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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.
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26 Jul 2014, 00:12
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I took the GMAT on the 16th July and managed to score a 730 (Q49, V41) IR 5 AWA 5.0 on my 4th attempt. The GMATClub forums were an excellent resource, so I would like to share some lessons learnt from my prep experience in the hope that some of you may find these takeaways useful.
I am an Electrical Engineer by background and work in the construction and engineering industry. Work is steady but can get pretty hectic depending on project deliverables and project milestones. I tried to study about 2-3 hours atleast 3 days during the week and ramped up to 6-7 hours of study on the weekends. Also, I'm a non native which you will notice as you read through my post
Resources
1) OG 13, Verbal Review 2 and Question Pack 1 - Great resources for official questions. Use them wisely!
2) e-GMAT - Absolutely brilliant course! The method of teaching is great for non-natives unfamiliar with complex grammatical terminology. I would recommend attending some of the free live sessions and doing the diagnostic tests with explanations to get an idea.
3) MGMAT CATs - Much harder than the actual GMAT. Great for practice and stamina building nonetheless. My advice here would be to understand your weaknesses and not to read too much into your scores.
4) Veritas CATs - Again great resource for practicing CATs and stamina building. I personally felt the veritas CATs were more representative of the difficulty level than the MGMATs.
5) GMAT Club tests - Definitely recommended for people looking to push their Quant score from Q46/47 to Q49 and above.
6) GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1 - Additional official practice tests. Useful data points to gauge your progress. Would recommend purchasing if you're seeking official test prep material.
Official GMAT Attempt Scores
1) Attempt 1 - 630 Q47 V30 IR 7
2) Attempt 2 - 680 Q48 V35 IR 4
3) Attempt 3 - 650 Q48 V32 IR 6 - what!?!?
4) Attempt 4 - 730 Q49 V41 IR 5
Takeaways
So, my 2c to prospective test takers:
1) GMAT preparation requires a lot of commitment and hard work. It also requires you to work smart and make the best use of your most precious resource- time! Develop a plan of attack. There is plenty of information/ resources available on the internet. Do your research and use the ones that best suit you.
2) If it's been a while since you've done any study and taken an exam, chances are you will lack the mental stamina to stay focused for a period of 3 and half hours. Take plenty of mocks to rediscover the ability to be engaged mentally for this length of time.
3) Avoid the classic burnout. The GMAT is unlike your uni exams. I gave my third attempt at a time when it was pretty hectic at work. Working 14 hours a day (including the weekend) the week before your GMAT is not ideal mental preparation! I remember walking into the test feeling not very fresh mentally and thinking about work backlog. Don't do this! Try and take some time off before your test. I took 3 days off before my 4th attempt and this helped me go in with a fresh mind.
4) Look at the big picture and learn to let go- Know your weaknesses before the test. If you get a question on a topic that you're uncomfortable with on the test- skip and move on. Ofcourse, this would also tie in with your overall test strategy (more on this later). For e.g. one of weaknesses was logically evaluate the argument question type on CR, specifically when the argument is long and complex. On the test I remember guessing on 2 of these questions to give me more time on RC.
5) Be prepared to make some sacrifices. I had to essentially excuse myself from a lot of social commitments. Having said that, also remember to take the occasional evening off if it's all getting too much for you.
6) Once you've booked a test date, engage yourself mentally during the exam timeslot. For my fourth attempt, I booked a 1pm timeslot. So I made sure to do an early lunch and tried to be most efficient and effective during the afternoon at work. Get into a routine 1 week or so before the test. Take mock tests during this time slot. All this helps psychologically - at least it did for me!
7) Develop an exam strategy that works best for you. I refined my approach through mock tests. Like the GMAT, your strategy should be adaptive. My Verbal strategy was to complete the first 13 questions in 25 min, but I received 2 RC's in the first 13 questions, so I allowed myself little bit more time to answer the RC questions. I personally took longer on the RC but had a higher accuracy. Hence this ties in with your weaknesses and the decision to spend time answering the question. I later guessed on Q18 and Q22 to get back on track.
