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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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16 Jan 2026, 11:22
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GMAT Focus Journey: From 335 Diagnostic to 645 Official Score (310 point improvement in 6 months of full preparation)
Final Score: 645 (Q: 86, V: 79, DI: 80)
Background: GEM (India) Mechanical Engineering | 6.5 years lecturer experience (Government Polytechnic)
Target Schools: (ISB, IIMs , HEC, LBS, INSEAD, NUS, IESE, Top 30 worldwide)
In this post I am sharing my preparation journey and what are the mistakes which must be avoided while preparing and some of the myths and Exam related strategies.
📉 Where I Started
When I took my first GMAT Focus diagnostic, I scored 335. It was a reality check. Even with an engineering background, I realized I had forgotten basic math concepts, struggled heavily with Data Insights, and underestimated Verbal critical reasoning.
On top of that, this exam format was totally new to me and very different from the regular MBA exams of the Indian system which took sometime even to get adjusted with the exam system.
Still, I decided to stay committed and focus despite of the poor starting.
🛠️ Phase 1: Preparation Phase
I needed some direction for my preparation and hence I decided to enroll to an online GMAT coaching (in my case it was e-gmat). I used their study plan and lesson structures and did all of their quizzes and even the cementing sections as well. While I was comfortable with the medium level sections, my accuracy was fairly poor at Hard cementing Quizzes. In approx 2 months of full time preparation, I completed the course they provided and shifted my next focus to the Official Guide.
I spent the next 15 days preparing from the OG question banks which I had enrolled online which made me realise that the level at quants was fairly easy for me while DI being at intermediate level and still struggling in the Verbal section.
After this stage I got first introduced to GMAT Club Forum and realised its importance for the diversity of question it carries and it is a must use while preparing for GMAT (OG alone wont suffice in some ways but again overdoing can ruin the score as well)
🔁 Phase 2: Tracking errors and learning tricks
While I was solving a lot of questions its important to remember that Quality > Quantity. I maintained an error log of the mistakes I committed and also kept notes separately for all the three sections which I revised weekly until the concepts and pattern became natural to me. I did this for the next 1.5 months studying approx 12 hours each day and by this stage I had solved 10000 questions cumulatively across the three sections.
I was very strong at quants (above 90% accuracy), DI ( 70-75% accuracy) and verbal the weakest and also I had alloted the least amount of time (40-50% accuracy)
3. Mistakes that must be avoided by future test takers-
4. My D-Day story-
I gave my first attempt on 19/11/2025. I had prepared well enough took more 15 official as well as non official mocks. My exam slot was from 11am. I had revised some concepts in my mind and solved very medium level questions in the morning to be in the flow. I had tried my same strategy of Quants, DI, Verbal which I was comfortable with. I breezed through quants knowing that I did well, I was super hyped and confident of my next section DI which I thought of doing fairly good enough. I took the 10 min break after that with only I thing in mind that I have done well in the first two sections and verbal will be the make or break deal. After almost at the end of the exam I thought I will comfortably get a good score or at least expecting 615-625 score but when the score popped up I was just broken 585 ( Q86, V77, DI74) after all that hard work, it was very disappointing to even look at the score whilst the percentiles staggering below my mocks.
What shocked me was that while my DI section used to have 12-13 questions I got only 7 right in my exam and verbal was already pushing my score to a more lower score. I did not have the strength to give the reattempt knowing that I had nothing to learn and tried almost everything by this time.
