Magdalena knew from the start that the only way to ace the GMAT is to focus on a process-oriented approach. As a result, she scored GMAT 780 (Q50, V48) on her first attempt.
Magdalena scored a 780 on the GMAT by:
- Implementing the three stages of learning
- Taking multiple mock tests to track her progress
- Strategic reviewing her performance
- Revising and learning from her mistakes
- Maintaining an error log
Moreover, she had seen how a data-driven structured approach could help in scoring 700+ on the GMAT. Her colleague, Valentine, who scored a 760 on the GMAT in his first attempt, set an excellent example for her.
In this article, we highlight 3 Key steps Magdalena took to score a 780 on the GMAT. You can also watch her interview with Archit, an e-GMAT mentor, who helped her craft a hyper-specific study plan that led her to ace the GMAT in the first attempt.
eGMAT Review by a GMAT 780 scorer – 3 Step Preparation Plan
Here are the three steps that Magdalena followed that helped her to score a 780:
- Take a diagnostic test
- Craft a personalized study plan
- Implementing three stages of learning
Let’s look into each one of them in detail.
Step 1: Take a diagnostic test
Magdalena was quite surprised when she took a Sigma-X mock test to know her starting abilities. She thought she was pretty good in Quant than in Verbal.
Magdalena: “English is not my first language, but still I scored 88%ile in Verbal, whereas in Quant I scored a 47%ile. I scored GMAT 680 (Q44, V39). “
Taking a diagnostic test at the start of her preparation helped Magdalena know where she needs to focus. If she had not taken the mock test, her GMAT preparation would have gone in the wrong direction. She would have focused on Verbal more based on her assumption instead of what should have ideally been done.
Archit: “You should not start your GMAT prep based on assumption. If you had assumed that your Quant is good, without any data to back it up, your GMAT journey would have been different.”
Know your starting abilities by taking a Free Sigma-X mock test like Magdalena.
Based on the diagnostic test, Magdalena was able to identify her weak areas, and then she moved on to the next step – Crafting a hyper-specific GMAT Study Plan.
Step 2: Craft a personalized GMAT 780 Study Plan
Scoring 780 with the stellar Q50 and V48 would have been impossible if Magdalena had not followed a structured personalized study plan that considered her weak areas. She got in touch with Archit, an e-GMAT mentor, who helped her craft a hyper-specific study plan after analyzing her performance on the diagnostic test.
Magdalena to Archit: “We had our first meeting, and you taught me how to do a strategic review on my mock test. Moreover, you told me how to identify my learning gaps, and with your insights, we were able to build a personalized study plan.”
Archit made sure that the study plan he crafted was feasible for Magdalena. It took into consideration her workload and other commitments.
Are you a working professional like Magdalena? Build your personalized study plan in just 5 mins. Get in touch with one of our mentors. Please read our article to gain more insight into creating a GMAT Study plan for a working professional.
Step 3: Implementing the three stages of learning
Magdalena started her GMAT preparation by building her ability in the Quant section and then fine-tuning her verbal section. She followed the three stages of learning for both sections. However, as she was good at Verbal, she directly jumped to stage 2. Here are the three stages of learning:
- Stage 1: Learn the concepts
- Stage 2: Cement methods and concepts
- Stage 3: Do test readiness
Let’s look into how Magdalena navigated through each stage.
Stage 1- Learn the Concepts
Magdalena had few conceptual gaps in Quant, which she was able to identify with the new Quant 2.0 course.
Magdalena: “The new course allows you to personalize your journey through the concepts. So, of course, my first step was to review the concept by sub-topic. Moreover, the e-GMAT course allows you to take a concept diagnostic quiz at the beginning of each module so that you can identify which topics you need to review.”
Knowing which topics to focus on after taking the concept diagnostic quiz in Quant helped Magdalena to be time-efficient. She was now able to focus on her weak areas and browse through the topics she already knew.
The new Quant 2.0 course helped her identify her strengths and weaknesses at the sub-topic level and suggested what files to skip and what files to review to mitigate her conceptual gaps in Quant.
Stage 2- Cement methods and concept
GMAT 780 – Quant prep
After bridging the conceptual gap in Quant, Magdalena moved on to the second stage of learning – cementing the concepts. In this stage, she focused on applying the concepts she learned.
