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21 May 2021, 08:42
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This one’s certainly gonna be a lengthy debrief, my apologies in advance. However, I aim on including every nook and cranny of my GMAT venture. It started once I was placed and there was no pressure on me to do anything else. I was about to join my elder siblings in the IT sector, but I still wasn’t sure that whether this is what I wanted to pursue (As per the experiences of my siblings, “certainly not”). So, I had a lot of free time in my hand, which I utilized in exploring the plethora of postgraduate opportunities. It took me 6 months, just to figure out what exactly I wanted to pursue. Once I gained clarity, I realized that “GMAT” was the toughest barrier to cross, or should I say, the strongest weapon I needed to equip myself with, in order to eliminate the barriers in my path. The final year is pretty chilled at my college once you are placed. So, for a transition in my surrounding environment, I moved to Bangalore for my preparations (because I was only partying at college :3). I blindly invested in an offline coaching center, simply due to the closeness in the vicinity. This was the first of the many blunders I committed. I didn’t reach out to people, I didn’t do proper research on coaching centers, I just wanted to begin with my preparations somehow. The GMAT course coverage timeline for that coaching was just 1.5 months, apparently, I didn’t gain much out of it besides getting acquainted with the structure of the exam, the question types, and the demand for GMAT in the professional sphere. The only satisfying factor was that I was the youngest in my class and was praised for starting early, which I didn’t really leverage in the first few months. We were just blindly solving questions, which is the worst way to commence one’s preparations. I answered a diagnostic test post-course completion and I struggled to complete any of the sections, the score was devastating and I didn’t really wish to go through the course again. I was looking for something which could strengthen my foundations. Post this, I attended free webinars of another online course and took up their free mock test, only to realize that I was scoring a meager 580 after 6 months of preparations. I somehow got convinced and believed that this is what I needed to ace the GMAT. The problem with these course are, that these are pre-recorded courses and a very poor methodology of solving doubts(my views post enrolling :3). There was usually a 12 hours waiting period in order to receive a response to your doubt, and when you received a statement like “Could you please elaborate your question” it makes the learning process tedious. I lost my interest in just a month. I was also advised by a lot of people that booking a date in advance is wise as it provides you that drive to study, it doesn’t really work that way for everyone. My job onboarding had deferred from May to.... the Lord knows when, and throughout that period as well, I was just repeating my mistakes of blindly solving questions from the OG. GMAT is not an exam one can predict, hence all that can help you to ace it, is “concepts”, not formulas, not regressive practicing. I had booked my first in-center attempt well in advance(23rd November 2020) and my joining date was also announced in September. My joining was followed by a month-long training, I had to pause my preparations and focus on my job for at least that month as the training was followed by assessments. So, I wasn’t left with much time to prepare for my GMAT. Covid & the lockdown, literally made things unpredictable. I had to travel to my state’s capital to write my exam as there are no GMAT test centers situated in my hometown. To avoid delays, I left pretty early and landed up arriving at the center 2 hours before it even opens. The travel and the wait weren’t really pleasant considering it’ll be followed by a 3.5 hours exam. I scheduled my attempt as: quant-break-verbal-break-IR-AWA(never changed this order). Verbal will certainly get on your nerves, hence starting with something demotivating wasn’t what I desired. I encountered the famous scratch pad used for GMAT in-center exams and was actually impressed, it’s really nothing to worry about, not sure why there’s so much fuss around it. The center was not ideal, it was gloomy and filled with mosquitoes, not a very comfortable experience and if I had to add on the new mask rule, GMAT offline is a very uncomfortable experience. The only pros are that you don’t have to worry about power or internet fluctuations. I felt the quant section lapsed within a blink of an eye and I still had 4-5 questions left unanswered. I was apparently penalized for leaving questions unanswered, that’s the GMAT way, I reiterate “DO NOT LEAVE ANY QUESTION UNANSWERED, GUESS IF REQUIRED”. On the contrary, verbal went kinda good for me, but I still believe I was lucky as I got small passages. However, I still guessed the last 5 verbal questions. I was almost dozing off to sleep by the time I reached the AWA section, as I never really prepared much for it, but it won’t matter much if you are good at CR. I submitted my attempt, and there it instantly reflected, a score of 640(Q44, V34). Almost a year-long preparation from 2 different coaching platforms and practicing rigorously from OGs, a meager 70th%tile was certainly disheartening, whilst, I cannot undermine my negligence towards the preparations just a month before my exam, hence, I planned on canceling my score. The invigilator asked me my score and inquired about whether I planned on any further attempts, I guess even he felt this score wouldn’t take me much far in today’s competition. On my way back, I hang out with a few of my college friends in the same city, which really helped me rekindle my mood. It wasn’t a very rejoicing ambience at home though, but without further delay, I was adamant on taking another attempt. According to a conversation chain on the GMAT club, it isn’t really bad if you score a 640 in your first attempt, and as a few experts highlighted, "a GMAT 700 is achievable". I booked my date in advance again, for another in-center attempt(not advisable, as you must not take impulsive decisions when you are either too happy or too sad/angry). I planned on extending my online pre-recorded course and practice rigorously. I had also subscribed to the daily GMAT club questions(1 quant, 1 verbal of varying difficulty) sent to us via email, which was one of the best decision made by me, as it keeps on reminding you to stay consistent and also helped me explore on how to use the GMAT club effectively. I can bet on it any day, that it is the best free resource available out there on the internet, but one should know how to use it effectively. It’s nothing less than exploring a new software and hence one needs to invest the time. With the plethora of content and courses available on the internet for GMAT, it’s quite easy to feel overwhelmed and ultimately make unwise decisions, but GMAT club is one place where you won’t regret spending your prep time.
