What do GMAT High Scorers do differently?
At e-GMAT, we study both “success” and “failure” and try to establish causality for both. We have numerous students who have scored above 700. At the same time, we have had a few students who have not done as well. In this article, I will try to outline the causes of both. In addition, I would urge you to go through my article – 3 reasons why you may not score as high on GMAT verbal.
Recent Success Stories from GMAT Test Takers
e-GMAT student Shekhar improved his GMAT score from 600 to 770. He leveraged the “methodical approach” to overcome his attention disorder to achieve this feat. Click here to read his GMAT Success Story de-brief.
e-GMAT student Bruno improved from 540 to 730 on GMAT in 1 month! His interview after the exam was extremely heartfelt. He focused on “building his core skills” and “logical approach” to solve questions. Click here to view his video interview.
Prawee (740) used all the books and local coaching classes but was unable to improve her GMAT score beyond a certain point. She finally scored 740 in her 5th attempt and got an $80,000 fellowship from one of the top business schools. She has joined Kellogg School of Management. There was a time when Kellogg was not even on her radar.
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Attributes that lead GMAT High Scorers to 700+ Score on GMAT
- Unperturbed by adversity
In the first 10 questions, Bhagawat (GMAT Score 750, ISB) got 2 RC passages, 4 CR questions, and 1 SC question. Most students would be thrown off their game by the same, but Bhagawat wasn’t. He remained focused on the question at hand and came through with flying colors.
- Focus on mastering concepts
Bhavya who improved from a 570 to 730 in 3 months – V20 to V41, says that conceptual clarity is the key to success. Mastering “Meaning in SC”, “Pre-thinking in CR”, and “RC reading strategies” made answering questions a cakewalk for Bhavya. Watch her video interview in which she details out how mastering concepts helped her to get ISB admit.
- Never tired of learning
Ayesha had prepared for the GMAT twice before opting for e-GMAT. However, she put in the same vigor and energy in her third attempt as she did in her first. She did all the OG questions again and focused on building the core skills “again” with e-GMAT, even though she had already put in 200+ hours studying for the GMAT previously.
- Make good choices
During his second attempt, when Rishi (Broad Business School) discovered that Meaning and Sentence Structure combined with a few key concepts could help him solve 95 % of the GMAT SC questions correctly, he made sure he mastered the same – an excellent choice on an exam such as the GMAT where you do not need to answer every question correctly.
- Seek continuous improvement
After scoring GMAT 650, rather than getting disheartened, Ayush followed a “Step by step” methodical approach and mastered the right technique to manage time efficiently.
He practiced questions systematically and built a rhythm for the exam, which helped to reach his dream score of GMAT 760 in 2.5 months.
The above is not a comprehensive list. However, it contains a few important pointers that you should keep in mind, regardless of your stage of preparation.
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Key causes of failure on the GMAT – Why People can’t Score 700+ on the GMAT?
Studying failure is as important as studying success. Here are three key reasons why we have seen students fail:
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- Pay too much emphasis on the first 10/20 questions:
Doing well on the first 10 questions can help you get a good score. However, you should not use this as a tool to game the system. I have seen some students spend as much as 25 minutes on the first 10 questions. Doing so ends up hurting their score. Bottom line – if you take more than 20 minutes on the first 10 question, you might end up doing more harm than good.
- Focus on timing as a skill:
Timing is an outcome of your proficiency in applying the process. However, several students associate timing with tricks and hence do not focus on learning the process. By doing so, they do more harm than good.
- Consider GMAT as a chore rather than a friend:
Some people get too nervous while taking the GMAT and are not able to focus on the questions in the exam. As a result, they end up doing poorly.
Taking the GMAT is beginning of your journey as a manager and a decision maker. Your post MBA journey will contain many more challenges. Think of preparing and appearing for GMAT as a stepping stone in this journey and enjoy the same as Anup, GMAT Score 770, did.
- Pay too much emphasis on the first 10/20 questions:
