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Apr 2301:30 AM EDT
-02:30 AM EDT
Struggling with GMAT Verbal as a non-native speaker? Harsh improved his score from 595 to 695 in just 45 days—and scored a 99 %ile in Verbal (V88)! Learn how smart strategy, clarity, and guided prep helped him gain 100 points.
Apr 2308:00 PM PDT
-09:00 PM PDT
Video explanations + diagnosis of 10 weakest areas + 150+ short videos + study plan!
Apr 2212:30 AM EDT
-01:30 AM EDT
At one point, she believed GMAT wasn’t for her. After scoring 595, self-doubt crept in and she questioned her potential. But instead of quitting, she made the right strategic changes. The result? A remarkable comeback to 695. Check out how Saakshi did it.
Apr 2610:00 AM EDT
-11:00 AM EDT
The Target Test Prep course represents a quantum leap forward in GMAT preparation, a radical reinterpretation of the way that students should study. Try before you buy with a 5-day, full-access trial of the course for FREE!
Apr 2711:00 AM EDT
-12:00 PM EDT
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors
Apr 2808:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
02 Dec 2023, 14:35
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Background
Arrived late to the scene. In my early thirties, recently started contemplating pursuing an MBA abroad. Initially was unsure whether to take a prep course or not, took a blind shot at the GMAT official practice test and scored 700. This gave me the confidence that I could study on my own. Verbal was my weaker area, particularly 'Sentence Correction,' which felt uncomfortable. Hence, I checked GMAT Focus and the reduced weightage on verbal and introduction of DI made it an easy choice for me.
Preparation
I began with the free GMAT Focus Official Prep from mba.com, went through the topics to brush up on fundamentals. I finished this in a couple of weeks and immediately dived into the official mocks:
Official Practice Exam #2: 715
Official Practice Exam #1: 665
Official Practice Exam #2 (Retake): 735
Official Practice Exam #3: 695
Official Practice Exam #4: 695
Official Practice Exam #3 (Retake): 715
Wanting a quicker prep method, I preferred doing tests and analyzing them rather than spending too much time on basics. I ended up exhausting the official practice exams due to this approach (which I wouldn't advise to others; it can be risky if you plan to retake GMAT Focus multiple times). What became obvious was that the QA section, with only Problem Solving now, was relatively easier. However, achieving a perfect 90 score still eluded me initially due to recurring silly mistakes. I focused on being extra cautious and spent more time on each question, in subsequent mocks, to improve. In Verbal, I consistently scored between 81-85, which was acceptable to me since I didn't consider myself particularly strong in that area. Regarding DI, although I had high hopes for this section, I struggled to finish it on time in most of my mocks. Lengthy MSR questions were always a challenge, and I often fell into DS traps. Rushing through the last few questions resulted in visibly lower accuracy in the final 5 questions in all mocks.
After taking the six mocks, I still had a couple of weeks before the test day. I went through Manhattan material on Verbal, which a friend shared. This helped me understand common trap answers and brought more structure to my approach. In the final week, I retook mock #4 and scored 715 again.
Test Day
I had a morning 10 AM slot for the exam. The night before, I retook mock #1. Surprisingly, there were very few repeated questions, and it felt like taking a fresh test. I scored 735 and slept peacefully.
I arrived at the test center 30 minutes before the scheduled time. The process was smooth, with only 3-4 test-takers in the room, started the test at 10 AM. My section order was QA-Verbal-DI, the same as I had attempted in mocks.
Quant: The initial questions were relatively easy. However, I took time to double-check my calculations to ensure accuracy. I faced difficulty with a few questions later but overall felt confident. There were 6 questions each from Rates/Ratio/Percent and Value/Order/Factors, 5 from Equal/Unequal/ALG, and the rest from Counting/Sets/Series/Prob/Stats. I was fairly confident except for one question where I had to guess between two choices.
Verbal: I got a Verbal section heavy on Critical Reasoning (13 questions). There were three RC blocks, one of which was lengthy with four questions. Luckily, the first RC passage was related to a familiar topic, and I felt confident answering the questions related to it. The difficulty increased after the initial questions, and it became challenging to determine the correct answers. Overall, I had mixed feelings after finishing this section. A point to mention here, for one CR question, I initially marked an answer but upon reflection, I felt I missed checking some detail. With spare time at the end, I went back and changed the answer (which later turned out to be the right move).
I opted not to take a break and preferred to go with the flow.
DI: This section was a struggle throughout. Time pressure began to affect me, and I had to make calculated guesses for a couple of DS questions. When I reached the last question (Graph and table), I had two minutes left. I proceeded, but couldn't solve it completely. Realizing with a late glance at the clock that I only had 4 seconds left, I quickly selected a random option and submitted. It was a nervy end, and I was certain that the section score wouldn't be great.
