775 GMAT Focus Debrief

Question

Hi all,

I found these debriefs helpful as I was starting to study, so I thought I would share a quick debrief of my own experience with the GMAT Focus Edition. From what I have seen on these forums, I'm one of the lucky few who have been able to pull out a pretty solid score on my first attempt with about a month of studying. I didn't really see this perspective shared much, so for anyone who is (1) pressed for time or (2) starting from a solid position, hopefully some of this can be helpful.

I didn't realize I wanted to apply to business school until July, so I started decided I wanted to get working on GMAT prep quickly. I have a different way of learning than most people. I use practice problems to identify gaps rather than building up knowledge from ground zero. I can get really overwhelmed by not knowing where to start, so this has been most effective for me. I decided to spend ~5 hours learning the structure of the GMAT and doing a couple practice problems on the official starter kit before trying a practice test. On my first practice test, I managed to pull out a 695. I got lucky with some guesses, but I had a really solid grasp of verbal and DI (other than data sufficiency problems). I knew these were my gaps and in my prep I almost exclusively spent my time reviewing Quant and DS questions.

Several colleagues and friends recommended Target Test Prep and after reading reviews, I signed up for the trial. The UI / UX is awesome, the content is incredibly deep, and most importantly the explanations of concepts and question solutions are robust. After the trial, I signed up for the month-to-month program. One thing I didn't fully appreciate at first was just how supportive and agile their team is too. They are all over these forums, Reddit, etc. helping everyone regardless of whether they're a subscriber. Any question I asked in the chat was fielded by a real person pretty quickly. I really appreciated their support, so just wanted to shout them out here. Seems to be the industry standard for a GMAT prep program.

I started TTP's quant program from the beginning, but I realized I didn't have time to do everything. I went to my tried and true strategy of pumping out practice questions and identifying where I needed to do the full review of a concept. I'd then drill down on those questions. TTP's custom practice tests worked so well for this kind of approach. I interspersed official practice tests as I learned more, taking ~1 per week and trying to simulate testing circumstances. I realized that quant is an especially tricky section - because of the nature of the adaptive test, if you're doing really well, you're even more pressed for time. That made progress more gradual than I expected, because time was more of an issue than knowledge after a certain point.

On test day I got a bit lucky admittedly. My practice exam scores had ranged from 675 - 735, with one where I skipped verbal on track for a 765 had I put forward a standard verbal performance. I did the sections in the order Quant --> DI --> Verbal, basically my worst to best. I tend to be very nervous before exams, so I did a quick workout ahead of time which helped lower the anxiety. Would recommend. By the time I was at the end of the verbal section I was pretty exhausted and my brain wasn't as clear. It showed in the score, but no complaints still.

If you're short on time to take the exam or starting from a strong foundation, I'd suggest the following:
 
 Take practice exams early and regularly. Don't overload, but really use those as a measure of your progress. It'll fluccuate a bit and that's normal, but notice trends in where you make mistakes, and practice those areas in particular 
 Use a course like TTP. If not for the content, having experts to answer any question that comes up is huge. 
 Don't kill yourself on test day. You have a limited amount of mental energy and 2.5 hours of high-pressured focus is most of what I have for the day. If you arrive with 50% battery life on a 3 hour battery, the results will reflect that towards the end. 
 Leave time for another try. Test delivery errors can happen and GMAC is not easy to contact. If you take the exam online, high scores are known to be flagged for review and that review can take 20 business days. 
 Luck is a factor. Some days are your day, some days aren't. Make sure your best day leaves you with a score you can hang your hat on, but your worst day won't leave you hopeless. In other words, do some introspection and visualize the range of possible outcomes. If you're not mentally prepared for both, that can really throw you off

Purnank · Answer

Damn thats great score! All the best for applications!

supremekai · Answer

Thanks for sharing your GMAT Focus Edition experience! Congrats on your solid score after just a month of prep. Your strategy of using practice problems to identify gaps and the effectiveness of TTP is really helpful.

