Guillermo’s success on the GMAT is a story of dedication and relentless pursuit of a goal once you set your mind to it. Deciding on Wharton as his dream B-school after a visit, he pushed himself and scored a GMAT 710 with a Q50 improving from a Q38 in 3 Months. He strategized his preparation as follows:
- Focusing on conceptual clarity and logic
- Following a structured approach
- Choosing the right resources for preparation
His story shows how dedication towards prep with the help of a good plan and strategy, and the right resources can help you achieve your target score. In this article, we will explore his journey to a GMAT 710 with a Q50. You can also watch his video debrief below.
Rajat: Congratulations on a GMAT 710 and an amazing Q50 score, tell us about your GMAT test-taking experience.
Guillermo: Thank you Rajat, my GMAT was a rollercoaster experience. Since finalizing Wharton as my target business school which has a Quant focused program, I knew I had to ace the quant section. And, on the exam day, I stormed through the Quant section which initially made me feel elated. However, during the break, self-doubt crept in which made me think, what if I aced the quant section because the questions were easy and I had been getting them wrong.
This self-doubt made me extra cautious in the verbal section due to which I ended up spending more time per question and hurting my accuracy in the later sections due to the shortage of time. Nonetheless, I am extremely proud of the Q50 which I believe will be a differentiating factor for me throughout the admissions process.
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Rajat: Now, that you put the story together, I can see how your ESR reflects the same. So, how did you start preparing for the GMAT?
Guillermo: I attempted a few quant ability quizzes in which I was scoring in the Q35 range. I joined a GMAT prep company, however, within a couple of months. I realized that their method wasn’t working for me. Besides my mock test scores were not improving. I could not feel any improvement in my skills of approaching or solving a question and was lacking conceptual clarity which is essential to reach a 700+ score.
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That was when I decided to switch to another test prep company and by coincidence or sheer stroke of luck, I got an email invite for a session on Number Properties conducted by the Quant experts from e-GMAT. The session was a revelation and really helped me understand my level of unpreparedness for the GMAT. I immediately purchased and started preparing using the e-GMAT Quant course.
| GMAT 710 – 12 Point improvement in 3 Months | ||
| Test Prep Company | Time spent | GMAT Score |
| Other | 2 Months | 590 (Q 38 V 33) |
| e-GMAT | 3 Months | 710 (Q50 V 35) |
Sign up for our free trial to get access to the resources that Guillermo used during his preparation. If you have any GMAT strategy related doubts you can write to us at acethegmat@e-gmat.com
Rajat: How was your preparation different the second time around?
Guillermo: I started preparing with the e-GMAT course by following the structured approach suggested to understand concepts as well as for solving questions. I could feel my ability improving while attempting application quizzes and this helped in building a good foundation as well as boosting my confidence. My confidence was further bolstered by the fact, that my Quant scores were improving each time I attempted a mock test. That steady progress motivated me further to continue my prep.
Rajat: What was your strategy?
Guillermo: In Quant, I started by going through the concept files. I knew that to score a Q50, my accuracy in medium difficulty questions should be almost 100% along with a good hit ratio on hard questions.
3 Step Strategy for a high quant score:
- Perfect accuracy in medium difficulty questions (below 600)
- Good hit ratio in hard difficulty questions (High 600 to Low 700)
- Best attempt to solve really hard questions (High 700 Level)
I implemented this strategy with the help of Quant Scholaranium. The quality and quantity of questions that are available for practice are amazing and this helped me in perfecting my accuracy in High 600 and Low 700 level questions.
Though I purchased the verbal course it was just 3 weeks from my exam date and I had to consciously decide between learning new concepts for verbal or dedicating more time to perfecting Quant. I chose to focus on Quant and was able to go through only around 3 CR modules, which I found amazing.
Rajat: What was your prep strategy just before the exam?
Guillermo: Just before the exam I spent my time reviewing questions from Scholaranium. This helped me understand the different approaches to solve a question as well as the different ways in which questions can be asked in the test. I spent additional time solving the very hard questions in Scholaranium to further improve my Quant score.
Guillermo aced the GMAT on his retake. Take a look at this 5-step strategy for a successful GMAT retake
Rajat: So now that you’re done with the GMAT, what is next?
Guillermo: Right now, I am working on polishing my essays for the application. I am collaborating with Maria from ApplicantLab. Her help has been instrumental in perfecting the context of my application story in the essays. It has been a great learning experience and I hope to apply the learning and process to my other application essays as well.
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My top choice is Wharton, and I got a chance to visit the campus as well as interact with people currently in the program. I am in touch with them and they have graciously offered to put in a good word to the Adcom about my candidature. I also got a chance to interact with them at an event in Mexico and was able to make a good connection with them about my goals.
It was a pleasant surprise to know that Maria was holding a resume webinar in collaboration with e-GMAT. It felt great to be working with the best GMAT test prep company and admissions consultants at the same time.
Rajat: I wish you the best for your MBA journey and the transformational experience that an MBA is.
Guillermo: Thank you, Rajat. And I would like to personally thank you for creating this amazing course. I know B-Schools give a lot of importance to the concept of impact on others. The e-GMAT course and team have had a great impact on my life and helped me immensely in my dream of pursuing an MBA from one of the top B-schools. I would wholeheartedly recommend the course to all my friends looking to take the GMAT.
Rajat: Thank you for your kind words. This serves as both motivation and reward for our efforts. Good Luck!
If you want to try out the e-GMAT course that helped Guillermo score a 710 on the GMAT, sign up for our Free Trial. We can also help you with a personalized study plan and give you access to quality online content to prepare. Write to us at acethegmat@e-gmat.com. We are the most reviewed GMAT prep company on GMATClub with more than 2100 reviews.
