A 7 min read

Prashant, a 770 (Q50, V45) scorer, credits his success on the GMAT to a data-driven GMAT preparation process. Here is the GMAT preparation debrief of Prashant, where he walks you through his preparation strategy and how he improved his verbal score to a V45. You can also watch his video interview where he gives a detailed review of the eGMAT course:

Prashant took GMAT thrice before hitting a 770. He took classroom coaching in his first two attempts, but their mantra to ace the GMAT was to practice more questions. The result was – He could not cross the GMAT 700 barrier. He then switched to an online learning course, which did offer him a structured study plan. However, his study plan was generic and did not cater to his strengths and weaknesses, leading him to score a 660 on the GMAT. What did he do next?

He opted for a personalized study plan and analyzed data to determine which areas he needs to focus on to score a 770 (Q50, V45) on the GMAT.

How did Prashant improve his GMAT score from 650 to 770?

Prashant scored a 770(Q50, V45) in his fourth attempt. He walks us through his GMAT journey and talks about how he leveraged his learnings from each GMAT attempt to achieve a 770 on the GMAT.

Kickstarting his GMAT journey

Prashant: My GMAT journey started when I was in my final year of college. All my friends took GRE for Master of Science (MS), and they attended classroom training. So, I just went ahead with the same prep company and took their GMAT course instead. Things went well then, at least seemed well, so I completed the classroom learning course. I took a small break in between and then started the GMAT preparation from my end.

There was no data to push me or help me focus on the areas I lacked. I just went through the generic preparation that is offered to everyone.

– Prashant

After taking a classroom course, Prashant practiced and took a few official GMAT mock tests that suggested a high score (around 710 and 720).

Prashant: After taking the GMAT official mock test, I was confident of scoring a 700 plus on the GMAT because the tutors told me that the official marks are pretty reflective of the actual GMAT performance. So, I took the GMAT and scored a disappointing 650.

A Huge delta from Official mock tests

Archit: What was the difference between the actual GMAT exam and official mock tests?

Prashant: Well, the questions were of higher difficulty level in the actual test. Especially in Quant. This made me more anxious, and I couldn’t cope with the difficulty level. I was just worried about the questions, which affected my ability to solve the easier question as well.

Archit: What did you do after that?

Prashant: So, I went back to my tutor, and they said it’s probably the test anxiety. I was a little apprehensive back then as to how can stress lead to 70 points differences? But they insisted that it was because of the anxiety. So, I just waited for the mandatory 16 days gap and retook the GMAT.

GMAT 660 in the second attempt

Prashant did not change the way he prepared for the GMAT in his second attempt. He did not analyze his ESR and just waited for 16 days and retook the exam.

Prashant: I think not analyzing my ESR after the first attempt was a huge mistake. I would suggest everyone get an ESR so that you know exactly what happened in the exam and where you went wrong.

Learn how to analyze your ESR and who should buy it in 2021?  

Prashant took a break after his second GMAT attempt. He was mentally exhausted, and he had few years before he started his MBA journey.

An online learning course for the third attempt

Prashant: During the COVID-19 pandemic, I had some extra time on my hands, and I thought, let’s resume my GMAT preparation again. This time I did a little bit of research and found an online course, which offered a whole pool of GRE, CAT, MAT, etc., products.

The online course that I took had better concepts and solutions for the questions, but the main thing, that was missing was data to let me know where I was lacking.

Again, my preparation was generic. It was not personalized or tailored to my strengths or weaknesses.

– Prashant

Prashant: My weakness was verbal, and my preparation strategy was to spend more time on it and practice questions. I knew my preparation was lacking a specific focus and a plan tailored to my requirements.

Archit: Did you do the strategic review to figure out exactly where you were faltering in questions?

Prashant: The online learning course never suggested that, but I was doing it for myself. I was creating error logs, but once I joined eGMAT, I realized how important it is to strategically review each question and make an error log for the same.

GMAT 660 in the third attempt again!

Prashant retook the GMAT, this time the GMAT online exam, and scored a 660. Moreover, he retook the GMAT official mock test before the third attempt and scored 720 – 740. A huge delta again!

Prashant: I was mentally exhausted and started losing hope. I did not know whether I would improve, but I was sure that I wanted to pursue an MBA at a top business school. I wasn’t going to compromise.

I knew that GMAT is an essential factor (not the only), but a significant factor to secure admit from the top colleges, along with scholarships.

– Prashant

Learn about the average GMAT score at the top business schools in the United States and Europe.

Did you know 740 is the new 700? Take a look at this article where Rajat, CEO of eGMAT, highlights how scoring a 740 can increase your chances of getting an admit, especially if you are from an over-represented pool of candidates (Indian engineers).

We can help you score 740+ on the GMAT. Take our free trial and experience the difference in learning. We have helped more than 40 students to realize their dream to get into top business schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton. Check out the eGMAT review by students on the GMAT club.

eGMAT review: a GMAT prep resource backed up by data and analytics

Prashant: I had seen a few success stories of students from eGMAT and was very impressed with the course. So, I knew that I was going to take the eGMAT course for my fourth attempt.