Break of 1 month- Did not study much, took some trips, attended wedding of my batchmate and applied to couple of tier 2-2.5 B-schools in India
5. My second attempt -
I took the official mocks 3-6 and just gave the mocks only and tried different section order in various permutations and combinations but I sticked to my initial Q, DI and V order. I was not expecting much and just wanted to give the exam in a free mind. I performed well in the exam and final at the end scored 645 (Q86, V79 DI 80) and DS from 7% accuracy to 100%
Important Takeaways and exam taking strategy and busting some myths-
a. Quants was way longer in question sentences. Though the solving part was easy time crunch always remained a issue. I used the 15 min rule 7-7-7 questions in quants. While I solved the first 10 question in within 15 mins (1.5mins/question) my next 10 questions were on a higher band and I took more than 25 mins for next 10 questions. I had guessed one question which I got wrong and overall 19/21 correct.
b. Since, I performed well in Quants the next section could possibly began on a higher band with multiple layers and concepts and the pattern was different from mocks and MSR at 14th question from the usual 4th question in mocks. Graphs and tables had underlying traps which I had identified through rigorous practice. In short DI was on a higher difficulty level from the mocks with percentages and data heavy pie chart in my slot. Though I got only 11/20 correct, they were all on a higher difficulty level which still fetched me a good percentile.
c. My verbal was weak and remained average till the end and scored almost on similar grounds like my last 4 mocks. What was different was I got only 3 RC( 2 short , 1 long) and CR questions were more data heavy with more attention to details needed. I had total 10 RC questions and 13 CR questions.
This real experience of mine and my score jump of 310 point can serve as a motivation for all those who had plateaued or scared enough of the exam. There is limitless room for improvement and with right strategy its HELL POSSIBLE.
At the end of the day, its just another Exam!!
Final Score: 645 (Q: 86, V: 79, DI: 80)
Background: GEM (India) Mechanical Engineering | 6.5 years lecturer experience (Government Polytechnic)
Target Schools: (ISB, IIMs , HEC, LBS, INSEAD, NUS, IESE, Top 30 worldwide)
In this post I am sharing my preparation journey and what are the mistakes which must be avoided while preparing and some of the myths and Exam related strategies.
📉 Where I Started
When I took my first GMAT Focus diagnostic, I scored 335. It was a reality check. Even with an engineering background, I realized I had forgotten basic math concepts, struggled heavily with Data Insights, and underestimated Verbal critical reasoning.
On top of that, this exam format was totally new to me and very different from the regular MBA exams of the Indian system which took sometime even to get adjusted with the exam system.
Still, I decided to stay committed and focus despite of the poor starting.
Watch Arunav's Debrief on YouTube
🛠️ Phase 1: Preparation Phase
I needed some direction for my preparation and hence I decided to enroll to an online GMAT coaching (in my case it was e-gmat). I used their study plan and lesson structures and did all of their quizzes and even the cementing sections as well. While I was comfortable with the medium level sections, my accuracy was fairly poor at Hard cementing Quizzes. In approx 2 months of full time preparation, I completed the course they provided and shifted my next focus to the Official Guide.
I spent the next 15 days preparing from the OG question banks which I had enrolled online which made me realise that the level at quants was fairly easy for me while DI being at intermediate level and still struggling in the Verbal section.
After this stage I got first introduced to GMAT Club Forum and realised its importance for the diversity of question it carries and it is a must use while preparing for GMAT (OG alone wont suffice in some ways but again overdoing can ruin the score as well)
🔁 Phase 2: Tracking errors and learning tricks
While I was solving a lot of questions its important to remember that Quality > Quantity. I maintained an error log of the mistakes I committed and also kept notes separately for all the three sections which I revised weekly until the concepts and pattern became natural to me. I did this for the next 1.5 months studying approx 12 hours each day and by this stage I had solved 10000 questions cumulatively across the three sections.
I was very strong at quants (above 90% accuracy), DI ( 70-75% accuracy) and verbal the weakest and also I had alloted the least amount of time (40-50% accuracy)
3. Mistakes that must be avoided by future test takers-
- While I solved too many questions and eventually thought to gain confidence, I was still not taking mocks which must have been done long ago by this time.
- Avoid GMAT Clubs mocks. The mocks can be good for skill building but they are not even near what the real exam will ask for and the questions are way too hard and 50 percent of the questions above 705+ level and it can really ruin your test taking strategy.
- OG is the bible and after finishing it, take a GMAT official mock to access where you stand which I avoided till the last moment maybe because of lack of awareness or possible fear of the outcome.
