A 6 min read

Arshita scored 620 on her first mock test. She then prepared for six months, gave 15+ mocks but was only able to achieve a 640, scoring a mere V29 in GMAT Verbal. However, some strategic changes in the preparation enabled her to score a GMAT 750, with a V41, in just 30 days. How did she do it?

Watch this video debrief to know how Arshita scored 94^th percentile on GMAT verbal, which increased her overall GMAT score by 110 points in 30 days. You can also read this article that highlights her journey.

• 00:00 Rajat congratulates Arshita on scoring a GMAT 750
• 00:35 A little background on Arshita’s journey
• 1:48 620 on the first diagnostic test
• 4:10 practice does not necessarily improve your timing on GMAT
• 6:10 What changed after Arshita scored a 640 in her first attempt
• 7:55 How things changed post enrolling with e-GMAT?
• 8:44 Explanation in Scholaranium changed her POV towards questions
• 10:10 Improved timing and accuracy on GMAT CR using the Pre-Thinking
• 11:25 how meaning helped her overcome GMAT SC
• 15:30 Arshita’s post GMAT plans
• 16:40 Some facts about H1B Visa for MBA education
• 20:00 Why the H1B Visa Is a boon for MBA applicants?

GMAT Preparation: A Rocky start

Arshita started her GMAT preparation by self-studying. She started exploring the GMAT club, went through OG 2019 questions, and prepared through Manhattan books. After she gave her first mock test, where she scored a 620, she knew her verbal section needs improvement.

Arshita: I started my preparation with the GMAT Official Guide and practiced a lot of questions. I prepared for a month and gave another mock test, but I was stuck at 640. After my second mock test, I started exploring different GMAT preparation resources like GMAT Club, Manhattan, Veritas, and e-GMAT prep questions. In short, my preparation was not very channelized. I solved a lot of questions and gave a lot of mock tests from different resources.

I was also facing timing issues in the verbal section and thought the only way out is through practice. However, practice does not make you perfect. It does not necessarily improve your timing on GMAT.

After investing about six months of her time and not to forget the expenses of different resources she bought, Arshita switched to the e-GMAT course for a more structured approach towards GMAT prep.

Arshita: I had seen one or two e-GMAT videos and knew how the portal works. So, I first started going through the videos that were in the e-GMAT course. Sentence correction was not my strength, so I started my prep with the SC section, then moved to CR, and finally RC. I approached one section at a time, and while going through the course, I was not feeling very confident. However, it all changed once I started using Scholaranium.

Turning Point:  V29 to V41 in 30 days

After using Scholaranium, which allowed Arshita to make custom quizzes, and by solving the ability quizzes presented on e-GMAT’s platform, Arshita felt more confident about her prep.

Arshita: When I started attempting custom and ability quizzes, what changed was not the type of questions. It was the type of explanation. I went through all the options and deduced it to why a particular choice is wrong, especially for CR. It is not about knowing which answer is correct but understanding why other options are incorrect. E-GMAT helped me in knowing this, and the explanation given for it was easier to understand too.

Making CR a strength

Before e-GMAT, Arshita did not use the pre-thinking approach. Been a logical thinker, Arshita excelled in CR once she mastered the pre-thinking method. As a result, her time to answer questions came down from 150 seconds to 90 seconds, which gave her a breathing room in RC and SC.

Arshita: When I was going through e-GMAT’s CR videos, they were very adamant about pre-thinking. But they also said one thing on the notes that you do not have to exhaustively pre-think. You think about one or two things that will make your mind understand the entire passage concept and then start with the elimination process. That is where you are going to save time.

It is not that you will pre-think everything and then choose the right answer. Start eliminating.

-Arshita

That was a game-changer for me. I was reasonably good in CR but was not good with its timing. It was always 2.5 minutes or three minutes per question, but it was only 1.5 minutes after the pre-thinking approach.

Learn how to pre-think assumptions in GMAT Critical Reasoning.

Meaning first, Grammar Next

Arshita: I use to invest more than 1.5 minutes per question in SC. However, it all changed once I started using the meaning-based approach. I practiced questions that could not be solved without a meaning-based approach.

Critical points like when the two sentences are right, but you must always go with the original meaning. That was one of the things that E-GMAT told me.

There were a lot of loopholes in my preparation were e-GMAT helped me. After prioritizing meaning over grammar, my SC ability soared.

Post GMAT Plans

Arshita is looking into business schools in the USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom. However, she is having a few concerns about the dynamic nature of the H1B visa. To answer her questions, here is the conversation between Rajat, CEO of e-GMAT, and Arshita:

MBA in USA

Arshita: You hear a lot about the H1B visa complications, and it gets you thinking of if settling in the USA, the right choice.

Rajat: Let me tell you the numbers behind each H1B visa. It has a quote of about 85,000 people. It is a visa that has been in this country for nearly 24 years, passed on by Congress. Even though Trump wanted to do stuff about it for four years, he has not able to do a whole lot. 

Over the last 12 years, companies such as Infosys, TCS, etc., have been abusing the H1B visa. It is a specialty visa designed for skills, which are not common in the US. But these companies have been using it as a people replacement visa, where they would say – hey, here is an American guy, who is getting a hundred grand. I am going to get you an Indian guy who will be happy at about 65 grand.

And they have been hijacking this reserve. How? Because for every person they’re trying to fill, they’ll have four people apply for that visa. So, for those 85,000 slots, you get 400,000 applications.

Unfortunately, today’s system is a lottery system, which means that you may be offered a $150,000 job, whereas someone else may be offered a $65,000 job. Your probability of getting that visa is one in four because there are 400,000 applications. And that is how 75% to 80% of the visa go to these companies.

So, what Trump has been saying is that we need to prioritize this for people who earn higher. Why? Because for 60,000 to 65,000 of these folks who get an H1B visa, their starting salaries is about $71,000 today, which does not make sense, given that they are coming in the IT sector, where starting salaries is at $94,000.

If you are getting someone on a specialty visa and paying them $71,000, it does not make sense. Why would that skill be in short supply if you are paying less than that? So, what Trump is saying is we will prioritize people who get more money.

How much does someone earn post-MBA from top b-schools in the US? Around $140,000. And I am not talking about Stanford or Harvard. I am talking about Michigan Ross or Kenan Flagler. It is $120,000 – $160,000 range. So, for an MBA graduate from the top USA b-school, H1B changes are a boom. Why? Because over the last 1 ½  years, 60% of all applications from folks such as TCS have been rejected. But for people applying through Microsoft or Google, that rejection rate is 1% because the salaries are higher.

Take a look at H1B visa changes and how it is a boom for MBA graduates

MBA in Canada and UK

Now let us talk about Europe.

Rajat: Canada is a good option and probably the safest place. They have a very consistent visa policy for the last 15 years. Europe now has this policy in England where you can now work for two years post your degree. However, before this, that duration was 45 days. If you cannot find a job, you get back. That is just in the UK.  There is no formal visa process at most of the other places. Thus, a good chunk of Indians who come to European schools, do not stay back.

UK schools are better than other European schools, but nothing compared to the USA or Canadian schools.

MiM Programs aboard

I would suggest going to HEC Paris and LBS MiM programs courses. Look at these articles to know more about MiM programs:

• MiM programs – all you need to know
• MiM vs. MBA: Key differences on eligibility, fees, and salary
• Top 10 MiM programs in the world
• List of MiM scholarships