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Founded in 2008, Target Test Prep™ (TTP™) is an innovative test prep company that has been helping students break long-standing barriers to success on the GMAT for the past 16 years.
What makes us better? Our GMAT self-study course combines time-tested teaching methods with cutting-edge technology and innovative learning science to make achieving impressive GMAT scores possible for students of all levels.
There’s a reason TTP™ users consistently give our course 5-star ratings on GMAT Club. TTP’s robust, web-based platform gives users unmatched flexibility and control over their test preparation, guiding them step by step through the study process from start to score goal and tracking their progress at a granular level for optimal efficiency.
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After quite a bit of research and several trials of other options, I decided to use Target Test Prep for my Quant prep. It did not disappoint. The structure provided a great path to follow but allowed me the flexibility I needed to focus in on topics I needed to review. The analytics and tracking are phenomenal and allow you to hone in in your weakest area. The free trial is a great way to see if it is right for you. Don't be discouraged by the lengthy first section (properties of numbers) - that baseline is important and subsequent chapters are much shorter.
While I only used Target test Prep for the quant review, I imagine that their verbal offerings are similarly effective. I would highly recommend target test prep.
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My entire strategy depended on TTP and honestly, I couldn't have progressed as rapidly without it. Assessing my progress without the analytical dashboard would have been a chore. The ability to create custom practice tests made it very easy for me to try my weaknesses and focus on what mattered. The quantity and quality of the exercises and solutions are simply outstanding.
Furthermore, the TTP team was extremely responsive to all my questions and supportive throughout the process.
Do yourself a favor and give it a try, you won't regret it.
Prep strategy:
My prep strategy was primarily practice based for Quant and Verbal. The only readings I did were the solutions to the exercises I failed. I didn't really go through any courses other than that.
There are two reasons why I didn't follow the time/stress-tested track laid out by TTP:
Lack of time
Optimizing Efficiency: TTP's waterfall approach, while great for most people, didn't quite resonate with me. I felt like I had a relatively good foundation, both quantitatively and verbally, and I needed a firm adjustment more than a complete overhaul.
The OG practice tests were used sparingly throughout my preparation to assess my overall level of preparation. I systematically reviewed all the mistakes I made on OG using GMAT Club.
After my first official test, I had attempted all of my mock exams and felt that there was too much redundancy for the retake score to have any substance. So I focused on the ttp during the 3 weeks between my first and second.
Quant prep:
My approach with the quant was fairly simple:
(1) Do custom practice test (31 hard/medium questions all chapters) with timer.
(2) Review mistakes
(3) Evaluate weakest chapters (analytical dashboard)
(4) Do 30 hard/medium questions on weakest chapters - no timer, focus on getting it right.
(5) Review mistakes
(6) Return to (1)
To help me assess my progress more quickly, I created a spreadsheet to which I fed my analytics to and which gave me an instant view of my weaknesses. I calculate a score that uses accuracy, quantity, time, and relative importance of chapters to determine my relative readiness for each chapter. Since the score is relative, my weakest chapters are constantly changing.
r/GMAT - My GMAT experience: 610 (V36/Q38) to 760 (Q49/V45) in 70 days with a full-time job and as a non-native speaker.
Progress Assessment Spreadsheet
So, each day I can open my sheet and choose the 3 weakest chapters I need to improve upon. When I'm done for the day, I update my sheet and get a new group of weak points to work on the next day.
From time to time, I take a diagnostic practice test to assess my overall preparedness.
My reasoning was that if I was able to score +85% on the TTP custom practice tests, I should be ready for the real thing.
Over time, my average accuracy on the TTP diagnostic test went from 60% to 90% and my relatively weak points were quite strong.
I attempted a total of about 1200 exercises, which was not even 50% of all TTP’s exercices.
Verbal prep:
With the exception of two outliers (cold and first official), I always scored decently on Verbal (+40). Oddly enough, I barely prepared for it (~20h including OG practice).
I think the main reason is my reading habit. I love to read. A lot of nonfiction books, non-contemporary novels, or undergraduate textbooks and research papers. I also actively annotate most of the books I read.
For anyone who struggles with verbal, I suggest choosing challenging books and actively reading them 2-3 hours a night before falling asleep.