Great tips on taking practice exams early, managing mental energy on test day, and being prepared for different outcomes. Best of luck to everyone studying for the GMAT!

nikaro · Answer

Congrats and all the best for applications!!

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi mba0throwaway,

Exceptional achievement! Your score of 775 is a testament to your dedication, perseverance, and intellectual skills. Your debrief inspires all those who aspire to reach similar heights, demonstrating the transformative power of hard work and determination.

We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the TTP course. Our team has spared no effort in developing a comprehensive curriculum that covers the essentials and equips students with the tools and strategies needed to succeed.

Congrats again, and good luck moving forward,

bb · Answer

wow. some crazy score. Do you remember your starting point? 
This is unimaginable to me to get 775 after starting in July - I could not do it... 😔

mba0throwaway · Answer

Thank you! I hadn't really looked at the GMAT before July, but after reviewing the general structure of the exam and doing ~2 hours of practice questions on the free official starter kit, I decided to try a practice test and got a 695. Definitely some luck involved with a few guesses, but I think I had a solid grasp of the Verbal and Data questions

Lucab · Answer

mba0throwaway  wow congrats for the score!

Did you follow the daily plan for TTP? I see mine just for Quant and DI will last like 3 months and half - I guess if TTP expected time to go through one top is in general overstated. Thank you!

kingbucky · Answer

Hi there!

Thanks for sharing your detailed debrief on your GMAT experience! It’s great to hear about your success, especially with such a focused study approach.

I’m curious to know more about how Target Test Prep (TTP) helped you specifically with the verbal section. Did you find their resources and strategies effective for improving your performance there? Also, do you think TTP is fully comprehensive for verbal preparation, or did you supplement it with other materials?

Looking forward to hearing more about your experience!

mba0throwaway · Answer

I loosely followed it at first before realizing that I wanted to accelerate a bit and that's when I switched my approach to be all about practice questions to diagnose where I needed to do the full lessons. There were several topics I felt I knew already when going through, so the full program didn't seem completely necessary in my situation. I do think, though, that TTP's program is pretty incredible if you have the time to do it

mba0throwaway · Answer

Hey there,

On my first practice test, I scored an 89 on verbal, so I didn't focus much there, honestly. I did a number of their hard practice problems because I found that some of the 'what's the purpose of the bold' would trip me up. Their hard questions are really hard, and sometimes to the point where I felt like there were multiple reasonable answers. I think this pushed me to think about why an answer was wrong, where previously I'd only considered why one was right. In that light, I do think their problems helped me, but again, I didn't spend more than 5 hours total on verbal-specific prep.

On the real GMAT, my experience was that the verbal section was much harder than I'd anticipated. One of my RC passages was the densest and most technical I'd ever seen. In the section, I ended up bookmarking >10 questions because I wasn't sure. I hadn't had anything near that experience on any practice test. Maybe I should have prepped verbal more.

bb · Answer

Wow... thank you for sharing and awesome you had strong Verbal skills - that's really impressive! 
I have only seen people with LSAT background have that kind of surviveability

	Target Test Prep - Save up to $599 $400 Discount + $99 Bonus GMAT Club Tests
	e-GMAT: 60% Off on GMAT Focus Get to 735+ from any starting point
	Magoosh increases your score, guaranteed - 15% off ALL Magoosh GMAT plans with code GMATCLUB15 + Free GMAT Club Tests.
	Manhattan Prep: $99 Bonus Score Higher on Your GMAT Exam. Guaranteed.
	Experts' Global - ~~$1720~~ $960 End-to-End GMAT Prep + App Support: 150+ Videos, 2000+ Questions, 15 FLTs +
	GMATWhiz - Save up to 44%! Plus get a $99 bonus from GMAT Club when you buy a course. Sale ends Sept 7.
	GMAT Club Tests - Free Included with every course purchase of $149+ View all deals

775 GMAT Focus Debrief

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards