After scoring a disappointing score of 640 (Q46 V33) in his first GMAT attempt, Teseo improved to a GMAT 750 (Q48 V44) in 1.5 months by focusing on GMAT Verbal. Even more remarkable is the fact that Teseo is not a native English speaker, in fact, according to his own admission he did not speak English till 6 years ago.
In this article, he shares how he improved from a GMAT 640 to 750 in just 1.5 months and his GMAT preparation strategy.
Update: Teseo has received an Admit to the MiM program at HEC Paris.
Congratulations on scoring a 750 on the GMAT, how does it feel?
It feels great. Honestly, I did not expect a 750 GMAT Score. I started my GMAT preparation by giving a mock test and I scored a 680. Considering that I was aiming for a 700 GMAT score for my target programs, I thought that practicing problems from the GMAT official guide would be enough.
However, I was in for a rude shock when I ended up scoring only a 640 in my first official GMAT. I realized that I was spending a lot of time solving Sentence Correction questions and this was one of the major reasons for my low GMAT score This is when I joined e-GMAT to help me hit my target GMAT score.
What was the biggest problem you faced in sentence correction questions?
I believe the biggest problem initially was approaching sentence correction questions with my gut feeling instead of a methodical approach. For e.g. even if I knew that there was an error, I could not pinpoint it. When I looked at the solutions to the OG questions though I could understand the explanation of where the meaning changed, I did not really understand the types of errors.
This was further amplified by my lack of knowledge of grammar rules. Thus, I was solving questions based on what does not sound right rather than applying a process-based and methodical approach to identify errors and then rule out answer options.
How did you start with your GMAT preparation after your 1st attempt?
I knew I had to focus on mainly the Verbal section and while going through the e-GMAT course I realized that SC was one of the most extensive modules in GMAT Verbal. Also, Your GMAT Roadmap course helped me in understanding which areas I should tackle first where I should devote my time during GMAT preparation.
How the Master Comprehension course helped in improving Reading Comprehension
Another issue I became aware of after my first GMAT attempt was my reading speed. I realized that I was reading too fast and in doing so I missed out certain crucial pieces of information. This habit led me to the wrong answers in certain questions. This is where the Master Comprehension course helped me enormously. Through the Master Comprehension course, I learned how to use strategic pause point during reading and this helped me improve my comprehension manifold.
If you want to try out the e-GMAT course that helped Teseo improve from a GMAT 640 to 750 in just 6 weeks , 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 2000 reviews.
How did you prepare for GMAT sentence correction using the e-GMAT course?
The e-GMAT SC module was a revelation in terms of both concepts and grammar rules required to ace GMAT SC. The best way I could express it would be to say I did not know what I did not know for e.g. parallelism etc. I diligently went through all the concept files, application files, and OG quizzes in the e-GMAT SC course.
Built-in Analytics helped in tracking progress during preparation
Even more important was how easily I could see and track my progress through the data analytics built into the e-GMAT platform. I could clearly see how I performed in the initial quizzes and my improvement after going through the course.
Besides the concept files, the application files really helped me in nailing down how to approach a question. Sometimes, even though you might get an answer correct, the approach you may have adopted may not be optimal. The application files helped me in figuring out the correct and optimal way to approach a question.
After Sentence Correction, you moved on to Critical Reasoning, what was your GMAT CR preparation strategy?
After completing SC I started preparing for critical reasoning by going through the foundation files and inference module in detail. However, CR was one of my strengths areas. And in going through the course I realized that I was making silly mistakes.
Thus, after this realization, I focused on solving questions and practiced using the OG quizzes. Also, I scored well in the CR and RC diagnostic quizzes which further helped in strengthening my decision to focus on getting more practice by solving questions in the official guide.
How did you use Scholaranium in your preparation?
Scholaranium was extremely helpful in preparing for GMAT in general and sentence correction in particular. I would say that the questions in Scholaranium are the closest to official GMAT questions. They focus on a particular type of mistake and helped me in understanding which concepts I need to focus on during my preparation.
I used Scholaranium to take ability quizzes as it was the best way to track the improvement in my ability. All in all, I think I took around 10 ability quizzes through the course of my GMAT preparation.
What would be the 3 most important tips that you would give to other GMAT test-takers?
Following are my 3 tips for GMAT test-takers:
- Take a mock test
- Have a flexible GMAT study plan
- During the test do not focus too much on the time taken for each question. Also, if you think you are taking too much time it would be advisable to just guess and move on to the next question.
Take a mock test
Taking a mock test helps in two ways. First, in understanding your current level of preparation and the overall amount of time it would take to reach your target score.
And second, it also helps in understanding the exact areas which you need to focus on during your preparation.
Learn more about e-GMAT SIGma-X mock tests which offer ESR like insights into your GMAT preparation
Having a flexible GMAT Study plan
By a flexible GMAT study plan what I mean is something that is adaptable to your routine. A rigid study plan may end up demotivating you during your preparation. For e.g. I planned to study ~12 hours per week overall rather than 2 hours a day.
However, it important that you follow a milestone-driven approach based on your target GMAT score.
Create your own milestone driven study plan using our Personalized GMAT Study Planner tool.
Do not focus too much on timing and don’t be afraid to skip certain questions
I feel after you have had a good amount of practice solving GMAT questions, you intuitively become aware of the time it takes to solve a certain type of question. Thus, if you feel you are not making progress on a certain type of question don’t be afraid to guess and move on.
Since there is no guarantee that you may be able to answer the question correctly even after spending some more time. Rather it is much more possible that you may be able to get the next question correct and save some time.
Payal: Thank you Teseo for the tips. I am sure other GMAT test takers will find it quite helpful. Also, to add to your last tip, it is important to be aware of your takt time.
Takt time is the amount of time you take to answer a question correctly. And it varies from person to person as well as from section to section. Thus, in your second attempt since you focused on taking your takt time for each question which helped you focus on one question at a time.
Learn more about Takt Time in this article.
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