. TEST yourself periodically
I suppose that’s all I have to share with you guys. This forum has been of immense help to me during my prep and I wish everyone the best for their GMAT attempt. I have practised a lot of questions on this forum and this helped me get into the habit of solving questions.
Just one last thing, On the day of the exam, try to remain calm…. No amount of preparation can help you if you panic during the exam.
--
My Mock Scores
The Economist GMAT Tutor (free sim): 560
Gmat Prep1: 740
Gmat Prep2: 710 (was super sleepy)
Gmat Prep3: 750 (after verbal course had begun)
Gmat Prep4: 740 (Quant score dropped)
Gmat Prep5: 770
Gmat Prep6: 770 (1 day before the exam)
Main GMAT: 760
-- Recommended Resources
OG and Quant & Verbal Review
E-GMAT Verbal Course
E-GMAT Quant Course
Manhatten Prep Verbal Books (If in need of additional resources)
Arro44
Joined: 04 Jun 2018
Last visit: 14 Aug 2022
Posts: 658
Given Kudos: 362
Location: United States
Concentration: General Management, Finance
Schools: Sloan '22 (M) Cambridge "21 (A$)
GMAT 1: 730 Q47 V44
GPA: 3.4
Products:
29 Jul 2018, 12:35
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Bookmarks
Congratulations on achieving such an awesome score and many thanks for sharing your thoughts and tips.
It es especially impressive considering your short timeframe of prep.
All the best with regards to your applications,
Chris
It es especially impressive considering your short timeframe of prep.
All the best with regards to your applications,
Chris
30 Jul 2018, 04:13
Kudos
Bookmarks
ABBBCCCCC - Thank you for taking the time out to write your story. Improving to 760 in 20 days is impressive. I understand that you used Scholaranium extensively to isolate your weakness and subsequently ensure that you have improved on the same. Can you elaborate the same using a few examples?
-Rajat
-Rajat
