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JonSnow991
Joined: 12 Nov 2022
Last visit: 02 Dec 2024
Posts: 13
Given Kudos: 2
Location: India
Concentration: Technology, Technology
Schools: ISB '25 (D) ESSEC (A) Marshall '26 (A$$)
GMAT 1: 740 Q49 V41
GMAT 2: 770 Q51 V44
WE:Information Technology (Computer Software)
Products:
Updated on: 07 Nov 2023, 07:07
Originally posted by JonSnow991 on 06 Nov 2023, 22:59.
Last edited by JonSnow991 on 07 Nov 2023, 07:07, edited 2 times in total.
Last edited by JonSnow991 on 07 Nov 2023, 07:07, edited 2 times in total.
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All the GMAT experience posts I have read on this platform have been incredibly insightful, and I would like to utilize this post to share my own experience with it and give back a little.
Warning: it is a long one.
I decided to start preparation for the GMAT in October 2022, and that's when I bought the GMAT OG guide, which came with the online questions bank (the real MVP).
I didn't read much from the book, just checked out a few quant and verbal topics, attempted a few questions, and paused the prep for the next 6 months
Around April 2023 I decided that I had procrastinated enough, and began studying from some YouTube videos. I quickly realized that this wouldn't be enough, as the content was too scattered and difficult to follow without a proper study plan. So I decided to buy a course and started researching for which medium would be best for me, and which provider (e-gmat, ttp, magoosh, etc.)
I settled to go with self-paced online recorded lessons, as I am working a full-time job, and felt that in-person or live classes would be too restrictive with my timing. I tested out a few of the major services out there.
Before starting, I attempted One mock, to set a baseline.
First mock (Manhattan prep): 580 (Q 40, V 31)
Realizing I needed a major improvement in both quant and verbal, I decided to start with Quant (since I felt it would take less time), and leave verbal for later, I ended up choosing Target test prep for my Quant preparation after reading some good reviews and trying out their platform for myself.
I started around mid-May and completed my Quant prep in around 45 days. I attempted every quiz in all the chapters, making sure to stay in the suggested score range, and reattempting if I didn't. (TTP has a suggested score range for each difficulty level, around 90% for easy, 70% for medium, and so on).
I didn't take any other practice tests meanwhile, just focused on the chapter quizzes.
Starting in July, I decided to switch to E-Gmat for my Verbal prep, as I had seen in many reviews that people really liked E-Gmat for its verbal, especially non-native speakers. (Nothing against TTP, I just didn't try their verbal section out)
I knew verbal would be a struggle, but it was even harder than I had thought. I followed the study plan that was given by E-Gmat, and it took me 1.5-2 months to fully complete all of Verbal.
I will go just a little bit deeper into each verbal section:
Sentence Correction: Starting with all the grammar rules, this section took the most time, and was the most frustrating one, remembering every grammar rule seemed impossible. By the time I was done with it, I DID NOT remember most of the rules. But with all the practice I had done on the module quizzes, I gained an overall understanding of what to look out for, but it was still a long way to get a good reliable accuracy.
Critical Reasoning: This was relatively easier for me, as you have to rely on the understanding of the question not applying any rules by the book.
Reading Comprehension: This wasn't hard in terms of question difficulty, but answering all the questions within time was a struggle. It used to take me too long to read the passages and make sensible notes at the same time, so I focused more on understanding the meaning and less on note-taking. (Try out different ways, what worked for me may or may not work for you)
All the while I was studying verbal, I also occasionally attempted some random quant test sets from OG Gmat. Along with that, I did most of the chapter quizzes for quant topics on E-Gmat, also viewing the video lessons for the topics that I was not scoring well on.
By mid-August, most of my learning from these platforms was complete, so I pivoted more toward practice. Attempting the questions on Scholaranium and OG Gmat online questions bank, along with a few mock tests on E-Gmat and Gmat club (NOTE: Verbal tests on Gmat club are completely unreliable, Quant is still pretty good).
My First attempt was scheduled for September 20th and I wasn't seeing scores too great on the unofficial mocks (Around the range of 640-680), so I decided to start attempting the official mocks to have a more reliable ability indicator.
