Scoring 710 with a Weak English Foundation: 5 Tests, Hard Lessons, and Dustin’s Course
Table of Contents
January 2021 GMAT 710 V34 Q51 (Seven-Week Intensive Training Class)
Five Attempts to Conquer the GMAT: A 150-Point Improvement Journey
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First Attempt: 560 Q47 V22 IR:5 (2019.8.23)
Second Attempt: 560 Q49 V18 IR:6 (2019.11.8)
Third Attempt: 570 Q47 V21 IR:3 (2020.3.5)
Fourth Attempt: 610 Q49 V24 IR:1 (2020.10.3)
Fifth Attempt: 710 Q51 V34 IR:5 (2020.12.19, online exam without AWA)
Background: Department of Bio-Environmental Science, National Taiwan University / English Entrance Exam Score: 58
Preparation Time: Intermittently for six months across the first three attempts (while employed), and six months for the fourth and fifth attempts (full-time).
Preparation Materials: A2 Training Class Materials, Dustin’s Terminator Materials, OG, PP1-4, GWD, Mock Exam Pack
【Introduction】
I initially chose A2 because several classmates had attended and achieved scores above 700 in a short period. Encouraged by their success, I thought I’d easily reach 700+ after enrolling. However, I made a logical fallacy from the start, and one mistake led to another, resulting in a year-long battle with the GMAT.
How long does it take to prepare for the GMAT? What methods should be used? I see the GMAT as a boss battle in a video game. The answers to these questions depend entirely on an individual’s skill points and subsequent training methods. If your defense is already +87, you can focus on offense; if your speed isn’t fast enough, you can train agility. Even two people with the same 700 score might have different skill point distributions. The goal of training is to reach a level of overall strength sufficient to clear the stage. Throughout my struggle with the GMAT, I found that the most crucial, and often overlooked, aspect of preparation is reading comprehension training! If I were to compare it to a video game skill, it would definitely be the HP bar! Even with +87 defense and +870 attack, it’s useless if you only have 3 HP; you’ll die in one hit.
【First Attempt: 560 Q47 V22】 – Approximately 2 Months of Preparation
I actually enrolled in the A2 course in 2018 but postponed the exam for a year due to a busy work schedule. For my first attempt, I re-listened to all the recorded lectures and read through all of A2’s verbal handouts twice. As someone who abandoned the science track, my math foundation was pretty good, so I took it upon myself to take the exam with sheer confidence.
During my first attempt, I woke up at 5 AM every day to study. I even marveled at my own diligence, thinking that since I never woke up this early in high school, managing to study before work was nothing short of miraculous – surely, this was the prelude to a 700+ score! However, on the exam day, my slow reading speed meant I had 10 questions left unanswered as time ran out. I figured that even with my poor performance, I should at least get a 650. So, when the screen displayed 560, I was stunned.
【Second Attempt: 560 Q49 V18】 – Approximately 2 Months of Preparation
After my first attempt, I requested an ESR. I discovered that in Parts 1 to 3, I was actually in the medium-high scoring range. The low score was primarily due to guessing on the last 10 questions. A lightbulb went off: if I just answered faster, I’d surely break 700! I once again marveled at my own brilliance, thinking I was truly a strategic test-taker! I resumed my 5 AM study routine.
This time, with time running out, I had about 4 questions left. While congratulating myself on my improved speed, I happily clicked “Next.” To my surprise, the score displayed was the exact same 560. Worse yet, my Verbal score had dropped to 18. Upon requesting the ESR again, I found that my CR was at the 5th percentile, and I had only answered 2 RC questions correctly. If not for SC holding its ground, my Verbal score would have been in the single digits…
【Third Attempt: 570 Q47 V21】 – Approximately 3 Months of Preparation
After the second attempt, I was discouraged for quite some time. I decided to enroll in Dustin’s Terminator specialized course. I must admit, Dustin helped me understand the GMAT exam anew and made me realize that the required reading comprehension ability is very high. Especially with a weak foundation, continuous, high-intensity training is essential. This was also the first time I started doing “detailed summarization.” Although I gained a more thorough understanding of the GMAT, knowing is easier than doing, and I failed again.
【Fourth Attempt: 610 Q49 V24】 – Approximately 4 Months of Preparation
In June, I resigned from my job due to personal reasons. It wasn’t entirely because I wanted to prepare for the exam; it wasn’t an impulsive decision. I did a lot of mental preparation and planning, including setting a time limit for full-time preparation, deciding what to do after reaching my target score, and what to do if I didn’t succeed. After confirming I could accept all outcomes and ensuring I had sufficient savings (the most important thing), I began executing my plan.
