A 5 min read

The first step towards success is to decide that you’re not going to stop until you reach your target. An engineering graduate, Rohini is a full-time working professional and a mother. At the start of her GMAT prep journey, she was confident of her quant abilities but she knew that she had a long way to go in building GMAT level verbal skills.  

Setting an uncompromisable target, Rohini worked hard to achieve her target score and knew she had to prioritize GMAT over everything else to be able to succeed.  

Despite a hectic work schedule and responsibility of family and her son, she committed herself to nothing less than her best efforts until she reached her target score. While navigating through the course, Rohini cautiously took decisions which sometimes did not work in her favor (such as skipping the Scholaranium practice). Only after her first GMAT attempt, she realized that she should trust the e-GMAT processes and methods fully to realize her target score.  

Watch Rohini’s GMAT journey from GMAT 710 to 750, learnings from her mistakes and what kept her going until she achieved her target.

Family, work, and GMAT preparation

Given her family and work commitments, Rohini had limited time for GMAT preparation. She needed a structured course to ensure she makes optimal use of her time. Rohini started her GMAT prep journey by subscribing to e-GMAT course on the recommendation of her colleagues. She adopted a few proven good habits of GMAT achievers that kept her going despite the challenges she faced during her preparation journey. 

1. Consistency: She’d study for 3 hours daily for four months without skipping a day, despite her full-time job and family commitments. 

2. Foundation First: She started from the basics and focused on strengthening her concepts from scratch.   

3. Positive mindset: Keeping faith in her potential, she ensured that she had a positive attitude towards her journey and the goal once she set her high target.  

She began her e-GMAT course by going through the videos explaining how to make the most of the course. Rohini picked the quant section first to give herself a familiar and comfortable start. However, while learning the first module of e-GMAT quant section, Number Properties, she learned how even simple concepts such as even-odd can be made challenging by the GMAT. She realized that she needed to know the concept inside out to tackle the difficult questions. She had to unlearn some of the mathematical concepts before she could get onboard with the methods required to build new skills for the GMAT.  

I am glad I followed e-GMAT’s course structure and built my concepts first. I’d have been completely lost if I’d started my preparation directly with the Official Guide. 

Read this article to Understand the GMAT test and find 6 GMAT Preparation Best Practices in 2022–23 that can help you ace the test. 

Rohini’s first attempt at GMAT 

In her first attempt at GMAT, Rohini scored 710(Q50, V36). She believes her sub-par score in that attempt had a few specific reasons which she learned much later.  

Here are the reasons she believes caused a delay in her success at GMAT. 

1. She avoided taking SIGma-X mock which determines your starting ability for the fear of scoring low and getting demotivated. It is recommended to take a diagnostic mock at the beginning of your preparation to evaluate your starting abilities and plan your preparation accordingly.  

2. She did not use Scholaranium(the e-GMAT question bank with 400+GMAT-like practice questions with detailed solutions) to practice in a timed environment. Because she practiced outside the platform where she did not have a detailed solution, she could not do the e-GMAT strategic review which is an important step in the learning process. 

3. She took five official mocks where she did not get analytics of her performance to review and make necessary corrections. Due to the lack of skill data, she could not identify the gaps in her learning. 

4. In the Official Mocks, she scored as high as 740 but those were not reflective of her actual abilities. She scored 710 on her first GMAT attempt.  

Rohini immediately cancelled her first GMAT score of 710. She was confident of her true potential and was determined to settle for nothing less. She was not ready to compromise on doing an MBA only from top b-schools.  

Rather than using a simple question-based adaptive engine, SIGma-X mocks use a sophisticated adaptive engine based on Item Response Theory (IRT) to ensure that the difficulty level of questions served truly adapts to your actual ability. SIGma-X offers

* Large Pool of Questions

* 5 – Difficulty levels

* Block – level adaptability

Despite scoring Q50 consistently in mocks and the actual GMAT she was clueless about the reasons that caused her low verbal score. Upon thorough analysis of her GMAT ESR by e-GMAT expert Archit, she found out that Sentence Correction and Reading Comprehension were her faltering areas.  

The primary purpose of an Enhanced Score Report is to help you improve your GMAT score when you retake the test. Read this article to learn how to analyze a GMAT ESR. 

Rohini: During my first attempt, I focused too much on perfecting my quant and neglected verbal. Due to the lack of review data and analysis, gaps in my verbal knowledge did not come to my attention until after my actual GMAT attempt. 

Data shows that people who create milestone-driven GMAT study plans are at least twice as likely to reach their target scores and are required to put in 25% fewer hours.

During my first attempt, I focused too much on perfecting my quant and neglected verbal. Due to the lack of review data and analysis, gaps in my verbal knowledge did not come to my attention until after my actual GMAT attempt. 

GMAT 750 Plans and approach 

As per the statistics indicated in her ESR, Rohini received a detailed personalized study plan from the e-GMAT expert Archit, targeting the identified weak areas. While Archit recommended her to keep in touch with quant, he recommended that she focus on fine-tuning her Verbal reparation. Her study plan included the following exercises and she did each exercise given to her with utmost diligence. 

1. She received personalized videos explaining her to strategically review every question she’s solved in SC and RC, and make notes  

2. She was asked to read two articles every day from The Economist. To improve her reading skills for RC, she had to follow a process and focus on the flow of the article, the author’s intended meaning, assumptions, the tone of the passage, etc. 

Rohini: I ensured that I did everything I was told to get closer to my target score. It all paid off as I could see a drastic improvement in my verbal score. Another significant difference this time was that I used Scholaranium and analytics. 

I ensured that I did everything I was told to get closer to my target score. It all paid off as I could see drastic improvement in my verbal score. Another major difference this time was that I used Scholaranium and analytics. 

The best thing about Strategic Review is that you just don’t review questions you got wrong but also those that you got right but took a lot of time. This exercise really helped me. I am impressed by the way e-GMAT team extremely promptly helps students to achieve their target score. 

This time I entered the exam room with great confidence, and I knew I was ready to score 750-770. Unlike the first time, I was not hoping for a good day or depending on my luck. 

GMAT Exam Day Tips – Checklist for the D Day. Read this article to get GMAT test day tips, best practices, and strategies that will help you ensure a hiccup-free GMAT and help you face the GMAT test confidently.  

After working for 9 years in the conventional oil and gas industry, Rohini wanted to diversify to a new futuristic career path. She got admission to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, a member of the Ivy League and one of the best educational institutes.