I’m sharing this consultation experience not because student A’s score was particularly surprising. Instead, after a thorough discussion, Dustin realized A’s preparation journey was quite typical. encompassing three major “serious mistakes” that many students who fail the exam make during their preparation or application process. With A’s permission, Dustin decided to write this article to offer some insights for applicants still navigating their GMAT journey.

On Sunday, March 26th, a hazy, damp, and cold atmosphere hung over everything as the early plum rain season began. Student A traveled from Chiayi to Taipei for a consultation with Dustin. After a brief chat, Dustin learned that A was a first-year graduate student in Finance at a university in Kaohsiung, aiming for a dual degree program at the University of Missouri.

Next, student A presented his ESR.

A Surprising Score

The first thing that caught my eye was a score that would surprise most people. It was certainly unusual for Dustin, too. Typically, most students who come for consultations score between 500 and 690. Scores in the 400s are less common, and scores in the 200s? Dustin can recall seeing those only once or twice.

However, this only piqued Dustin’s curiosity. He was determined to dig deeper with this student to figure out what was going on.

Looking closely at the breakdown of Verbal scores, it’s clear that all sections hit rock bottom. Generally, guessing ‘C’ for every question would yield a higher score (according to A, haha). At this point, Dustin vaguely suspected a problem with fundamental reading comprehension skills. A quick look at the section accuracy and timing tables further confirmed his hypothesis.

As you can see, for the first ten questions, an average of 2:57 was spent per question. This indicates a heavy investment, dedicating a lot of time to each question (in fact, this time breakdown is incorrect, so please don’t emulate it). Yet, even with nearly 3 minutes per question, the accuracy rate was still below 50%. I then asked student A, “Do you read English slowly and are you often unsure of the meaning?” Student A replied, “Yes. And math is the same.”

Dustin explained in detail to student A:
The GMAT exam is centered around two core skills: “efficient reading ability in standard English” and “logical thinking ability.”

The standard English reading ability required for the GMAT is a step above everyday or professional English; it’s akin to reading academic or legal documents. The strict time limits are designed to ensure that only candidates with efficient reading skills are selected.

Once reading comprehension is solid, we can accurately process information and then apply logical thinking to solve problems, analyze options, and eliminate choices. This is where practicing official questions and studying materials become beneficial.

In other words, if your efficient reading ability isn’t up to par, practicing numerous official GMAT questions or summarizing extensively will have limited impact on your exam performance. It’s like building a house on a weak foundation – how can the structure be sound? If you can’t even understand or read the content in time, how can you possibly think critically about it?

At this point, student A presented another document.

Previous TOEFL Scores

Student A mentioned that he was preparing for both TOEFL and GMAT simultaneously. Before taking his first GMAT exam, he had taken the TOEFL four times. His scores on these attempts were all between 52 and 56, falling far short of the university’s requirements. Dustin then noted the TOEFL Reading scores, which are less challenging than GMAT Reading: student A’s TOEFL Reading scores were consistently below 10, with the lowest being a 3.

At this moment, Dustin realized that for student A, this was likely to be a long-term battle requiring a solid foundation before tackling the GMAT. Therefore, Dustin began asking student A about the objective requirements for his university applications to analyze and design a study plan.

Gathering Objective Requirements to Build a Study Framework

The first step in designing a study plan is to gather all relevant factors and lay them out. This helps identify priorities and areas with flexibility, allowing for the construction of a comprehensive framework.

First, Dustin collected the following information:

1. Deadline: The application deadline for the dual degree program was in mid-April. However, student A mentioned that reapplying the following year was acceptable if he didn’t get in this year.

2. Past Preparation: Due to ongoing graduate coursework, being a Teaching Assistant (TA), and preparing his thesis, student A could dedicate about four to six hours per day. However, he had been focusing on TOEFL preparation and, after attending a GMAT prep course, took the exam with minimal GMAT practice and no mock tests.

3. Target Score: The requirement for the dual degree program was a GMAT score of 500.

4. Next Test Date: He had already registered for his second attempt on April 10th (the last chance before the deadline this year).

At this point, Dustin realized that the student wasn’t under immediate pressure to apply this year and had limited daily study time. Therefore, the best approach was to extend the preparation timeline. However, Dustin advised against canceling the April 10th test. Firstly, the previous score of 230 was achieved with virtually no GMAT practice, making the ESR data less reliable. While achieving the target score in just over ten days with focused preparation might be challenging, the second attempt would at least provide more accurate information for weakness analysis. Moreover, with eight attempts allowed, he was far from reaching the limit and didn’t need to worry about it yet.

Consequently, Dustin set up both short-term and long-term plans for student A.

Designing Two Plans

The short-term plan aimed for a score of 500 on the April 10th second attempt. However, with less than 15 days remaining, the outcome was uncertain. Dustin clearly informed student A, “Just do your best this time. Honestly, reaching the target score might be difficult, but even if you don’t, we’ll have an ESR from a seriously prepared attempt, which will help us pinpoint your weaknesses more accurately.”