OG Practice Exam 1 (September 4): 710 (Q 50, V 35)
OG Practice Exam 2 (September 7): 710 (Q 50, V 36)
OG Practice Exam 3 (September 10): 740 (Q 50, V 40)
OG Practice Exam 4 (September 12): 740 (Q 49, V 41)
OG Practice Exam 5 (September 14): 760 (Q 49, V 45)
OG Practice Exam 6 (September 17): 720 (Q 50, V 38)
For IR: I was doing pretty well on IR without any practice, and knew that the IR score didn't matter much (given it is above 5 in most cases), so didn't put much focus on it.
For AWA: I didn't personally attempt any AWA questions, I did check out the answers written by others for the question stems in the mocks, and figured it was simple enough, so skipped it mostly. (Major mistake)
Parallely, I kept practicing from the OG questions bank. Noticing the constant improvement after each test/practice session, I was quite happy with my mock scores (Ignoring the last one, I struggled with verbal timing on that).
I had set my target score as 750 (seemed reachable from the mock performance)
Exam day, September 20 (First attempt):
I had booked a morning slot, as I had done most of my mocks and practice in the morning time.
Knowing I had to stay calm, I started from my home well before time, to ensure no variables affected my performance.
I began with quant, and it went pretty well, as it did on the mocks. After that, I took the break.
Then came verbal, and I was struggling with the timing, and by the end of it, I felt I had bombed the test (I couldn't spend enough time on the last 6-7 questions, and completely skipped the last one). And in my hurry to see how badly I had bombed the test, I decided to skip the break. (Major mistake)
Continuing with IR, I hadn't done any real practice on it, just attempted the questions in the mocks and expected similar good scores here, but I struggled with timing here as well.
Moving to AWA, my impatience had reached its peak
so I quickly wrote on the topic in 15 minutes, and proceeded to end the exam. (Another major mistake)
RESULT: 740 (Q49, V41, IR5)
I was shocked, and pretty happy with the score, even with the low IR. I was even satisfied with the 10 score difference from my target. With no intention of reattempting, I was mentally free and took a break for the next few days.
Fast forward 4 days later, when I got the mail for the official report. I had scored a 3 on the AWA. That is 4%. I had scored worse than 96% of the test takers.
Devastated, and not knowing what to do, I spent the next 2 days looking for stories and forum posts of other people who got a similar low AWA, also posted myself, and got some great responses that helped me decide.
Not wanting to apply with this embarrassing red flag of an AWA score, I decided to reattempt while the knowledge was still fresh and booked a slot for 7th October, just after the 16-day mark.
I knew I had nothing new to learn, just to rectify the mistakes I made on the first attempt, i.e. focusing on AWA and IR and taking a break in between, so I decided to practice for the next 10 days, while also reattempting all the mocks.
I focused more on the IR and AWA this time and used gmatawa (I'm unable to add a URL, but it is an unofficial rating tool for AWA) to rate the essays, making sure to score in the range of 5-6.
Reattempt mock scores:
OG Practice Exam 1 (September 27): 770 (Q 50, V 47)
OG Practice Exam 2 (September 29): 760 (Q 50, V 41)
OG Practice Exam 3 (October 1): 790 (Q 51, V 48)
OG Practice Exam 4 (October 2): 780 (Q 51, V 46)
OG Practice Exam 6 (October 4): 780 (Q 51, V 46)
OG Practice Exam 5 (October 5): 760 (Q 51, V 41)
Although I knew to be skeptical of these scores (since I was getting few repeated questions), seeing the scores boosted my confidence.
I had set my target score as 760 this time.
On to the test day, October 7 (Second attempt):
I had booked an 8 AM slot. This time too I reached well before time.
Quant went as good as it could, be it by luck or by practice. Then I took the break.
Verbal went well, as I was able to manage the timing better than before, but by the end of it, I still had the same feeling that I had bombed it. But this time I took a break and calmed my nerves.
IR went pretty well too.
For AWA, I made sure to utilize the whole 30 minutes, grammar-checking and fact-checking twice, and making sure to include 400+ words.
*Drumrolls*
RESULT: 770 (Q 51, V 44, IR 8, AWA 5 (when I received the official score))
Making sure to not accidentally click the cancel button, I carefully made my way out of the test center, and calmed myself for the next 20 minutes!
