My GMAT journey began in May 2019 and, like the majority of students of the GMAT, started with the purchase of the Official Guide, a ‘thorough' review of Quant section of the material and then a dive straight into the Official practice questions. It is worth mentioning that I am a classically trained linguist and have a solid grasp of grammar and reading comprehension so my ability to score highly in the verbal section of the exam was not in question at this early stage. To provide some context as to my revision schedule, I work in banking and have fairly long hours so my studying midweek consisted of an hour and a half before work (5.00-6.30am) and then two hours after work (9.00-11.00pm), with a solid six hours on both Saturday and Sunday.

I was confident that I understood the theory behind all of the maths being tested and my review of the Official Guide material reassuringly felt like a reminder of concepts I had grasped well at school at school at age 16. When it came to tackling the practice questions, however, including the added element of time pressure, my accuracy was hovering around 50% with only marginal gains as a few weeks went by. I am also fairly confident that any improvement I was making was largely a reflection of question recognition and getting to grips with the question types. After a month of aimlessly trawling through the Official Guide question bank in the hope that the sheer quantity of material and hours spent at the computer would somehow translate to an absorption of knowledge, I realised that my study required more focus and I perhaps did not have the deep understanding of the material that I had convinced myself I had.

At this point, I did my research on GMAT Club to read reviews of other peoples’ experiences with revising for the GMAT and was reassured to find that I was not alone in finding myself at a loss as to why the information simply was not ‘going in’ and the hours spent revising were not being converted into any improvement. The name that kept popping up again and again as being the most comprehensive review of the Quant material was Target Test Prep. I tried the demo for $1 and was immediately struck by how slick and user-friendly the interface was (which is not to be underestimated having tried some of its clunky competitors).

I purchased my first full month midway through June and set to work on making my way through the course. Everything about the course resonated with me, especially the strategy guide that goes into great depth about the importance of active learning, rather than hoping to assimilate information from watching Youtube tutorials and practising endless questions. These certainly have a place in learning, and I learnt a great deal from watching hundreds of Youtube videos, but these should be used to supplement rather than replace the note taking and methodical study required to score highly on the GMAT. I found that the odd Youtube tutorial from GMAT Club or a TTP webinar helped to break up the monotony of pure theory-based learning and I cannot overstate the importance of enjoying the learning process for the GMAT. The TTP course certainly helps in this regard and I was thoroughly enjoying the satisfaction of passing from one topic to the next. There were points when I felt that the end of chapter tests ‘dragged’ a bit and in all honesty there were points where I passed over certain module tests to get to the next chapter to feel like I was making progress. In hindsight, the repetition of material is what makes TTP so relentlessly effective as a learning tool and in order to get the most out of the course, as Scott often says, you need to understand everything so well that recognising what each question is asking becomes habitual and instinctive.

After a month and a half or so of studying the course, I found myself becoming too lax on timing and focused on accuracy to the detriment of speed. While the former is more important in the early stages, I had started pausing questions that I did not fully understand and had started to lose the discipline of timing. I also took this approach on my first couple of GMAT Prep CATs, giving myself the false confidence that it was more important to understand how to do each question correctly rather than simulate accurate test taking conditions (the strategy section of TTP has some quality material on how to approach practice tests - I was too stubborn to take full heed of this to begin with!). I was scoring very highly in the Official practice tests (730+) and had convinced myself that I was ready to tackle the real thing. I booked a test for the end of September, after a two week holiday, during which I revised about 2 hours per day to ‘maintain’ my ability, and had not touched the TTP in the month prior to the exam. I didn’t feel like I needed the course anymore and I had got everything out it. I was wrong.

Going into the exam, I was expecting a score of 720+, which is the required average of some of the schools to which I was intending to apply. Despite doing lots of research of the test centre and what to expect, I was incredibly nervous going into the exam and was feeling a significant amount of pressure having spent a solid four months revising in earnest. The real test felt significantly harder than the practice tests and I was feeling the time pressure more than any of my ‘practice’ tests. I was so afraid of running out of time that I found myself bailing on questions too early when a further 20-30 seconds of investment in each question would have enabled me to tackle questions which I really knew should have been getting right. I knew as I was taking the test that it was not going well and was shellshocked to see a score of 650 pop up on my screen at the end. I collected my paper as I left the exam centre to see a Quant score of 45 and a verbal score of 34 - both were incredibly disappointing and unexpected. (Q45, V34, I6, AWA 6)

Fortunately I had booked a second test well in advance to anticipate the upcoming application deadlines so only had to wait 2 weeks before re-attempting. My concern, which was totally valid, was how on earth I was going to improve my score so significantly to over 700+ in such a short period of time. Furthermore, in my mind I had completed the TTP course, finished all of the GMAT Prep practice tests and watched every YouTube video under the sun. I was at a loss as to where to start and became incredible despondent. Nevertheless I sucked it up and now divided my study 50% between verbal and quant because clearly my verbal needed more work that I had arrogantly led myself to believe. On the quant side, I revisited my notes and went straight back into the Official practice tests because it is easier to keep practising questions rather than assess and address your weaknesses. These two weeks were intensive but unfocused and I was confident that my second attempt would benefit from less exam anxiety, given that I knew what to expect, and attributed my poor first result to nerves.

