Hi Everyone -
I wanted to share a bit on my experience with the GMAT. Obviously I am partial to TTP but they were the single biggest tool I used to get the score I wanted. I am hoping my experience resonates with someone and helps you stick it out in what can be a very challenging process.
I studied for the exam from April until mid-October, and took the exam several times. I used GMAT Ninja and the MBA official online question bank (mixed problem sets for quant) in addition to TTP, and these helped me uphold my study habits when I needed to change up my routine a bit to keep things fresh.
My first month of studying was about forming habits, my middle months were about mastering the content, and my last 1-2 months were about getting the timing down and doing mixed problem sets. Throughout the entire process I used TTP. Overall I was expecting them to help me build up my quant but they gave me the fastest improvement on verbal, to the point it was my most consistent section.
I was most nervous about verbal because math was always my strong suit, but I was consistently scoring 95+ percentile there after 1-2 months of prep. I felt like TTP did a great job at helping me recognize what kind of problem I was facing and how to answer it. I also found reading non-fiction and sources like NYT to be good for building up my stamina. And finally, I thought the course did a great job at coaching me through focusing on the right things and staying invested in my prep.
Quant was a bit different. I felt that I needed more repetition and prep time to get to the score I wanted there, and TTP helped me understand the nuances to get there. There’s lots of little twists that separate how you get to a solution and I found myself very prepared for this just by following the program. I followed the earliest sections to a T and felt like that gave me a very strong foundation for quant, while on other sections I spent more or less time depending on where my weak areas were. TTP lays out approaches to problems in a way that helps you find the most efficient path to an answer, which I think you’ll find is crucial for a good score, especially if you believe you are skilled at math coming in. The time spent and path to answers taken was the most important part of my prep.
For DI, I spent less time here in my prep but similar to verbal, I found TTP’s guidance on recognizing problem type and using an efficient approach to be crucial. After that I essentially relied on the verbal and quantitative skills I had already developed through the course.
And finally, when it came to performance I really appreciate TTP’s coaching on approach and mindset. I was definitely prepared but I struggled initially to get the timing down, so I revisited these sections of the course to make sure I had the right mindset going in, and TTP checked in with me throughout which I appreciated. I will also add that I think it’s worth checking reviews at test centers you are considering using before scheduling.
Overall, I highly recommend using TTP. The process was a journey and I am glad I stuck with it! Best of luck to you and if you are still reading this, you can do it!