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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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03 Jun 2023, 15:57
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Pre-Prep
A month before starting my prep, I took the OG Mock 1 and scored a 710 (V35, Q50). Taking this mock really boosted my confidence and helped me believe that I could target a 750+ score. A few days after the mock, I took the free trial of eGMAT’s course and found it to be pretty good. Then, I didn’t study anything for about 20 days or so and eventually, after talking to a few friends, decided to purchase eGMAT’s Online Focused course.
Prep – First Month
Took a week off from work to get into the groove – realised later that I could have taken the leaves a couple of weeks after starting my prep as the first week of my prep didn’t go that well. As I was studying after a few years, I could only put in 2.5-3.5 hours (effectively) everyday (the days on which I was on leave). Anyway, this did help me to get into that zone.
Took a day or so to get done with the Master Comprehension module, and then I started with Sentence Correction and took a month to complete it. Since I didn’t really have a hard deadline in terms of an exam date, I took my time and that really allowed me to give myself some space to register the concepts. I watched each and every video of Sentence Correction on eGMAT’s portal and took all the quizzes suggested by the course. Also, made detailed digital notes of every SC concept; this made revision in the later stages easier.
In the first month, I was mostly done with the SC module and all the associated Cementing Quizzes. I maintained an Error Log (as suggested by eGMAT) but got tired of it within a day and didn’t update it after that. I never looked at the error log again. However, I would suggest that you maintain an Error Log if you’re not scoring well in the quizzes or are not confident about your answer choices.
Second and Third Months
I somehow got out of the studying zone again in these two months and therefore, took 2 months to complete the CR and RC modules. I studied for only ~4 weeks in these two months though. I realised that RC and CR, to an extent, depend more on you solving the questions than understanding the concepts. While the Pre-Thinking approach suggested by eGMAT was really helpful in terms of training my brain to evaluate the answer choices more efficiently, the ‘Practise’ aspect of it was more important.
I did focus on the conceptual videos of CR to a great extent but just skimmed through the RC conceptual videos. That being said, I took all the required Cementing Quizzes as suggested by eGMAT and moved to the next concept/module only when I scored the required scores in the Cementing Quizzes. This ensures that you’re not rushing through the concepts and also makes you more confident about your ability.
Fourth Month
By this time, I had realised that I needed to put in a more consistent effort, otherwise I would start forgetting the previous concepts by the time I take the actual exam. Also, gave myself a hard deadline of 2 months to take the exam (I didn’t register for the exam at this point though).
I started with Quant and got done with it by the end of this month. I knew I was good at GMAT-level Quant and therefore, did not want to waste time going through each and every concept.
I identified my weak areas and focussed on them, mostly. Skimmed through the Conceptual videos and started focussing more on solving the questions. That being said, I did make digital notes of Geometry since that was one of the areas I needed to focus on. Algebra was also something I was not very fond of, so I put in a good amount of effort there as well.
Fifth (and Last) Month
In the last month, I focused mostly on taking quizzes and mocks and a little on revision. The only topics that I needed to revise were SC, Geometry and a few other topics of Quant.
Taking mocks was probably the most important part of my preparation as it helped me identify the areas I needed to focus on. Excluding the ones I took before I started studying, I took 4 Sigma-X Mocks, 3 OG Mocks and 1 Manhattan Mock. I didn’t really take the Manhattan Mock seriously since I had read reviews which suggested that it’s more difficult than the actual exam. Scored 680 in the Manhattan Mock. The following were my scores in the other Mocks:
Sigma-X Mocks – 760, 750, 690, 760
OG Mocks – 740 (OG 2), 760 (OG 5), 780 (OG 6)
While I was consistently scoring well in the mocks, there was one issue I faced in all the mocks except the last two OG mocks – the Timing Issue. I used to have only 5-6 mins left for the last 5-6 questions in Verbal and that’s really less especially if there’s a Reading Comprehension at the end. This was really concerning and had me worried for a while. That’s where eGMAT’s LMP program came into the picture. The mentor, Abha Mohan, gave me a few simple yet useful tips to get the time spent on each question right. She suggested that I let go of questions if I am not sure and have already spent 2.5-3 mins on the question. Additionally, she also shared with me a table which showed the maximum amount of time that should be spent on each type of question. Ideally, you should not spend more than 2 mins on an SC question, more than 2.5 mins on a CR question and more than 2.75 mins on a Quant question. This also made me realise that if given enough time, GMAT questions can be solved fairly easily but the challenge is to solve them in the allotted time. For instance, if given an hour to solve a 700-level Quant question, everyone can probably solve it with a good accuracy rate but the accuracy rate would go down a lot if the time is reduced to 2 mins.