I took my second exam midway through October and, despite being less nervous, scored a 670 (Q44, V39, I5, AWA 6). The exam felt equally difficult to the first and I was again at a loss as to why the additional 50+ hours of work had only translated to an improvement of 20 points. Not only that but despite my verbal score increasing, my quant score had regressed! At this point, I knew something had to change because I couldn’t keep expecting that the same approach to revising would somehow produce a vastly different result, especially given that again I only had a further three weeks until the third test that I had booked in anticipation of a repeat of last time.

I decided to revisit the TTP course to address my weaknesses and contacted Jeff Miller from TTP to discuss a short term study plan to optimise my revision over the three week period. He sent me a very well-thought out study plan (simple but focusing on quality over quantity) and we discussed the possibility of one-to-one tuition. After a week of independent study, I got in touch with Jeff to update on my progress and we booked in a private 1 hour Webex session to start with. We established that I understood the vast majority of the concepts tested very well, it was now a matter of arming me with the confidence to tackle questions under time pressure that I knew I was capable of answering. There was nothing drastic or magic about Jeff’s teaching, or TTP course for that matter, in the same way that there is no secret formula to scoring highly on the GMAT. I was introspective about what I didn’t know as well I should and we addressed each and every one of those topics. In total, I had about 8 hours with Jeff and we covered all of the areas with which I had previously struggled. After each session with him, I continued to practice the concepts we went through and found additional practice questions on GMAT Club to hone these skills. I actually revised less between second and third exam than I had between the first and second and yet something had clicked and I went into the third exam far more confident of my abilities. My mindset was now one of ‘there is no way I can come out of this exam centre without score above 700’.

I took my third test on 1 November and scored a 720 (Q49, V40, I7, AWA 6). I cannot explain the relief as the score flashed up on the screen and my first reaction was to tell Jeff. Despite not having spent a great deal of time studying with him, I felt that he was now an important part of my journey to achieving that score. Without the foundation that the months poured into the TTP had built, I would not have been able to achieve my score improvements between exams. I cannot recommend the TTP course highly enough and I believe that if I had followed the course to the letter and taken my first test shortly after completing the course, I would not have found myself having to take the test three times to achieve the score I did. Furthermore, I genuinely believe that the 8 hours I spent with Jeff took my GMAT study to another level, if not in terms of ability then certainly in terms of confidence and approach to the test. While the virtual nature of the TTP course is incredibly convenient and well thought out, there is something to be said good old fashioned live teaching.

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TTP was an invaluable quant resource for me. It helped to increase my quant score from a 44/45 to a 49.

First - the user interface of the course is great; everything is so neat and organized.

Second - the amount of material included in the course is incredible. There are over 2500 questions to go through throughout the course and each one really helps you to grasp the material. Any topic that the test could ever ask about is covered in TTP.

I chose the Flexible Prep option as I already had a solid understanding of all the material and only had 1 month to study. If you already have a good understanding of the material and are trending low to mid 40's in quant, then I would highly recommend TTP.

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I was looking to strengthen my quants performance. I generally score 48-50 consistently but did not want my quant score to dip below 50. Having read bb's post on quants, I decided to try Target Test Prep (TTP).

I found the structure of the course to be excellent. It goes over all necessary mathematical topics in a logical order and has multiple practice tests ordered by difficulty level for each topic. I had solved all GMAT Club tests but I think the best way to improve one's score would be to complete TTP first and then do GMAT Club tests. The issue with doing just GMAT Club tests is that you are randomly picking at tough questions. Completing TTP first will ensure you have covered all the basics. Ultimately, I had read through 90% of the course and done 85% of their practice questions before the actual GMAT.

Another aspect is that TTP is backed by very good tech. The interface is neat and the analytics are helpful when you want to go over your weak points.

I took the 5-day trial for $1 and would recommend anyone undecided to take advantage of the trial. It gives you full access to the course and helps you determine whether TTP would be useful for you.

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I first came across recommendations for Target Test Prep on Reddit as the go-to study program for the quant section. At first I was hesitant on the price point of the product, but once I got started working through it, it was worth every cent.

My favorite element of the product are the numerous chapter tests that I can take to improve my mastery over a certain skill. After my first attempt at the exam, I utilized the ESR to figure out what my weak points are in the Quant section. Thanks to TTP's chapter tests focusing on specific skills, I had plenty to work with to improve. On my next attempt at the exam, I saw significant improvement in my overall quant scoring.

A suggestion that I have to improve the product is to have a sort of question bank in which I can customize the amount of questions I want to take and be able to choose questions from a mix of chapters. I find that when I am working through certain chapter tests, it becomes obvious what tricks I should look out for in the problems. While helpful for when I am first learning the concept, it does not simulate a realistic situation in which I may not know immediately to look out for a certain trick.

