Hi everyone,
I am an infrequent lurker at GMAT club, but when I do visit, the forums have been hugely helpful to me. I felt after reading a couple of debriefs of other GMAT 700+ scores that I had to share my experience. I'll try to keep it short and simple:
I'm an Indian living in Saudi Arabia and working in the healthcare sector. My work keeps me very busy as I have to travel a lot, which is why committing too much time to GMAT prep wasn't an option for me.
1st Attempt: 02/08/2013
Total: 630, Q 43, V 34.
Total prep time: 1 week only.
Materials used: GMAT prep software only.
Mock: None whatsoever.
I decided to write the GMAT to just test the waters. A score of 630 with almost no prep made me overconfident about my chances.
2nd Attempt: 08/09/2013
Total: 700, Q 47(71%), V 38(84%).
Total prep time: 1 month only.
Materials used: GMAT prep software, MGMAT guides for quantitative, OG 13, Powerscore CR bible for critical reasoning and Aristotle SC guide for sentence correction.
GMATprep Mock 1: 720.
GMATprep Mock 2: 710.
I spent 23 days preparing for quant and the last week to prepare verbal and do the free mock GMAT tests. I would spend 1-3 hours almost daily on quant and I can't stress enough how awesome the MGMAT guides are for the quant section.
I thought the 700 score would suffice and applied to several schools. Needless to say I got dinged by the ones I wanted to get into and accepted by the ones that weren't my first choice. I dropped the idea of business school for the time being, but then, circumstances at work prompted me to reconsider my stance and in July 2014 I decided to apply again, which brings me to the third and final attempt:
Final attempt: 02/09/2013
Total: 750 (98%), Q47 (80%), V42(96%).
Materials used: The same materials I had from before: GMAT prep software, MGMAT guides for quantitative, OG 13.
GMATprep Mock 1: 730.
GMATprep Mock 2: 740.
GMATprep Mock 3: 730. ( Exam pack 1 )
GMATprep Mock 4: 710. ( Exam pack 1 )
I started prep roughly 40 days before my test date and focused solely on the quant section. I didn't even bother with the verbal section at all which is why I was extremely surprised when I saw the V42(96%) on the exam screen, especially since I'm non-native.
Test Day Experience:
I had to fly to Riyadh to write the GMAT because there were no available dates at nearby test centers. I had simulated all the mock tests in tired situations as I knew I would probably be exhausted by the time I reach the test center. I couldn't sleep the night before the test and left for the airport at 4:30 AM, I landed in Riyadh at 9:00 AM for my 11:30 appointment, had an espresso with a sandwich and started the test.
AWA: It went fairly well and I hope i get a 6.0. I used a customized version of the chineseburned template.
IR: scored 8, I didn't care much for this section as I was still feeling the effects of my horrible flight.
Quant: I flopped at my very first question. I guess I was still rusty. Spent 3 minutes on it and moved on, Questions 2 to 15 were a breeze as I finished them in 10 minutes. After that came the tough ones. Anyways I finished the quant section with 8 minutes to spare.
Break: Had a cold coffee and some lays.
Verbal: I feared that I would score very low as the verbal questions felt way too easy to be true. After question 25 I took a bathroom break and wasted 5 minutes! I finished the verbal section with 13 minutes to spare. Deep down I was expecting a sub-700 score as everything during the exam felt off to me, the timing, difficulty etc. I was ecstatic when I saw the 750 score on the screen and pressed the submit button as soon as possible because of the new 2 minute time-limit to choose the score.
I'm happy now that I'm finally done with the GMAT! If anyone has any questions on how to score a 700 plus score with minimal prep, feel free to ask them and I'll help out as much as I can.
I would like to thank the GMATclub community as I feel it was a constant source of support and motivation to me!
I am an infrequent lurker at GMAT club, but when I do visit, the forums have been hugely helpful to me. I felt after reading a couple of debriefs of other GMAT 700+ scores that I had to share my experience. I'll try to keep it short and simple:
I'm an Indian living in Saudi Arabia and working in the healthcare sector. My work keeps me very busy as I have to travel a lot, which is why committing too much time to GMAT prep wasn't an option for me.
1st Attempt: 02/08/2013
Total: 630, Q 43, V 34.
Total prep time: 1 week only.
Materials used: GMAT prep software only.
Mock: None whatsoever.
I decided to write the GMAT to just test the waters. A score of 630 with almost no prep made me overconfident about my chances.
2nd Attempt: 08/09/2013
Total: 700, Q 47(71%), V 38(84%).
Total prep time: 1 month only.
Materials used: GMAT prep software, MGMAT guides for quantitative, OG 13, Powerscore CR bible for critical reasoning and Aristotle SC guide for sentence correction.
GMATprep Mock 1: 720.
GMATprep Mock 2: 710.
I spent 23 days preparing for quant and the last week to prepare verbal and do the free mock GMAT tests. I would spend 1-3 hours almost daily on quant and I can't stress enough how awesome the MGMAT guides are for the quant section.
I thought the 700 score would suffice and applied to several schools. Needless to say I got dinged by the ones I wanted to get into and accepted by the ones that weren't my first choice. I dropped the idea of business school for the time being, but then, circumstances at work prompted me to reconsider my stance and in July 2014 I decided to apply again, which brings me to the third and final attempt:
Final attempt: 02/09/2013
Total: 750 (98%), Q47 (80%), V42(96%).
Materials used: The same materials I had from before: GMAT prep software, MGMAT guides for quantitative, OG 13.
GMATprep Mock 1: 730.
GMATprep Mock 2: 740.
GMATprep Mock 3: 730. ( Exam pack 1 )
GMATprep Mock 4: 710. ( Exam pack 1 )
I started prep roughly 40 days before my test date and focused solely on the quant section. I didn't even bother with the verbal section at all which is why I was extremely surprised when I saw the V42(96%) on the exam screen, especially since I'm non-native.
Test Day Experience:
I had to fly to Riyadh to write the GMAT because there were no available dates at nearby test centers. I had simulated all the mock tests in tired situations as I knew I would probably be exhausted by the time I reach the test center. I couldn't sleep the night before the test and left for the airport at 4:30 AM, I landed in Riyadh at 9:00 AM for my 11:30 appointment, had an espresso with a sandwich and started the test.
AWA: It went fairly well and I hope i get a 6.0. I used a customized version of the chineseburned template.
IR: scored 8, I didn't care much for this section as I was still feeling the effects of my horrible flight.
Quant: I flopped at my very first question. I guess I was still rusty. Spent 3 minutes on it and moved on, Questions 2 to 15 were a breeze as I finished them in 10 minutes. After that came the tough ones. Anyways I finished the quant section with 8 minutes to spare.
Break: Had a cold coffee and some lays.
Verbal: I feared that I would score very low as the verbal questions felt way too easy to be true. After question 25 I took a bathroom break and wasted 5 minutes! I finished the verbal section with 13 minutes to spare. Deep down I was expecting a sub-700 score as everything during the exam felt off to me, the timing, difficulty etc. I was ecstatic when I saw the 750 score on the screen and pressed the submit button as soon as possible because of the new 2 minute time-limit to choose the score.
I'm happy now that I'm finally done with the GMAT! If anyone has any questions on how to score a 700 plus score with minimal prep, feel free to ask them and I'll help out as much as I can.
I would like to thank the GMATclub community as I feel it was a constant source of support and motivation to me!