My second attempt was on 29th January, this time I tried to understand the GMAT’s algorithm or to be more precise the scoring scheme, which turned out to be a futile attempt, as even experts have failed to decode the same. I planned on attempting the first 15 questions with utmost priority and making sure that those were absolutely correct, as GMAT is an adaptive exam. This time my preparation wasn’t a simple route, as it was now hindered with a full time job and being a fresher I had to learn an entirely new software at work. However, juggling between studies and a full time job is an experience in itself. It keeps you consumed and pretty reserved throughout. I completed the entire OG 2020. I felt my methods of solving the questions were a little lengthy but I wasn’t open to transitions as I was running tight on my schedule. Time passed like the winds and the D-day was close, I made sure not to travel too early this time.
Same place, same time, I watched the movie “1917” on my way and tried keeping my calm throughout as I felted super motivated after watching the movie. I started with my exam sharp at 9 am, in the same order of attempt. I attempted as planned, first fifteen questions should be correct in order to get 700 level questions, the drawbacks of this strategy was, that in order to be caution, I spent extra time on these questions which apparently took a heavy toll on my time to answer the remaining questions which required more competency. My time management was chaotic, and I panicked by the end of my attempt. I still managed to complete my quant and verbal but had to guess the last few questions.
I submitted my attempt and was completely disheartened to see the score of 620(Q46,V29). The invigilator instantly recognized me and asked me my score. I wasn’t in a mood to answer, so I just replied, “not good” and left. I took a bus back home instantly with a heavy heart. On my way back, I told myself that this exam wasn’t meant for me and that I’ll try later after a couple of years, and for the time being focus on my job. I could not show ignorance towards it any longer. The following week was not easy for me, I was agitated and didn’t really wish to speak with anyone. I won’t sugar coat it, but failing twice, after 1.2 years of preparation, sucks, specially after witnessing people breaking the 700 barrier in their first attempt itself.
I left my preparations for almost a month; I had stuck to linkedIn since the time I had commenced with my GMAT preparations, as witnessing success stories gives you that drive. After a few days, I noticed a post by one of my college seniors who wrote his GMAT and scored a 720 in his first attempt itself. That post hit me deep and I reached out to him. I never really moved on from GMAT, so this post made me restless and gave me the drive I required. I was also a part of multiple Facebook & WhatsApp groups for GMAT preparations, I reached out to people, inquired about their preparations and spent more time on GMAT club. I was looking for something which could help me change my way of solving questions and help me manage my time. I noticed a post in a GMAT preparation FB group, which read “free orientations & classes”(by Mitul Gada & associates). I enrolled telling myself, what’s there to lose? This was a 12 hour live online weekend class. On attending the trial class itself, I realized that I wasn’t approaching the questions in the right way. Timed competitive exams, require us to build strategies and abstain from byhearting steps and formulas to solve questions. I was reluctant to invest in a coaching again, but at the same time, I did not wish to jeopardize my chances as well. I went ahead telling myself that let’s try a new learning format (live online), as it was something, I did not try priorly. I enrolled myself and devoted all the spare time I could, after I logged off from work. My schedule was packed during the months of March & April. I was sailing with each foot on a different boat. This time I improvised, by first undergoing the unlearning process, before learning the new ways(It’s comparatively tough to unlearn what you are used to). As time passed, I spend more time on concepts than formulas, as Mitul sir always said, “Formulas are the antonyms of concepts”. I hardly had to byheart any formula in 3d geometry besides cube, cuboid & cylinder(as per GMAT you don’t need to byheart any other formulas in 3d geometry, it will be provided) but no one will tell you this and make you print pages of formulas and ask you to byheart them. Here, we used unconventional methods like plugin, following the trend, back solving, etc. to solve quant questions. My timings improved significantly and a good score in quant felt achievable. I was doing fine in verbal, however, I did not realized that it wasn’t enough. While surfing through GMAT debriefs and discussion forums on verbal on the GMAT club, I came across free valuable resources from success stories of various candidates. A few which I found useful were, Youtube video series like “Thursdays with Ron”, “GMAT Ninja” and the best book for CR “Powerscore GMAT bible”. I found practicing from OGs to be futile as the solutions given in them are not feasible for solving questions in a short span of time. I rather aimed at exhausting all the questions on GMAT club (which is not really possible). GMAT club also has an impressive interface which facilitates in maintaining an error log, never had to create a separate excel sheet for that. I answered a total of 4 mocks in these 1.5 years, here are the score distributions:
Official mock 1: 550
Official mock 2: 610
Official mock 3: 690
Official mock 4: 710
No mocks can replicate the real GMAT, however the closed replica could be the official mocks.