For IR, I just solved the questions in OG Mocks. However, I would suggest that you take IR seriously because some schools do give some weightage to IR as well.
Eventually, I caught up on this and did not face any timing issues in the last two OG mocks. Also, I took the last mock (OG 6) two days before my exam and scored a 780 (Q51, V46) in that and this really boosted my confidence.
Lastly, the last 4 days of my prep included just the following:
1. Taking OG 5 and 6 mocks and analysing them
2. Slight revision – just spent 4-5 hours in total over 3-4 days
3. One 25q Verbal quiz
4. AWA prep – used this template
My exam was on Monday and I took Thursday and Friday (and Monday) off from work to get into the exam zone.
D-Day
During my prep, I realised that your confidence level and state of mind matter a lot in GMAT. Your confidence levels could actually be the difference between a 700+ and a 750+ score. Additionally, because I had taken a lot of mocks, I knew that no matter how you feel your exam is going, you should keep going and answer each question properly. And these things really helped on the exam day.
Additionally, a couple of days before the exam, I had planned everything for the exam day – from the time I am going to wake up to what I am going to have in breakfast. Also, I knew I had to stay calm during the exam – easier said than done!
I reached the test center 2 hours before my appointment time, ate a banana and drank some juice after reaching my center and relaxed for a bit. I thought this would help me calm down and it did but as soon as the exam started, I panicked a little. Initially, I took more time per question than I should have but caught up soon and eventually, it all worked out.
While I was attempting the Quant section, I felt like I am doing really bad and that I have really messed up my score. Made a few calculated guesses, and this allowed me to spend sufficient time on the questions I was more confident of. This worked out for me and helped me score a Q50.
Key Takeaways
1. I relied on eGMAT for ~90% of my prep and found their course really helpful. In fact, other than OG Mocks, I solved very few OG questions.
2. Mocks are one of the most important parts of your prep and each Mock should be taken properly, and should be followed by a detailed analysis. Try to replicate the actual exam situation as much as possible – don’t take the optional break for more than 4-5 mins in Mocks (in the actual exam, you will need those extra 2-3 mins to complete the formalities before you’re allowed to take the break), don’t check your phone in the optional break, and take the test in one-go.
3. Take the OG Mock 1 before starting your prep – it helps in understanding your strengths and weaknesses and also acts as a benchmark.
4. A good understanding of a topic is important before you move to the next topic. Also, analyse all the quizzes carefully and bookmark/flag the questions you’re not confident about.
5. Keep going no matter how you feel your exam is going. Solve each question on its merit. Remember – it’s an adaptive exam, the questions will get difficult if you’re getting them right.
P.S. – A lot of people suggest booking the test date before starting your prep or during the initial stage of your prep – I would not suggest the same as at that point, you have almost no idea about the time you’re going to take for your prep. It’s an expensive exam and should be taken only when you feel you’re ready, unless you are on tight application deadlines, of course.
A month before starting my prep, I took the OG Mock 1 and scored a 710 (V35, Q50). Taking this mock really boosted my confidence and helped me believe that I could target a 750+ score. A few days after the mock, I took the free trial of eGMAT’s course and found it to be pretty good. Then, I didn’t study anything for about 20 days or so and eventually, after talking to a few friends, decided to purchase eGMAT’s Online Focused course.
