Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Apr 2711:00 AM EDT
-12:00 PM EDT
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 2601:30 AM EDT
-02:30 AM EDT
Learn how Keshav, a Chartered Accountant, scored an impressive 705 on GMAT in just 30 days with GMATWhiz's expert guidance. In this video, he shares preparation tips and strategies that worked for him, including the mock, time management, and more.
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 2808:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
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.
Apr 2912:30 AM EDT
-01:30 AM EDT
Learn how Kamakshi achieved a GMAT 675 with an impressive 96th %ile in Data Insights. Discover the unique methods and exam strategies that helped her excel in DI along with other sections for a balanced and high score.
May 0111:00 AM PDT
-12:00 PM PDT
Free- full-length test + 15 concept videos + 150+ short videos + study plan!
May 0306:30 AM PDT
-08:30 AM PDT
Verbal trouble on GMAT? Fix it NOW! Join Sunita Singhvi for a focused webinar on actionable strategies to boost your Verbal score and take your performance to the next level.
12 Sep 2024, 12:56
Kudos
Bookmarks
Prologue
Last year, around May-June 2023, I began preparing for the GMAT. My quant skills were good, but verbal was a big challenge. After taking a diagnostic test, I bought an expensive, heavily advertised prep course for verbal and slogged for two months.
My score improved from 560-570 to 600, primarily due to quant, while verbal stagnated at V24-25. Frustrated by my lack of progress in verbal, I lost motivation and paused my prep. However, I knew the GMAT was just the start of the journey I wish to make.
Prep
After nearly a year of procrastination, I resumed my prep. I spent the first week watching GMAT Ninja's videos and practicing CR questions from the OG. At the end of the week, I took my first GMAT Focus official practice test and scored 565 – 81 in Quant (6 errors), 80 in Verbal (8 errors), and 73 in Data Insights (13 errors). Both Verbal and Data Insights sections suffered from time management issues, forcing me to guess the last 5-6 questions.
Most of my quant errors were due to careless mistakes. I worked on identifying areas where I made careless mistakes, struggled with problem-solving approach, or needed further study. I completed the OG and used GMAT Club for topic-specific questions. For practicing relatively difficult questions, I used the GMAT Club sectional tests.
In verbal, I had two challenges: understanding answer reasoning and completing 23 questions in 45 minutes. To address these, I followed GMAT Ninja's videos and did untimed practice, focusing on reasoning for both correct and incorrect answers. For time management issues, I took GMAT Club sectional tests.
Despite working with data professionally, I struggled with Data Insights. I watched GMAT Ninja's videos to get acquainted with the section. To improve accuracy, practiced untimed OG questions, and for timed practice, I relied on GMAT Club sectional tests.
Given my hectic work schedule, I studied 1.5 to 2 hours on weekdays and around 5 hours on weekends. A week before the exam, I took five full-length practice tests at the same time slot as my actual exam.
Test Day
I took the GMAT at 8 AM, in the order I practiced – Quant, Data Insights, break, Verbal.
In Quant, I spent too much time on some questions and had to guess the last one, likely due to exam pressure.
In Data Insights, I faced an early challenge with a tricky Multi-Source Reasoning (MSR) set around the 5th question, which threw me off. The rest of the questions were like those in OG.
Before Verbal, I took the optional 10-minute break. By then, I felt I had messed up Quant and I always mess up DI, but I tried staying calm, hoping to turn it around.
Verbal went smoothly, with difficulty matching practice tests. The only challenge was the long Reading Comprehension (RC) passage, which appeared early instead of toward the end.
I ended up with a score of 645 – Q85 (4 errors), V81 (6 errors), and DI 79 (6 errors). I did improve from my baseline levels, however the same is not reflected in my scores, it seems one single error is too costly on the real test.
I didn’t reach my target score, but the experience was incredibly valuable. I observed that the official GMAT questions closely match the difficulty of those in the Official Guides and practice tests.
Most importantly, I realized the critical role of accuracy—every error counts, and even one mistake can be very costly.
Epilogue
Finally, acknowledgements and gratitude, bb GMATNinja KarishmaB MartyMurray, thank you, I relied heavily on the GMAT Club platform, GMAT Club tests, and the videos, posts, explanations, and articles created by you.
For my second attempt, the focus of my prep will be improving accuracy and staying calm under pressure.