I am glad I (accidentally) bombed the AWA on my first attempt, else I would not have reattempted
Additional
My Study Schedule:
*I used to study from 5 AM to 10 AM, taking small breaks in between, effectively around 4 hours, with work starting at 11 AM.
*I did not maintain an error log, as I felt it would take too much time, time that would be better used at practicing (It worked for me, everyone is different!)
My Advice to others:
*Take both the breaks. They are provided for a reason.
*Once you are done with reading/learning material, practice a lot. You aren't done with your preparation, you need a lot more practice! (unless mocks say otherwise)
*Use the OG guide questions bank. They are the most reliable questions other than what's on the OG mocks.
*Stay calm during the test, and try to replicate the mindset you have when practicing from home. (Also practice in the same time slots that you have booked your exam for)
Appreciation for TTP:
*I would say their quant prep is one of the best prep materials out there. (No comments on verbal, as I didn't try it)
*Although it lacks any official mocks, it makes up for it with top-quality practice quizzes and explanations
*The interface is very user-friendly and pleasing to look at (you will be looking at it for upwards of 100 hours, probably more than 400)
Appreciation for E-Gmat:
*The verbal is great, all the section quizzes are well placed, and great for cementing the knowledge from each section.
*Quant is great too (however much I used it), with great video explanations for most problems. Quizzes are well placed here as well, I used their P.A.C.E system to test my knowledge and revise whatever I was missing, it was really good.
*You do get 5 practice mocks, and thousands of questions to practice from, aside from the section quiz questions.
Test Center Information:
* 1st Attempt: Ansal University, Gurgaon, India (It was a small center, single staff member. The facilities were good, but not great. The scratch pads were reused, and pretty scratched up and worn down from previous uses. 2 of the 3 markers provided stopped working pretty quickly. They provided foam earplugs to drown the noise, as it was in a university building, and classes were going on. I would rate 3/5)
* 2nd Attempt: Pearson Professional Center, MG Road, Gurgaon, India (Big center. Professional staff, checking before resuming the test after each break. The facilities were great. Fresh clean scratch pads were provided. Fresh new markers were provided. Better quality passive noise cancellation headphones, little noise, probably because the test was on a weekend. I would rate 5/5)
**** THE END ****
Warning: it is a long one.
I decided to start preparation for the GMAT in October 2022, and that's when I bought the GMAT OG guide, which came with the online questions bank (the real MVP).
I didn't read much from the book, just checked out a few quant and verbal topics, attempted a few questions, and paused the prep for the next 6 months
Around April 2023 I decided that I had procrastinated enough, and began studying from some YouTube videos. I quickly realized that this wouldn't be enough, as the content was too scattered and difficult to follow without a proper study plan. So I decided to buy a course and started researching for which medium would be best for me, and which provider (e-gmat, ttp, magoosh, etc.)
I settled to go with self-paced online recorded lessons, as I am working a full-time job, and felt that in-person or live classes would be too restrictive with my timing. I tested out a few of the major services out there.
Before starting, I attempted One mock, to set a baseline.
First mock (Manhattan prep): 580 (Q 40, V 31)
Realizing I needed a major improvement in both quant and verbal, I decided to start with Quant (since I felt it would take less time), and leave verbal for later, I ended up choosing Target test prep for my Quant preparation after reading some good reviews and trying out their platform for myself.
I started around mid-May and completed my Quant prep in around 45 days. I attempted every quiz in all the chapters, making sure to stay in the suggested score range, and reattempting if I didn't. (TTP has a suggested score range for each difficulty level, around 90% for easy, 70% for medium, and so on).
I didn't take any other practice tests meanwhile, just focused on the chapter quizzes.
Starting in July, I decided to switch to E-Gmat for my Verbal prep, as I had seen in many reviews that people really liked E-Gmat for its verbal, especially non-native speakers. (Nothing against TTP, I just didn't try their verbal section out)
I knew verbal would be a struggle, but it was even harder than I had thought. I followed the study plan that was given by E-Gmat, and it took me 1.5-2 months to fully complete all of Verbal.
I will go just a little bit deeper into each verbal section:
Sentence Correction: Starting with all the grammar rules, this section took the most time, and was the most frustrating one, remembering every grammar rule seemed impossible. By the time I was done with it, I DID NOT remember most of the rules. But with all the practice I had done on the module quizzes, I gained an overall understanding of what to look out for, but it was still a long way to get a good reliable accuracy.
