Vaulted me to a 770!

I started my GMAT journey last July, with the expectation of applying to schools in the fall of 2017. As a native English speaker who has always read a lot, I was able to hit the 90th to 95th percentile in Verbal consistently without studying, so I focused my study entirely on Quant. Given the weighting differential between Verbal and Quant, I really only had to get a “decent” Quant score to reach the 720+ range I was targeting, which seemed perfectly achievable at the time given that math has never been a subject which I have struggled on.

My study process was well-thought out, and I was extremely diligent in my preparation. I used the MGMAT strategy guides, GMAT Hacks Total Math, and a variety of GMATclub resources to prepare. Completed all the questions in the OG Guide 2017 and OG Quant Review 2017 twice. Took all 6 MGMAT CATs and all 6 Official CATs multiple times. Detailed error logs of everything. And I studied A LOT. My first official exam was in October, on which I scored a 700 with a 42 Quant (47th percentile). Disappointed, I continued to study and took another crack in November, which resulted in another 700. Improved my Quant score slightly to 44 (54th percentile), but Verbal fell a bit. Thought ok a little more improvement and I’ll be alright, and scheduled another test for December. The third time was a heartbreaker – I choked and halfway through the Quant section I knew I was toast, and thought about just walking out with the test unfinished. Another 700 with a Quant score of 42; my performance had declined after hours and hours of studying. Given my non-elite undergrad and work experience, a 700 wasn’t going to cut it for the schools I would consider (especially with such a terrible Q/V split), and I didn’t end up applying for the 2017 intake.

After doing some series reflecting on my performance and spending a lot of time mapping out an improvement strategy, I knew I needed some kind of prep course. Made quite the spreadsheet with information on all the different prep course options, cut this list down, and demoed the finalists. Ended up choosing Target Test Prep out of all of them, which I thought at the time was somewhat of a leap of faith as it is not one of the major players i.e. MGMAT, Veritas, Magoosh, Kaplan or the like.

The Target Test Prep course had a nice progression, forcing you to really master the fundamentals before moving on to some of the more advanced topics you would only see at higher levels. The lessons were great, and I picked up some stuff I did not learn from my prior studies. Thought the video explanations were surprisingly helpful as well, and the dashboard feature made it easy to identify where your weaknesses are and save questions for additional review. However, I think the real key for me was the massive amount of practice questions you were instructed to complete after each lesson. First, I thought they were very, very similar to actual GMAT questions (definitely more so than MGMAT) which helped to a degree. But most of all, doing a ton of questions focused on one specific topic at a time helped to drill concepts into my head and pickup on dumb mistakes I made too frequently, for example misreading the question or making errors on simple arithmetic. I compare it to math homework in high school; you would learn a lesson and then do an excruciating amount of problems that night to really master it. While the comparison to high school math homework might make you think “yeah umm that Target Test Prep course . . . absolutely not” all I can say is that TARGET TEST PREP FREAKIN DELIVERED! Took the GMAT for a fourth time in May, and stood up and fistpumped (as quietly as possible) when I saw 770 flash over the screen. After spending countless hours studying with little to show for it, the Target Test Prep course propelled me from a Q42 to a Q49 and a 770 overall score. For anyone needing help with Quant, this is your course.