TLDR:
Last year, around May-June 2023, I began preparing for the GMAT. My quant skills were good, but verbal was a big challenge. After taking a diagnostic test, I bought an expensive, heavily advertised prep course for verbal and slogged for two months.
My score improved from 560-570 to 600, primarily due to quant, while verbal stagnated at V24-25. Frustrated by my lack of progress in verbal, I lost motivation and paused my prep. However, I knew the GMAT was just the start of the journey I wish to make.
Prep
After nearly a year of procrastination, I resumed my prep. I spent the first week watching GMAT Ninja's videos and practicing CR questions from the OG. At the end of the week, I took my first GMAT Focus official practice test and scored 565 – 81 in Quant (6 errors), 80 in Verbal (8 errors), and 73 in Data Insights (13 errors). Both Verbal and Data Insights sections suffered from time management issues, forcing me to guess the last 5-6 questions.
Most of my quant errors were due to careless mistakes. I worked on identifying areas where I made careless mistakes, struggled with problem-solving approach, or needed further study. I completed the OG and used GMAT Club for topic-specific questions. For practicing relatively difficult questions, I used the GMAT Club sectional tests.
In verbal, I had two challenges: understanding answer reasoning and completing 23 questions in 45 minutes. To address these, I followed GMAT Ninja's videos and did untimed practice, focusing on reasoning for both correct and incorrect answers. For time management issues, I took GMAT Club sectional tests.
Despite working with data professionally, I struggled with Data Insights. I watched GMAT Ninja's videos to get acquainted with the section. To improve accuracy, practiced untimed OG questions, and for timed practice, I relied on GMAT Club sectional tests.
Given my hectic work schedule, I studied 1.5 to 2 hours on weekdays and around 5 hours on weekends. A week before the exam, I took five full-length practice tests at the same time slot as my actual exam.
Test Day
I took the GMAT at 8 AM, in the order I practiced – Quant, Data Insights, break, Verbal.
In Quant, I spent too much time on some questions and had to guess the last one, likely due to exam pressure.
In Data Insights, I faced an early challenge with a tricky Multi-Source Reasoning (MSR) set around the 5th question, which threw me off. The rest of the questions were like those in OG.
Before Verbal, I took the optional 10-minute break. By then, I felt I had messed up Quant and I always mess up DI, but I tried staying calm, hoping to turn it around.
Verbal went smoothly, with difficulty matching practice tests. The only challenge was the long Reading Comprehension (RC) passage, which appeared early instead of toward the end.
I ended up with a score of 645 – Q85 (4 errors), V81 (6 errors), and DI 79 (6 errors). I did improve from my baseline levels, however the same is not reflected in my scores, it seems one single error is too costly on the real test.
I didn’t reach my target score, but the experience was incredibly valuable. I observed that the official GMAT questions closely match the difficulty of those in the Official Guides and practice tests.
Most importantly, I realized the critical role of accuracy—every error counts, and even one mistake can be very costly.
Epilogue
Finally, acknowledgements and gratitude, bb GMATNinja KarishmaB MartyMurray, thank you, I relied heavily on the GMAT Club platform, GMAT Club tests, and the videos, posts, explanations, and articles created by you.
For my second attempt, the focus of my prep will be improving accuracy and staying calm under pressure.
TLDR:
- GMAT: 645 – Q85 (4 errors), V81 (6 errors), and DI 79 (6 errors)
- Resources: OG, GMAT Club Tests (for timing improvement), GMAT Club Posts and solutions, GMAT Ninja's Videos (Priceless !)
- Super-effective tip: Untimed practice, with focus on reasoning behind both the correct and incorrect options
Attachments
File comment: Score Trend - Practice Tests
practice tests - Copy.jpg [ 32.13 KiB | Viewed 1860 times ]
File comment: Overall Score
Score SS - Copy.jpg [ 64.3 KiB | Viewed 1877 times ]
12 Sep 2024, 14:28
Kudos
Bookmarks
Gratz on the score improvement so far.
For Verbal, becoming familiar with how inference questions work could be helpful. Working on a reading methodology that promotes absorption could also be useful. For CR assumption questions, consider checking out the negation technique.
How to score high on GMAT Verbal.
Quote:
Quote:
For Verbal, becoming familiar with how inference questions work could be helpful. Working on a reading methodology that promotes absorption could also be useful. For CR assumption questions, consider checking out the negation technique.
How to score high on GMAT Verbal.
