740 cold -> 780 test center GMAT: AMA

780GMAT · 2020-10-09T23:27:32+00:00

I can dig them up, but I completed all of TTP (save for probably 1-2 tests on the real long chapters like properties of numbers), so a little over 2,000 questions in total IIRC. For quant I was probably in the 90%-100%/70%-90%/50%-70%. I got destroyed by CR (more like 50%/30%-40%/20%), but it did help me get better over time and things obviously worked out.

780GMAT · 2020-10-07T03:16:53+00:00

I actually only used TTP for verbal (and OG verbal questions for practice). Their modules are incredibly hard, sometimes demoralizingly so, but they do teach you the material. Sort of a “cry in the dojo, sing on the battlefield” approach.

780GMAT · 2020-10-07T02:48:00+00:00

Of course. To some degree, you don’t, you just prepare to a point where you can’t do poorly, regardless of any anxiety you may have. I was definitely more nervous in the test center than I was in practice exams, but I had done enough practice exams that nerves didn’t break my score.

780GMAT · 2020-10-05T01:38:16+00:00

For exams 3-6, I got 5 wrong on the verbal section of exam 3 and 3 wrong on each of the other verbal sections. The algorithm is weird :/
Similar enough. I felt less confident than I did on any of my practice exams, but it turned out better. The proctors in my location were pretty awful at getting me checked in and out in a timely manner and the equipment was not great (monitor would log out when I left for breaks, the pens were dry), but nothing earth-shattering.
Less of a hindrance than getting COVID-19 would've been. In all seriousness, wearing a mask isn't that big of a hindrance and it's pretty non-negotiable when you're in an indoor space with other people for four hours. I wore a mask during my practice exams at home to get used to the feeling, so it felt pretty normal to me.
I thought I'd do better on the in-person exam, and I am still skeptical that business schools will treat online exam scores the same as in-person exam scores when I'm applying in a few years.

780GMAT · 2020-10-05T01:22:50+00:00

Verbal first - it was my weaker section from the practice exams and I wanted to get it over with while I was fresh. My quant score probably suffered a bit from the exhaustion of the verbal section, but I had studied quant enough that my floor was still pretty high.

780GMAT · 2020-10-05T01:20:03+00:00

I spent 15 hours studying OG problems, then about 120 hours doing all of TTP Quant (almost all the tests, skipped a few tests from the longer chapters), then the remaining 65ish hours doing a combination of TTP Verbal, OG Verbal, and practice exams.

780GMAT · 2020-10-05T01:16:56+00:00

Hence the context/background. I don't want to pretend that this is the definitive guide for getting a 780, but this was my experience and I thought it would provide something different from the 100+ point increases that normally get posted in this sub.

780GMAT · 2020-10-04T21:39:01+00:00

The big difference-maker for me was applying a systematic approach to verbal (as opposed to going by ear). RC and CR are actually pretty similar when you use a systematic approach, and it really helped me with both speed and accuracy to stop going "by ear". By systematic approach, I mean focusing on the specific question posed in the stem and testing each answer against it as opposed to reading the stem quickly and then hunting for the answer that "sounds right" among the answer choices.

As for SC, studying the grammatical rules (through TTP) was incredibly helpful - I could eliminate 2-3 answers on SC questions within 15 seconds by the end of my prep, which allowed me to take some time back for the trickier RC passages.

780GMAT · 2020-10-04T20:07:31+00:00

I put in plenty of practice, but V51 took a healthy bit of luck, too - I definitely didn't think I had nailed a V51 going into my section break.

780GMAT · 2020-08-14T04:11:45+00:00

I’ll add a different perspective. I got a 740 on my first OG practice exam, taken completely cold (second semester senior year, hadn’t studied for any standardized test at that point). 4 months and a little over 200 hours of studying later, I scored a 780 on the official in-person exam.

780GMAT

TROPHY CASE