Overall, I would suggest to anyone looking to improve their quant score or even to learn the math concepts the first time to use this product.

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TTP is, in my opinion, the best quant course out there. It does a great job of laying down the fundamentals in a very easy way to understand. After I completed the course (target: 47-51), I was able to bring my score from 640 (Q39 V39) to 710 (Q48 V39) in a little over 2 months.

What I liked most about the course was the clear study plan that you had to follow. After every chapter you have to do chapter tests in order from easy to hard, and you only move on when you get a certain percentage correct on the question banks. This way, I never moved on from a chapter without fully grasping it like I did with previous material from other sources. I also really enjoyed all the little tricks to tackle difficult problems. For example, I was really struggling with combinatorics, but TTP helped to really visualize the situation (e.g. mentally deduct the people you NEED to choose from the group, 7 CHOOSE 3, etc.)

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TTP got me the score i wanted on quant after a disappointing experience with another course.

TTP covers everything you need without any tricks or shortcuts. It also has review quizzes at the beginning of every capter, so you don't forget what you've studied before.

TTP is a structured program that has various modules by chapter topics. After each chapter, you have to take several test in three formats, easy medium and hard. I strongly suggest to complete all the course before taking the GMAT, it will ensure an excellent quant score.

To complete 100% of the course be sure to have 2-4 months before taking the GMAT

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I improved my Quant score from 46 to 49. My overall score jumped 30 points. I earned a 690 and finished in the 85th percentile overall. So thankful for TTP and their team. They got me over the hump and now I feel that I will be accepted to my top choice school.

I have already been accepted one place with a full ride and am waiting to hear back from where I really want to go. Thanks to the $200 I spent on TTP I will end up saving thousands. That's an ROI all business school grads would consider great!

Thanks again to Scott and the team. You all really care about your students and it shows through your program.

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I was scoring Q42 before enrolling to TTP dedicated study. I was shocked when I saw Q48 from my official GMAT.

TTP is a structured program that has various modules by chapter topics. Each module is thorough in its concepts and the study plan makes sure that we are 100% covered with all the topics we need to know for the GMAT. After each theory, we are then bombarded with the much needed questions for practice in three formats - Easy, Medium, Difficult with each modules covering around 200 questions for practice to make sure we are well versed with the topics. There are benchmarks in the study plan which we have to pass to proceed to the next quiz/module. I can tell you once you finish the modules and quizzes you can be confident to tackle any GMAT question in that module.

The course also comes with analytics section for each of the chapters/modules which will track our progress from the quiz. It also maintains an error log which we fill from the drop down option that is presented when we get a question wrong.

The course also comes with a dedicated worksheet which we can use to manually write down the important topics that we study based on the chapters. The worksheet is pre populated with all the topics in the chapters and all one has to do it is just take printout and start taking notes.

The "Must Know" pointers are really a great deal. Important points from each chapter are highlighted in a green box and these are the must know concepts which we can refer back at any point of time to quickly recollect the important concepts that was taught to us.

For people who have less time, the course also comes with an Advanced study plan which lets you attend quiz first and based on your weakness suggest topics to read so that you can quickly cover the syllabus.

The course also has an equations guide that you can simply take print out and refer back or use as a flash card when you need it.

Overall, Target Test Prep is a comprehensive course and requires considerable amount of time to complete and if we follow the dedicated approach the course suggests, then SKY is the limit.

Go TTP Go Quant.

P.S: i scored Q48 by skipping the Geometry and Probability lessons. I wish I had more time.

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Well my association to Target prep goes back to 2015, when i gave GMAT for the first time. I scored a meager 690(Q47,V37). Was lagging behind in Probability and Combinatorics + Word problems. Took up a monthly subscription from them and have ended up scoring Q50. The said topics were beautifully covered in their prep course with step by step interactive question practise, makes it a very fun learning experience. Whenever i still get confused on the same, i always refer back to my notes taken from the course and helps me solve 700 level Questions of the said topics decently. The customer service is also amazing with prompt live chat mode resolution to queries. I strongly suggest to those stuck in Quant to give it a try.

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TTP is the best quant prep out there. I took the official practice test and scored a 45Q. After three weeks of TTP I got it up to a 50 on the actual test. Before trying this course I was skeptical of reviews like the one I'm writing, but it is actually that good.

Prior to using TTP, I had gone through all the Manhattan books including Advanced Quant, and while they helped a bit, TTP was light years ahead of them in terms of presenting the right information in the most digestible way possible. After my first trial day I actually breathed a sigh of relief because I knew I had found a way to get the score I wanted--I just had to put in the work and go through all the modules. TTP is systematic and drills you on every single topic that could pop up on the test, in a way that teaches you the topic and reinforces the fundamentals. If I had more time or discovered TTP earlier, I would have without a doubt gotten a 51. That's how good this course is. There's a free trial so you can see for yourself.

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