This is a story of two long years of procrastination, atleast 3L INR (~3,600 USD) and three attempts which took me on a rollercoaster ride.
For context: I've never scored academically well, got a mediocre 86% in 12th (CBSE) and a 8/10 GPA in college. However, I've compensated for that with my career. Promotions every year, a people's manager at the age of 23.
Our story begins in 2022, frustrated with the fact I used to make a fraction of money that my friends did, I decided that MBA was the only way. 10 days into my prep, I gave up. I found freelancing and my income went 5x in one week. I bought all the books, even paid for Magoosh. All down the drain.
Cut to 2023, I've been promoted to a manager, I'm making much more than my peers, life's good. Until, it wasn't. I work for an advertising agency. One of my clients called me out to his office in the other part of the country. During conversations, it was revealed to me that unless I have an MBA, this is where my career stops. In 5 years, my peers would've overtaken me and I would be left in the dust. GMAT makes an entry again.
From July to December, I kept struggling with being consistent, one day I could do 5 hours, and then there were weeks where I just didn't have the time to even utter the word GMAT let alone study. In December 2023, I decided I needed to go off grid for a while, this is when I floated the idea of a sabbatical at my office. They graciously agreed, even paid me for a month.
At this point, I think money is the answer to everything (boy was I wrong). I bought Magoosh ttp and the official mocks. Spents 8-9 hours a day, took an entire month to go through the entire TTP course. Gave mocks, 675, 705, 775, boy was I flying high!
Attempt #1 - 18th June 2024.
I was prepared, confident, convinced myself that this paper is nothing infront of me. Flew through math, DI and didn't pay too much attention in english (I kept telling myself meh 1/2 wrong won't kill me). It did. 595. Math 59th Percentile. English 80th Percentile. DI 82nd Percentile. I got two questions wrong in math. This is when I learnt that TTP's target accuracy led me to believe that making a mistake was okay in math. It wasn't.
Attempt #2 - 13th July 2024.
I dusted myself off, talked to friends and peers who have aced the GMAT. Realised the issue was the fact that I never opened the OG or gave them any attention. That's what I did, in 25 days, I went through OG and OG Reviews, and 10 of @ExpertGlobalGmat's mocks. The mocks put me in a decent 645-665 range. I was happy with that. 615. Far from what I had expected but during the math section, I got fixated on one question, the second one, ended up losing 10 minutes, and I still couldn't solve it. Had to leave last 4 questions because I didn't have the time. What I realised was that the mock's questions (atleast math and verbal) were far from what the paper throws at you.
I booked an attempt for 24th August the same day.
Before I tell you about my last attempt. My life took a turn, keep in mind, I'm 23 right now. My mum passed away on the 19th of July. I used to live with her. This sent my world spinning. Rituals after rituals and I just couldn't get myself to study. Convinced myself, maybe next year. This isn't it. My bestfriend, who studies at IIM Lucknow became my rock. She pushed me and convinced that this is what my mother would've wanted. It took me days to get better, but eventually I did. I went on another sabbatical from my office, started waking up at 6am and starting grinding sectional tests after sectionals from the GMAT Club Forum Tests (they're the real deal, in my paper today, I saw an exact same question).
Attempt #3 - 24th August 2024.
Unfortunately, I caught a cold day before, but I usually don't get sick. Boy, was a wrong, last night, I had a fever of 102, cough, cold, body ache, all symptoms of a viral fever making rounds in my city. Convinced myself yet again, that this is a sign from god, I shouldn't give the paper tomorrow. But then I somehow got up in the morning, had enough cold and pain meds to tranquilise a baby elephant and got on my way. I would like to say that mind over matter, but unfortunately, I'm weak. I gave Q DI V, with a break after DI. Questions 3, 4, and 5 of Q, I just couldn't figure out. Learning from my mistakes from last time, I quickly moved forward. By the end of the 21st question, I had 4 minutes left. Looked up, prayed somehow I can figure these out and luckily I did, or atleast I think I did. DI was easier than I remember, Verbal was way harder than I remember. For context, I'm a copywriter, V has always come easy to me, I always end up with more than 15 minutes left in the section. I had 45 seconds for the last question. I pressed end exam, I didn't have too many expectations wrt Math and V, and the screen popped 665. I was over the moon! I was targeting a 645 (top 80%ile for the school of my choice). This does it! Unfortunately, getting out of the center and sitting into my car proved to be the most difficult task ever with my fever taking over.
If you've made it till here. Here are three things I learnt:
- Although lots of prep material exists, only you can decide if you need it or not. Price of the course has no correlation with quality (GMAT club is the cheapest, yet the best stuff I've seen)
- If you're anything like me (successful professionally that creates a massive ego), the GMAT has a capability to break you and question yourself. The only thing that matters is your ability to get back up and keep fighting.
-No matter the section, the number of questions you do never matter. Your understanding of the concept matters. Post attempt #1, I turned to @GmatNinja's YT playlist, it changed the way I approached verbal.
-TIMING MATTERS! I convinced myself that 8am is the best slot for myself. I've been athletic since a child, used to hitting the gym at 7am. I was wrong, my body is ready to excercise at 7am, my brain is far from awake.
-Always Always read explainations, even if you got it right but weren't sure. Big ups to @buneul, KarishmaB and MartyMurray, you guys are the primary reason I could improve, and that too, this quickly.