8) Don't try to judge the difficulty level of the questions on the test. Take one question at a time. The GMAT uses a complex adaptive algorithm which is hard to breakdown. I was worried that the quant questions seemed easier on the test and that I must be performing poorly but ended up with a decent 49.
9) The first 15-20 questions are important - there's conflicting viewpoints on this and my personal opinion is that the first 15 questions odd set the difficulty range of the exam. Hence it is important to get as many questions correct in the first 15 as possible. Also important is for you to be able to finish the sections and not leave any questions unanswered!
10) Get some sugar in you during the breaks. Gatorade worked for me.
My score isn't exactly perfect as I only got an IR 5 - I'm not sure what happened there during the exam. To be honest, I only felt confident about my IR performance during the 2 min of when you confirm your details before you view your scores. I remember seeing too many easy questions on the Quant towards the end and was convinced that I hadn't done well. With Verbal, I rushed through the last 4 questions with about 3-4 min on the clock! Hopefully, Adcoms look at the IR 7 on my previous attempts and tick the box on the IR capability
If you've read this far - well done! You're all set for RC
I'll finish with a quote I read on the internet - "A good GMAT score alone will not necessarily get you into a good B school, but lowish score can be enough to keep you out"
I feel the test is important and it gives schools an apples for apples sort of comparison. So it's important to hit the 80% range of your target schools. It's certainly good to get a 750+ but if you're presently scoring 710+ on your mocks, all other aspects such as GPA and average work ex being good, take the darn test and move on! Good luck!
I am an Electrical Engineer by background and work in the construction and engineering industry. Work is steady but can get pretty hectic depending on project deliverables and project milestones. I tried to study about 2-3 hours atleast 3 days during the week and ramped up to 6-7 hours of study on the weekends. Also, I'm a non native which you will notice as you read through my post
Resources
1) OG 13, Verbal Review 2 and Question Pack 1 - Great resources for official questions. Use them wisely!
2) e-GMAT - Absolutely brilliant course! The method of teaching is great for non-natives unfamiliar with complex grammatical terminology. I would recommend attending some of the free live sessions and doing the diagnostic tests with explanations to get an idea.
3) MGMAT CATs - Much harder than the actual GMAT. Great for practice and stamina building nonetheless. My advice here would be to understand your weaknesses and not to read too much into your scores.
4) Veritas CATs - Again great resource for practicing CATs and stamina building. I personally felt the veritas CATs were more representative of the difficulty level than the MGMATs.
5) GMAT Club tests - Definitely recommended for people looking to push their Quant score from Q46/47 to Q49 and above.
6) GMAT Prep Exam Pack 1 - Additional official practice tests. Useful data points to gauge your progress. Would recommend purchasing if you're seeking official test prep material.
Official GMAT Attempt Scores
1) Attempt 1 - 630 Q47 V30 IR 7
2) Attempt 2 - 680 Q48 V35 IR 4
3) Attempt 3 - 650 Q48 V32 IR 6 - what!?!?
4) Attempt 4 - 730 Q49 V41 IR 5
Takeaways
So, my 2c to prospective test takers:
1) GMAT preparation requires a lot of commitment and hard work. It also requires you to work smart and make the best use of your most precious resource- time! Develop a plan of attack. There is plenty of information/ resources available on the internet. Do your research and use the ones that best suit you.
2) If it's been a while since you've done any study and taken an exam, chances are you will lack the mental stamina to stay focused for a period of 3 and half hours. Take plenty of mocks to rediscover the ability to be engaged mentally for this length of time.
3) Avoid the classic burnout. The GMAT is unlike your uni exams. I gave my third attempt at a time when it was pretty hectic at work. Working 14 hours a day (including the weekend) the week before your GMAT is not ideal mental preparation! I remember walking into the test feeling not very fresh mentally and thinking about work backlog. Don't do this! Try and take some time off before your test. I took 3 days off before my 4th attempt and this helped me go in with a fresh mind.
4) Look at the big picture and learn to let go- Know your weaknesses before the test. If you get a question on a topic that you're uncomfortable with on the test- skip and move on. Ofcourse, this would also tie in with your overall test strategy (more on this later). For e.g. one of weaknesses was logically evaluate the argument question type on CR, specifically when the argument is long and complex. On the test I remember guessing on 2 of these questions to give me more time on RC.