Critical reasoning and reading comprehension problems were a non-issue and most errors were due to fatigue or lack of concentration.
At first, solving sentence corrections was mostly based on intuition and that worked well. But due to the lack of a clear solving process, my results varied from test to test. After my first official test, I focused on the hard and medium TTP questions and I thoroughly reviewed the solution. I think this probably saved me on the second official test.
Most of the verbal studying took place after my first official test.
I attempted 360 out of the 573 questions on TTP.
IR & AW prep:
For IR, no prep other than the OG practice test. If you are good with CR, RC and ok with quant, IR should be a breeze.
For AWA, I read this. Practiced once or twice (~2hrs total). I probably could have gotten a better score with better time management.
Exam day:
Official 1 (660): Quant —> Verbal —> IR —> AWA
I hadn't slept at all in two days and had averaged two to three hours of sleep the week before. Insomnia is a recurring theme in my life for personal reasons.
I had booked for 10:30am and since it was clear I wasn't going to sleep, I decided to go for a run at 6am and then take a cold bath to get some energy. After a quick breakfast and some much needed coffee, I sat down in front of my computer to write.
The proctor was very thorough in checking everything and after 20 minutes I was able to start the exam.
As soon as the quant started, it was pretty obvious to me that I had made a mistake writing the exam. My pattern recognition skills were failing and I had a terrible headache that completely obliterated my time management skills.
The verbal section was worse in nearly every way. I had to reread sentences several times to get the gist of them. Which, as you can imagine, did wonders for my timing (/s). I had to guess for the last 10 questions, which might explain my lacklustre result.
By the end of the verbal exam, I was pretty much convinced I was going to have to retake, so the IR and AWA were more about trying to stay awake than anything else.
Official 2 (760): Verbal —> Quant —> IR —> AWA
This time, things were less hectic. I managed to sleep well all week leading up to the test and got a good three hours of sleep the night prior ( which, given my prev experience, I was very thrilled about).
I also decided to start with the verbal to avoid the attention fatigue of my first exam.
The verbal was more difficult than expected and I remember a series of RC questions that I really struggled with and had to mostly guess (which had never happened before).
The Quant was a breeze. Focusing on the hard and medium TTP questions paid off. Most of the questions seemed accessible. The hard questions were easier than the harder TTP questions. The easy questions were a great confidence boost.
My score on IR & AWA ended up being relatively low but I’m cool with it.
Post exam:
I was placed on administrative review, which I expected considering my score increase.
Overall, I wasn't really worried because I think AR is now standard practice for 700+ scores. I received the official score on April 13, which was 3 weeks after taking.
Ending note:
The GMAT is fairly deterministic and I think 700+ is attainable for most. I had a good baseline both in quant and verbal, but overall, I think the 150 increase is largely achievable with the right methodology and progress assessment.
FOCUS: Most of the mistakes I made towards the end were due to lack of focus. Meditation and sleep (when my brain allows it) helped a lot.
PRACTICE: fail repeatedly until you can succeed consistently. Practice as much as you can and focus on solving difficult problems, no matter how long it takes.
For me, TTP and OG practice are a no-brainer.
Best of luck!
Like all the other reviews here mention, this is the only thing you need to succeed in the Quantitative Section of the GMAT exam. I had a solid starting point on my first GMAT practice (39) after not being in a Quantitative Major but was regularly scoring 50-51 on practice exams 2 through 6 at the end and finished with 49 on the real thing (710 total, think test day nerves got me a bit) I didn't utilize their verbal section (I stuck to only official questions for Verbal)
It's a lot of work. Their MO is simple, you have to learn the mechanics, they don't try to teach you tricks and gimmicks but they will teach you every single thing you need to know and how to master it. Hard questions are HARD. Like ... harder than anything you'll see on the GMAT in my opinion.
Highly recommend it, I believe anyone can score at least a 48 on Quant after utilizing this course.
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TTP's quant section did an excellent job of explaining the logic for each question through text and video, and the function for asking questions via chat is helpful to get clarifications. Using the course was much more effective than relying on the GMAT official handbook. I did a few chapters of that but it's hard to bookmark questions and track accuracy.