Once the target score was established, the next step was to design the optimal allocation strategy.

Short-Term Optimal Allocation Strategy: Attack Q, Slightly Boost V

With less than two weeks for the short-term plan, it wasn’t advisable to directly focus on improving reading skills. Reading proficiency requires one to two months of consistent daily effort to cultivate an active reading habit and intuition for English texts. Cramming practice in two weeks could lead to burnout and diminish effectiveness.

Therefore, Dustin advised student A to temporarily set aside reading comprehension for the second attempt and instead focus on the Quantitative section (Q), which is “relatively less dependent on reading comprehension.” The strategy was to aim for a Q score close to 40, while boosting the Verbal score (V) to around 15-20, which could potentially reach the 500 mark. Since Dustin wasn’t a math specialist, he immediately referred A to a trusted math consultant, KH, to help improve his Quantitative abilities.

Regarding Verbal, Dustin recommended that student A complete all the Official Guide (OG) questions he hadn’t attempted yet within the ten days. This would at least familiarize him with the question formats. Given that the primary focus would be on math (possibly three to four hours daily), Verbal would receive less time. For this urgent situation, Dustin suggested that A skip detailed error analysis for now and focus only on reviewing incorrect answers and uncertain choices.

Student A mentioned that he often struggled to understand English explanations online. Dustin recognized this as another manifestation of his English reading comprehension issues. While Dustin generally advises against relying on explanations from mainland Chinese netizens, he acknowledged that for this urgent situation, referencing simplified Chinese explanations would also be acceptable.

In the five days leading up to the exam, student A was advised to take a full-length mock test daily. This would help him develop the mindset of “cutting losses” on time-consuming questions to manage his pace and reduce unfamiliarity with the actual test environment. Additionally, using available GMAT prep materials was strongly recommended to maximize score improvement.

In essence, the short-term plan focused on significantly boosting the Quantitative score and making a gamble on Verbal to potentially cross the relatively low threshold of 500. However, Dustin repeatedly emphasized to student A that reaching the target score was not guaranteed. Furthermore, even achieving the minimum requirement of 500 might not guarantee admission to the program.

Therefore, if the target score wasn’t met, or if the results came in and he wasn’t accepted, he would transition to the “long-term plan.”

Long-Term Plan: A 2+3 Month Timeline with a Comprehensive Study Plan

Dustin believes that all plans follow a similar structure: short-term plans should be detailed and specific, mid-term plans should maintain flexibility based on principles, and long-term plans should outline only general directions. This is because plans are always subject to change. The further into the future a plan extends, the more flexibility it needs. By analyzing and refining based on accumulated experience, one can determine the next steps.

Therefore, for the long-term plan, Dustin simply told student A:

You now have an extra year to apply for the dual degree program next year. Since you have more time, your target score should be raised accordingly, ideally to 600-650. Otherwise, the value of this extra year will be wasted.

This year, you might be busy with your thesis and coursework, but remember to set aside a dedicated 3-month period with GMAT as the main focus, dedicating 6-8 hours per day. In addition to these 3 months, you should allocate an earlier 2-month period where you prioritize your academic responsibilities but incorporate pre-GMAT training focused on improving English reading skills. If you plan and schedule effectively, you can certainly find 2+3 months within a year.

After dedicating this 2+3 month period, we can analyze your weaknesses based on the second GMAT attempt’s ESR. You’ll spend 2 months strengthening your English reading ability (Dustin will provide specific methods to avoid distractions) and 3 months honing the logical thinking skills, practical problem-solving strategies, and techniques required for the GMAT (during which you’ll likely take about 2 practice tests). This phase follows the typical process of “summarizing, extensive practice, and pre-exam preparation.”

For a typical consultation, you might think it ends here. However, based on his experience, Dustin realized there was one more crucial point to discuss with student A…

Digging Deep into Motivation

Just as student A was about to thank Dustin and leave, Dustin asked a crucial question: “Why do you want to pursue a dual degree abroad?” Although the tone was casual, Dustin’s question was far from mere curiosity.

He asked this because student A had a significant chance of extending his preparation timeline to the following year. Based on Dustin’s experience with many students who failed their exams and reapplied a year later, there’s a high probability of them becoming complacent, relaxed, or even giving up midway. The key factor determining whether their mindset deteriorates is the “sufficiency and firmness of their reasons for studying abroad.”

Student A’s response was roughly (the details weren’t perfectly recalled):
He didn’t want to work in Taiwan and wished to gain a few years of international work experience before returning. He had also studied abroad briefly before and enjoyed the academic atmosphere and lifestyle there.

Dustin then followed up with more questions:

“What kind of work do you envision yourself doing after graduation?”
“Are you aware of the current situation regarding US work visas?”
“…and other questions that an interviewer would likely ask, even if I didn’t.”

At this point, student A began to hesitate, admitting that he hadn’t thought about these questions thoroughly and wasn’t clear on the answers.