Because I realized that in my first three attempts, I often couldn’t answer questions due to not understanding them or reading too slowly, my study plan this time focused on improving my English ability, in addition to reviewing previous course content. For the fourth attempt, besides consistently practicing Dustin’s low, medium, and high-level reading exercises, I memorized the vocabulary from the Red Book four times, translated over 100 articles from The Economist, and read Yang Peng’s “Long and Difficult Sentences” twice. My vocabulary size jumped from over 5,000 to 7,600, and I found I could understand most questions. This training was crucial nourishment for my eventual 700+ score.
Additionally, with ample time for full-time preparation, I completed the math sections of OG, PP, and GWD twice, and even worked through a mistake log (the first time I’d opened the math OG and PP since starting my preparation…). At this point, I felt confident going into the exam, only to be met with another baffling result: after 4 months of unemployment and preparation, I scored only 610???? The shock of scoring only 610 after quitting my job, coupled with approaching my self-imposed deadline, nearly broke me.
【Between the Fourth and Fifth Attempts】
Up until my third attempt, I firmly believed that my poor performance was solely due to not understanding or finishing the questions. I thought, “If I understand the question stem, how could I possibly get it wrong?” (Another logical fallacy). It wasn’t until my fourth attempt that I realized the reasons for poor performance are multifaceted. At this point, I had no more time to waste, so I decided to seek professional help.
One great aspect of the A2 GMAT prep course is that even as a student from two years prior, I could still receive assistance when I decided to challenge the exam again.
- Dustin’s Consultation:
Dustin’s advice at the time was: reduce study hours, decrease the number of practice questions, review the OG, and focus on easy+medium questions from PP. He advised discarding all Hard questions and GWD. Dustin also told me that given my background, focusing on math would be more efficient than Verbal, and provided specific advice for math preparation. - A2’s Consultation:
I had always heard about A2’s direct, no-nonsense style. As expected, I was thoroughly put through the wringer that day. A2 glanced at my ESR and said, “You’re beyond help.” My internal monologue was, “So, should we continue this consultation today?” XD Then, A2 had me do RC and SC questions on the spot and provided real-time guidance. They warned me, “Your current self-discipline is too low. With this attitude, even if you luckily score well, you won’t survive in the US.” - KH’s Consultation:
KH noticed a rather unusual pattern in my ESR: in Part 1, I spent an average of 2 minutes per question, missed easy questions, and spent an average of 6 minutes on incorrect answers (what was I doing?). In Parts 2 and 3, I averaged just over a minute per question and got the difficult ones right. However, in Part 4, I missed two relatively easy questions. KH immediately asked if I took the Quant section first and pointed out that I might be someone who needs time to warm up. They suggested doing about 15 questions before the actual exam. Furthermore, my ability should far exceed OG and GWD, so they recommended focusing on difficult questions from compiled resources.
After the fourth attempt, I was emotionally devastated and experienced a lot of negative emotions. I no longer dared to tell many people I was taking the exam, as too much concern only added pressure. The well-intentioned encouragement from friends and family felt like barbs. It took me about a week to adjust my mood. During this period, I only sought virtual encouragement XD
Fortunately, my competitive nature quickly overcame the negativity. I thought, “Since Dustin advised me to focus on easy+medium, I need to get those questions right! I also need to fix the weaknesses A2 pointed out and prove myself!”
Around the same time, I received a message of encouragement from a university classmate who told me he had improved from 300 to 640 (incredibly motivating!). We made a pact to break 700 together next time.
【Fifth Attempt: 710 Q51 V34】 – Approximately 1 Month of Preparation
- I used the logical chain method learned in CR to identify gaps.
▲ My practice sessions were going well, but I made many mistakes during the actual exam. This shows that practice and the exam are not directly comparable. What’s the difference?
In my previous four attempts, I often attributed this problem to exam anxiety. However, I realized this was just making excuses and not truly identifying the differences between practice and the exam. This time, I purchased a practice test software developed in mainland China (claimed to have adaptive testing and realistic scoring) and meticulously recorded the differences in my answering process between using this software and my usual practice. I highly recommend this software; besides offering ample questions, it allows for custom mini-tests combining different sections at a reasonable price. I usually selected three questions per section to form a mini-test and compared my answers to my practice sessions.
While it couldn’t perfectly simulate exam conditions, through detailed and continuous recording, I made several surprising discoveries. For instance, when encountering an uncertain question during practice, I would actively seek other clues for a final judgment. However, in the mock test interface, I would often freeze for 30 seconds to a minute when faced with a difficult question before guessing randomly. Additionally, my judgment on certain test points in the mock test interface differed from my usual practice. I speculated that my familiarity with these points wasn’t internalized enough to be instinctive, leading to confusion under pressure. Interestingly, some questions I could often guess correctly even when my mind went blank, while others I consistently got wrong. I believe these weren’t coincidences and made detailed records and analyses. I spent a lot of time addressing these gaps and tried to adjust my thinking and behavior during mock tests to be as close as possible to my regular practice.
