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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
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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
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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
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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.
28 Jan 2025, 07:24
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I recently got done with my GMAT and scored 685 Q86 V82 DI84 which is an equivalent of 740 in Classic GMAT. I improved from a score of 565 in my last attempt 6 months back.
I am happy with my attempt as the main things that I focused on were CR and DI where I got 92%ile (from 6x %ile last time) and 97%ile (18%ile last time) respectively thereby proving that GMAT is not a test of inherent intelligence.
In my last attempt in June (FE 565) and the attempts before that ( I got a 660 in Gmat Classic in Dec’23 and then the score reduced to 640 and eventually to a 620 in Jan’23), I realised that I have a solid footing in Quant but Verbal is my Achilles Heel. With the introduction of Gmat Focus, DI was very tricky and I couldn’t even complete the paper in my June’24 Gmat Focus attempt. Learning from these mistakes, I knew I had to focus on Verbal and DI and started religiously following Gmat Intensive (https://gmatintensive.com/courses/gmat- ... -recorded/).
My goal was to give another attempt in 2024 but did not rush to give another because I had understood that GMAT algorithm has a way of judging you. My 3 attempts in Dec'2023 and Jan'2024 made me realise that. Refer https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-focus-l ... l#p3418896 for my other debrief.
I watched all the Psychology of Gmat videos and completed the Verbal and DI videos. I was very patient and took all the time I needed to grasp the material. I also tried to manage my social life, fitness, office and other things along with Gmat to keep me in a positive mood. This is something I was not doing in my previous attempts.
Thereafter I started practicing from the GMAT Tracker spreadsheets ( I practiced topic wise- saw videos of one topic and then moved onto practice and did not start a new topic until this was done ) and carefully analysing and mentioning my mistakes in the notes. I didn’t focus on quantity but on quality ( only GMAT Original questions, for solutions only referred to CJ/Anish in Office Hours or experts like Karishma, GmatNinja etc ) and was extremely deliberate while reading the solutions and thinking about why I went wrong and what did I not think of etc (Like CJ thinks in his videos). I did multiple re-revisions for my mistakes and questions in which I exceeded time in CR and DI which made me comfortable with GMAT specific tricky language and options. Trust me I had to redo CR and DI questions 7-8 times over the course of preparation. This way I ensured the questions/language/tricks were hardwired in my brain. I did the questions the way CJ and Anish have mentioned. Did Easy first and got a 90%+ accuracy there, then medium and tried getting 80%+ there and then only moved onto Hard. Initially I did not worry about the time at all and only when I was comfortable with the material then started timing myself and that too gradually. I did not worry too much about Very Hard questions initially and moved to them in the later leg of my preparation.
After every mock did careful analysis of what topics am I making mistakes in and tried strengthening the same following the strategy mentioned above. Try finding out what exactly are your weaknesses. For example for me, Business and Social Studies passages, Strengthen/Weaken in CR and tricky language DI questions. In Quant also sometimes the language used to get the better of me (example word problems). This made me extra cautious towards the tricks GMAT throws at you.
My mock scores were -
Mock 1 - 615 (Q85 V79 DI77) (6 Dec'24)
Mock 2 - 615 ((Q85 V79 DI77) (19 Dec'24)
Exact same score like in last attempt. Made me rethink my strategy.
After this I changed strategy from doing DI -> Verbal -> Quant to Verbal -> DI ->Quant . I was doing DI first because in my last actual attempt I scored really bad in DI.
Mock 3 - 615 Q82 V82 DI78 (28 Dec'24)
Surprisingly, I scored my least ever in Quant, this was because I made a silly mistake in a Easy level question. This made me practice my weaknesses in Quant. I also realised that starting with Verbal is not all that bad.
I decided that even if I score low I will go ahead and give the official exam. Booked a date and mentally prepared myself for one more MockTest
Mock 4 - 665 (Q84 V85 DI79)
Finally, in my last mock I got a 665 and was still debating whether I should take the exam or not but I listened to my gut and went ahead with it and the exam rewarded me with an amazing score in my 5th attempt. So if you think you’re generally prepared then don’t hold it for too long and give it a shot as GMAT can be given n number of times now.
Happy to answer and questions and guide people who are unable to increase their scores.