The country was struck by a second wave of covid and the online GMAT was now gaining popularity. Due to WFH(one good thing about WFH) I had established a seamless power supply and internet, so conditions were ideal for me to take my GMAT from home. No travelling, no waiting, no mosquitoes or gloomy test centers. I booked my 3rd GMAT attempt (1st online GMAT attempt) for 29th April. I was assigned a strict invigilator who did not let me keep even a water bottle in the room, not even a calendar was allowed. The attempt order of sections could not be shuffled in the online GMAT(Quant,verbal,IR) with a 5 mins optional break anytime between the sections, it did not affect me much as this was my desired order as well. There was no AWA for online GMAT so that’s a bonus too(the format changes from 20th May 2021). I answered my online GMAT only to realize that our score will be available in 7 business days
I’d literally had never been so impatient in my life before, cause my attempt went well, specially quant. Verbal was tough like always, in some way or the other, this time I got lengthy passages in RC. However, I was positive and anticipating for a score of 700-710, as that’s all I needed as per my profile and also to prove to myself that I am capable of breaking the 700 barrier. To my surprise, I received my score within 2 business days……
And there it was, another heartbreak, a score of 660(Q50,V28,IR:6/8). The quant score was more than I was anticipating, whereas as the verbal score was a disgrace. But this time, I wasn’t disheartened, as I witnessed a remarkable progress (620 to 660). I knew I was in my best shape, when it comes to my preparations, and I didn’t wish to lose the good grip over my preparation. Hence, without any further thoughts, I booked my online GMAT again, immediately after a cooling period of 15 days. 17th May was the day I booked for, it was later after booking the date, that I realized this would be my last shot at the “online GMAT” and the centers would not open at least for the next 2 months due to the surge in cases and deferred end dates of lockdown. These 15 days, I spent practicing rigorously (perhaps this was the only time I practiced, as I spent the entire 2 months in learning new concepts and applying them). For GMAT, this famous quote fits the best, “If I had 9 hours to cut down a tree, I would spend the first 6 hours sharpening my axe”. Spending time on concepts rather than blindly byhearting formulas and practicing rigorously.
I purchased the GMAT club tests as a recommendation from a good friend, and practiced from there rather than the OGs or the official mocks. The day was here, and I felt the confidence already, I could do nothing more. I answered my exam, and to my astonishment, the last few quant questions were a cake walk, I never even had to use my white board for any calculations. I was terrified by the thought that GMAT is supposed to be an adaptive test, so that would mean I made mistakes and I was offered easy questions?
Not quiet, I went to inquire about this to my one stop solution, “GMAT club” and there already was a discussion thread on this and people said not to worry about it. We are but primitive, trying to decode the strange ways of GMAT. People had scored well even in these scenarios too. The wait after my attempt was devastating, I could not get sleep and was distracted even at work. I couldn’t even share it with anyone as I was scared, that what would they feel if I failed? This time, I received my score in just 1 business day.
And there it was, the result of a hustle of 1.5 years, 4 attempts (last online attempt) and a hell lot of sacrifices…..
GMAT 740(97th percentile, Q50,V41,IR:7/8)
There was finally an ambience of immense happiness at home. I had not only invested all my time, but all my money as well in these 4 attempts, various coaching & official mocks. GMAT can be an expensive deal, if one makes unwise & impulsive decisions like me. It didn’t really matter once I looked at the score though :’)
So that’s my GMAT debrief, and I hope it inspires GMAT aspirants as other debriefs inspired me.
You may reach out to me on LinkedIn for any help or advise.
ALL THE BEST, dear aspirants.
Always remember, consistency and commitment are the core values you’ll inculcate in this journey, so be open to them. And when you’ll look back, you will only feel happiness and not regrets. All it takes is the will to keep going, when you feel like giving up.
26 May 2021, 21:17
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Congratulations and good luck! That's a quite a journey, can you elaborate more on resources you worked on for different sections and what are the resources that were most useful?
07 Jun 2021, 03:43
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Watch @Swaraj31's GMAT Interview LIVE on YouTube this Sunday (June 13th) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw_66UKHxgo
