From 600 to 710: A Working Pro’s GMAT Climb
August 2021 GMAT 710 V34 Q51 (Premium Training Class)
Exam Scores
First Attempt: 3/27/2019 V22 Q49 IR3 Total 600
Second Attempt: 10/15/2019 V20 Q50 IR4 Total 590
Third Attempt (Online Test Beta): 5/16/2020 V25 Q50 IR6 Total 640
Fourth Attempt: 7/27/2020 V20 Q51 IR8 Total 600
Fifth Attempt (Online): 10/3/2020 V23 Q50 IR6 Total 620
Sixth Attempt: 8/10/2021 V34 Q51 IR6 Total 710
English Proficiency: I’m pretty average. My high school entrance exam score was 14, my college entrance exam score was 77, and I only took the TOEIC once, scoring 620.
Preparation Period: December 2018 to August 2021. I had to travel to mainland China for work quite a bit during this time, so my preparation was really broken up. After each business trip, it felt like I was starting from scratch.
Preparation Materials: A2 GMAT lecture notes, Dustin’s Terminator, OG 2019 & 2020, OV 2019 & 2020, PP1-4, GWD24, Manhattan Prep website.
Foreword
If you can, I really recommend going for a short, intense GMAT prep sprint. A long drawn-out battle can wear you down mentally. But, if you’re someone who can stick with it for the long haul (as my attempts show, haha), this might give you some encouragement.
I’m a typical STEM person who just knew business schools had lots of women. I didn’t even know what an MBA was until my alternative military service. Once I realized an MBA could lead to a well-paying job, I decided to go for it. After a bunch of online research, I found out I needed a GMAT score. Many of my classmates went abroad after taking the GRE, so I thought it would be similar and started my GMAT nightmare with A2 GMAT, which was highly recommended online.
SC
This is probably the toughest section for most people starting out. My entire English education focused on vocabulary or where to stick prepositions. That didn’t help much when facing questions that ask for the *best* way to phrase something, not just the correct way.
A2’s training class teaches a direct approach to get you thinking like the GMAT expects for SC. (Though, it’s almost *too* direct; at first, solving problems on my own felt really different from A2’s explanations.) A2 breaks down all the SC test points and gives you a clear way to spot them. They have a massive amount of data on these points, more than you’d get just from doing the OG or PP sets.
A2 also dives deep into the grammar rules behind these points. But as you get further along, you’ll see why just using grammar rules in practice can be a big mistake. If you try to tackle every question with grammar rules alone, you’ll likely end up guessing on the last few questions and signing up for another test, unless you’re a genius. I really think some of A2’s quick tricks are gold. When they apply, you can nail a question in under a minute.
Many people find A2’s and Dustin’s problem-solving methods to be different, but I believe they complement each other. If you start by using tricks to eliminate options, you might accidentally get rid of the right answer first. If you take two minutes to meticulously break down each question by category and compare them, that’s a lot of time. In reality, after learning both approaches and putting them together, you’ll see how they connect.
CR
I’ve always enjoyed a good argument, so I was pretty excited about CR questions, especially Weaken ones. The only problem? My arguments were usually in Chinese; arguing in English was a whole different ballgame. My first hurdle was understanding the question itself.
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Unlike SC, where you can often get the general idea, CR demands a deeper grasp of the subtleties. If you only catch the gist, you might find yourself rereading the passage multiple times after you look at the options. So, my advice is to make sure you fully understand the question before you even look at the choices. But, if you’ve spent over a minute and are still lost, it’s time to move on.
Once you’ve got the question down, you need to figure out what it’s asking *before* you check the options. Otherwise, you’re basically reading another short passage (the prompt plus five options; I’ve calculated that some can be over 200 words).
I must mention Dustin’s “predict the answer” method in Terminator here. After correctly identifying the main point, if you have a few potential answers in mind, you’ll have an epiphany when you see the correct option, like recognizing true love. In time-sensitive situations, boldly choosing it has a high probability of being correct. Kory’s method of summarizing vertically and horizontally is, in my opinion, a really useful way to practice predicting the answer.
RC
This has always been a struggle for me. Ever since I started GMAT prep, RC felt like an impossible wall to climb. Before my sixth attempt, even when I studied on my own, I was either totally lost in the passages or spent almost ten minutes per passage, looking up words. It was even worse when I’d spend three to five minutes thinking I understood a passage, only to get all the questions wrong. Eventually, I just avoided RC and focused on SC and CR.
