Hello fellow club members. I wanted to share my experience on my first GMAT Focus attempt for two reasons -
1) To get some insights as to where and how I can improve
2) This score and prep style maybe helpful for someone - even if 1 person gets something out of it great.
Started thinking about GMAT first time ever in April 2024. I gave the first diagnostic mock to understand my starting point. As a non-native English speaker with an engineering background, I found Quant to be relatively easy.
Mock 1 (April 4, 2024) - 615 (Q84, V79, DI78) -- [Order Q-V-DI]
Quant and DI seemed something like something that I could easily improve on. But clearly Verbal seemed to be weak area and I wanted to focus more there.
I was super confused as to which material to study, and how to go about it. There were tons of prep companies, books, methods, etc etc that just made the exam look complicated than it really is. I started with e-GMAT following a friend's advice, and started getting into the video lessons for Verbal. I realized that the videos were too slow, and the content seemed to follow very rigid methodologies which actually seemed to make Verbal seem tougher than it really is. So I ditched it, and became scouring for more materials. Then I found the Manhattan Guides for Verbal. Though Manhattan Verbal guide follows the same kind of rigid methodologies, SOME of the takeaways definitely boosted confidence.
April and May passed, and I had just been reading theory on Verbal. I made a job switch in mid-April, and so till the end of May, I haven't solved any questions but just been reading theory on Verbal, AND solving Quant questions on Magoosh iPad application. (random).
June was when I started following some kind of routine -- I found an online google sheet with all previous years OG questions with GMATClub links (https://gmatwithcj.com/resources/mega-c ... questions/). Started using that to solve like 10-20 verbal questions per day for 1hr or so. For Quant, I started solving from e-GMAT occassionaly (as I wanted to save OG questions till the end -- how stupid that was in hindsight).
Mock 2 (June 6, 2024) - 595 (Q85, V75, DI78) -- [Order Q-V-DI]
This was a crucial check to let me know that preparation direction was terribly wrong. I struggled for time, and couldn't manage time well in Verbal and DI sections. Interestingly in DI, I only got 2 questions wrong and missed the last question despite never even touching the DI section.
The commonly floated around idea of untimed practice sessions did not work for me. I started making a list of 23 questions in an Google Sheets tions (mix of RC and CR questions - 3 passages and 9-14 CR questions) and did timed 45min practice sessions daily for Verbal. I used the timestamp feature of Google Sheets to record the time of response for each of the 23 questions, which enabled to understand how I was managing my time.
Most days I could only find time for one 45min Verbal section. Some days I did DI from e-GMAT. But overall DI section was just treated like a step son/daughter.
Mock 2 - Retake (June 30, 2024) - 715 (V82, Q90, DI84) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
I couldn't recall any question as being the same as I took in the first attempt of Mock 2. Eitherway, I never reviewed any mocks till this point.
This boosted my confidence that I could crack Verbal. I kept following the same methodology for Verbal, and started doing the same for Quant (i.e. making times 21 questions set in google sheet). Most days did Verbal + Quant or just Verbal.
------------------------------
I took 15 days off from work fro July 15th to July 31st and booked the date for July 31st.
Everyday from July 15th to July 31st, made custom practice tests and did them at same time as the booked time slot of official exam. Made google sheet of Verbal 23 and Quant 21 with timestamps. For DI, I used e-GMAT question bank.
Mock 3 (June 18, 2024) - 705 (V84, Q90, DI81) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
This surprised me that DI was not showing much improvement. I couldn't understand what was going wrong. I didn't anylse this mock either in detail but just found out that Quant was all good, and I just needed to avoid silly errors. This mock and the earlier retake, I had approx 9-10 min extra in Quant section.
Kept following the same timed 2hr 15min sessions daily. But I started solving OG DI questions too now. All this while I was only doing questions from e-GMAT. Started creating timed sessions on OG DI question bank. Depsite paying so much, it is sad to see that mba.com has a **** bug that doesn't allow it to show all MSR questions from a single passage. So I created 37min test on mba.com and alloted 8min to MSR question from GMAT Club by filtering for OG, and 600-700 level questions.
Mock 4 (June 23, 2024) - 655 (V84, Q85, DI79) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
Even 1 question wrong in Quant was being bringing down score like crazy.