Highly appreciate the test design. The chapter tests are effective for focused practicing. The review tests are able to help me review concepts across topics and solidify my overall understanding. At first I thought the number of practice tests was a bit excessive, but I observed marked improvement in my quant abilities, so I am grateful for all the practice.
The sentence correction exercises and explanations are helpful too. My reading comprehension was already very good, so I can't comment on the effectiveness of that portion.
Overall, strongly recommend this course!
TTP is an incredible platform, it did wonders in helping me score a 770. The course does an excellent job of breaking topics into digestible lengths, with subsections for each topic that have practice problems at the end of each subsection to gauge your understanding of the material. The user interface is very friendly and intuitive. The on-target analytics page tells you exactly where to find your weak spots. Most importantly, I found the TTP problems to be the highest quality of all the prep providers. The problems are written in a manner that closely mimics official guide problems. Given the limited number of official guide problems, the TTP problems are a must if you need to work hard to achieve a high score. If I would have signed up for TTP earlier in my journey, it probably would have saved me 50+ hours worth of studying. 10/10 would recommend to anyone shooting for a 700+.
I signed up for the TTP 4 month dedicated study and found it incredibly helpful. The course walks you through all of the core quant concepts in a succinct, but also very thorough manner. There are practice questions embedded and tests at the end of each chapter to reinforce the material. Overall, TTPs quant prep is second to none and I would highly recommend it, no matter what level you're starting at. Their verbal section is also comprehensive and covers all of the grammar rules you would need to know. Lastly, they also had a great little 30 min AWA review that was all I needed to score a 6!
Thanks to TTP for allowing me to hit my target score.
I had not taken any math courses since middle school so I knew quant would be challenging. I'm not a native English speaker either so verbal was definitely challenging as well.
However, with the help of TTP, by following the course as recommended, step by step, I was able to score a decent score on both my quant and verbal sections.
I recommend students to follow the course exactly as it is laid out. I think this is important. Even though sometimes the course feels a bit too lengthy and takes too many hours. It's certainly worth it in the end.
TTP is well worth the time and money, and you absolutely should put the time in. It's extremely thorough, and the repetition burns skills into your brain. I actually used the GRE TTP program for 90% of my studying thinking that I couldn't get a good GMAT score. Someone recommended I take a GMAT practice test just to see, and after 3 months and many, many hours of TTP I scored 770 on the practice test. The material for GRE/GMAT quant is the same -- just the style of questioning is different -- and I think it shows how strong the course material is that I was able to do well on GMAT quant which is typically regarded as more difficult. I did purchase TTP GMAT flexible prep after doing well on the practice test and used that for the final ~3 weeks of studying. I really enjoyed the strategy aspect of the course; they include sections to encourage you to keep going and there are articles about how to have the best mindset to score well. I ended up looking forward to the actual exam because TTP gave me confidence.
I can safely say, if it wasn't for the TTP program, I would not have achieved my desired GMAT score. The quant section is ver holistic and teaches you how to be ready for any type of question regardless of difficulty. The verbal section that was being rolled out as I studied was a great way for me to learn and reinforce concepts as I studied for my re-take. The strategy readings helped put you at ease and prepare efficiently for the exam. As a result, I was able to improve my GMAT score from a 700 to a 730, which helped me get admitted to a program for the Fall of 2022. Thanks to Scott and the entire TTP Team for the product you put out there!
Joined: May 23, 2020
Posts: 13
Kudos: 1
Verified GMAT Classic score:
740 Q50 V40 (Online)
The title says it all! I used TTP for my quant prep and ended up with a Q50! I made sure to complete the quant course in its entirety, including the 3000 or so questions on it. I did a lot of official quant questions too, but the OG Guides were nowhere nearly as comprehensive or helpful as the TTP curriculum. I think TTP is an incredibly helpful resource for anyone struggling with quant on the GMAT, and I also wanted to give a shoutout to Scott for all the helpful advice and inspirational videos on the TTP platform - those were a huge help!
I also had a concern about the huge time commitment in TTP, since I feel that I have weaknesses in some of the chapters, not all.
But it seems that if you take 70 days, it is still many months, though half shorter than TTP's expert+ level course.
Also, would you recommend someone with a ~30 verbal baseline to go through TTP verbal despite the time commitment? Or should I prioritize OG verbal first?