Dustin then spoke earnestly: “Your biggest issue, fundamentally, is a lack of sufficient determination and motivation. Without determination, even the most detailed long-term plans are useless. As time extends, any slight feeling of fatigue can lead to wavering resolve. After a few cycles of fatigue and renewed effort, the entire study abroad plan might be abandoned. If that’s the case, it might be better to save your time starting now!”

However, Dustin still believed that student A simply hadn’t researched or thought things through clearly. He suggested attending more study abroad fairs, university roadshows in Asia, coffee chats, and most importantly, the annual MBA conference held in May. Engaging with the study abroad community and its information would help him develop a clearer career plan. A clear career plan, in turn, fosters unwavering determination, making it possible to fully execute Dustin’s study plan. Of course, if after gathering information, he felt that studying abroad wasn’t the right path, he could change course early and save valuable time.

In simple terms, for student A, his long-term plan would consist of three stages:

Confirming the motivation for studying abroad and establishing determination -> Thoroughly executing pre-GMAT training focused on reading skills -> Finally, beginning GMAT-specific training (similar to where most students are currently).

This, Dustin felt, was the most logical and ideal arrangement for student A.

Summarizing Three Major Issues

The reason for detailing this case study so thoroughly is that while “high-score success stories” are readily available, Dustin hopes to offer a contrasting perspective, helping everyone understand “what to avoid” and “what are the detours.” He believes this will be as beneficial as reading high-score testimonials.

What makes this case particularly classic is that student A managed to embody the three mistakes that most students encounter when struggling with the GMAT:

1.
Underestimating the importance of “overall planning,” leading to a focus solely on doing problems and reading materials without being willing to take the exam promptly. This delayed the optimal time for adjustments, resulting in a backlog of GMAT, TOEFL, and application document preparation. Fear of his own low proficiency also made him hesitant to seek help (Dustin actually stays until the last student leaves after every class, with no time limit, doing his best to serve the students present that day; once, he was asked questions until 1:30 AM, haha). Consequently, he often sought Dustin’s help only a week or two before the exam, by which time even a miracle worker would struggle to help.

2.
Focusing solely on the GMAT exam while neglecting the underlying “reading comprehension skills.” As mentioned earlier, the GMAT tests both efficient academic English reading ability and logical thinking. If English acts as a fog obscuring understanding, even if you spend time clearing it, you won’t have time for other tasks. Even with excellent thinking skills, you’ll lament the lack of a Chinese version of the GMAT.

Without sufficient reading comprehension, practicing numerous official questions yields limited results. Unfortunately, many business school applicants prioritize the immediate GMAT and view spending 1-2 months on reading skills as a time-consuming training unrelated to the GMAT exam itself. As a result, they often spend more time mastering superficial GMAT test-taking techniques, yet repeatedly score within the same range. In reality, improving reading skills requires “consistency.” As long as you practice daily for 60 consecutive days, the results will become apparent quickly.

3.
A superficial understanding of “studying abroad.” This is the final and most critical issue. In the past, this problem has often been hidden or avoided, and the test preparation industry, focused on cracking exams, rarely addresses it. However, Dustin himself was a victim of this issue. Based on his five years of teaching and consulting experience and observations, an estimated at least 30% of students face this problem (sometimes without even realizing it). They harbor fantasies of “liking foreign life” and treat studying abroad as equivalent to attending an overseas language school.

Please remember: preparing for the GMAT and applying typically takes six months to a year, followed by one to two years of business school abroad. This adds up to three years, involving significant expenses of millions of dollars, and the cost of interrupting your current career path. These are not responsibilities that can be dismissed with a simple statement of “liking foreign life.” Don’t spend millions of dollars and years of hidden costs only to end up like a foreign backpacker with no plans, just drifting. A foreign backpacker, at least, doesn’t spend others’ money or owe anyone; they can fend for themselves when hungry and don’t incur debt for travel. However, the money you have now (excluding scholarships) comes from family support or government loans.

Dustin understands the current economic situation and job prospects in Taiwan are not ideal. However, before seeking new career opportunities abroad, please take responsibility for your decisions. Conduct some research, understand the general outline of your future career path, so that the advice and recommendations we provide to students have meaning.

Conclusion

As you can see from the above, Dustin genuinely enjoys his current profession. Initially, his passion stemmed from a desire to crack the GMAT exam. Through years of teaching, research, consulting, and continuous accumulation of knowledge on his blog, he has become very familiar with the test. Now, what fuels his passion for this profession is the ability to diagnose students from diverse backgrounds and, based on their individual circumstances, use logical thinking like the approach described above to design a comprehensive plan.

Is this task more akin to management consulting or medicine? Perhaps Dustin doesn’t possess the enviable prestige of McKinsey or BCG, nor the life-saving ability of a doctor. However, at the very least, he can strive to help everyone avoid some of the detours he himself has taken. This reason alone sustains his passion for this profession, enabling him to assist students both in the classroom and at the consultation table.

Thank you for reading.

p.s. If you’ve read this far, your Chinese reading comprehension must be excellent. With a bit of consistent practice in English reading, you’ll soon be able to read English as fluently as you read Chinese! Why not give it a try?

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