Clicking 'Next,' I faced the moment of truth. Surprisingly, I saw a score of 745 (QA:90, VA:88, DI:83) on the screen, better than any of my mocks. I received the ESR later today:
Got everything right in the QA section.
19/23 correct in the VA section (CR:9/13, RC:10/10). This came as a surprise since with 4 incorrect answers, I expected a lower score. Perfect RC score helped, maybe?
Arrived late to the scene. In my early thirties, recently started contemplating pursuing an MBA abroad. Initially was unsure whether to take a prep course or not, took a blind shot at the GMAT official practice test and scored 700. This gave me the confidence that I could study on my own. Verbal was my weaker area, particularly 'Sentence Correction,' which felt uncomfortable. Hence, I checked GMAT Focus and the reduced weightage on verbal and introduction of DI made it an easy choice for me.
Preparation
I began with the free GMAT Focus Official Prep from mba.com, went through the topics to brush up on fundamentals. I finished this in a couple of weeks and immediately dived into the official mocks:
Official Practice Exam #2: 715
Official Practice Exam #1: 665
Official Practice Exam #2 (Retake): 735
Official Practice Exam #3: 695
Official Practice Exam #4: 695
Official Practice Exam #3 (Retake): 715
Wanting a quicker prep method, I preferred doing tests and analyzing them rather than spending too much time on basics. I ended up exhausting the official practice exams due to this approach (which I wouldn't advise to others; it can be risky if you plan to retake GMAT Focus multiple times). What became obvious was that the QA section, with only Problem Solving now, was relatively easier. However, achieving a perfect 90 score still eluded me initially due to recurring silly mistakes. I focused on being extra cautious and spent more time on each question, in subsequent mocks, to improve. In Verbal, I consistently scored between 81-85, which was acceptable to me since I didn't consider myself particularly strong in that area. Regarding DI, although I had high hopes for this section, I struggled to finish it on time in most of my mocks. Lengthy MSR questions were always a challenge, and I often fell into DS traps. Rushing through the last few questions resulted in visibly lower accuracy in the final 5 questions in all mocks.
After taking the six mocks, I still had a couple of weeks before the test day. I went through Manhattan material on Verbal, which a friend shared. This helped me understand common trap answers and brought more structure to my approach. In the final week, I retook mock #4 and scored 715 again.
Test Day
I had a morning 10 AM slot for the exam. The night before, I retook mock #1. Surprisingly, there were very few repeated questions, and it felt like taking a fresh test. I scored 735 and slept peacefully.
I arrived at the test center 30 minutes before the scheduled time. The process was smooth, with only 3-4 test-takers in the room, started the test at 10 AM. My section order was QA-Verbal-DI, the same as I had attempted in mocks.
Quant: The initial questions were relatively easy. However, I took time to double-check my calculations to ensure accuracy. I faced difficulty with a few questions later but overall felt confident. There were 6 questions each from Rates/Ratio/Percent and Value/Order/Factors, 5 from Equal/Unequal/ALG, and the rest from Counting/Sets/Series/Prob/Stats. I was fairly confident except for one question where I had to guess between two choices.
Verbal: I got a Verbal section heavy on Critical Reasoning (13 questions). There were three RC blocks, one of which was lengthy with four questions. Luckily, the first RC passage was related to a familiar topic, and I felt confident answering the questions related to it. The difficulty increased after the initial questions, and it became challenging to determine the correct answers. Overall, I had mixed feelings after finishing this section. A point to mention here, for one CR question, I initially marked an answer but upon reflection, I felt I missed checking some detail. With spare time at the end, I went back and changed the answer (which later turned out to be the right move).
I opted not to take a break and preferred to go with the flow.
DI: This section was a struggle throughout. Time pressure began to affect me, and I had to make calculated guesses for a couple of DS questions. When I reached the last question (Graph and table), I had two minutes left. I proceeded, but couldn't solve it completely. Realizing with a late glance at the clock that I only had 4 seconds left, I quickly selected a random option and submitted. It was a nervy end, and I was certain that the section score wouldn't be great.
Clicking 'Next,' I faced the moment of truth. Surprisingly, I saw a score of 745 (QA:90, VA:88, DI:83) on the screen, better than any of my mocks. I received the ESR later today:
Got everything right in the QA section.
19/23 correct in the VA section (CR:9/13, RC:10/10). This came as a surprise since with 4 incorrect answers, I expected a lower score. Perfect RC score helped, maybe?
02 Dec 2023, 16:15
Kudos
Bookmarks
Gratz on the 745. All the best going forward. Consider writing a profile-review.
-contact: gmatknight site | gmatclub dm
-contact: gmatknight site | gmatclub dm