Critical Reasoning: This was relatively easier for me, as you have to rely on the understanding of the question not applying any rules by the book.
Reading Comprehension: This wasn't hard in terms of question difficulty, but answering all the questions within time was a struggle. It used to take me too long to read the passages and make sensible notes at the same time, so I focused more on understanding the meaning and less on note-taking. (Try out different ways, what worked for me may or may not work for you)
All the while I was studying verbal, I also occasionally attempted some random quant test sets from OG Gmat. Along with that, I did most of the chapter quizzes for quant topics on E-Gmat, also viewing the video lessons for the topics that I was not scoring well on.
By mid-August, most of my learning from these platforms was complete, so I pivoted more toward practice. Attempting the questions on Scholaranium and OG Gmat online questions bank, along with a few mock tests on E-Gmat and Gmat club (NOTE: Verbal tests on Gmat club are completely unreliable, Quant is still pretty good).
My First attempt was scheduled for September 20th and I wasn't seeing scores too great on the unofficial mocks (Around the range of 640-680), so I decided to start attempting the official mocks to have a more reliable ability indicator.
OG Practice Exam 1 (September 4): 710 (Q 50, V 35)
OG Practice Exam 2 (September 7): 710 (Q 50, V 36)
OG Practice Exam 3 (September 10): 740 (Q 50, V 40)
OG Practice Exam 4 (September 12): 740 (Q 49, V 41)
OG Practice Exam 5 (September 14): 760 (Q 49, V 45)
OG Practice Exam 6 (September 17): 720 (Q 50, V 38)
For IR: I was doing pretty well on IR without any practice, and knew that the IR score didn't matter much (given it is above 5 in most cases), so didn't put much focus on it.
For AWA: I didn't personally attempt any AWA questions, I did check out the answers written by others for the question stems in the mocks, and figured it was simple enough, so skipped it mostly. (Major mistake)
Parallely, I kept practicing from the OG questions bank. Noticing the constant improvement after each test/practice session, I was quite happy with my mock scores (Ignoring the last one, I struggled with verbal timing on that).
I had set my target score as 750 (seemed reachable from the mock performance)
Exam day, September 20 (First attempt):
I had booked a morning slot, as I had done most of my mocks and practice in the morning time.
Knowing I had to stay calm, I started from my home well before time, to ensure no variables affected my performance.
I began with quant, and it went pretty well, as it did on the mocks. After that, I took the break.
Then came verbal, and I was struggling with the timing, and by the end of it, I felt I had bombed the test (I couldn't spend enough time on the last 6-7 questions, and completely skipped the last one). And in my hurry to see how badly I had bombed the test, I decided to skip the break. (Major mistake)
Continuing with IR, I hadn't done any real practice on it, just attempted the questions in the mocks and expected similar good scores here, but I struggled with timing here as well.
Moving to AWA, my impatience had reached its peak
so I quickly wrote on the topic in 15 minutes, and proceeded to end the exam. (Another major mistake)RESULT: 740 (Q49, V41, IR5)
I was shocked, and pretty happy with the score, even with the low IR. I was even satisfied with the 10 score difference from my target. With no intention of reattempting, I was mentally free and took a break for the next few days.
Fast forward 4 days later, when I got the mail for the official report. I had scored a 3 on the AWA. That is 4%. I had scored worse than 96% of the test takers.
Devastated, and not knowing what to do, I spent the next 2 days looking for stories and forum posts of other people who got a similar low AWA, also posted myself, and got some great responses that helped me decide.
Not wanting to apply with this embarrassing red flag of an AWA score, I decided to reattempt while the knowledge was still fresh and booked a slot for 7th October, just after the 16-day mark.
I knew I had nothing new to learn, just to rectify the mistakes I made on the first attempt, i.e. focusing on AWA and IR and taking a break in between, so I decided to practice for the next 10 days, while also reattempting all the mocks.
I focused more on the IR and AWA this time and used gmatawa (I'm unable to add a URL, but it is an unofficial rating tool for AWA) to rate the essays, making sure to score in the range of 5-6.