▲ Took A2’s course → Memorized the handouts thoroughly → Scored high?
This line of reasoning seems logical, but I didn’t score high. What was missing in between? I knew the handouts well, but did I truly understand them? If I understood them, could I apply the techniques? If I could apply the techniques, was I applying them correctly? Could I apply them during practice and during the exam? Were there any factors during practice that had a counterproductive effect? Finding the answers to these questions also took considerable time and is difficult to express in a few words. In summary, I believe my judgment in answering questions was flawed; I learned many skills but didn’t know how to use them. Furthermore, factors that had a counterproductive effect on my score included insufficient English reading ability, panicking under pressure, and incorrect strategies when facing uncertain questions.
- Letting go of my self-righteous efforts and facing each question anew was extremely difficult for me at that time. This was especially true for CR, as I was very familiar with the questions; I could even recite the answer after reading the first sentence. Besides adjusting my mindset, I employed a small trick: I extended the time spent on each question. Dustin had shared a similar concept during the Terminator course, but at that time, I was merely extending the time and writing many seemingly elaborate but useless notes. This time, however, I truly understood: when I gave myself ample time to articulate the reasoning for each option, I suddenly realized that the incorrect answers I had previously dismissed so quickly now seemed somewhat plausible, and the correct answers appeared less obvious. The entire process made me question myself repeatedly: “Have I not truly understood these questions despite spending so much time?” But the key was to quickly record my doubts and make adjustments.
- Creating my own “brother-to-brother” summaries instead of ending up with a poorly drawn imitation of a tiger.
A2’s courses are excellent, but I believe everyone’s approach to thinking has slight differences. Once you have a solid foundation, you don’t necessarily have to imitate completely. You can explore your own thought processes while using A2’s content as a reference and confirmation, and then conduct “brother-to-brother” summaries as taught by Dustin in the Terminator course.
For example, in CR:
The key to my improvement is all on this sheet! I don’t strictly follow the classifications like cause-and-effect or proposals taught in class. I only group questions that I believe can be answered using the same thinking pattern, then repeatedly analyze and verify them. Additionally, I incorporated some personal, self-created auxiliary categories, such as: thinking forward, thinking backward, thinking within the framework, and thinking outside the framework.Adding my own thoughts helped me quickly identify blind spots. For instance, I’m good at thinking backward but not so good at thinking forward. In CR, I can quickly determine the outcome after a proposal is implemented, but I often get stuck when thinking about the prerequisites or reasons beforehand. The situation is similar in RC; I’m good at inferring and extrapolating backward, but I struggle with inferring events that occurred before the text was written, such as the author’s reasons for writing a particular passage. This seems related to my personality; I tend to look forward and focus on results. When encountering difficulties or problems, I rarely dwell on the causes or blame others; I’m more inclined to think about solutions and how to avoid similar issues in the future.
Class Experience by Section
【Q】
KH taught exceptionally well. I understood everything after just one lecture, and the classification in the handouts was very easy to follow. Most helpful was the included glossary of common mathematical English terms.
My math foundation was quite good, but apart from scoring perfectly on my last attempt, my scores in previous attempts were poor, never even reaching 50. The biggest reason was that I underestimated the difficulty of the math section from the beginning. While everyone says GMAT math is easy, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to practice. The concepts in GMAT math are simple, but the way questions are posed is vastly different from the exams we encountered in school. Often, it’s not about not knowing the concept, but falling into the traps set by the GMAC examiners.
The difference between a score of 47 and 49, I believe, comes down to understanding and familiarity with question types. The gap between 49 and 51, however, is the difference in difficulty between materials like PP, OG, GWD, and the actual exam. GMAT math questions are becoming increasingly challenging. The key to bridging this gap lies in practicing difficult questions from compiled resources. The difficulty isn’t in the concepts themselves; my feeling is that the first step might require multiple clever insights to solve, or there are easily overlooked traps. However, after practicing a large number of questions, you’ll realize that the GMAC examiners seem to have only a few tricks up their sleeve. I’m very grateful for the questions KH compiled in this regard.
【SC】
A2’s organization of SC is very thorough. After reading the original Manhattan SC guide, I better understood A2’s strengths. Many find SC difficult, but I believe SC offers the highest return on investment. SC is like a difficult girlfriend; when you first get to know her, you wonder what her deal is. Last time she liked Sichuan food, but this time she prefers sashimi. Then she might say sashimi isn’t as good as Thai cuisine. But once you understand her thoroughly, you’ll realize she has principles! There are certain foods she absolutely won’t eat, like anything with cilantro – it’s the worst, even if it’s part of a grand feast. In such cases, she’d rather eat braised pork rice without cilantro. And if there’s no cilantro, she’ll naturally choose the grand feast over braised pork rice! Once you grasp these principles, this girlfriend will be devoted to you. Therefore, the key to scoring well in SC is understanding the hierarchy of errors.