Magdalena: “If you review all the concepts together and then directly move to practice the questions, you will tend to forget everything that you did before. So, learning one module concept and then cementing it before moving onto the next module is a wise way to prepare for the GMAT.
For GMAT Quant, Magdalena first started with the Number properties module (her weak area). She learned all the related concepts and then cemented them by solving questions before beginning the Word problem module. She followed the exact step-by-step process for the rest of the modules.
After completing the entire arithmetic, algebra, and geometry section, she took a Sigma-X mock test to analyze her progress.
GMAT 780 – Verbal Prep
She did not go through the e-GMAT’s concept files for the Verbal section as she was already good at it. She focused on stage 2 and learned from her mistakes.
Magdalena: “What I did was solve some quizzes and learn from what mistakes I make in those questions. That is how I identified my conceptual gaps in Verbal. But I identified them through solving quizzes, a bit opposite of what I did for my Quant section.”
Apart from identifying conceptual gaps through quizzes, she also maintained an error log and did a strategic review.
Magdalena: “At e-GMAT, they teach you how to do a strategic review not only for the questions that you solve incorrectly but also for the right questions. Moreover, the e-GMAT quizzes are very powerful because they allow you to know whether you solve the question correctly both in concepts and in process. Besides, at e-GMAT, they also teach you how to review all those questions so you can learn from your mistakes.”
All through Magdalena Verbal preparation journey, she focused on learning as much as she can. The aim was never to solve more questions but to learn from the questions she solved. She focused more on doing a strategic review and revision.
Magdalena: “It was never my target to solve a lot of questions. The questions I solved were the consequence of my revision. So, I was more focused on revision than on solving new questions.”
After completing SC, RC, and CR sections, she took a Sigma-X mock test to analyze her progress.
Step 3 – Do test readiness
After following the first two steps, Magdalena moved to the third stage of learning – becoming test-ready. She took various mock tests and analyzed her progress as well as the areas she still lacked. After completing all these quant and verbal modules, she took another mock to verify that there is a solid improvement. But she is still not there yet. She still needs to fine-tune her preparation. She then solved custom quizzes, where she built her ability in medium and hard questions.
Magdalena: “I learned from the mock test that I had improved my Quant skills a lot and had reduced the time to solve the question.”
Magdalena was now able to improve her GMAT score from 680 to 750 in the mock test. She kept on practicing questions and doing a strategic review.
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GMAT 780 preparation just before the exam
Just one week before the exam, Magdalena took a mock test and scored a 680. She reached out to Archit, who told her not to practice any new questions and focus on the once’s that she had already solved.
Magdalena: “What I did was a lot of revisions. So, it was the revision and learning from my mistakes. While I solved the following mock, I was also concentrating on not deviating from my target time. Moreover, you can learn more from the questions that you already solved than from new questions.
Form the questions you have already solved:
- You would know the thought process to solve the question
- You can identify at every point what you should have done to solve that question correctly in the correct time, with the correct process
Whereas, for if you solve a new question, you don’t have this information.”
Last one-week GMAT Prep to scoring GMAT 780
For the last couple of days, Magdalena focused on revising her error log. She did not burn herself out, and that is again an essential thing. You need to have a relaxed mindset to ace the GMAT.
Magdalena: “Apart from revising my error log, I trusted my preparation.”
Archit: “If you have put in the honest effort, you are bound to have that confidence while you take the GMAT.”
Are you facing test anxiety? Read our article that outlines how to tackle GMAT anxiety.
Quick tips from Magdalena to future test-takers targeting 780 GMAT
Here are some quick tips from Magdalena to future GMAT test-takers:
- Build a personalized study plan. It is very crucial
- Focus on revision. Revision is more important than solving new questions. Have a tool that allows you to do this revision correctly. It should be able to know the process that you use and how to improve from that
- Maintain an error log as it will help you with revision and help you identify precisely where you are going wrong. So put in that effort
Take a free GMAT mock to understand your baseline score and start your GMAT prep with our free trial. We are the most reviewed online GMAT Prep company with 2490+ reviews on GMATClub
Of course! GMAT 780 corresponds to the 99th percentile. Only a few test takers get such a high score on the GMAT.
GMAT 780 represents the 99th percentile. That means if you score a 780 on the GMAT, you are amongst the top 1 percent of the test takers.
For GMAT preparation, every student should have a customized study plan suited to their needs. Similarly, a GMAT 780 study plan will be specific to each student based on their strengths and weaknesses.