5) Be prepared to make some sacrifices. I had to essentially excuse myself from a lot of social commitments. Having said that, also remember to take the occasional evening off if it's all getting too much for you.
6) Once you've booked a test date, engage yourself mentally during the exam timeslot. For my fourth attempt, I booked a 1pm timeslot. So I made sure to do an early lunch and tried to be most efficient and effective during the afternoon at work. Get into a routine 1 week or so before the test. Take mock tests during this time slot. All this helps psychologically - at least it did for me!
7) Develop an exam strategy that works best for you. I refined my approach through mock tests. Like the GMAT, your strategy should be adaptive. My Verbal strategy was to complete the first 13 questions in 25 min, but I received 2 RC's in the first 13 questions, so I allowed myself little bit more time to answer the RC questions. I personally took longer on the RC but had a higher accuracy. Hence this ties in with your weaknesses and the decision to spend time answering the question. I later guessed on Q18 and Q22 to get back on track.
8) Don't try to judge the difficulty level of the questions on the test. Take one question at a time. The GMAT uses a complex adaptive algorithm which is hard to breakdown. I was worried that the quant questions seemed easier on the test and that I must be performing poorly but ended up with a decent 49
.9) The first 15-20 questions are important - there's conflicting viewpoints on this and my personal opinion is that the first 15 questions odd set the difficulty range of the exam. Hence it is important to get as many questions correct in the first 15 as possible. Also important is for you to be able to finish the sections and not leave any questions unanswered!
10) Get some sugar in you during the breaks. Gatorade worked for me.
My score isn't exactly perfect as I only got an IR 5 - I'm not sure what happened there during the exam. To be honest, I only felt confident about my IR performance during the 2 min of when you confirm your details before you view your scores. I remember seeing too many easy questions on the Quant towards the end and was convinced that I hadn't done well. With Verbal, I rushed through the last 4 questions with about 3-4 min on the clock! Hopefully, Adcoms look at the IR 7 on my previous attempts and tick the box on the IR capability
If you've read this far - well done! You're all set for RC
I'll finish with a quote I read on the internet - "A good GMAT score alone will not necessarily get you into a good B school, but lowish score can be enough to keep you out"
I feel the test is important and it gives schools an apples for apples sort of comparison. So it's important to hit the 80% range of your target schools. It's certainly good to get a 750+ but if you're presently scoring 710+ on your mocks, all other aspects such as GPA and average work ex being good, take the darn test and move on! Good luck!
kushwahanuj28
Joined: 10 Dec 2013
Last visit: 05 Mar 2026
Posts: 92
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 246
Status:Will retake GMAT
Affiliations: GMAT Club
Location: India
Concentration: Technology, General Management
Schools: Great Lakes '15 Jindal '16 Northeastern '17 Rutgers '17 Rotman '17 Ross '17 McDonough '17 LBS '17 ISB '16 Duke '19
WE:Information Technology (Computer Software)
Schools: Great Lakes '15 Jindal '16 Northeastern '17 Rutgers '17 Rotman '17 Ross '17 McDonough '17 LBS '17 ISB '16 Duke '19
Posts: 92
Kudos:
51
27 Jul 2014, 09:11
Kudos
Bookmarks
ZoSoKM
kushwahanuj28
Joined: 10 Dec 2013
Last visit: 05 Mar 2026
Posts: 92
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 246
Status:Will retake GMAT
Affiliations: GMAT Club
Location: India
Concentration: Technology, General Management
Schools: Great Lakes '15 Jindal '16 Northeastern '17 Rutgers '17 Rotman '17 Ross '17 McDonough '17 LBS '17 ISB '16 Duke '19
WE:Information Technology (Computer Software)
Schools: Great Lakes '15 Jindal '16 Northeastern '17 Rutgers '17 Rotman '17 Ross '17 McDonough '17 LBS '17 ISB '16 Duke '19
Posts: 92
Kudos:
51
27 Jul 2014, 09:14
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ZoSoKM
Many Congratulations! But Is it true that taking GMAT more than twice affects one's overall profile . It leaves with an impression that one is a SCORE HUNTER and not truly realist .
