450 to 665!!! - A UNIQUE JOURNEY (+shoutout to Marty Murray)

Question

I am finally done with the GMAT, having achieved more than my target score of 645 (actually I was hoping for around 605-615 after analyzing my mock scores lol). My Journey began last year in May 2023 when I first thought of giving the GMAT and doing MBA due to my super toxic job. I gave my first mock test and got 450 (classic GMAT official mock test). After that, I was hustling with my job and watching random YouTube videos (GMATNinja etc). I took E GMAT Subscription 2-3 times since it was cheap and did some practice questions on GMAT Club - I got 500 on the actual GMAT Exam (Q42 V18). This ended phase 1 of my journey and also, I thought, my dream of doing an MBA (Initially I was sad and disappointed, so I thought that way).

Watch My YouTube Debrief   
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxw5aF-iEk0

After March 2024, phase 2 of my journey started, and I bought a TTP subscription for 1 month, which helped me in increasing my Quant score and mastering the basic concepts through their easy, medium, and hard tests (lots of practice). I gave GMAT Focus in June 2024 and got 575(Q 81 V77 DI 77). I was happy that I had achieved an over 120 points improvement from my baseline score and would be able to apply for MBA in 2-3 good colleges (not top tier), but I was still distant from my dream of achieving that elusive 645. Because of my weak Verbal performance, I wanted personal tuition at that time but was not able to afford it. This brings us to the end of my phase 2 journey.

A friend from reddit suggested switching to the GRE since it is also accepted for MBA admissions and is a bit easy as compared to the GMAT. I then joined GregMat’s classes as they were cheap, and his techniques initially worked for me. I was able to increase my score from 291 in the official mocks to 314 on the actual exam. I gave the GRE a second time since I was getting 319 in mocks, but as fate would have it I again got 314 (my target score on GRE was 325+). Then, I understood that GregMat is of limited utility for normal candidates like me. After 314, score increase may require something else, and so ended phase 3 of my journey.

So, I went back to the GMAT! 
 
Randomly, I came across  Marty Murray  on Reddit on one of his comments where he was explaining something about attention and focus. I said I needed help with focus and other aspects of GMAT prep, and he scheduled a free session for me where we discussed in detail my ESR report, GRE fiasco, etc. I was not expecting much whether he will personally guide me through my GMAT preparation (due to financial crunch), but to my surprise he agreed. I was not solely banking on my Indian teacher and wanted additional help since my exam was scheduled within 15-20 days. 
We did sessions on Critical Reasoning, Overlapping Sets, Probability, Permutations and Combinations, Graphs and Tables, Two Part analysis, etc. In all cases, he emphasized care and thoroughness, and a key thing he said was that critical reasoning skills are useful for all parts of the GMAT, and even for life, and this thing worked. While my Verbal score was only slightly improved from my previous test, the reasoning and focusing skills I developed working with  Marty  helped me in navigating through the Quant and Data Insights sections, changing my whole score, and  I got Q90 (100th percentile)!!!!

My journey is unique since I hopped back to the GMAT from the GRE (reverse is common GMAT —> GRE).  
 This is the Key -  Read CAREFULLY  - for acing GMAT exam and even navigating through challenging problems of one’s life. Earlier I used to feel sad that people who are getting 700+ on the GMAT are from consulting backgrounds, law backgrounds (V90 ones), etc., but what about normal people like me?? If I can get that 100th percentile, you can also do it. Believe in God; miracles do happen, and I got personal tuition just before my exam was scheduled. I am finally done with the GMAT, and with dedication, you will achieve your goal.

You can find my detailed post with screenshots of my GMAT/GRE scores on the following reddit thread (as I am not able to insert images here on GMATClub):-

https://www.reddit.com/r/GMAT/comments/1g5hil4/from_gmat_450_to_gre_314_to_gmat_665_a_unique/

MartyMurray · Answer

Congrats!

It's great to see that your work and dedication paid off, and I'm sure your story will inspire others.

bb · Answer

Congratulations  sss123Golu !!!
Thank you for sharing your story and sorry about the glitch with images. 
We have enabled WEBP as an option to upload images.

sss123Golu · Answer

Thanks bb

yupp I saw the attachments (images) are now visible

Ayeka · Answer

Congrats and all the best for applications

VIJAYCS · Answer

great journey. all the best!!!

sss123Golu · Answer

For anyone who's interested, here's a video with more detail on my GMAT journey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxw5aF-iEk0

VIJAYCS · Answer

how many questions u got incorrect in verbal and DI ( and also order in which u got incorrect ) I want to know how the order of incorrect questions will effect the overall score.

MartyMurray · Answer

The video interview definitely adds more color to your story, which turns out to be a testimony to the power of persistence and positive thinking. Nice.

MartyMurray · Answer

Any update on your apps, Shivam?

sss123Golu · Answer

Yesterday, I received an admit from my dream B school. It had a special weightage of GMAT (30 % ) and I had the highest score. Also when I gave SDA Bocconi interview, the interviewer mentioned that I have a very good GMAT score and discussed about my GMAT journey. Some top colleges in the world have a special weightage to the GMAT score as it brings transparency in the selection process (profile can be faked but not GMAT score).

bb · Answer

Wow. Congratulations! That’s pretty awesome!

PS. Usually schools are not super open about how much weight they put on diff aspects of the application but they love high scores.

sss123Golu · Answer

bb ,  MartyMurray

sss123Golu · Answer

sss123Golu · Answer

Since November, I have interviewed with multiple business schools and recently received a final offer from one of the old IIMs. While some schools fixated on my salary and career gaps, IIM Lucknow and SDA Bocconi (ranked 3rd in FT rankings) focused on my potential.

My worst experience was with IIM Calcutta, where a younger assistant professor, seemingly triggered by my 100th percentile in GMAT Quant, made dismissive remarks like "go back to school and study math again," asking unnecessary technical questions like central limit theorem, difference between degree and radian, time complexity in algorithms etc.

Interestingly, an IIM Bangalore alumnus mentioned that IIM Lucknow has started surpassing IIM Calcutta in FT rankings and placements—aligning with my own experience of a fair and respectful interview at IIM Lucknow. This journey for giving and appearing in multiple MBA interviews has been more tough and tiring than the exam itself due to prejudiced mindset of Indian colleges.

sss123Golu · Answer

Although, previously I have worked at Ministry of Health and Family welfare and represented Government of India at G 20 summit but low salary at my present job was always a breaking point during interviews  bb ,  MartyMurray

KDM91 · Answer

Kudos on your score & all the best for future. Which B-school did u get into?
Can u please share how many questions you answered correctly section-wise.
It would be more helpful if you could share the section wise score report.

MartyMurray · Answer

Good illustration of the fact that your GMAT score is one thing on your profile that you can change relatively quickly to improve your admissions results.

MartyMurray · Answer

Shivam got into and is now attending IIM Lucknow.

MehakKaushal · Answer

Thank you so much,  sss123Golu , for sharing such an honest account of your GMAT journey. It was truly inspiring to hear your story and learn from your experience. Wishing you all the best for everything ahead!

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450 to 665!!! - A UNIQUE JOURNEY (+shoutout to Marty Murray)

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