- Give the exam in 4 months if you are preparing full time. I took 6 months for the same which often results in burnout and score decrease.
- Be calm, overstressing again results in score dip.
4. My D-Day story-
I gave my first attempt on 19/11/2025. I had prepared well enough took more 15 official as well as non official mocks. My exam slot was from 11am. I had revised some concepts in my mind and solved very medium level questions in the morning to be in the flow. I had tried my same strategy of Quants, DI, Verbal which I was comfortable with. I breezed through quants knowing that I did well, I was super hyped and confident of my next section DI which I thought of doing fairly good enough. I took the 10 min break after that with only I thing in mind that I have done well in the first two sections and verbal will be the make or break deal. After almost at the end of the exam I thought I will comfortably get a good score or at least expecting 615-625 score but when the score popped up I was just broken 585 ( Q86, V77, DI74) after all that hard work, it was very disappointing to even look at the score whilst the percentiles staggering below my mocks.
What shocked me was that while my DI section used to have 12-13 questions I got only 7 right in my exam and verbal was already pushing my score to a more lower score. I did not have the strength to give the reattempt knowing that I had nothing to learn and tried almost everything by this time.
Break of 1 month- Did not study much, took some trips, attended wedding of my batchmate and applied to couple of tier 2-2.5 B-schools in India
5. My second attempt -
I took the official mocks 3-6 and just gave the mocks only and tried different section order in various permutations and combinations but I sticked to my initial Q, DI and V order. I was not expecting much and just wanted to give the exam in a free mind. I performed well in the exam and final at the end scored 645 (Q86, V79 DI 80) and DS from 7% accuracy to 100%
Important Takeaways and exam taking strategy and busting some myths-
- Calmness is the key. No one is going to know the next question on the screen. Take each question as a new challenge and try to solve it keeping the time in mind. Use 2.3 mins max per question to read, solve and mark. If no clear path is found just mark and move. Stucking and giving 5 mins to a question, your game is almost up. There is no reviving strategy after that.
- Official mocks though are exact in score calculation and difficulty level, they have only a limited question pool which may result in inaccurate prediction or the algorithm may seem more forgiving but in real exam algorithm shifts more rapidly.
- Experimental questions are generally 2 questions per section which are sometimes of 805+ level which are not there in the official mocks. One must try not to be lured and carried away by these questions. They are given to test the test-taker and shake their confidence.
- One more myth getting first question wrong will lower score and the overall difficulty level of the overall exam will decrease. I got the first question wrong in all the three sections but it will depend on how well you carry rest of the question.
- Expect the unexpected in the exam. My second attempt pattern in the exam was totally different and I did not have much easy questions. I found the complete paper to be very much exhausting starting from quants.
a. Quants was way longer in question sentences. Though the solving part was easy time crunch always remained a issue. I used the 15 min rule 7-7-7 questions in quants. While I solved the first 10 question in within 15 mins (1.5mins/question) my next 10 questions were on a higher band and I took more than 25 mins for next 10 questions. I had guessed one question which I got wrong and overall 19/21 correct.
b. Since, I performed well in Quants the next section could possibly began on a higher band with multiple layers and concepts and the pattern was different from mocks and MSR at 14th question from the usual 4th question in mocks. Graphs and tables had underlying traps which I had identified through rigorous practice. In short DI was on a higher difficulty level from the mocks with percentages and data heavy pie chart in my slot. Though I got only 11/20 correct, they were all on a higher difficulty level which still fetched me a good percentile.
c. My verbal was weak and remained average till the end and scored almost on similar grounds like my last 4 mocks. What was different was I got only 3 RC( 2 short , 1 long) and CR questions were more data heavy with more attention to details needed. I had total 10 RC questions and 13 CR questions.
This real experience of mine and my score jump of 310 point can serve as a motivation for all those who had plateaued or scared enough of the exam. There is limitless room for improvement and with right strategy its HELL POSSIBLE.
At the end of the day, its just another Exam!!
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19 Jan 2026, 10:36
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Great work on the 645 and on the 310-point improvement!