Mock 5 (June 26, 2024) - 705 (V83, Q87, DI85) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
DI seemed like a make or break show. Quant was heavily dependent on whether I got a question wrong due to some silly error or some kind of minor error or not.
Mock 6 (June 29, 2024) - 675 (V83, Q88, DI79) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
DI seemed to be getting tougher for some reason maybe because I never took it seriously.
Original GMAT at test center (July 31, 2024) - 685 (V82, Q88, DI82) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
Test center experience - Nothing unsual. As soon as I entered was asked to show ID and then in 5minutes exam started. I don't what the GMAC wants from us but it is cruel to punish for feeling thirst. I mean what or how would/ could one cheat if water was allowed into the test center. My mouth was all dried up from all the mouthing I did for the passages on Verbal section.
I took a break after Verbal while I generally used to take break after Verbal, Quant.
I was thinking 10min is too long and was casually doing walks outside. When I went in, I found out I was 2 min late. Rushed to the system, and started speeing up. Though Quant 45min was never needed for me, the psychological feeling of losing 2min made me panic for a bit but I found myself at Q19 with 9min remaining. I got some prettty heavy calculation based word problems. I panicked and I think I messed up Q19 and/or Q21, and all the while the thought of how stupid I was to mess up the break time was going through my mind.
---------------------- BIG BIG caution - not keeping track of break time, and hydration control are important--------
Overall I felt, DI was something that made me go crazy across all mocks. The level of questions felt super random. It seems like a make or break section. Even with super crazy prep, getting Q90 (all questions right) was a 50% probabilistic event. And missing even 1 question in Quant drops score like crazy at the top. Verbal seemed to be a very consistent section, i.e. preparation and/or particular test won't be radically different. DI had a safety net and I feel is hedged against super bad performance. BUT above DI 80, improving even 1 point seemed very tough.
-------------------------------
I am going to take a retake soon, and I wanted opinions/ suggestions of the fellow club members on how to get 705+ on the next retake. I belong to a demographic with intensely high GMAT scores. (that's right - Indian male engineer).
Sorry for the long post. Wanted to give a full picture to get the most valuable advice. Thanks.
1) To get some insights as to where and how I can improve
2) This score and prep style maybe helpful for someone - even if 1 person gets something out of it great.
Started thinking about GMAT first time ever in April 2024. I gave the first diagnostic mock to understand my starting point. As a non-native English speaker with an engineering background, I found Quant to be relatively easy.
Mock 1 (April 4, 2024) - 615 (Q84, V79, DI78) -- [Order Q-V-DI]
Quant and DI seemed something like something that I could easily improve on. But clearly Verbal seemed to be weak area and I wanted to focus more there.
I was super confused as to which material to study, and how to go about it. There were tons of prep companies, books, methods, etc etc that just made the exam look complicated than it really is. I started with e-GMAT following a friend's advice, and started getting into the video lessons for Verbal. I realized that the videos were too slow, and the content seemed to follow very rigid methodologies which actually seemed to make Verbal seem tougher than it really is. So I ditched it, and became scouring for more materials. Then I found the Manhattan Guides for Verbal. Though Manhattan Verbal guide follows the same kind of rigid methodologies, SOME of the takeaways definitely boosted confidence.
April and May passed, and I had just been reading theory on Verbal. I made a job switch in mid-April, and so till the end of May, I haven't solved any questions but just been reading theory on Verbal, AND solving Quant questions on Magoosh iPad application. (random).
June was when I started following some kind of routine -- I found an online google sheet with all previous years OG questions with GMATClub links (https://gmatwithcj.com/resources/mega-c ... questions/). Started using that to solve like 10-20 verbal questions per day for 1hr or so. For Quant, I started solving from e-GMAT occassionaly (as I wanted to save OG questions till the end -- how stupid that was in hindsight).
Mock 2 (June 6, 2024) - 595 (Q85, V75, DI78) -- [Order Q-V-DI]
This was a crucial check to let me know that preparation direction was terribly wrong. I struggled for time, and couldn't manage time well in Verbal and DI sections. Interestingly in DI, I only got 2 questions wrong and missed the last question despite never even touching the DI section.
