Hey all,
Just wanted to share my experience with the GMAT to help others in anyway that I can as it was quite the journey for me. I just finished my last attempt one day before application due dates. I'm ecstatic to have gotten a 695 (Q 84, DI 84, V 86). Haven't been pressured by anyone to write a review and just wanted to share my experience and some tips.
When i started studying in March 2024 i took the diagnostic and got a 555 on the Focus Edition.
I had the goal of getting about a 95% and was trying to evaluate the best way to get to the score as quickly as possible.
This led me to remember The Gmat Strategy whose podcasts i listened to while looking for resources. (I recommend you all give it a listen as it has been endlessly helpful). I really resonated with his objective assessments of the paths to get to my score. If you have more than 1 year or so, it's not a bad idea to take a self study course such as E-Gmat (which I purchased and found too hard, quant really killed me in the course) or
Target Test Prep (which i haven't tried but heard great things about).
I then decided to go with The Gmat Strategy as i figured that the optimal path to my score was with a Tutor.
I signed up late March 2024 and have been working with Isaac since then. I strongly recommend him as a tutor, he is a great choice for helping you along your journey. The Gmat Strategy has an excellent framework and his videos were essential in helping me get a solid foundation. From there, he would identify my potential weaknesses, not just on the academic side but on the personal side (e.g getting frustrated during studying, making careless mistakes), and would come up with efficient and creative solutions to solve my specific issue/need. Thank you Isaac for all your help. Others which i would like to thank is Bunuel of course, and MartyMurray for his excellent Verbal analysis.
Some other thoughts on the gmat and my study journey
- Gmat Club and it's filters has been essential on my journey use them well
- If you use the question bank, please be sure to filter out Gmat Prep (focus) as it contains all the Gmat Focus Practice test questions
- I took tests from Gmat Club and Experts Global. Gmat Club tests were harder on the quant side, which was helpful in refining my process but i also saw concepts such as infinite roots which i've never seen on the actual test. That said, it's a very good resource for unofficial tests
- Experts Global tests are great value for money, test quality is also great and quant is quite similar to the actual.
- Gmat Club and Expert's Global DI and Verbal sections are both a little hit and miss at times, but it's very hard to write a proper DI/Verbal questions, the official exam spends tons of money on developing each question.
- Flashcards were very helpful (i used so many), definitely get them if you're starting your journey.
- Get the unofficial laminated imitation and the pens for optimal test taking experience.
- Ipad (if you have one) and Goodnotes allowed me to take tons of notes, gets lots of practice without wasting paper.
I'll answer any questions that y'all have and thank you to everyone to have helped me on this journey, to all the people who spend the time explaining hard concepts.
And again, thank you Isaac Puglia and for your relentless dedication and encouragement to help me achieve my score!