I am happy with my attempt as the main things that I focused on were CR and DI where I got 92%ile (from 6x %ile last time) and 97%ile (18%ile last time) respectively thereby proving that GMAT is not a test of inherent intelligence.
In my last attempt in June (FE 565) and the attempts before that ( I got a 660 in Gmat Classic in Dec’23 and then the score reduced to 640 and eventually to a 620 in Jan’23), I realised that I have a solid footing in Quant but Verbal is my Achilles Heel. With the introduction of Gmat Focus, DI was very tricky and I couldn’t even complete the paper in my June’24 Gmat Focus attempt. Learning from these mistakes, I knew I had to focus on Verbal and DI and started religiously following Gmat Intensive (https://gmatintensive.com/courses/gmat- ... -recorded/).
My goal was to give another attempt in 2024 but did not rush to give another because I had understood that GMAT algorithm has a way of judging you. My 3 attempts in Dec'2023 and Jan'2024 made me realise that. Refer https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-focus-l ... l#p3418896 for my other debrief.
I watched all the Psychology of Gmat videos and completed the Verbal and DI videos. I was very patient and took all the time I needed to grasp the material. I also tried to manage my social life, fitness, office and other things along with Gmat to keep me in a positive mood. This is something I was not doing in my previous attempts.
Thereafter I started practicing from the GMAT Tracker spreadsheets ( I practiced topic wise- saw videos of one topic and then moved onto practice and did not start a new topic until this was done ) and carefully analysing and mentioning my mistakes in the notes. I didn’t focus on quantity but on quality ( only GMAT Original questions, for solutions only referred to CJ/Anish in Office Hours or experts like Karishma, GmatNinja etc ) and was extremely deliberate while reading the solutions and thinking about why I went wrong and what did I not think of etc (Like CJ thinks in his videos). I did multiple re-revisions for my mistakes and questions in which I exceeded time in CR and DI which made me comfortable with GMAT specific tricky language and options. Trust me I had to redo CR and DI questions 7-8 times over the course of preparation. This way I ensured the questions/language/tricks were hardwired in my brain. I did the questions the way CJ and Anish have mentioned. Did Easy first and got a 90%+ accuracy there, then medium and tried getting 80%+ there and then only moved onto Hard. Initially I did not worry about the time at all and only when I was comfortable with the material then started timing myself and that too gradually. I did not worry too much about Very Hard questions initially and moved to them in the later leg of my preparation.
After every mock did careful analysis of what topics am I making mistakes in and tried strengthening the same following the strategy mentioned above. Try finding out what exactly are your weaknesses. For example for me, Business and Social Studies passages, Strengthen/Weaken in CR and tricky language DI questions. In Quant also sometimes the language used to get the better of me (example word problems). This made me extra cautious towards the tricks GMAT throws at you.
My mock scores were -
Mock 1 - 615 (Q85 V79 DI77) (6 Dec'24)
Mock 2 - 615 ((Q85 V79 DI77) (19 Dec'24)
Exact same score like in last attempt. Made me rethink my strategy.
After this I changed strategy from doing DI -> Verbal -> Quant to Verbal -> DI ->Quant . I was doing DI first because in my last actual attempt I scored really bad in DI.
Mock 3 - 615 Q82 V82 DI78 (28 Dec'24)
Surprisingly, I scored my least ever in Quant, this was because I made a silly mistake in a Easy level question. This made me practice my weaknesses in Quant. I also realised that starting with Verbal is not all that bad.
I decided that even if I score low I will go ahead and give the official exam. Booked a date and mentally prepared myself for one more MockTest
Mock 4 - 665 (Q84 V85 DI79)
Finally, in my last mock I got a 665 and was still debating whether I should take the exam or not but I listened to my gut and went ahead with it and the exam rewarded me with an amazing score in my 5th attempt. So if you think you’re generally prepared then don’t hold it for too long and give it a shot as GMAT can be given n number of times now.
Happy to answer and questions and guide people who are unable to increase their scores.
28 Jan 2025, 08:31
Kudos
Bookmarks
Congrats for the great score!
Can you please tell me the sources you used for improving in DI & Verbal?
Can you please tell me the sources you used for improving in DI & Verbal?