Many students have issues with their answering process, leading them to miss even easy questions. I personally believe that an incorrect order of evaluating test points isn’t the cause of a low score, but rather a symptom of impending failure. If you meticulously record your answering process, you might find that the problem of a mixed-up order isn’t present in every question. What, then, is the root cause that needs to be addressed?
For example, SC was initially my strong suit, but I faltered in my fourth attempt. I discovered two main reasons for my mixed-up order. First, it was the fear of running out of time for CR and RC, leading me to rush. My solution was to improve my reading speed so I knew I had enough time for RC and CR! Simultaneously, I recorded how much extra time it actually took to answer based on semantic understanding. The results showed it didn’t take more than 10 seconds extra, which reassured me. The second reason for the disordered answering process was nervousness. My solution was to continuously use the mock test interface to familiarize myself with it and reduce anxiety.
【RC】
A2’s question-solving methods certainly improved my answering speed and accuracy to some extent, but it’s unrealistic to expect high scores solely through techniques. Beyond reading comprehension and vocabulary, you need to adhere strictly to A2’s high-standard summarization.
Initially, with a vocabulary of 5,000 words, I often couldn’t understand the questions. When my vocabulary reached over 7,000, I could understand about 70%. With over 8,000 words and combined with reading techniques, my comprehension level reached about 80-90%. The so-called techniques involve quickly identifying the main argument and evaluation points in each passage. You don’t need to understand everything, but you must grasp the underlying structure. After addressing my reading comprehension issues, I found I only made mistakes on specific types of RC questions. I then focused on conquering these question types. Sometimes, these weaker question types can’t be guaranteed to be answered correctly through sheer practice, but at least during the exam, when encountering such a question, I would pay extra attention: “I might get this one wrong, let me slow down!” This significantly reduced my chances of error.
【CR】
Kory did an excellent job classifying logical questions, and the horizontal and vertical summaries accelerated my thinking. However, reading comprehension is also a significant factor in scoring well on CR; in my earlier attempts, I never finished the CR section. I once mistakenly believed that getting CR questions wrong was simply due to not understanding or finishing them. Upon closer examination, I discovered numerous blind spots. The key to excelling in CR is to organize your own thought process rather than blindly imitating; otherwise, you’ll only achieve superficial understanding and become increasingly confused.
Furthermore, the “brother-to-brother” summarization taught by Dustin, mentioned earlier, proved most effective for improving my CR skills. This method is time-consuming; sometimes, I’d only study three questions in an afternoon, but the efficiency far surpassed doing 100 questions. The detailed explanations in the OG also provided significant help. I noticed that sometimes OG’s reasoning was completely different from mine. Although my reasoning could lead to the correct answer, referencing OG’s approach for similar question types helped avoid confusion entirely. Perhaps thoroughly understanding the original explanations is the most efficient way to solve problems, as GMAC is the ultimate authority!
【Reading Comprehension Ability】
Based on my observations, many students’ reading comprehension skills fall short of the exam’s requirements. If your reading ability isn’t thoroughly improved, learning any number of test-taking strategies is futile, as you might not even understand the questions or be able to finish them in time. Once your reading comprehension improves, all three Verbal sections will benefit synergistically. Translating over 100 articles from The Economist during my preparation period was the key to my greatest progress.
【Terminator Course】
It’s evident that Dustin put immense effort into managing this class. There were many times I felt Dustin was even more dedicated than the students. I highly recommend it. This course offers real-time online Q&A and, more importantly, provides training that transforms you from the inside out. In this class, you’ll find resources, fellow students to study with, and guidance from excellent instructors. If you diligently follow the course requirements for training, significant improvement for students with a weaker foundation is truly not a dream!
【A Final Word on Quitting Your Job to Prepare for the Exam】
I don’t actually believe that quitting your job is necessary to achieve a good score. However, my previous job was quite unique, with no fixed working hours. This meant that when I was studying, I was often distracted, unsure when my supervisor might call. Sometimes, I had social obligations in the evening, and after drinking, I’d struggle to get up and study the next day. This intermittent training was highly inefficient.
Additionally, I had been working for some time, and being unemployed for six months wouldn’t lead to starvation, so I felt it was feasible. It also fostered a sense of “burning the bridges” mentality. However, the pressure of preparing for the exam after quitting your job is immense. Those considering it should assess their psychological resilience. Setting a stop-loss point is essential, and you should have a plan for your next steps if you don’t achieve your target score. Also, don’t fantasize about studying 16 hours a day after quitting; based on my experience, a more efficient study period is about 8-9 hours. Therefore, during my full-time preparation, I studied about 8-9 hours a day, dedicating the remaining time to other activities like sports, gaming, and financial research.
【Conclusion】
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, I hope this account helps. I made it, and you can too. Don’t give up!
