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Souravi99
Joined: 26 Nov 2021
Last visit: 22 Apr 2026
Posts: 45
Given Kudos: 328
Status:Applying for GMAT
Location: India
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
Schools: Yale '27 Columbia '27 Wharton '27
GMAT Focus 1: 685 Q83 V79 DI74 
GMAT 1: 690 Q58 V52
GPA: 7.5
WE:Engineering (Real Estate)
Products:
Schools: Yale '27 Columbia '27 Wharton '27
GMAT Focus 1: 685 Q83 V79 DI74
GMAT 1: 690 Q58 V52
Posts: 45
23 Dec 2024, 02:14
Kudos
Bookmarks
Here is an interesting and motivating shorts i found.
That's right, I went from a 475 (~20%ile) on my first GMAT mock to a 715 (99%ile) on the GMAT. I will share my two cents, not because I want to motivate you but to show that it's possible. I am sharing my background to show that the GMAT is more than an academic endeavour.
My background
I am an Indian engineer with supposedly "good" math skills. However, I struggled with maths throughout my life, as I did during GMAT Prep. Additionally, DI and Verbal were not great, as you can judge from my mock score.
I started my GMAT Prep in February this year. However, it wasn't an ideal start. GMAT wasn't my first attempt at cracking B-school aptitude tests. I had already appeared for the Indian MBA exam (CAT) and scored an embarrassingly low 70%ile despite months of practice and hard work. Preparing for the CAT in 2023, I had already spent a year shut in an 8x8 room all day to study. I used to refuse to go out with my friends and force myself to study through the weekends, though this strategy did not work. Added to that was the fact that I was in terrible mental shape throughout, my workplace was highly toxic, and I was worried about the excessive hair loss I had been facing at this young age. (This is too much personal detail, but it's an important detail).
Given this, I did not want to attempt any other exam. My self-confidence was poorly hit, and seeing my friends achieve many things only exacerbated it. Many of you will be in a similar place, haunted by past failures, mocked by peers and looked down on because you did not attend a prestigious college or don't work at a big company (I can't tell about others, but the Indian society works as such). These are real things, and one needs to deal with them while studying. It's not the innate ability or the academic inaptitude but the mindset which differentiates. I decided not to repeat the mistakes I made in 2023 for the GMAT. It included taking regular breaks from studies to avoid exhaustion, working on my mental state and building resilience. Also, the fact that I changed my workplace team to a more supportive team helped reduce my stress.
The GMAT prep journey
Verbal (99%ile)
I gave my first GMAT mock and scored very low (475). I enrolled in the e-GMAT online course and started studying from there. I liked the "Master Comprehension" module and the CR content. However, I still needed to score better on the hard CR questions. I later learned that their preached strategy of "pre-thinking" was not working for me. That brings me to the first lesson :
I started preparing Quant from e-GMAT. Though their Scholaranium tool was good, I found specific practice quiz questions were outside the course content. Again, I saw too much jargon used for simple math operations, so I switched to reading quantitative books for CAT. I would also applaud the course content of TTP; I found TTP free of any gimmicks and unnecessary jargon, and the chapters were to the point. The bottom line in Quant is Practice, Practice, and log errors. I also used the GMATClub's test for Quant.
Data Insights (77%ile)
My Achilles heel. I was uncomfortable in DI and knew spending time on this section would not help. So I did not spend excessive time preparing for it. I prepared just the bare minimum during the last stages of the prep. Just like verbal, I found OG questions to be the best source. I used TTP's free trial of 5 days to brush up on GI&TA and MSR, and trust me- the content is beneficial.
That's right, I went from a 475 (~20%ile) on my first GMAT mock to a 715 (99%ile) on the GMAT. I will share my two cents, not because I want to motivate you but to show that it's possible. I am sharing my background to show that the GMAT is more than an academic endeavour.
My background
I am an Indian engineer with supposedly "good" math skills. However, I struggled with maths throughout my life, as I did during GMAT Prep. Additionally, DI and Verbal were not great, as you can judge from my mock score.
I started my GMAT Prep in February this year. However, it wasn't an ideal start. GMAT wasn't my first attempt at cracking B-school aptitude tests. I had already appeared for the Indian MBA exam (CAT) and scored an embarrassingly low 70%ile despite months of practice and hard work. Preparing for the CAT in 2023, I had already spent a year shut in an 8x8 room all day to study. I used to refuse to go out with my friends and force myself to study through the weekends, though this strategy did not work. Added to that was the fact that I was in terrible mental shape throughout, my workplace was highly toxic, and I was worried about the excessive hair loss I had been facing at this young age. (This is too much personal detail, but it's an important detail).
Given this, I did not want to attempt any other exam. My self-confidence was poorly hit, and seeing my friends achieve many things only exacerbated it. Many of you will be in a similar place, haunted by past failures, mocked by peers and looked down on because you did not attend a prestigious college or don't work at a big company (I can't tell about others, but the Indian society works as such). These are real things, and one needs to deal with them while studying. It's not the innate ability or the academic inaptitude but the mindset which differentiates. I decided not to repeat the mistakes I made in 2023 for the GMAT. It included taking regular breaks from studies to avoid exhaustion, working on my mental state and building resilience. Also, the fact that I changed my workplace team to a more supportive team helped reduce my stress.
The GMAT prep journey
Verbal (99%ile)
I gave my first GMAT mock and scored very low (475). I enrolled in the e-GMAT online course and started studying from there. I liked the "Master Comprehension" module and the CR content. However, I still needed to score better on the hard CR questions. I later learned that their preached strategy of "pre-thinking" was not working for me. That brings me to the first lesson :
- All gimmicks, including pre-thinking, skimming, and reading the first line NEVER work. If it had been that easy, then any Tom. Dick and Harry would do it.
- The OG is the best source of verbal questions. Use them wisely only after you have a solid framework by practising elsewhere to avoid wasting these OG questions.
I started preparing Quant from e-GMAT. Though their Scholaranium tool was good, I found specific practice quiz questions were outside the course content. Again, I saw too much jargon used for simple math operations, so I switched to reading quantitative books for CAT. I would also applaud the course content of TTP; I found TTP free of any gimmicks and unnecessary jargon, and the chapters were to the point. The bottom line in Quant is Practice, Practice, and log errors. I also used the GMATClub's test for Quant.
Data Insights (77%ile)
My Achilles heel. I was uncomfortable in DI and knew spending time on this section would not help. So I did not spend excessive time preparing for it. I prepared just the bare minimum during the last stages of the prep. Just like verbal, I found OG questions to be the best source. I used TTP's free trial of 5 days to brush up on GI&TA and MSR, and trust me- the content is beneficial.
- Again, no gimmicks work here; one must develop the required skills. However, this section must be studied only after gaining confidence in Verbal and Quant.
- Don't fall for gimmicks. Instead, you must build your framework for each type of question.
- When in doubt, just read Marty Murray's ( u/Marty_Murray ) articles. I used his five-finger: five options strategy in verbal. His other Reddit articles and blogs were my go-to place when in doubt.
- GMATNinja videos are lovely.
- The best way to do it is through it: The answer to getting better at any topic is to spend time working on it. It's the bitter truth.
- Getting fast at solving a question first requires building the ability to solve the question.
- Yes, the prep time is frustrating; it can also be heartbreaking, mentally crushing and demoralizing, but no one ever found a pearl without the work.
ShreyashGupta188
06 Jan 2025, 07:50
Kudos
Bookmarks
E-Gmat has a lot of gimic, completly agree on that with you
