Four Years: 450 to 700 & 140 PT Increase with Harry Duthie

Four years, from 2018 to 2021, I have literally dreamt about seeing that “7” at the beginning of my GMAT score.

In 2018 I went into the GMAT naïve about the process as well as sacrifice ahead of me needed to hit this score. After 6 months of studying and utilizing various materials I saw my first official GMAT practice score: 450.

I have a long journey ahead of me.

After a few years of studying on and off, utilizing various popular study materials, and even meeting with a couple of known tutors (more on this in a moment), in August 2020, I hit a 560 (Q39/V27), solid improvement but still nowhere near my target goal.

By May 2021, I knew I had to commit, I am over 30 as it is and life’s plans at some point soon is likely going to make pursuing a full-time MBA program incredibly difficult. Being a first-generation college student from a low-income background I am incredibly cost adverse, but as I said, I need to make a change as everything prior just was not going anywhere.

Now, I said I was going to bring up those “known tutors” again. I had reached out to GMAT Ninja as well as a few others back in 2019. GMAT Ninja, admittedly, cost more than the others so I passed. The second was a well-known and regarded GMAT figure and tutor (whom I will keep anonymous) that simply said what I was hoping to achieve would not be possible. This individual was crass and condescending – obviously this was not going to work. The last tutor, who is also a well known GMAT figure and all-around nice guy, is who I went with at a lower cost. I had a couple of tutoring sessions with him but the whole process simply lacked structure and I did not feel like I was gaining traction.

Now let’s return to May 2021. Four years into this process and ready to commit, I reached back out to GMAT Ninja and was subsequently introduced to Harry Duthie for our first session on May 10th. Immediately you became aware that you were working with a professional that respected not only your time, but your investment. It was apparent, there was a reason why they cost more.

For example, many tutors will have no issue with entertaining your tirades or just having a long – and expensive! – chat with you. Harry Duthie, on the other hand, makes you work. Harry will drive any ounce of value that he can out of the two-hour session, which at times, can be one of the most exhausting but valuable components of studying throughout the week. Then guess what? After that session, you have a lot of homework to complete.

Do you need structure? GMAT Ninja and Harry function on providing a structure that evolves and builds on your needs. What did I need exactly? Quant, of course, but specifically an absolute ton of verbal work. Going from V27 to V40 is no joke and I commend Harry and his ability to push my thought process and logical abilities to the point in which I was getting nearly 90%+ correct on both CR and RC. I will say though, there are no tricks here, and trust me – in four years I have tried to learn them all via. Powerscore, Manhattan, etc and they just didn’t work. Harry will push your ability to think critically, and this is a much more powerful and adaptable skillset, and this is what allowed me to improve from a V27 to V40.

Finally, on August 30, 2021, after working with Harry from early May to mid-August, I saw for the first time that “7” I was looking to achieve all these years – 700 (Q47/V40/IR7/AWA6). After a significant amount of personal sacrifice to get to this point, I can attribute making it my goal to Harry Duthie over at GMAT Ninja.

Thank you, Harry.