Hello GMATClub,
Today I'd like to share with you that I got a 675 on the GMAT Focus Edition. I took the test on May 8th, 2024. I'm very proud of this achievement, especially considering that I'm a non-native speaker and a full time worker - with a managerial position that does not leave me with a lot of free time.
Please find below my score breakdown - I'm very happy with my Verbal section score.
Quant: 83 (81st percentile)
Verbal: 85 (96th percentile)
Data Insights: 82 (94th percentile)
Total: 675 (96th percentile)
Target Test Prep was the third party course I relied upon throughout my preparation journey. I’m very thankful and grateful for the how the course itself helped me out with high quality content and nice strategies and tricks - which were totally new to me. In
TTP, everything is thought of to set you up for success on test day: from theory chapters to easy/medium/hard tests, everything makes perfect sense when analyzed together. To be honest, the course makes you face much harder questions than the actual exam - which is undoubtedly an avantage.
I remember that in 2020 I had started ‘studying’ for the GMAT by taking some exercises on
the Official Guide during my summer holidays. I ended up realizing I would have never been able to take the exam itself. I found the questions very hard and out of the ordinary. So much so that I actually thought I was just not adequate for it.
My real prep journey started at the end of 2022, when I became convinced I really needed to get an MBA in order to further improve my career - I wish to leave my country , which is not the best in terms of career progression – and make the difference. Thus I embarked – this time for real – on the GMAT journey. I immediately started looking for third party courses. I went for the free trial of
Target Test Prep and in a matter of 48 hours I was sure it was the product I was looking for. Everything was explained in a clear and detailed way. I just liked it and I subscribed for 6 months (which I would later extend).
I was initially getting ca. 30% of questions correct in my sample tests - something truly ridiculous, which put me in the 450s. Despite being ashamed of my performance at the time, I felt even more motivated to study hard. This is how I started waking up at 5.30 am every morning and study a couple of hours before heading to work. Fun weekends became non-existent and I made sure GMAT was on top of the list of my activities. I was officially in 'full immersion' mode.
TTP allowed me to gradually improve, both in theoretical concepts and in doing exercises. I was finally letting my high school Math phobia go. A successful mindset was slowly being crafted.
After an intense year 2023 - where I made sure to build the foundations of all the concepts, particularly in Quant, the new year comes.
In January of 2024 I took Mock Test #1 for the new GMAT Focus Edition and scored a 555. That was still way below what I wanted. However, the score breakdown was clear: my Quant (80) was decent and much improved vs baseline. Verbal was what needed improvement (26th percentile). Therefore I switched my attention to this section. I started reading and breaking down arguments every day, going through all the chapters in
TTP. =11ptI paired this with reding 'The Economist' , which I subscribed to. Then I started seeing tangible results. In a span of 4 months – and after several other mocks - I felt finally ready to take my exam.
12 years later, at age 36, I was back to University (Trento Test Center, Italy) and it felt nice, but a bit weird. Pressure was definitely there, but I knew I could not fail. All the time, effort and energy that I had put in my studies the prior year had to pay back.
The check-in experience was very smooth. The proctor was already waiting for me and I actually got admitted a bit earlier than expected. I was immediately assigned a personal computer in order to take my test. Within a few minutes everything was set up and I was good to go.
As soon as the exam gets started and I see the blue and white GMAT user interface, I feel like. This is exactly the same interface as the one I had seen in the mocks and it is very similar to the one in
TTP (thank you
TTP for helping me ease the pressure on my test day). After months of seeing that ugly interface, I just have to let the test flow and make my brain work properly.
My section order - the one I had no doubts on choosing - is Quant – Verbal – Data Insights , with a Break right after Quant. I know that Verbal is kind of easier on my mind than Quant is. That is why I decide for the above - and I have no regrets.
As soon as I start, I feel a bit 'slow' in thinking and slightly brain fogged, at least for the first question. It is an inequality with three parts – pretty easy according to
TTP standards. But it's not me, not yet. I’m not in the best shape , not now. It takes me a couple minutes to get it done. I would probably normally solve it in a minute, or less. A click later, the second question come up. It is based on rates/ratios, a GMAT classic. It takes me more than 3.5 minutes to answer. 'What am I doing?', I think. Now I know I have to speed up. Somehow, I magically do – with the exception of a couple questions. I will then discover that my Quant is characterized by two mistakes and one missed question (the last one, of course) - the latter, due to my losing of focus and not clicking on the button for submission. At this point I am very unaware and uncertain about my performance. Regardless, it is break time and I take it. It's quick though - some food, and a deep breat, for a total of six minutes out of the ten allowed. I just want to go back - like a warrior – and crash the test.
The first questions in the Verbal section look very easy , which make me doubt about my performance in Quant. Still, I try not to think too much. I figure I should just go on. And I do. I go very fast, question by question, with the intention of getting everything right. Questions look like a "walk in the park" after all of the practice tests I have taken and all of the reading I have done in the previous months, working hard on my Verbal skills. I feel confident.
Eventually, I will get four questions wrong out of 23 , a very nice result , on the higher end of my mocks. Something I am very thankful for, especially being a non-native speaker. I was probably also luck, as I found only two reading comprehension passages. And this is probably a reason why I am done with the Verbal section with still 7 minutes left. However, my mental energy is not much at this time. Therefore I avoid going back and reviewing. Instead, I opt for moving on to Data Insights right away.
Data Insights is in my opinion the trickiest out of all the sections, and I am very aware of it even before my test. I know this because in my mocks I enjoyed a big range of scores in DI, from 39th to 99th percentile. So to be honest, I really did not know what to expect on my test day.
Regardless, I try not to get distracted. I just focus on the questions themselves. First one is a TPA question – a pretty easy one – and I get it right, thank God. Then the difficulty level ramps up quite quickly. In fact. I get questions #3 and #4 wrong. Not great. After that, though, the experience is pretty smooth until question #15, where I feel some mental tiredness. At this point I get 5 questions wrong in a row – way below my standard performance.
When I get to the last question, I just want to get it done soon and good, and wish to finally look at my score. I answer very quickly, in less than a minute, even because time left is not much. When I click on the ‘End’ button, I wait for a couple seconds , and… to my surprise, the overall score is a very satisfying 675 ! I just feel like hugging the test center proctor … but I refrain myself from doing it, fortunately. My parents are outside, waiting for me, and I will hug them a lot. They know how hard I have worked throughout the last year. And they were very supportive. So, thank you mom and dad. Thank you
TTP for the highest quality course I could hope for.
I remain at disposal for any questions you might have.
Thanks for reading, and good luck everyone on your GMAT test!