A 5 min read

Ayush’s story of achieving a 99 percentile score [760 (Q50, V41)] on the GMAT is of introspection and observation. Many GMAT takers struggle with time management but fail to understand that low ability and not, speed is the cause behind it. Ayush understood it and even after scoring 650 in his first GMAT attempt, he focused on identifying his weaknesses. He realized that his low accuracy and speed were just a product of his low ability level.

To improve his ability level, he followed a methodical approach to preparing for the GMAT. What stands out about his success story is the fact that he developed an understanding of the correct application process of concepts. He clearly knew why a particular answer was correct or incorrect. That solidified his application process, made him more confident and he didn’t second-guess his answers. This helped him reduce the time in answering the questions and he didn’t guess questions towards the end of the section. The result was an outstanding 760 on the GMAT.
Navigation Suggestions:

• 0:36 – Initial stages of GMAT preparation
• 4:52 – Struggle with time management in sentence correction
• 6:46 – Change in approach that led to GMAT 760
• 9:12 – How analytics played a key role in achieving a high GMAT score
• 11:52 – Second attempt at GMAT
• 19:06 – What B-schools look for in a candidate

Rajat – Let’s talk about the beginning – how did you start your GMAT preparation?

Ayush – My plan was to do an MBA from abroad. So, it was important to build my profile, get an ample amount of work experience and take the GMAT. So, my first plan was to ace the GMAT exam.

So, I started with MGMAT books and referred to basic study material to a coaching center in Delhi. I also read articles on GMAT forums about GMAT format, dos and don’ts of GMAT etc.

At that point of time, I used to score Q47-48 and V33-34, but my verbal score was not consistent.

Rajat – Why do you think your score was low?

Ayush – I read on gmatclub forum that you must focus on initial questions and get them right and the last questions do not matter. Because of which I used to guess answers in the end. I was guessing 3-4 questions in Quant and 5-6 questions in Verbal. I failed to understand that because of this I wasn’t managing my time properly.

Rajat – 650 is a decent score. So, how would you attribute this score to the coaching center in Delhi vs the MGMAT books?

Ayush – Well, both explain the process of approaching a question, but one problem that I faced in MGMAT books was that they are extremely technical. They use a lot of jargons. On the other hand, the coaching study material was not holistic.

Rajat – You talked about time management earlier. What problem did you face?

Ayush – I faced a problem of time management in Sentence Correction and Critical Reasoning. There were a few questions which could be solved in 1 minute. But I took a lot of time and therefore, I struggled with managing time and guessed questions at the end of the exam.

Rajat – So, what was your strategy for the second attempt?

Ayush – My strategy was to improve my accuracy and speed. I didn’t want to guess 6-7 questions at the end. So, I bought e-GMAT’s complete course and started with Sentence Correction. I followed the process step by step. I was a bit skeptical about using the pre-thinking approach because I thought it would be a time-consuming process.

However, with practice, I improved as the process is very logical. Within 20 days of preparing, I could see improvement in my accuracy and speed. I felt more confident in answering questions and I wasn’t guessing the answers anymore.

Rajat – How did you improve in Sentence Correction?

Ayush – I must say that the SC course of e-GMAT is very holistic. Every topic is covered in the course which can possibly come in the GMAT. Also, e-GMAT’s focus on the meaning of the sentence rather than just the grammar part was really helpful. I never used to focus on the meaning of a sentence while approaching SC questions.

Rajat – How did Scholaranium help you?

Ayush – Once I was confident with the concepts and application part, I started practicing the questions on Scholaranium. The quality of questions is very good. I used to practice questions every day. I think it is very important to get in the rhythm of solving questions so that you can replicate that same thing in the GMAT. Moreover, once you are done with questions, it provides very detailed solution for each and every question. It helped me to understand why I got a question right or wrong. It helped me improve my application of concepts. Scholaranium really helped me prepare to tackle difficult questions on the GMAT.

Rajat – So, how was the exam day? In the earlier attempt, time management was an issue. Was it an issue this time too?

Ayush – Well, I started with Quant. It went like a breeze. I finished the section 5 minutes earlier. I was confident of scoring Q50 in Quant. Then I started with the Verbal Section. I used 2-3 minutes for the first question. But, then I started picking up the pace. The first 15-20 questions were really tough. After that, I realized that GMAT is throwing easier questions at me. However, I was still using the concepts learned to tackle those questions as well. I was really confused as to why I am getting easy questions but I still continued without getting bogged down. Once I saw the score on the screen, it was a beautiful feeling. I can’t describe it in words.

Rajat – Now that you have scored a 760, what are your future plans?

Ayush – I have around 3.5 years of work experience and the average work experience of MBA applicants is 4-5 years. So, I plan to apply next year for MBA. Moreover, I have cleared CFA level 2. So, I am planning to clear CFA level 3 as well.

Rajat – So, what are your future career plans?

Ayush – 10 years down the line, I want to work in the Private Equity industry. Therefore, now I’ll start researching business schools which can help me achieve this goal.

Ayush used a great study plan to reach 99 percentile on the GMAT. If you feel, you lag behind in the planning part of your preparation, we invite you for a free webinar on GMAT Strategy. Learn the best way to prepare for GMAT by taking a free trial of our online GMAT preparation resource. You can write to us at acethegmat@e-gmat.com if you need any GMAT related advice. Do make sure you read the article mentioned above and send us your plan along with any queries that you have.