Prep – First Month
Took a week off from work to get into the groove – realised later that I could have taken the leaves a couple of weeks after starting my prep as the first week of my prep didn’t go that well. As I was studying after a few years, I could only put in 2.5-3.5 hours (effectively) everyday (the days on which I was on leave). Anyway, this did help me to get into that zone.
Took a day or so to get done with the Master Comprehension module, and then I started with Sentence Correction and took a month to complete it. Since I didn’t really have a hard deadline in terms of an exam date, I took my time and that really allowed me to give myself some space to register the concepts. I watched each and every video of Sentence Correction on eGMAT’s portal and took all the quizzes suggested by the course. Also, made detailed digital notes of every SC concept; this made revision in the later stages easier.
In the first month, I was mostly done with the SC module and all the associated Cementing Quizzes. I maintained an Error Log (as suggested by eGMAT) but got tired of it within a day and didn’t update it after that. I never looked at the error log again. However, I would suggest that you maintain an Error Log if you’re not scoring well in the quizzes or are not confident about your answer choices.
Second and Third Months
I somehow got out of the studying zone again in these two months and therefore, took 2 months to complete the CR and RC modules. I studied for only ~4 weeks in these two months though. I realised that RC and CR, to an extent, depend more on you solving the questions than understanding the concepts. While the Pre-Thinking approach suggested by eGMAT was really helpful in terms of training my brain to evaluate the answer choices more efficiently, the ‘Practise’ aspect of it was more important.
I did focus on the conceptual videos of CR to a great extent but just skimmed through the RC conceptual videos. That being said, I took all the required Cementing Quizzes as suggested by eGMAT and moved to the next concept/module only when I scored the required scores in the Cementing Quizzes. This ensures that you’re not rushing through the concepts and also makes you more confident about your ability.
Fourth Month
By this time, I had realised that I needed to put in a more consistent effort, otherwise I would start forgetting the previous concepts by the time I take the actual exam. Also, gave myself a hard deadline of 2 months to take the exam (I didn’t register for the exam at this point though).
I started with Quant and got done with it by the end of this month. I knew I was good at GMAT-level Quant and therefore, did not want to waste time going through each and every concept.
I identified my weak areas and focussed on them, mostly. Skimmed through the Conceptual videos and started focussing more on solving the questions. That being said, I did make digital notes of Geometry since that was one of the areas I needed to focus on. Algebra was also something I was not very fond of, so I put in a good amount of effort there as well.
Fifth (and Last) Month
In the last month, I focused mostly on taking quizzes and mocks and a little on revision. The only topics that I needed to revise were SC, Geometry and a few other topics of Quant.
Taking mocks was probably the most important part of my preparation as it helped me identify the areas I needed to focus on. Excluding the ones I took before I started studying, I took 4 Sigma-X Mocks, 3 OG Mocks and 1 Manhattan Mock. I didn’t really take the Manhattan Mock seriously since I had read reviews which suggested that it’s more difficult than the actual exam. Scored 680 in the Manhattan Mock. The following were my scores in the other Mocks:
Sigma-X Mocks – 760, 750, 690, 760
OG Mocks – 740 (OG 2), 760 (OG 5), 780 (OG 6)
While I was consistently scoring well in the mocks, there was one issue I faced in all the mocks except the last two OG mocks – the Timing Issue. I used to have only 5-6 mins left for the last 5-6 questions in Verbal and that’s really less especially if there’s a Reading Comprehension at the end. This was really concerning and had me worried for a while. That’s where eGMAT’s LMP program came into the picture. The mentor, Abha Mohan, gave me a few simple yet useful tips to get the time spent on each question right. She suggested that I let go of questions if I am not sure and have already spent 2.5-3 mins on the question. Additionally, she also shared with me a table which showed the maximum amount of time that should be spent on each type of question. Ideally, you should not spend more than 2 mins on an SC question, more than 2.5 mins on a CR question and more than 2.75 mins on a Quant question. This also made me realise that if given enough time, GMAT questions can be solved fairly easily but the challenge is to solve them in the allotted time. For instance, if given an hour to solve a 700-level Quant question, everyone can probably solve it with a good accuracy rate but the accuracy rate would go down a lot if the time is reduced to 2 mins.