Reattempt mock scores:
OG Practice Exam 1 (September 27): 770 (Q 50, V 47)
OG Practice Exam 2 (September 29): 760 (Q 50, V 41)
OG Practice Exam 3 (October 1): 790 (Q 51, V 48)
OG Practice Exam 4 (October 2): 780 (Q 51, V 46)
OG Practice Exam 6 (October 4): 780 (Q 51, V 46)
OG Practice Exam 5 (October 5): 760 (Q 51, V 41)
Although I knew to be skeptical of these scores (since I was getting few repeated questions), seeing the scores boosted my confidence.
I had set my target score as 760 this time.
On to the test day, October 7 (Second attempt):
I had booked an 8 AM slot. This time too I reached well before time.
Quant went as good as it could, be it by luck or by practice. Then I took the break.
Verbal went well, as I was able to manage the timing better than before, but by the end of it, I still had the same feeling that I had bombed it. But this time I took a break and calmed my nerves.
IR went pretty well too.
For AWA, I made sure to utilize the whole 30 minutes, grammar-checking and fact-checking twice, and making sure to include 400+ words.
*Drumrolls*
RESULT: 770 (Q 51, V 44, IR 8, AWA 5 (when I received the official score))
Making sure to not accidentally click the cancel button, I carefully made my way out of the test center, and calmed myself for the next 20 minutes!
I am glad I (accidentally) bombed the AWA on my first attempt, else I would not have reattempted
Additional
My Study Schedule:
*I used to study from 5 AM to 10 AM, taking small breaks in between, effectively around 4 hours, with work starting at 11 AM.
*I did not maintain an error log, as I felt it would take too much time, time that would be better used at practicing (It worked for me, everyone is different!)
My Advice to others:
*Take both the breaks. They are provided for a reason.
*Once you are done with reading/learning material, practice a lot. You aren't done with your preparation, you need a lot more practice! (unless mocks say otherwise)
*Use the OG guide questions bank. They are the most reliable questions other than what's on the OG mocks.
*Stay calm during the test, and try to replicate the mindset you have when practicing from home. (Also practice in the same time slots that you have booked your exam for)
Appreciation for TTP:
*I would say their quant prep is one of the best prep materials out there. (No comments on verbal, as I didn't try it)
*Although it lacks any official mocks, it makes up for it with top-quality practice quizzes and explanations
*The interface is very user-friendly and pleasing to look at (you will be looking at it for upwards of 100 hours, probably more than 400)
Appreciation for E-Gmat:
*The verbal is great, all the section quizzes are well placed, and great for cementing the knowledge from each section.
*Quant is great too (however much I used it), with great video explanations for most problems. Quizzes are well placed here as well, I used their P.A.C.E system to test my knowledge and revise whatever I was missing, it was really good.
*You do get 5 practice mocks, and thousands of questions to practice from, aside from the section quiz questions.
Test Center Information:
* 1st Attempt: Ansal University, Gurgaon, India (It was a small center, single staff member. The facilities were good, but not great. The scratch pads were reused, and pretty scratched up and worn down from previous uses. 2 of the 3 markers provided stopped working pretty quickly. They provided foam earplugs to drown the noise, as it was in a university building, and classes were going on. I would rate 3/5)
* 2nd Attempt: Pearson Professional Center, MG Road, Gurgaon, India (Big center. Professional staff, checking before resuming the test after each break. The facilities were great. Fresh clean scratch pads were provided. Fresh new markers were provided. Better quality passive noise cancellation headphones, little noise, probably because the test was on a weekend. I would rate 5/5)
**** THE END ****
07 Nov 2023, 00:06
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Sidag991
Wow, what a journey! That 770 is no joke – you crushed it, and it's awesome to see that your grind and tactics worked out. Thanks for sharing the nitty-gritty of your prep; it's super helpful. Good luck with your next steps, and with that score, I'm sure you'll kill it!
07 Nov 2023, 05:31
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Hi Sidag991
Heartiest Congratulations to you on this massive achievement.
GMAT 770 is rare and does not certainly happen often in ones journey.
The correct combination of Hard work and Smart work has let to this collosal score.
We at e-GMAT wish you the very best for the next steps.
Regards
Dhruv
Heartiest Congratulations to you on this massive achievement.
GMAT 770 is rare and does not certainly happen often in ones journey.
The correct combination of Hard work and Smart work has let to this collosal score.
We at e-GMAT wish you the very best for the next steps.
Regards
Dhruv