The commonly floated around idea of untimed practice sessions did not work for me. I started making a list of 23 questions in an Google Sheets tions (mix of RC and CR questions - 3 passages and 9-14 CR questions) and did timed 45min practice sessions daily for Verbal. I used the timestamp feature of Google Sheets to record the time of response for each of the 23 questions, which enabled to understand how I was managing my time.
Most days I could only find time for one 45min Verbal section. Some days I did DI from e-GMAT. But overall DI section was just treated like a step son/daughter.
Mock 2 - Retake (June 30, 2024) - 715 (V82, Q90, DI84) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
I couldn't recall any question as being the same as I took in the first attempt of Mock 2. Eitherway, I never reviewed any mocks till this point.
This boosted my confidence that I could crack Verbal. I kept following the same methodology for Verbal, and started doing the same for Quant (i.e. making times 21 questions set in google sheet). Most days did Verbal + Quant or just Verbal.
------------------------------
I took 15 days off from work fro July 15th to July 31st and booked the date for July 31st.
Everyday from July 15th to July 31st, made custom practice tests and did them at same time as the booked time slot of official exam. Made google sheet of Verbal 23 and Quant 21 with timestamps. For DI, I used e-GMAT question bank.
Mock 3 (June 18, 2024) - 705 (V84, Q90, DI81) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
This surprised me that DI was not showing much improvement. I couldn't understand what was going wrong. I didn't anylse this mock either in detail but just found out that Quant was all good, and I just needed to avoid silly errors. This mock and the earlier retake, I had approx 9-10 min extra in Quant section.
Kept following the same timed 2hr 15min sessions daily. But I started solving OG DI questions too now. All this while I was only doing questions from e-GMAT. Started creating timed sessions on OG DI question bank. Depsite paying so much, it is sad to see that mba.com has a **** bug that doesn't allow it to show all MSR questions from a single passage. So I created 37min test on mba.com and alloted 8min to MSR question from GMAT Club by filtering for OG, and 600-700 level questions.
Mock 4 (June 23, 2024) - 655 (V84, Q85, DI79) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
Even 1 question wrong in Quant was being bringing down score like crazy.
Mock 5 (June 26, 2024) - 705 (V83, Q87, DI85) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
DI seemed like a make or break show. Quant was heavily dependent on whether I got a question wrong due to some silly error or some kind of minor error or not.
Mock 6 (June 29, 2024) - 675 (V83, Q88, DI79) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
DI seemed to be getting tougher for some reason maybe because I never took it seriously.
Original GMAT at test center (July 31, 2024) - 685 (V82, Q88, DI82) -- [Order V-Q-DI]
Test center experience - Nothing unsual. As soon as I entered was asked to show ID and then in 5minutes exam started. I don't what the GMAC wants from us but it is cruel to punish for feeling thirst. I mean what or how would/ could one cheat if water was allowed into the test center. My mouth was all dried up from all the mouthing I did for the passages on Verbal section.
I took a break after Verbal while I generally used to take break after Verbal, Quant.
I was thinking 10min is too long and was casually doing walks outside. When I went in, I found out I was 2 min late. Rushed to the system, and started speeing up. Though Quant 45min was never needed for me, the psychological feeling of losing 2min made me panic for a bit but I found myself at Q19 with 9min remaining. I got some prettty heavy calculation based word problems. I panicked and I think I messed up Q19 and/or Q21, and all the while the thought of how stupid I was to mess up the break time was going through my mind.
---------------------- BIG BIG caution - not keeping track of break time, and hydration control are important--------
Overall I felt, DI was something that made me go crazy across all mocks. The level of questions felt super random. It seems like a make or break section. Even with super crazy prep, getting Q90 (all questions right) was a 50% probabilistic event. And missing even 1 question in Quant drops score like crazy at the top. Verbal seemed to be a very consistent section, i.e. preparation and/or particular test won't be radically different. DI had a safety net and I feel is hedged against super bad performance. BUT above DI 80, improving even 1 point seemed very tough.
-------------------------------
I am going to take a retake soon, and I wanted opinions/ suggestions of the fellow club members on how to get 705+ on the next retake. I belong to a demographic with intensely high GMAT scores. (that's right - Indian male engineer).
Sorry for the long post. Wanted to give a full picture to get the most valuable advice. Thanks.