For IR, I just solved the questions in OG Mocks. However, I would suggest that you take IR seriously because some schools do give some weightage to IR as well.
Eventually, I caught up on this and did not face any timing issues in the last two OG mocks. Also, I took the last mock (OG 6) two days before my exam and scored a 780 (Q51, V46) in that and this really boosted my confidence.
Lastly, the last 4 days of my prep included just the following:
1. Taking OG 5 and 6 mocks and analysing them
2. Slight revision – just spent 4-5 hours in total over 3-4 days
3. One 25q Verbal quiz
4. AWA prep – used this template
My exam was on Monday and I took Thursday and Friday (and Monday) off from work to get into the exam zone.
D-Day
During my prep, I realised that your confidence level and state of mind matter a lot in GMAT. Your confidence levels could actually be the difference between a 700+ and a 750+ score. Additionally, because I had taken a lot of mocks, I knew that no matter how you feel your exam is going, you should keep going and answer each question properly. And these things really helped on the exam day.
Additionally, a couple of days before the exam, I had planned everything for the exam day – from the time I am going to wake up to what I am going to have in breakfast. Also, I knew I had to stay calm during the exam – easier said than done!
I reached the test center 2 hours before my appointment time, ate a banana and drank some juice after reaching my center and relaxed for a bit. I thought this would help me calm down and it did but as soon as the exam started, I panicked a little. Initially, I took more time per question than I should have but caught up soon and eventually, it all worked out.
While I was attempting the Quant section, I felt like I am doing really bad and that I have really messed up my score. Made a few calculated guesses, and this allowed me to spend sufficient time on the questions I was more confident of. This worked out for me and helped me score a Q50.
Key Takeaways
1. I relied on eGMAT for ~90% of my prep and found their course really helpful. In fact, other than OG Mocks, I solved very few OG questions.
2. Mocks are one of the most important parts of your prep and each Mock should be taken properly, and should be followed by a detailed analysis. Try to replicate the actual exam situation as much as possible – don’t take the optional break for more than 4-5 mins in Mocks (in the actual exam, you will need those extra 2-3 mins to complete the formalities before you’re allowed to take the break), don’t check your phone in the optional break, and take the test in one-go.
3. Take the OG Mock 1 before starting your prep – it helps in understanding your strengths and weaknesses and also acts as a benchmark.
4. A good understanding of a topic is important before you move to the next topic. Also, analyse all the quizzes carefully and bookmark/flag the questions you’re not confident about.
5. Keep going no matter how you feel your exam is going. Solve each question on its merit. Remember – it’s an adaptive exam, the questions will get difficult if you’re getting them right.
P.S. – A lot of people suggest booking the test date before starting your prep or during the initial stage of your prep – I would not suggest the same as at that point, you have almost no idea about the time you’re going to take for your prep. It’s an expensive exam and should be taken only when you feel you’re ready, unless you are on tight application deadlines, of course.
Archit3110
Major Poster
03 Jun 2023, 22:30
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Great score congratulations...
All the best...
Posted from my mobile device
All the best...
Posted from my mobile device
03 Jun 2023, 22:35
Kudos
Bookmarks
Wow. Awesome score. Thank you for wharing your journey.
PS. I completely agree. Don’t book your test early. There is no point.
Posted from my mobile device
PS. I completely agree. Don’t book your test early. There is no point.
Posted from my mobile device