Looking forward to signing out from TTP, selling my GMAT books for paperweight, oh and ofcourse, getting into a b-school that at this point, I'm almost stalker-like obssessed with![:)]( "Smile")
For context: I've never scored academically well, got a mediocre 86% in 12th (CBSE) and a 8/10 GPA in college. However, I've compensated for that with my career. Promotions every year, a people's manager at the age of 23.
Our story begins in 2022, frustrated with the fact I used to make a fraction of money that my friends did, I decided that MBA was the only way. 10 days into my prep, I gave up. I found freelancing and my income went 5x in one week. I bought all the books, even paid for Magoosh. All down the drain.
Cut to 2023, I've been promoted to a manager, I'm making much more than my peers, life's good. Until, it wasn't. I work for an advertising agency. One of my clients called me out to his office in the other part of the country. During conversations, it was revealed to me that unless I have an MBA, this is where my career stops. In 5 years, my peers would've overtaken me and I would be left in the dust. GMAT makes an entry again.
From July to December, I kept struggling with being consistent, one day I could do 5 hours, and then there were weeks where I just didn't have the time to even utter the word GMAT let alone study. In December 2023, I decided I needed to go off grid for a while, this is when I floated the idea of a sabbatical at my office. They graciously agreed, even paid me for a month.
At this point, I think money is the answer to everything (boy was I wrong). I bought Magoosh ttp and the official mocks. Spents 8-9 hours a day, took an entire month to go through the entire TTP course. Gave mocks, 675, 705, 775, boy was I flying high!
Attempt #1 - 18th June 2024.
I was prepared, confident, convinced myself that this paper is nothing infront of me. Flew through math, DI and didn't pay too much attention in english (I kept telling myself meh 1/2 wrong won't kill me). It did. 595. Math 59th Percentile. English 80th Percentile. DI 82nd Percentile. I got two questions wrong in math. This is when I learnt that TTP's target accuracy led me to believe that making a mistake was okay in math. It wasn't.
Attempt #2 - 13th July 2024.
I dusted myself off, talked to friends and peers who have aced the GMAT. Realised the issue was the fact that I never opened the OG or gave them any attention. That's what I did, in 25 days, I went through OG and OG Reviews, and 10 of @ExpertGlobalGmat's mocks. The mocks put me in a decent 645-665 range. I was happy with that. 615. Far from what I had expected but during the math section, I got fixated on one question, the second one, ended up losing 10 minutes, and I still couldn't solve it. Had to leave last 4 questions because I didn't have the time. What I realised was that the mock's questions (atleast math and verbal) were far from what the paper throws at you.
I booked an attempt for 24th August the same day.
Before I tell you about my last attempt. My life took a turn, keep in mind, I'm 23 right now. My mum passed away on the 19th of July. I used to live with her. This sent my world spinning. Rituals after rituals and I just couldn't get myself to study. Convinced myself, maybe next year. This isn't it. My bestfriend, who studies at IIM Lucknow became my rock. She pushed me and convinced that this is what my mother would've wanted. It took me days to get better, but eventually I did. I went on another sabbatical from my office, started waking up at 6am and starting grinding sectional tests after sectionals from the GMAT Club Forum Tests (they're the real deal, in my paper today, I saw an exact same question).
Attempt #3 - 24th August 2024.
Unfortunately, I caught a cold day before, but I usually don't get sick. Boy, was a wrong, last night, I had a fever of 102, cough, cold, body ache, all symptoms of a viral fever making rounds in my city. Convinced myself yet again, that this is a sign from god, I shouldn't give the paper tomorrow. But then I somehow got up in the morning, had enough cold and pain meds to tranquilise a baby elephant and got on my way. I would like to say that mind over matter, but unfortunately, I'm weak. I gave Q DI V, with a break after DI. Questions 3, 4, and 5 of Q, I just couldn't figure out. Learning from my mistakes from last time, I quickly moved forward. By the end of the 21st question, I had 4 minutes left. Looked up, prayed somehow I can figure these out and luckily I did, or atleast I think I did. DI was easier than I remember, Verbal was way harder than I remember. For context, I'm a copywriter, V has always come easy to me, I always end up with more than 15 minutes left in the section. I had 45 seconds for the last question. I pressed end exam, I didn't have too many expectations wrt Math and V, and the screen popped 665. I was over the moon! I was targeting a 645 (top 80%ile for the school of my choice). This does it! Unfortunately, getting out of the center and sitting into my car proved to be the most difficult task ever with my fever taking over.
If you've made it till here. Here are three things I learnt:
- Although lots of prep material exists, only you can decide if you need it or not. Price of the course has no correlation with quality (GMAT club is the cheapest, yet the best stuff I've seen)
- If you're anything like me (successful professionally that creates a massive ego), the GMAT has a capability to break you and question yourself. The only thing that matters is your ability to get back up and keep fighting.
-No matter the section, the number of questions you do never matter. Your understanding of the concept matters. Post attempt #1, I turned to @GmatNinja's YT playlist, it changed the way I approached verbal.
-TIMING MATTERS! I convinced myself that 8am is the best slot for myself. I've been athletic since a child, used to hitting the gym at 7am. I was wrong, my body is ready to excercise at 7am, my brain is far from awake.
-Always Always read explainations, even if you got it right but weren't sure. Big ups to @buneul, KarishmaB and MartyMurray, you guys are the primary reason I could improve, and that too, this quickly.
Looking forward to signing out from TTP, selling my GMAT books for paperweight, oh and ofcourse, getting into a b-school that at this point, I'm almost stalker-like obssessed with