After my fifth attempt, I knew I couldn’t tackle RC alone, so I got a detailed consultation with A2. It was tough, but following A2’s method—which means not just skimming for the main idea, but thinking about what each sentence means, its purpose in the paragraph, and why it’s there—really improved my scores. My RC percentile, which was once as low as 9, jumped to 66 on my sixth attempt. I still have work to do, but at least I could understand about two and a half passages out of four, instead of guessing on every single one.
Ultimately, I have to stress that there are no shortcuts for RC. You need to build up your reading skills over time and combine that with smart reading strategies to get a decent accuracy rate under the pressure of the real exam.
Q
I won’t spend too much time here. Coming from a STEM background, if I can’t score well in Q, what else can I bring to the table? I highly recommend KH’s practical problem-solving techniques; they’re incredibly helpful. I knew how to solve some problems, but KH’s methods were at least 30 seconds faster and simpler, which cut down my error rate. Also, KH’s question bank (jijing) was impressively accurate. I saw about 10 questions from the bank on my exam, which were guaranteed correct and saved me a ton of time for other questions. If you’re aiming for Q51, definitely buy KH’s question bank.
IR & AWA
Honestly, two words: “whatever happens, happens.” After my first try, I stopped practicing these sections. It’s pure luck on exam day. If the questions are easy, great. If they’re hard, you’re in trouble.
Auxiliary Tools
Manhattan Prep Practice Software – Beyond their explanations, I found Manhattan’s practice software pretty accurate (except for the math section; it’s so hard it makes you doubt yourself). Before my sixth attempt, I took two practice tests and scored V34 and V35. My actual score on the sixth attempt was V34, which even surprised me.
Preparation Advice
If you’ve taken A2 GMAT classes, for SC prep, flip through your lecture notes often. A2’s notes are basically a super-condensed version of nearly every test point out there. If you had memory bread, you’d want to eat it to memorize all of it and become unstoppable. Besides the “B” book, I read each of the others at least five times, and I still found new things with each read.
Summarize the OG and PP 1-4 at least three times. I personally went through them about four times. The main reason was my long prep period; with nothing new to study, I had to keep reviewing them to find my blind spots. Why so many reviews? Because, just like A2’s notes, you’ll keep spotting new test points each time you practice—maybe something you missed during the last summary, or a concept you only now recognize as a test point. In short, practicing more never hurts.
For study groups, I found them really useful early on. Working through the GMAT’s complexities with classmates and suffering through the “killed by G” pain together can help you get familiar with the test faster.
However, after the third attempt, once you’ve summarized the OG and PP once or twice, I think it becomes a personal choice. By then, you might be losing steam for weekly review sessions and sticking to a schedule, especially after summarizing twice. Maybe going at your own pace is better. You be the judge.
On the actual exam, absolutely, absolutely manage your time. It’s better to skip a question that seems way out of your score range than to mess up questions you should get right. You might wonder how to tell if a question is out of your range. I’d say, if you can’t solve it within the normal time limit, it’s probably beyond your current skill level. Performing consistently at your level is way more important than forcing yourself to solve questions you’re not ready for.
Mentally, you can break down, you can slack off, but you absolutely cannot give up. Some people have incredible resilience and can study intensely for weeks or months. Others need to release stress in their own way, whether it’s the pressure of studying or the frustration after a bad score. I think finding your own path is crucial for long-term success, as the GMAT is just the first step in the whole MBA journey.
Reflections (Rant Time)
From my first attempt to my sixth, spanning nearly two and a half years while still working full-time, it would be a lie to say I never considered giving up. Initially, I was actively preparing, able to focus for three hours after work. Later, I experienced burnout. Preparing for the GMAT felt like a routine, and the intense drive to succeed diminished. It became a habit: after work, I’d go home and study GMAT, easily getting distracted by other things, leading to very low efficiency. Before my sixth attempt, I was waking up early to study for TOEFL and then practicing GMAT after work to keep my skills sharp, plus TOEFL. It was absolutely brutal. But maybe it was this stubborn refusal to quit (even if it was passive) that eventually led me to stumble upon a 710.
Never let go until your dreams are within reach – To all my friends on the path to studying abroad.