I started my journey with eGMAT by taking a diagnostic test.

The diagnostic test showed that Prashant was good in Quant (Q49). However, he scored a V28 on verbal. The test also pinpointed that he lacked in sentence correction and critical reasoning.

Know your starting ability and where you lack by taking a FREE SIGma-X mock test – the most accurate test to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses. Check out the eGMAT review on the GMAT club.

GMAT Verbal – Journey to scoring a V45

Prashant: I started my GMAT verbal prep from the beginning. I had learned many concepts with my previous preparations, but I still started from scratch. I started with Master comprehension under the eGMAT verbal course and would suggest everyone goes through it.  

After Prashant went through the master comprehension, he started with the sentence correction course.

GMAT Sentence correction

Prashant: Everyone out there talks about the meaning-based approach, but eGMAT’s way of teaching it is a game-changer. The course tells you to follow this three-step approach:

1. Meaning-based
2. Error analysis
3. Answer-choice analysis

eGMAT SC course covers all the concepts. I have taken two GMAT prep courses before, and I have never seen such depth of concepts. Understanding the meaning is crucial, but you also need to know what exact sentence structure or grammatical concept needs to be applied, and eGMAT covers it well.

– Prashant

Learn how the meaning-based approach helps to ace the GMAT sentence correction:

After completing the sentence correction module, Prashant took cementing quizzes.

Prashant: I took three medium-level quizzes and three hard-level quizzes. My accuracy was decent, but my timing was way off. This is where the help from the eGMAT support team was crucial. Sharadha, a subject matter expert at eGMAT, sent me a personalized video analyzing why I took longer to answer a question. She told me to do some corrective steps, which I did.

The exercise was long, and it took time, but it was worth it! Thus, strategic reviewing your performance is important.

GMAT Critical reasoning

After building his ability in GMAT SC, Prashant started with the eGMAT’s critical reasoning module.

Prashant:  I started with CR again from scratch because I was not doing well on it. I went through the course modules. The pre-thinking approach in CR is a game-changer. I was pre-thinking intuitively before, but through the eGMAT learning architecture, I made sure that pre-thinking was a process step while solving questions crucially.  

The pre-thinking approach gives you a better understanding of the conclusion because you’re forced to come with an assumption. You’re making sure that you have a pure understanding of the conclusion and the argument. It gives you much better clarity on the entire logic of the argument.

– Prashant

After going through the entire CR module, Prashant followed the same principle for critical reasoning. He took cementing quizzes as he did for sentence correction. He also took some test readiness quizzes towards the end.

Learn how the pre-thinking approach helps to ace the GMAT critical reasoning:

Once I completed the test readiness quizzes, I went ahead and took my next SIGma-X mock, and my verbal had drastically improved. In the actual GMAT exam prashant scored a V45.

– Prashant

Strategically reviewing your GMAT preparation to score V45

Prashant: eGMAT helps you to create an efficient error log. There are videos on the platform, which tell you how to create an error log. Those are so very helpful. Moreover, I think it’s important to revise your error logs and see where you’re faltering consistently. This also helped him to improve his score from a V28 to a V45.

Once you have documented all your errors in a structured fashion, analysis can be done on the data, but the data must be captured first. That is where error-log comes into the picture.

eGMAT review – Acing GMAT Quant with xPERT AI

Prashant:  eGMAT has an excellent Quant course, which is tailored to your specific needs. The best part is that they have a diagnostic quiz at the beginning of each concept.

I was weak in algebra and geometry. So, I went ahead with the algebra module and took the diagnostic quizzes. I knew the concepts but was lacking on the application part. Thus, I went to practice only those specific files required to improve my application skills. I did that for the entire algebra module and geometry, after which I took the quizzes.

When it comes to the quizzes – xPERT’s neural engine evaluates real-world scenarios such as luck factor, rush through factor, careless mistakes, timing issues, and more to ensure that you extract maximum improvement from every quiz. Experience the difference, take a free trial. Check out the eGMAT review on the GMAT club.

GMAT 770 by following a data-driven process

After completing the eGMAT course, Prashant retook the GMAT and scored a 770. He was able to increase his Quant score (from Q49 to Q50). Moreover, his major improvement came through the verbal section (V28 to V45). Here is what he has to say about his GMAT exam day experience.

He took GMAT online exam and did hit a roadblock:

Prashant: I took the test on my work laptop, which is not advisable at all. I was just overconfident, and I took it. I ended up having to switch my laptop. So, never use your work laptop. There was a background process running, which was a huge issue.

Take a look at this video where we talk about how to maximize your performance on the GMAT online exam:

Want to improve your GMAT score as Prashant did (from V28 to V45)? Register for our free trial and experience the difference. We can craft a well-defined personalized study plan for you. Check out the eGMAT review on the GMAT club.